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Understanding of PASC (post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2), including Long COVID, is constantly evolving as new research is funded and studies begin. Stay informed by reading the latest news, watching videos, and participating in upcoming events.
Latest News and Updates
NIH Director’s Blog: Using AI to Advance Understanding of Long COVID Syndrome
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.
RECOVER Publication: Scientists use Electronic Health Records and Machine Learning to Better Define Long COVID
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 authors examined information from nearly 98,000 COVID-19 patients on demographics, use of health care services, medications, and diagnoses in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database—a national, centralized public database led by NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). They used those data with information from nearly 600 patients at Long COVID clinics to create machine learning (ML) computer models that could identify potential Long COVID patients.
The ML models proved to be accurate and identified about 100,000 people in the database whose profiles matched those of people with Long COVID. 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. As more data sources are identified, these models can be improved and adapted based on study needs.
RECOVER Adult Study Protocol Available
The full RECOVER research protocol, or study plan, for adults taking part in RECOVER studies is now available. The study protocol serves as the RECOVER research playbook, enabling researchers to speak the same language, use the same methods, and examine the same types of data. 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 easy-to-understand language will be available soon.
NIH Builds Large Nationwide Study Population of Tens of Thousands to Support Research on Long-term Effects of COVID-19
The NIH awarded nearly $470 million to build a national study population of diverse research volunteers and support large-scale studies on the long-term effects of COVID-19. The NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative made the parent award to New York University (NYU) Langone Health, New York City, which will make multiple subawards to more than 100 researchers at more than 30 institutions and serves as the RECOVER Clinical Science Core.
Breakthrough Infections in Vaccinated People Less Likely to Cause "Long COVID"
The evidence shows that vaccines make a big difference in protecting individuals and communities against infection and severe illness from SARS-CoV-2 infection. New research shows another important reason to get the vaccine. In the event of a breakthrough COVID infection, people who are fully vaccinated are less likely to develop Long COVID. The symptoms of Long COVID include fatigue, brain fog, muscle pain, and other debilitating symptoms that can last for months after recovery from an initial infection, whether the person had symptoms or not. Though we still have much to learn about PASC, including Long COVID, vaccines offer a very effective way to protect against COVID-19 and reduce the chances of getting Long COVID if people do get infected.
COVID Long-Haulers Get Disability Civil Rights Protections
On July 26, 2021, the Federal government released guidance that people with PASC and Long COVID can be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. PASC and Long COVID will be considered a disability if the condition or its symptoms “substantially limit” major life activities, such as work or school. Read this fact sheet for more details.
NIH Infrastructure Awards to Support Research on Post-COVID Conditions
NIH recently announced the Core resource awards that will provide critical infrastructure for new research studies under the RECOVER Initiative. NYU Langone Health was awarded over $14 million in support of the Clinical Science Core, which will build the RECOVER Consortium; harmonize and coordinate data within the Consortium; and develop methods for monitoring protocols, including recruitment, data quality, and safety measures to identify adverse events. The Biostatistics Center at Massachusetts General Hospital was awarded more than $8.6 million in support of the Data Resource Core, which will help enable tracking and searchability of results across all sources of data, from clinical studies to electronic health records.
Videos and Presentations
RECOVER Research Review (R3) Seminar Series
RECOVER Research Review (R3) Seminar Series
The goal of the R3 Seminar Series is to catalyze a shared understanding of the research of the scientific stakeholder community within the RECOVER consortium. Working and learning together, while keeping each other up to date on the latest insights to accelerate discovery. Some R3 sessions will also inform the public about RECOVER and other research on PASC. All sessions will be recorded and posted to recovercovid.org.
Example seminar topics include:
- Epidemiology of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Current Understanding and Key Questions (past event)
- Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Overview (past event)
- Commonalities with Other Disorders and Post-viral Syndromes: Focus on ME/CFS (past event)
- Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Pediatrics, including MIS-C (past event)
- Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Dysautonomia (past event)
Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar: Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Neuro-cognitive Function
The seventh seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Neuro-cognitive Function, was held on June 14, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Melissa Cortez, DO, University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics
- Alejandra González-Duarte, MD, PhD, NYU Langone Health
- Sudha Seshadri, MD, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio
- Richard Gallagher, PhD, NYU Langone Health
- Jennifer A. Frontera, MD, NYU Langone Health
View the audio transcript (PDF, 236 KB).
Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar: Leveraging EHR/Real World Data to Understand PASC
The sixth seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Leveraging EHR/Real World Data to Understand PASC, was held on May 24, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Melissa Haendel, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
- Thomas Carton, PhD, MS, Louisiana Public Health Institute
- Christopher Chute, MD, DrPH, Johns Hopkins University
- Rainu Kaushal, MD, MPH, Weill Cornell Medicine; New York-Presbyterian Hospital
- Josh Fessel, MD, PhD, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health
- Rachel Hess, MD, MS, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah
View the audio transcript (PDF, 223 KB).
Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar: Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Dysautonomia
The fifth seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Dysautonomia, held on May 10, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Mitchell Miglis, MD, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University
- Tae Chung, MD, Johns Hopkins University
- Lauren Stiles, JD, Dysautonomia International, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine
- Satish Raj, MD MSCI, University of Calgary
- Peter Novak, MD, PhD, Autonomic Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, Harvard Medical School
View the audio transcript (PDF, 247 KB).
Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar: Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Pediatrics, including MIS-C
The fourth seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Focus on Pediatrics, including MIS-C, was held on April 26, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Tellen D. Bennett, MD, MS, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado
- Gail D. Pearson, MD, ScD, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
- Ravi Jhaveri, MD, FPIDS, FAAP, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- Josh Fessel, MD, PhD, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health
- Ericka L. Fink, MD, MS, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
View the audio transcript (PDF, 230 KB).
View the responses to participants' questions (PDF, 271 KB).
Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar: Commonalities with Other Disorders and Post-viral Syndromes: Focus on ME/CFS
The third seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Commonalities with Other Disorders and Post-viral Syndromes: Focus on ME/CFS, was held on April 12, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Nancy Klimas, MD, Director, Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Miami VAMC GRECC
- Anthony Komaroff, MD, Simcox-Clifford-Higby Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Senior Physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Benjamin Natelson, MD, Director, Pain & Fatigue Study Center, Professor of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- David Systrom, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
View the audio transcript (PDF, 225 KB).
View the responses to participants' questions (PDF, 314 KB).
RECOVER Research Review (R3) Seminar: Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Overview
The second seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Clinical Spectrum of PASC: Overview, was held on March 22, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Hannah Davis, Co-Founder, Patient-Led Research Collaborative
- Benard P. Dreyer, MD, FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine
- Sindhu Mohandas, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California
- Igho Ofotokun, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine, Emory University
View the audio transcript (PDF, 186 KB).
View the responses to participants' questions (PDF, 211 KB).
RECOVER Research Review (R3) Seminar: Epidemiology of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Current Understanding and Key Questions
The first seminar of the Recover Research Review (R3) Seminar series, Epidemiology of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Current Understanding and Key Questions, was held on March 1, 2022.
Sign up for information about future R3 Seminars.
Panelists for the seminar included:
- Sharon Saydah, PhD, Senior Scientist, Respiratory Viruses Branch, Division of Viral Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Elizabeth (Beth) Unger, MD, PhD, Chief, Chronic Viral Disease Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Steven G. Deeks, MD, Professor of Medicine in Residence, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco; faculty, Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
- Valerie Flaherman, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Biostatistics University of California, San Francisco
View the audio transcript (PDF, 179 KB).
View the responses to participants' questions (PDF, 238 KB).
RECOVER January Listening Session Recording Available: Understanding Long COVID Across Communities of Color (January 21, 2022)
This event facilitated discussion between RECOVER researchers and members of organizations that represent and support communities of color to better understand levels of awareness of Long COVID in these communities. It also informed opportunities to promote diverse and inclusive participation in the RECOVER Initiative studies. Dr. Andrea Lerner from the NIH and Dr. Natasha Williams from NYU Langone Health cohosted the event alongside the moderator, Dr. James E.K. Hildreth of Meharry Medical College.
A transcript of the event is available here (PDF, 136 KB).
PASC Seminar Series Sponsored by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health sponsors the ACTIV seminar series, which is organized in partnership with Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. ACTIV brings together leading experts on PASC to share their published or ongoing research on different aspects of the disease. The sessions are recorded and published, and you can watch past sessions at the ACTIV link above. Some past ACTIV presentations include:
- Barriers to Improving PASC Outcomes – Dr. Michelle Gong, MD, MS, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, October 4, 2021
- Probing Disease Mechanisms of Long COVID – Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine, October 28, 2021
- Neurological Symptoms During and After COVID-19 – Dr. Shelli Farhadian, MD, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine, November 4, 2021
- Observations on Long COVID through an ME/CFS Lens – Peter Rowe, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, January 14, 2022
RECOVER Launches the Live Series: First Session Recording
The first RECOVER Live Series event, Inside the RECOVER Initiative, a Conversation with Dr. Stuart Katz of NYU Langone Health, was held on November 30, 2021. Dr. Katz shared information from experts working on the RECOVER Initiative about what is being done to understand, prevent, and treat PASC, including Long COVID. This event also included a live Q&A session, where people viewing online posted questions for Dr. Katz. View the recording.
A transcript of the event is available here (PDF, 106 KB).
Understanding Long COVID: The Unseen Public Health Crisis
Understanding Long COVID: The Unseen Public Health Crisis
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hosted a free, online discussion on November 19, 2021 that brought together clinicians, researchers, policy experts, and Long COVID patients.
RECOVER Initiative Stakeholder Briefing
RECOVER Initiative Stakeholder Briefing
In coordination with the RECOVER Initiative announcement on September 15, 2021, the NIH invited RECOVER Initiative stakeholders to join NIH leadership in a public briefing to discuss the announcement and address questions from the community. The briefing was led by Dr. Amy Patterson (NIH – NHLBI), with Dr. Stuart Katz (NYU, Principal Investigator of the RECOVER Clinical Science Core), Emily Taylor (Solve M.E.), and Dr. Lenora Johnson (NIH – NHLBI), who addressed more than 550 virtual attendees and answered questions about the RECOVER Initiative.
A transcript of the event is available here (PDF, 137 KB).
Long-term COVID Patient Engagement: Best Practices Informed By Patients' Experiences Seeking Medical Care
Long-term COVID Patient Engagement: Best Practices Informed By Patients' Experiences Seeking Medical Care
During COVID-19 Grand Rounds hosted by the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory on July 23, 2021, representatives of Survivor Corps presented their efforts to conduct research with their online community of 170,000 individuals affected by COVID-19. Survivor Corps is a grassroots movement using its members' collective experience to build a repository of data sets and research tools to support COVID-19 research, including studies on PASC and Long COVID.
Neurologic and Psychiatric Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Neurologic and Psychiatric Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Hosted by the NIH, this meeting looked at the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the brain and possible interactions with other infections, such as HIV. Watch the recording to hear scientists discuss related research gaps and priorities.
Treating Long COVID: Clinician Experience with Post-Acute COVID-19 Care
Treating Long COVID: Clinician Experience with Post-Acute COVID-19 Care
In this webinar, clinicians share their experiences with treating Long COVID and establishing clinics that provide care for patients with the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Media Inquiries
Are you a member of the media or press? Please direct inquiries to the RECOVER@nih.gov inbox. Please place "MEDIA INQUIRY" in the subject line.
studies.recovercovid.org