Dr Mark Ross is researching how virus affects the cardiovascular system
Edinburgh Napier lecturer Mark Ross is researching the impact of Covid-19 on the cardiovascular system as part of the work of an international taskforce.
Dr Ross - from our School of Applied Sciences - has joined a team from King’s College London led by Professor Georgina Ellison-Hughes, as well as experts from the Universities of Cambridge, Bangor, Adelaide, Liverpool John Moores, the Wise Group and Evolve HealthCare partners on The Coronavirus Literature Review Taskforce.
![Head and shoulders of Mark Ross](/-/media/images/news/story/markross.ashx?h=200&w=200&hash=8C0E94A52C71AA747AE8AB335299CB34)
The researchers are scouring published literature and pre-print servers for information about SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 to try to identify drug targets and other therapies. The initiative aims to provide clinicians with the most up-to-date information.
Mark is part of a smaller sub-group of cardiovascular scientists, who reported publicly for the first time on Monday May 4.
He explained: “Our role is to provide the clinicians with information as to how Covid-19 is affecting the cardiovascular system, with implications for those with cardiovascular disease.
![Close up of coronavirus](/-/media/images/news/story/coronavirus3992933-(1).ashx?h=423&w=500&hash=74C8AA6EA620DB2424ABA295EB3E83EC)
“We are scouring the studies coming out of China, and more recently, Europe and the USA, to identify patterns, impacts and mechanisms of how Covid-19 is affecting our hearts and blood vessels. This includes searching clinical trials to determine potential treatments, and highlighting this information for medics.”
Prior to lockdown, Georgina Ellison-Hughes, a Professor in Regenerative Muscle Physiology, had started work with colleagues in China to test the impact of stem cells in patients with Covid-19.
The taskforce she now leads will interpret the findings of earlier articles and identity any drug targets and re-purposed drugs, as well as other therapies, that may have had an impact.