Thread by @Gas_Craic

What have we learned during COVID? Prof Tony Gordon takes us through a whirlwind tour of COVID-19 research.... #SOA21

Scientists AND politicians in the spotlight during COVID. Very different approaches between the two groups.#SOA21

First reports and articles with hundreds of patients.... moving on to thousands of patients. #SOA21

There was a paucity of evidence at the start. We've even seen some retractions. #SOA21

But then we learned that RCTs were possible in a pandemic and that ICU treatments can show benefit! #SOA21

IL6 Antagonists in COVID-19 was a new discovery. Immunotherapies can work in some critically ill patients. #SOA21

And things moved very fast.... the next day = announcement. Decades to change clinical practice? Not here. #SOA21

Data sharing worked well across academics and industries. The treatment would become a WHO standard. #SOA21

IL-6 inhibitors alongside Steroids - another section of research entirely too!

Critically ill, or ward-based? The data showed different things in different groups (different times of admin). Proving we should always test an RCT. #SOA21 These were actually a collab from REMAP-CAP platform and beyond.

Convalescent Plasma? No. But maybe there are subgroups who would.... (see immunodef section in middle here...?) #SOA21

We have a panel to expedite useful studies. This helped us prioritise and deliver results as quick as possible.

ICU recruitment was really excellent. What used to take 2-3 years, took a Christmas period.... #SOA21

Remdesevir.... We didn't compare against placebo - so who knows? Still a bit of a shame we didn't get more info about this drug #SOA21

Who benefitted from MAbs? - Different if you've started making your own antibodies or not. #SOA21

Not all about trials. We need to understand more about the disease itself. What about anti GM-CSF strategies? Also - what about Baricitinib for example? #SOA21

CPAP! Led to less mortality/intubations. Avoiding intubation is the key mechanism here. But for how long do we keep on with CPAP? More to come in this area.... #SOA21

We've seen some of the best and the worst in research across the world.... but overall UK research has been excellent. We've had a lot of useful outcomes in our research... and this has obviously helped a lot of people. Plenty more to be done. #SOA21

"How much time and science must be wasted on backing up people's pet theories?" Is a HUGE question for medicine/science.... @docpgb #SOA21

Is there a 'vanity' in biomedical research that displaces some very important research on social factors that looks at vaccine uptake/lockdowns etc? @docpgb #SOA21

New favourite phrase, "epistemic trespassing" #SOA21 academic.oup.com/mind/article-a…