COVID-19 has resulted in an unprecedented research response, demonstrating exceptional examples of rapid research and collaboration. There is however a need for greater coordination, with limited resources and the shifting global nature of the pandemic resulting in a proliferation of research projects underpowered and unable to achieve their aims.

Published on Wellcome Open Access, this Living Mapping Review (LMR) is an open-access, peer-reviewed paper that is updated every 3 months, providing in-depth analysis of the breadth of funding, remaining gaps, opportunities, and trends. 

It will help both funders and researchers to prioritise resources to underfunded areas where there is greatest research need and will facilitate further strategic collaboration.

 A living mapping review for COVID-19 funded research projects: July 2022

The sixth iteration of the LMR corresponds to Tracker data from October 2021. The analysis looks at 13,484 projects, spanning 285 research funders based in 53 countries, representing an investment of at least 5.1 billion USD.

It shows a continued expansion of both funding and capture of funding across the global funding landscape in the Tracker, including for projects taking place in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). As noted in the previous iteration, there is a clear plateauing of the COVID-19 funding response. It is therefore vital that researchers, funders, and policymakers engage with the LMR and the data it captures (accessible from the Tracker) to ensure that resources are directed to areas of continued unmet research need.

This iteration includes a fourth addition to the LMR’s suite of thematic analyses (‘Tracker Highlights’) on new COVID-19 variants.

Tracker Highlights: COVID-19 funded research projects in focus 

Tracker Highlights takes a deeper look at four key themes that have emerged from analysis of our Tracker data: indirect health impacts, research capacity strengthening, long COVID and new variants. These were most recently updated in July 2022.