RECOVER: Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) created the RECOVER Initiative to learn about the long-term effects of COVID.
Everyone can join the search for answers to Long COVID.
Whether or not you have had COVID, you may be able to participate in RECOVER research.
RECOVER research aims to understand how people recover from a COVID infection, and why some people do not fully recover and develop Long COVID or PASC (post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2).
Volunteers are still needed to help us understand COVID and its effects.
Whether you have COVID now, had COVID before, or never had COVID, you may be able to participate.
We need to learn how COVID affects all people from all walks of life and across the country and that means adults, including pregnant people, and children.
Study locations will enroll people with different experiences with COVID. They will also make sure that all people are represented until goals are met.

People are joining the search for answers.
Thousands of children and adults - including pregnant people - have joined RECOVER studies. People with and without COVID can help us learn why and how Long COVID affects some people and not others. With your help, we can learn about the long-term impact of COVID on many different people.
Adult Enrollment
Last updated:
Within the last 30 days 7,800 Expected by 2023
More than 30 days ago 7,200 Expected by 2023
Within the last 30 days 1,200 Expected by 2023
More than 30 days ago 1,480 Expected by 2023
Within the
last 30 days |
More than
30 days ago |
|
---|---|---|
COVID Infection
|
7,800 Expected by 2023 | 7,200 Expected by 2023 |
Negative COVID Test
|
1,200 Expected by 2023 | 1,480 Expected by 2023 |
We’re learning by listening to people like you.
To understand Long COVID, we need to hear from people who’ve experienced it and people who had COVID and recovered quickly. You can help us learn about the long-term effects of COVID — so we can find ways to prevent and treat them.
Learn how patients, caregivers, and community members can share their story with RECOVER




We’re learning by including diverse perspectives.
Including people of all races and ethnicities, genders, ages, and locations in our research helps us understand how Long COVID affects everyone.
Learn more about how RECOVER partners with patients and communities across the US
Millions of people have had COVID-19 — and in many ways, people of color have been hit hardest.
Studies show that people of color are more likely than white people to go to the hospital for health issues related to COVID-19.
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- 3.1xMore likely
- Black or African American
- 2.4xMore likely
- Hispanic or Latino
- 2.3xMore likely
- Asian
- 0.8xMore likely
We learn more when we work together.
We learn more when we work together.
Teamwork is at the heart of RECOVER. Researchers, health care professionals, and organizations across the country are working together to find answers. Our studies include many different groups of people — like adults, pregnant people, and children and their caregivers.
More than
500 million
people around the world have had COVID. It’s possible that millions of them could have long-term health effects.





RECOVER News and Events
Learn about our latest research, upcoming events, and more.
One of the most puzzling aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is understanding why some people who have short-term COVID later develop new symptoms. Or they may continue to have symptoms while also developing new ones. These Long COVID symptoms can vary a lot from person to person, which makes it hard to understand why some people are more likely to have Long COVID. In this blog post, NIH Director Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, discusses an important new RECOVER study published in The Lancet Digital Health that used artificial intelligence computer models to help unravel this mystery.

In a study published in The Lancet Digital Health, Pfaff and colleagues used electronic health record (EHR) data to find more than 100,000 likely cases of Long COVID in an EHR database of more than 13 million people.
The study findings will help researchers understand the characteristics and risk factors linked to Long COVID diagnosis and will also help identify potential Long COVID patients for clinical trials.

The full RECOVER research protocol, or study plan, for adults taking part in RECOVER studies is now available. We are finished planning the adult study protocol, but the protocol may change over time as we learn more. If the protocol is updated, we will share it on the RECOVER website, recovercovid.org. A version of the protocol in easier to understand language will be available soon.

Explore COVID-19 Resources
Find COVID-19 research information and resources.
CARING for Children with COVID Initiative
NIH Community Engagement Alliance
Post-COVID Conditions: Information for Healthcare Providers
CDC's COVID-19 Resources
Temas de Salud: COVID-19
studies.recovercovid.org