Grant: Op Gr: Network of Clinical Trials Networks: COVID-19 and Intervention Strategies

Nearly 350,000 Canadians have been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. In Canada, the elderly have been particular vulnerable, with long-term care homes experiencing the greatest burdens of illness and mortality. Civil society and our usual social fabric have been torn, due to illness, loss, school and work interruptions and social distancing. No Canadian sector has been untouched. There is an ongoing risk of acute health care systems being overwhelmed, including the care for our sickest Canadians. To meet the challenge of knowing how to best prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19, we need coordinated and supported national research, that is responsive to the needs of citizens, patients, families and health systems, and benefits from the expertise of clinicians, researchers, industry, our public health, clinical and biomedical research infrastructure. Bringing the best prevention, diagnostic tests and treatments to Canadians as quickly as possible demands that we work together as Canadians, and with partners around the world. The Canadian Network of COVID-19 Clinical Trials Networks is a diverse, inclusive partnership that will bring resources to partners to get the most from our research response. We will engage citizens and patients, help set dynamic research priorities involving the public and private sectors, facilitate collaboration and resource sharing, harmonize clincial trial procedures, make the research regulatory steps easier, connect data from many clinical trials, mobilize the knowledge we gain to prevent infection, treat patients, help them recover, and end this pandemic. This Network will not only help to get the most from the Canadian COVID-19 research response, but will build research capacity and better prepare us for the future.