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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Prof
Michael
Levin
m.levin@imperial.ac.uk
Dr
Federico
Martinón-Torres
Federico.Martinon.Torres@sergas.es
More information about this study, what is involved and how to take part can be found on the study website.
Patients with suspected infection or suspected inflammatory conditions including patients with suspected COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection)
This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.
DIAMONDS – Diagnosis and Management of Febrile Illness using RNA Personalised Molecular Signature Diagnosis – is a five-year collaborative, multi-partnered research project that will develop a new molecular diagnostic test to provide rapid diagnosis of common infectious bacterial disease, as well as viral and inflammatory diseases. It involves an international, multi-disciplinary team of researchers and scientists from across 28 institutions and 13 countries with 11 of those countries from Europe.
The DIAMONDS research team is addressing the problem that clinicians have when patients who have common symptoms (such as fever) come to hospital. Common infectious and inflammatory diseases account for up to a third of all unplanned hospital and primary care attendances. Currently, if a patient is admitted to hospital with a fever and non-specific symptoms, they could go through a whole series of investigations, such as blood tests, spinal fluid samples, MRI and CT scans, to help clinicians try to identify the cause of their symptoms. These tests can be uncomfortable, expensive and a patient could be waiting days or even weeks before they receive an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment, for example patients are often treated with antibiotics as a precautionary measure against serious bacterial infections, which have no effect if the real diagnosis is a self-resolving viral infection. All this puts a huge strain on the patient and the healthcare system.
When trying to find a solution to this problem, researchers have previously found that common diseases are characterised by unique patterns of gene expression (the process of DNA information being converted into instructions for cells to make proteins and other molecules). When a disease is associated with the switching on and off of genes in a patient’s blood, it forms its own ‘gene signature’. The gene signature has previously been shown to identify bacterial infections with a 95-100% accuracy.
The DIAMONDS research team will use expertise from previous gene signature research to make diagnosis faster and more accurate. The aim is to shorten the diagnosis time to under two hours, using a patient’s first blood sample. This diagnostic test may save a patient from unnecessary and potentially painful tests, as well as revolutionise the way healthcare can be delivered and have a positive impact on the health system and medical practitioners delivering healthcare.
The first part of the project is recruitment patients with conditions caused by infection and inflammation into DIAMONDS Search. Samples will be taken during the episodes of acute and convalescent illness. Selected optimal gene signatures for a wide range of infections and inflammatory conditions will be used to build a data library of the identifiable gene signatures of common inflammatory and infectious diseases. By comparing the pattern of genes in a patient’s blood sample to the hundreds of gene signatures in the library, diagnosis can be made rapidly.
Gene signatures selected from the data library will be used on both existing devices and new prototypes, such as lab-on-chip technology to create test devices, to enable diagnosis of multiple conditions on the same device - a concept called Personalised Molecular Signature Diagnosis (PMSD). PMSD-based care could transform the management of suspected infectious or inflammatory diseases, by driving more efficient and equitable organisation of the way care is delivered to the large numbers of patients presenting with symptoms of infection or inflammation.
As part of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the DIAMONDS consortium has re-purposed DIAMONDS Search to tackle the urgent global need for improved diagnostics to guide clinical management of patients with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2. The DIAMONDS consortia is undertaking rapid development of novel host RNA-based diagnostic devices that can diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection and comparator illnesses simultaneously at the point of testing and also to discriminate pure SARS-CoV-2 infection from that caused by co-infections, for instance with bacteria or other infections. DIAMONDS will also elucidate host gene expression signatures associated with different manifestations of Covid-19, inflammatory disease and uncontrolled viral disease.
DIAMONDS is recruiting patients of all ages with suspected and proven Covid-19, across the full spectrum of disease from mild (not admitted to hospital), moderate (admitted to ward only) and severe (intensive care). Samples and data from these highly characterised patients will be used by DIAMONDS consortium biotechnology partners to develop devices to detect diagnostic RNA signature of SARS-CoV-2 infection and signatures predictive of severe disease.
We will not be analysing the clinical information or samples while the patient is in hospital, but will be storing them to be analysed later, so the results are not likely to help manage the patient's illness and will not affect the patient's clinical care. However, the information gained by the study may help improve the diagnosis and treatment patients in the future.If we find significant results that would influence the patient's future care, the clinical care team will contact the patient.There are no disadvantages to joining the study. The small additional amount of blood and other samples taken should not make a difference to the patient's well-being.
DIAMONDS has research funding, totalling €22.5 million over five years, which is provided by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Unfortunately, this study is not recruiting public volunteers at this time. This is because researchers are directly identifying volunteers in certain hospitals. Please do not contact the research team as they will not be able to respond. For more information about COVID-19 research, visit the Be Part of Research homepage.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Current key exclusion criteria as of 17/09/2026:
1. Patients or controls who do not give consent2. RNA sample is not taken
_____
Previous key exclusion criteria:
1. Patients who do not give consent2. RNA sample is not taken
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
This information has not yet been provided by the study team. You'll have an opportunity to discuss any risks and benefits that may be associated with this study prior to consenting to taking part.
Dr
Federico
Martinón-Torres
Federico.Martinon.Torres@sergas.es
Prof
Michael
Levin
m.levin@imperial.ac.uk
More information about this study, what is involved and how to take part can be found on the study website.
The study is sponsored by Imperial College London and funded by European Commission.
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
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