A patient who was treated for coronavirus in Leeds was the first person in the world to be recruited as part of a global study into a new trial.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), which oversees Leeds General Infirmary, St James's Hospital and three other hospitals across the city, launched a dedicated Covid-19 Research Delivery Team in March.
In total, the hospital is currently running 23 separate Covid-19 trials to try and better understand the disease which has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.
One particular patient in Leeds became the first person in the world to sign up to the Ruxcovid study - and also the first in the UK to be recruited for the Cancovid study.
LTHT began its first clinical trial less than a week after the first patient was admitted in Leeds and has so far recruited 293 patients - a third of all those to have ended up in hospital with Covid-19 so far in Leeds.
Dr Jacqueline Andrews, Director of Research and Innovation at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Today’s figures are a direct result of the incredible response LTHT research staff and patients have mounted in the fight against Covid-19 and for our research programme as a whole throughout 2019/20.”
"During the pandemic, our Covid-19 research delivery team have been frontline heroes. They have screened every Covid positive patient admitted to LTHT to see if they are willing and able to participate in nationally prioritised research studies and have set up trials in record time to achieve World and UK firsts.
"I would like to sincerely thank our staff and patients who took part in health research opportunities at Leeds Teaching Hospital during a very challenging time, it has been an outstanding effort by all."
