Last week a study led by Aberdeen Medical students reported that the number of international arrivals in a country was associated with the numbers of COVID-19 deaths. It sparked considerable media interest around the world. The study found that more people had died of COVID-19 in countries with a high volume of international flights arriving. The study was published in the journal BMJ Open and can be accessed here.

But behind the headlines is an inspirational and heart-warming story. Dr Sohinee Bhattacharya told us how this piece of research came about.

“At the time of the first lockdown, a few of us (including staff and Medical students) were really keen to help with the COVID response. Many of us were shielding or self-isolating so volunteering in person was not an option. A few of us got together to form an interest group called COVERT (Corona Virus E- Research Team). COVERT looked at the data coming out of COVID- hit countries. The project was entirely led by Medical students or junior doctors. Some helped to acquire the data, others did the analysis, and others searched the literature or helped write the paper – everyone played a role.” They only used freely accessible data from sources like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations (UN). They used this data to produce these important research findings with the potential to inform future policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Dr Bhattacharya added: “I am so proud to have been involved in this venture. This is a testimony to what team effort can achieve.”

The work was supported by the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeen Clinical Academic Training Scheme. Here is a list of the team, who were supervised by Dr Sohinee Bhattacharya, Dr David McLernon and Professor Phyo Myint:

Medical students

Tiberiu Pana MBChB year 5

Weronika Szlachetka MBChB year 4

Zahra Pasdar MBChB year 4

Kai Ewers MBChB year 2

Junior clinical academic doctors

Jesus Perdomo-Lampignano: Academic Foundation Doctor year 1

David Gamble: BHF Research Fellow (Staff PhD Candidate), Institute of Medical Sciences

WELL DONE TEAM!