Chemical biology tools for investigating the chemistry of cellular redox stress

The primary cause of death resulting from infection with (SARS-CoV-2) is pneumonia, which causes acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Studies have shown that 14% of SARS-CoV-2-related cases of pneumonia are severe and ≈5% of infected patients require intensive care. The disease is fatal in around 60% of severe and critically ill patients, with evidence showing that hypoxemia (low SpO2) is linked to a fatal outcome. It is currently unclear what leads patients to develop these severe symptoms, which can often occur after the patients is seemingly recovering. Given the limited availability of intensive care beds and oxygen treatment, the identification of simple and reliable predictive biomarkers in hospitalised COVID-19 patients is essential to allow prioritisation of treatment. The tools that we will develop will allow accurate determination of SpO2 and CO2 levels simultaneously, allowing more informed and effective clinical decisions to be made. These tools will also allow the real-time monitoring of oxygen therapy, enabling clinicians to determine if this treatment is being used effectively.