Genomic Associations of COVID-19 Susceptibility & Severity in Singapore Dr KIM Seonghoon
Main Applicant (PI) – A/Prof Barnaby Young
National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID)

The study seeks to identify the genetic variants that are associated with COVID-19 infection susceptibility and severity as well as COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. This is an extension of the previous analysis work with the SG10K_Health genomic data.

Using the PRECISE-SG100K genomic data, candidate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variant analysis will be carried out to catalogue variants reported to be associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections in various population studies. The analysis will also include SNP variants associated with immunogenetic determinants of vaccine-induced immunity. The clinical relevance of the identified variants in terms of their impact on hospitalisations, disease severity, vaccine effectiveness and long COVID will be assessed. The study further seeks to identify COVID-19 related host variants that may be unique to the local population, as well as new host variants of interest.

The identification of genomic risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections, severe disease and long COVID, as well as genomic differences in vaccine effectiveness, will provide insights to enable the development of measures and policies to safeguard the health and wellbeing of individuals at higher risk of infections. These findings may guide service planning and delivery and can also enhance surveillance efforts to mitigate future outbreaks. Early and targeted interventions can improve health outcomes and have positive impacts on healthcare costs.