Thomas Williams

Thomas Williams is a respiratory paediatrician undertaking a Wellcome Trust funded PhD in Basic Science.

When the first Covid-19 case was recorded in Scotland, Thomas was invited to help set up a nanopore sequencing programme aiming to track the spread and diversity of the virus UK wide.

Project: COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium

Summary: The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium is a collaboration between the NHS, Public Health England and other UK public health agencies, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge and other academic institutions. The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium aims to increase the current capacity for SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequencing in the UK. This sequencing data will be used to understand the epidemiology and spread of the virus, and to monitor and evaluate interventions for COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 genomic data will be integrated with NHS electronic health records and other existing genomic data to generate insights into susceptibility to COVID-19. From within the DPHPC, Professor John Danesh is a member of the COG-UK Steering Group, Dr Ewan Harrison will serve as the Scientific Project Manager and Dr Michael Chapman will lead the health informatics component.