A Hunter medical research team will pinpoint the best global scientific research into COVID-19 to guide decision-making in the public health sector.
The six-month project, titled Fast Facts, will be funded by a $126,000 NIB grant.
The project may examine areas such as the risk of infection and transmission among healthcare workers and in schools, the virus incubation period and quarantine measures.
Associate Professor Luke Wolfenden, of Hunter Medical Research Institute and University of Newcastle, said the research team would "synthesise all available evidence" in selected areas.
Studies will be judged on scientific quality, trustworthiness and reliability.
"This is a very dynamic situation we're in with COVID-19," Dr Wolfenden said.
"We want our health policymakers and practitioners who are making decisions about the prevention and management of COVID-19 to have the best scientific evidence at their fingertips."
Dr Wolfenden said there was "an incredible amount of research activity happening globally on COVID-19 that's increasing every day".
Advice will be sought from infectious disease experts and public health officials in the Hunter about what areas matter most.
"When the pandemic first hit, there was a lot of need for information about the basic epidemiology of the virus," Dr Wolfenden said.
"As the pandemic shifts, the interest is also about how best to reopen [the economy and society] and encourage vaccine uptake [if and when one becomes available]."
Due to the urgent need for information and evidence, scientific studies have been published across the world before they've been peer-reviewed. The project will consider this, as it pinpoints the most valid information.
HMRI director, Professor Tom Walley, said the project would "make the best evidence available quickly".
"This is a time when we need evidence and research, rather than opinion, to inform our actions," he said.
NIB chief medical officer Mellissa Naidoo said it was vital that clinicians can access the most up to date research to inform patient care and community health.
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