Videos and Presentations

A recent RECOVER study found that people over the age of 70 often experience different, and sometimes fewer, Long COVID symptoms than people in other age groups. The most common symptoms experienced by older adults taking part in this study were changes in smell and taste and stomach problems. Watch the latest Discover RECOVER video, featuring researcher Dr. Janko Ž. Nikolich and Patient Representative Mady Hornig, to learn how these findings could help ensure that people with Long COVID receive the diagnoses, care, and support they need.

Some people lose their sense of smell after having COVID-19. Some of these people can also experience cognitive (mental) symptoms like memory problems or having trouble thinking. RECOVER researchers conducted a study to learn how common smell loss after COVID-19 is, how long it can last, and whether people with smell loss are more likely to also experience cognitive symptoms. In the latest Discover RECOVER video, Dr. Leora Horwitz and Patient Representative Teresa Akintonwa share findings from this study and what they mean for Long COVID patients, their caregivers, and other researchers.

Findings from first large study to understand how Long COVID affects young children show that symptoms are different for children ages 0 to 2 compared to children ages 3 to 5. These symptoms can also differ from those that affect older children, teenagers, and adults. Watch the latest Discover RECOVER video to learn what families and doctors should know about Long COVD in babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

A recent RECOVER study found that people who have COVID-19 may be more likely to develop myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) than people who do not have COVID-19. Like Long COVID, ME/CFS can make it difficult for people to be active, get good sleep, and think clearly. In this video, researchers Dr. Suzanne Vernon and Dr. Rachel Hess and Patient Representative Emily Taylor discuss how many RECOVER study participants who had COVID-19 also developed ME/CFS and explain what these findings mean for patients, healthcare providers, and communities.

In this video, Dr. Nora Singer, Dr. Dimpy Shah, and Patient Representative Christine Maughan discuss a recent RECOVER observational study that found some women may experience a higher risk of developing Long COVID. Watch to learn what the researchers working on this study did, what they learned, and how patients, healthcare teams, and other researchers can make use of this new knowledge.

Can common blood test help doctors diagnose people with Long COVID? In this video, Dr. Kristine Erlandson and Patient Representative Rebecca Letts share findings from a recent RECOVER study to answer this question. Watch to learn more about these blood tests, how effective they are, and why what researchers learned about them matters to patients and doctors.

This Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery - Treating Long COVID (RECOVER-TLC) program webinar provided an update of progress made in the RECOVER-TLC initiatives since the last webinar in November 2024.

Joe Breen, PhD, chief of NIAID’s Immunoregulation Section in the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation, briefly reviewed the complicated nature of Long COVID and what current data suggests about pathogenesis. Dr. Breen outlined recent RECOVER-TLC progress, including establishing the antiviral, immunomodulatory, and neurological agent prioritization groups. Dr. Breen also highlighted the first wave of antiviral prioritization, the work of the new scientific oversight committee, and the additional resources that have been added online to keep the RECOVER-TLC community up to date on current happenings. Dr. Breen reminded viewers that the RFI is open for public comment until Feb. 1, 2025, but that people are welcome to continue reach out to RECOVER-TLC via email after this date. He ended by explaining what RECOVER-TLC plans to accomplish over the next few months, like wave 2 of antiviral agent prioritization and wave 1 of immunomodulatory, cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurological agent prioritization.

Lizzie Geerling, PhD, FNIH Associate Project Manager, Translational Science, provided an overview of RECOVER-TLC therapeutic submissions to date. This online portal has received more than 400 therapeutic submissions over 99 days, with 68% of submissions being drugs. Webinar participants were reminded that the portal remains open, and additional ideas can be submitted. Dr. Geerling also reviewed a summary of the scoring criteria for agent prioritization and timelines for agent prioritization in the coming months. Remaining time was allotted for a question-and-answer session, which concluded the webinar.

NIAID and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) have announced they will be holding a series of online webinars to highlight recent progress in the new Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery - Treating Long COVID (RECOVER-TLC) program. The first webinar in the series was held Thursday, November 21, with more than 800 patients, advocates, care providers, and scientists from academia and life sciences companies in attendance. NIAID expects to hold the next webinar in January 2025.

The Discover RECOVER video series spotlights RECOVER scientists and how they’re answering important questions about Long COVID. In this video, Dr. Torri Metz and RECOVER Representative Leyna Aragon discuss recent findings from the pregnancy observational study. Watch the video to learn how often pregnant women get Long COVID, which symptoms they experience, and why these insights are important for patients, doctors, and other researchers.

Discover RECOVER is a new video series spotlighting RECOVER scientists and how they’re answering important questions about Long COVID. In this video, Dr. Rachel Gross, Dr. Melissa Stockwell, and Dr. Tanayott Thaweethai discuss groundbreaking findings from their research on the unique Long COVID symptoms experienced by children between the ages of 6 and 17. Watch the video to learn what RECOVER researchers found, why these findings are important, and how these findings could inform future Long COVID studies.

As part of the NIH-FDA COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group (SIG) Seminar Series, Clinton Wright M.D., M.S., Senior Oversight Committee Co-Chair for the RECOVER Initiative, presented the webinar NIH RECOVER: Early Findings and Other Emerging Long COVID Science on September 14, 2023.

Dr. Wright summarized early Long COVID research, which has shown that people with Long COVID experience symptoms that affect many different organ systems in the body. He stressed the importance of collaboration between researchers with different scientific backgrounds sharing their research findings to better predict, prevent, and treat Long COVID. Dr. Wright provided an overview of the RECOVER initiative, discussed the patient-centered focus of RECOVER, and reviewed the RECOVER scientific aims and research components. He presented early findings from the RECOVER Initiative and other Long COVID research that is informing clinical trials.

NIH RECOVER, the Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL), and the Tribal Health Research Office (THRO) co-sponsored the Highlights of Pandemic Related Successes in Tribal Communities Webinar, held on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. This event was tailored specifically for research team members across RECOVER, CEAL, and NIH to spotlight successful approaches used during the COVID-19 pandemic to engage members of Tribal Communities. Experts from the Center for Indigenous Health and the Indian Health Service shared how they met the needs and priorities of these communities, overcame barriers to vaccination, and developed best practices for engagement around COVID-19 related research that might be applicable to other research efforts and public health matters of importance. The webinar also featured a panel discussion and a live Q&A session, which were moderated by Mose A Herne, MPH, MS, THRO Senior Advisor.

Researchers from RECOVER and the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) compared the risk of heart problems after COVID infection and after mRNA COVID vaccination. They used EHR data from 40 health care systems representing more than 15 million people, aged 5 years or older. The study compared people of similar age, sex, and number of vaccine doses to see what increased the risk of heart problems.

The study found that the risk of heart problems after getting an mRNA COVID vaccine was very low for people of all ages and genders. Also, the risk of having heart problems after having COVID was significantly higher than after getting an mRNA COVID vaccine.

These findings support the continued use of the recommended mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible people aged 5 or older. See this recent study in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

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.

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

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.

The video is no longer available, but a transcript of the event is available here (PDF, 7 pages).

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.

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.

The video is no longer available, but a transcript of the event is available here (PDF, 10 pages).

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.

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.