About CoVaRR-Net
The Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network (CoVaRR-Net) was established in March 2021 to support Canada’s response to the evolving SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), CoVaRR-Net rapidly mobilized expertise from across the country, producing high-impact research, supporting real-time public health decision-making, and laying the groundwork for a resilient, pandemic-ready Canada.
Over its four years of operation, CoVaRR-Net overcame traditional siloed research boundaries, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and creating an enduring national infrastructure for infectious disease research. Despite its groundbreaking success, the network had to conclude operations on March 31, 2025, following the discontinuation of funding.
Among CoVaRR-Net’s Major Achievements
CoVaRR-Net established an unprecedented national academic research network, integrating recognized top-tier experts with 130 fields of expertise from 24 universities (including all U15 institutions) and 24 other major institutions.
In addition to enabling breakthrough collaborations, producing a remarkable number of publications and accelerating knowledge mobilization, including with government, CoVaRR-Net created infrastructure and built health research capacity in Canada. This included in the CoVaRR-Net Biobank, Data Platform and Bioethics, the Computational Analysis, Modelling, and Evolutionary Outcomes (CAMEO) initiative, the Canadian Consortium of Academic Biosafety Level 3 Laboratories (CCABL3), Central Laboratory Services, and the Wastewater Surveillance Research Group.
Through CoVaRR-Net’s Indigenous Engagement, Development, and Research Pillar/Major Initiative (CIEDAR), CoVaRR-Net pioneered research methodologies culturally responsive to Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led pandemic response strategies.
CoVaRR-Net Funded Research Results
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Our Team
CoVaRR-Net brought together some of Canada’s most eminent researchers and experts from various scientific and medical disciplines linked to emerging variants. Our team was structured by themes or “pillars” that studied and analyzed different biological, epidemiological, social and societal aspects related to variants and their impacts on all Canadians, with a special focus on Indigenous communities and priority populations. We also had “major initiatives”, and teams organizing shared network resources, promoting health equity and inclusion, and providing communications and knowledge mobilization. By connecting Canadian researchers from 130 fields of expertise, this network ensured a rapid and coordinated response to emerging variants that fuel and sustain the pandemic.
Marc-André Langlois
Ninan Abraham
Louis Flamand
Anne-Claude Gingras
Ioannis Ragoussis
Kimberly Huyser
Melissa Brouwers
Jeremy Grimshaw
François Jean
Ciriaco Piccirillo
Jen Gommerman
Jason Kindrachuk
Angela L. Rasmussen
Sarah (Sally) Otto
Jesse Shapiro
Cory Neudorf
Nazeem Muhajarine
Angela M. Crawley
Amy Hsu
Robert Delatolla
Raphael Saginur
James Robblee
This network will act as Canada’s integrated platform for determining how VOCs impact Canadians from diverse communities and demographics and for tracking how SARS-CoV-2 is mutating in real time, while evolving into a future cornerstone for pandemic preparedness in Canada.
