News and Events

RECOVER-VITAL enrolls first participant in trial

RECOVER-VITAL, a clinical trial examining if the antiviral PAXLOVID (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) improves symptoms for people who have long COVID, has enrolled its first participant. RECOVER-VITAL is part of the RECOVER initiative and all RECOVER clinical trials are coordinated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). Researchers believe that viral persistence (when the virus that causes COVID-19 stays in the body and causes damage to organs or the immune system to not function properly) may cause long COVID symptoms.

Read the full news release.

NIH launches long COVID clinical trials through RECOVER Initiative, opening enrollment

The National Institutes of Health has launched and is opening enrollment for phase 2 clinical trials that will evaluate at least four potential treatments for long COVID, with additional clinical trials to test at least seven more treatments expected in the coming months. Treatments will include drugs, biologics, medical devices, and other therapies. The trials are designed to evaluate multiple treatments simultaneously to identify more swiftly those that are effective. The trials will focus on several of the symptoms described as most burdensome by people experiencing long COVID.

Read the full news release.

RECOVER Research Q&A: RECOVER “First Look” Adult Cohort Study

On May 25, 2023, RECOVER shared its “first look” into findings from the adult cohort study. The study, titled “Development of a Definition of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection” was peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). As a result of widespread interest in the study, a Q&A was developed to answer some of the most asked questions about this research and why it matters.

Read the Research Q&A.

RECOVER study provides scientists with deeper insight into Long COVID

Study identifies most common Long COVID symptoms with aim of improving future diagnostics and treatment

Initial findings from a RECOVER study of nearly 10,000 Americans, many of whom had COVID-19, have uncovered new details about Long COVID. Researchers found in the study, published in JAMA, that certain Long COVID symptoms occurred together, and defined four symptom patterns or clusters that have a range of impacts on patient health. The research team also found that Long COVID was more common and severe in study participants infected before the 2021 Omicron variant.

Read the full news release.

Obstructive sleep apnea associated with increased risks for Long COVID

Study suggests adults with both the sleep disorder and COVID may benefit from clinical monitoring.

Among people who have had COVID-19, adults with obstructive sleep apnea were more likely to experience long-term symptoms suggestive of Long COVID than those without the sleep disorder, according to a large study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In fact, multiple analyses of electronic health records (EHR) uncovered adults with sleep apnea may have up to a 75% higher risk of developing Long COVID. The findings are published in the journal SLEEP. Read the full news release.

NIH Director’s blog: What Clinical Research Comes Next for Helping People with Long COVID

“I connected with RECOVER to be a part of the answers that I was looking for when I was at my worst.” Long COVID patient and RECOVER representative, Nitza Rochez (Bronx, NY)

People, like Nitza Rochez, who are living with Long COVID—the wide-ranging health issues that can follow an infection with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19—experience disabling symptoms with significant physical, emotional and financial consequences.

The NIH has been engaging and listening to Nitza and others living with Long COVID even before the start of its Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. But now, with the launch of RECOVER, patients and those with affected family or community members have joined researchers, clinicians, and experts in their efforts to unlock the mysteries of Long COVID. All have come together to understand what causes the condition, identify who is most at risk, and determine how to prevent and treat it. Read the full update from Gary Gibbons, M.D., Walter J. Koroshetz, M.D., and Hugh Auchincloss, M.D. at the NIH Director’s Blog.

NIH RECOVER research identifies potential long COVID disparities

Black and Hispanic Americans appear to experience more symptoms and health problems related to long COVID, a lay term that captures an array of symptoms and health problems, than white people, but are not as likely to be diagnosed with the condition, according to new research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings – from two different studies by NIH’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative – add to a growing body of research aimed to better understand the complex symptoms and other issues associated with long COVID that millions have experienced. Read the full news release.

Duke Selected as RECOVER Clinical Trials Data Coordinating Center

The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) has been named the Clinical Trials Data Coordinating Center (DCC) for the NIH RECOVER Initiative. DCRI will partner with the RECOVER Administrative Coordinating Center (ACC), based at RTI International.

Together, the ACC and DCC will oversee the study’s clinical trial infrastructure, establish a patient registry, simultaneously launch prevention and therapeutic multi-intervention studies for both adults and children, and work to accelerate the clinical trial process.

The DCC will align with other, existing COVID research projects, including the RECOVER Consortium and the NIH-funded ACTIV (Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines) studies, to help advance the science on the health effects of COVID.

RECOVER Research Awards

RECOVER has awarded over $37 million in funding for more than 40 research projects. These studies will quickly advance what we know about how COVID affects different body tissues and organs.

The studies will tell us more about how the many different symptoms develop in people who have had COVID. We’ll also learn about what causes the long-term effects of COVID, known as Long COVID.

The research awards include:

• More funding to researchers whose current studies show promise to quickly advance understanding of what causes lasting symptoms in Long COVID.
• New funding to teams of RECOVER researchers from different specialty areas to support further analysis of tissue samples and data collected in current RECOVER studies.

View the awardees