More than 4,000 coronavirus heroes in Oxfordshire have been thanked for their role in fighting the pandemic by taking part in lifesaving research. A total of 4,366 patients and volunteers took part in 22 studies to help researchers prevent, diagnose and treat Covid-19. Since the pandemic began, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has helped recruit more than 600,000 participants nationally to help with research, including 1,816 at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 527 at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, 343 through Oxfordshire’s GP practices and 1,680 at the University of Oxford and local care homes. Prof Keith Channon, Director of Research and Development at Oxford University Hospitals, said: “The extraordinary progress in our understanding of Covid-19 – including how it is transmitted, how it affects the body, how it can be treated, and prevented – is a reflection of the scale, scope and speed of the many research studies and tria