Working together to enhance recovery
The RECOVER Initiative brings together patients, caregivers, clinicians, community leaders, and scientists from across the nation to understand, prevent, and treat PASC, including Long COVID. This group is called the RECOVER Consortium.
RECOVER Consortium
The Consortium represents and supports more than 100 researchers who are leading studies on Long COVID at more than 200 places around the country. These studies have a diverse group of participants, including adults, pregnant people, and children.
RECOVER Leadership
The Consortium collaborates with patients, caregivers, and community representatives across all levels of the initiative, including in national leadership roles and within local communities in study locations.
RECOVER leaders serve on the:
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee directs the overall RECOVER Initiative strategy and ensures that RECOVER meets its scientific objectives and mission by
- Leading and overseeing the operations
- Evaluating the progress of studies and advising the NIH and the Steering Committee if any changes are necessary
- Offering recommendations to the NIH on matters regarding high-level processes, procedures, plans, and strategy
Voting Members
Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Walter J. Koroshetz, MD Senior Oversight Committee Co-ChairDirector, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Anthony Fauci, MD Senior Oversight Committee Co-ChairDirector, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Andrea Lerner, MD, MS Senior Oversight Committee Co-Chair DesigneeMedical Officer, Office of the Director, NIAID
Amy Patterson, MD Senior Oversight Committee Co-Chair DesigneeDeputy Director, Clinical Research and Strategic Initiatives, NHLBI
Clinton B. Wright, MD, MS Senior Oversight Committee Co-Chair DesigneeDirector, Division of Clinical Research, NINDS
Diana Bianchi, MD Senior Oversight Committee MemberDirector, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD Senior Oversight Committee MemberDirector, National Library of Medicine
Professor of Neurology and Pathology
Director, Transversa Myelitis Center
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Betty Diamond, MD External ExpertDirector, Institute of Molecular Medicine & Maureen and Ralph Nappi Professor of Autoimmune Diseases, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research
Professor, Molecular Medicine and Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health
Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, MPhil External ExpertProfessor of Neurology and Epidemiology
Chief of Neurology Clinical Outcomes Research and Population Sciences
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Mitchell Miglis, MD External ExpertClinical Associate Professor, Neurology & Neurological Sciences
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine
Wendy Post, MD, MS External ExpertProfessor of Medicine
Director of Cardiovascular Research
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Professor of Epidemiology
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Felicia Davis Blakley Co-Chair, RECOVER National Community Engagement GroupPresident and CEO, Chicago Foundation for Women
Heather Yates Co-Chair, RECOVER National Community Engagement GroupProgram Coordinator, Office of Student Conduct at West Virginia Clinical & Translational Science Institute
Ex-Officio, Non-Voting Members
Director of Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Professor of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
Stuart D. Katz, MD MPI, RECOVER Clinical Science CoreDirector, NYU Langone Health Heart Failure Program
Professor of Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Nedra Whitehead, PhD, MS PI, RECOVER Administrative Coordination CenterSenior Genetic Epidemiologist
RTI International
Jeffrey Burns, MD, MPH Co-chair, RECOVER Steering CommitteeChief of Critical Care
Chair, ICU Governance Committee
Chair, International Health Services
Boston Children's Hospital
Professor of Anesthesia and Pediatrics
Harvard Medical School
Serena Spudich, MD, MA Co-chair, RECOVER Steering CommitteeGilbert H. Glaser Professor of Neurology
Division Chief, Neurological Infections & Global Neurology
Co-director, Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research, Yale School of Medicine
Chief Medical Officer and Director, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Michael F. Iademarco, MD, MPHRear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General
U. S. Public Health Service
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and Medicine
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Peter Marks, MD, PhDDirector, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Sam Posner, PhDActing Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Janet Woodcock, MDActing Commissioner of Food and Drugs
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPHExecutive Director
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee ensures that RECOVER studies work toward the overall goals of the RECOVER Initiative by
- Checking on progress and performance to make sure that study activities are completed on time
- Reviewing reports on the quality and completeness of study data
- Reviewing reports from the other Committees and Boards
- Considering any new information from sources outside of RECOVER that may be relevant to the studies
The Steering Committee reports to the Executive Committee as needed on:
- New challenges and opportunities that arise
- Requested changes to daily operations or procedures for RECOVER studies
- Any other issues that might impact the scientific goals and/or budget
Boston Children's Hospital
Serena Spudich, MD, MA Co-ChairYale School of Medicine
Thomas (Tony) Minor Patient representativeAdult Cohort
Brittany Taylor Patient representativeAdult Cohort
Charles Bailey, MD, PhD Electronic Health Records StudyChildren's Hospital of Philadelphia
R. Graham Barr, MD, DrPH Adult CohortColumbia University
Hassan Brim, PhD Adult CohortHoward University
Sandra Brown, PhD Pediatric CohortUniversity of California, San Diego (Jernigan)
Alexander Charney, MD, PhD Adult CohortIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Mine Cicek, PhD PASC Biorepository CoreMayo Clinic
John Crary, MD, PhD Tissue Pathology StudyIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Sean Deoni, PhD Adult CohortRhode Island Hospital
Jamie Elifritz, MD Tissue Pathology StudyUniversity of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Aloke Finn, MD Tissue Pathology StudyCVPath Institute
Thomas Flotte, MD PASC Biorepository CoreMayo Clinic
Andrea Foulkes, ScD Data Resource CoreMassachusetts General Hospital
Melissa Haendel, PhD Electronic Health Records StudyUniversity of Colorado
James Heath, PhD Adult CohortInstitute for Systems Biology
Rachel Hess, MD Adult CohortUniversity of Utah
Sally Hodder, MD Adult CohortWest Virginia University
Leora Horwitz, MD Clinical Science CoreNYU Langone Health
Vanessa Jacoby, MD, MAS Pregnancy CohortUniversity of California, San Francisco
Elizabeth (Beth) Karlson, MD Data Resource CoreBrigham and Women's Hospital
Stuart Katz, MD Clinical Science CoreNYU Langone Health
Cornell University
Lawrence Kleinman, MD, MPH Pediatric CohortRutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Jerry Krishnan, MD, PhD Adult CohortUniversity of Illinois at Chicago
Emily Levitan, PhD Adult CohortUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham
Bruce Levy, MD Adult CohortBrigham and Women's Hospital
Jeffrey Martin, MD, MPH Adult CohortUniversity of California, San Francisco
Grace McComsey, MD, FIDSA Adult CohortCase Western Reserve University
Torri Metz, MD Pregnancy CohortUniversity of Utah
Shawn Murphy, MD, PhD Data Resource CorePartners Healthcare
Jane Newburger, MD, MPH Pediatric CohortBoston Children’s Hospital
Lisa Newman, MSPH Administrative Coordinating CenterRTI International
Igho Ofotokun, MD, MSc Adult CohortEmory University School of Medicine
Sairam Parthasarathy, MD Adult CohortUniversity of Arizona
Thomas Patterson, MD Adult CohortUniversity of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Ross Reichard, MD Tissue Pathology StudyMayo Clinic
Upinder Singh, MD Adult CohortStanford University
Jessica Snowden, MD Pediatric CohortArkansas Children's Research Institute
Melissa Stockwell, MD Pediatric CohortColumbia University Irving Medical Center
James Stone, MD, PhD Tissue Pathology StudyBrigham and Women's Hospital
Stephen Thibodeau, PhD PASC Biorepository CoreMayo Clinic
Andrea Troxel, ScD Clinical Science CoreNYU Langone Health
David Warburton, OBE, DSc, MD, MMM, FRCP, FRCS, FRCPCH Pediatric CohortChildren's Hospital Los Angeles
Nedra Whitehead, PhD Administrative Coordinating CenterRTI International
The Steering Committee roster does not include ex officio members, nor does it include NIH noncommittee member attendees.
National Community Engagement Group
The RECOVER Initiative’s National Community Engagement Group (NCEG) helps ensure that RECOVER research meets the needs of patients, caregivers, and community members. NCEG works closely with RECOVER study leaders and other RECOVER groups to guide them on the best ways to engage with participants and the community. The NCEG is made up of patients and caregivers affected by COVID and Long COVID. It also includes people who work with communities affected by COVID, such as Black and Tribal communities.
NCEG members will:
- Share thoughts from the patient and community point of view about the experience of people affected by Long COVID.
- Help decide what are the important research questions.
- Review and give feedback on study materials.
- Provide advice about the best way to collect information from participants.
- Look at the study findings and think about how to share them.
- Ensure RECOVER study leaders follow the guiding principles below when engaging with the public and participants.
Guiding Principles for RECOVER’s Community Engagement
These guiding principles are values that RECOVER staff, leaders, and NCEG members follow when engaging with people interested in joining a study, with participants, and with the public.
- Inclusivity and diversity: We will include a diverse group of people in the RECOVER study, including study staff, leaders, and participants. The goal is to include people of many races and ethnicities, ages, genders, jobs, education levels, incomes, U.S. locations, and those who have different health conditions.
We will think carefully and often about who isn’t involved in RECOVER and how we can engage and involve them. - Transparency: We will openly share information about the RECOVER study and its findings with participants and the public.
- Accessibility: We will share information about the RECOVER study in a way that people can easily find and understand it. This includes sharing information in different languages and in different formats, such as print (like brochures and flyers), videos, and online (on a website).
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Two-way communication: Communication between RECOVER staff and the public, including participants, will be two-way so that both groups can send, receive, and share information:
- We will ask participants and the public for their input and questions about the RECOVER study and use their feedback to improve the study.
- Participants and the public can send us their questions and we will listen carefully and answer them.
- Accountability: We will hold RECOVER staff and leaders responsible for making sure RECOVER follows research standards and ethics, including to do no harm.
NCEG Co-Chairs
Felicia Davis Blakely
President and CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women
Felicia leads the Chicago Foundation for Women’s strategic efforts, investing in women and girls as catalysts for change. She has spent most of her career in public service, first as a member of the Chicago Police Department as a police officer and a violent crimes detective. Later, she served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Office of Public Engagement in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, and as Interim President of Olive-Harvey College, where she was a leader in developing, maintaining, and evaluating academic programs. Felicia was also an appointee to the Illinois Senate’s Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Awareness and Prevention Task Force and a member of Governor JB Pritzker’s Inauguration Committee. Currently, she serves on the Board of Regents for Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, iHeartMedia Chicago’s Local Advisory Board, and the University of Chicago, Court Theatre Board of Trustees. Felicia is a founding member of the Chicago Foundation for Women’s South Side Giving Circle.
Heather Yates
Case Manager, Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, West Virginia University
Heather works for West Virginia University as a Case Manager for the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. She is originally from Beaver, Pennsylvania, but currently resides in Morgantown, West Virginia. Heather is a 1995 graduate of Edinboro University. She is the mother of two, Jordan, 26, and MacKenzie, 21. She worked in social service for over 20 years, 10 of which she served as Executive Director of CASA of Beaver County, PA. Heather has a passion for advocacy and helping others, which explains her enthusiasm for her volunteer work within the RECOVER Initiative. As a PASC patient, Heather hopes that her participation in the study will help the medical community better understand why specific individuals are more susceptible to Long COVID and how to successfully treat the wide range of symptoms. In addition to her participation in the study and NCEG, Heather is also a member of the RECOVER Executive Committee and serves on the RECOVER National Community Advisory Board.
Tony Minor, DMin
Manager for Faith-Based Outreach at MetroHealth Medical System
As the manager of Faith-Based Outreach at the MetroHealth Medical System in Cleveland, Tony manages a communitywide network of faith-based organizations to collaboratively improve the health of community members. He also currently operates Project Thrive, a faith-based initiative designed to equip faith communities to respond to community trauma, toxic stress, and grief. He recently served as the Director of Advocacy for the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, focusing on public policy issues impacting vulnerable populations. Tony also served as the director of Project Safe, an HIV prevention program, and as the Co-Manager of Father and Families Together at the Center for Families and Children. He also developed the Safe Streets/Safe Schools project that is designed to address issues related to community violence and trauma. Tony has a bachelor’s degree in English from Morehouse College, a Master of Divinity from the Inter-Denominational Theological Center, and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton.
Brittany D. Taylor, MPH, CDF
Project Director, Georgia Community-Engaged Research Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities
Brittany is a public health practitioner with 13 years of experience overseeing and implementing projects focused on maternal health, chronic disease management and prevention, infectious disease control, tobacco cessation, and health equity advancement. She has served in leadership positions on several grants and research projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. She has held leadership positions with the National Million Hearts Initiative, Deloitte, CDC Diversity & Inclusion Team, and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Cardiovascular Health Leadership Council. Brittany is a graduate of the College of Charleston where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and of Mercer University where she earned her Master of Public Health. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
NCEG Members
NCEG members are listed with permission. This roster is not a comprehensive list of NCEG membership, as some participants prefer to contribute to the NCEG without being listed publicly and we honor their preference.
Teresa Akintonwa
Jamila Boyd
Heather Elizabeth Brown
Megan Carmilani
Marta Cerda
Felicia Davis Blakely*
Whitney Fields
Roberto Garcia
Yvonka Hall
Kevin Kondo
Fadwa Lawrence
Jacqui Lindsay
Christine Maughan
Thomas Tony Minor*
Marjorie Roberts
Nitza Rochez
Chimére Smith
Brittany Taylor*
Heather Yates*
*NCEG Co-Chairs
Learn more about how RECOVER research works and the role of patients, caregivers, and community representatives.
Pathobiology Task Forces
Pathobiology is the study of why diseases happen in the body. In large research studies, a task force is a group of experts organized for a specific task. Because COVID can affect many parts of the body, we need experts in all types of diseases and body systems to help us learn why. Each RECOVER task force has experts in different kinds of health problems and body systems. One thing each Pathobiology Task Force will do is keep researchers up to date on the latest science about how COVID may be causing health problems. This will help RECOVER leaders to get the best results from RECOVER studies.
Each task force includes patient, caregiver, and community members from across the country. They are like the people taking part in the RECOVER studies and can be a voice for study participants. As part of the task force, they share their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and advice, including how COVID has affected their loved ones, their communities, and more.
The 12 Pathobiology Task Forces are:
- Answer questions about why some people are more likely than others to have long-term problems with COVID, which may be because of things such as where they live, how much money they have, or how hard it is for them to get healthcare.
- Best collect information from COVID patients and their caregivers to find out how COVID is affecting them.
- Work with people and leaders from different communities to influence how the study is done and who is involved.
- damage to the immune system, which would make it harder for our bodies to fight infections and other diseases; or
- problems with blood, such as blood clots.
Oversight Committees
These groups help monitor and support RECOVER studies. This includes helping study leaders, teams, and study participants.
The Oversight Committees help make sure the research studies meet the RECOVER project goals, help researchers fix any problems, and protect those taking part in the studies. Groups will include researchers, experts, patients, caregivers, and community members.
The 6 Oversight Committees are:
RECOVER Researchers
The RECOVER Consortium represents a national study population of diverse research volunteers. It will support studies that are part of an intensive effort to learn about the recovery process following infection with SARS-CoV-2 and why some individuals have prolonged symptoms.
The RECOVER Cohort will include awardees across multiple focus areas, including adults, pediatrics, pregnant participants, tissue pathology (autopsy studies), and real-world data.
Adult Population Awardees
Pediatric Population Awardees
Pregnant Population Awardees
Tissue Pathology Study Awardees
Real-World Data Awardees
RECOVER Infrastructure
The four RECOVER Cores and the Administrative Coordinating Center facilitate coordination and provide the RECOVER Initiative's infrastructure, or organizational framework, around which the research is conducted.
Together, their primary role is to build and support the RECOVER Initiative, its participant pool and team of investigators, and to ensure that data are standardized and effectively shared among researchers and with the public.
Clinical Science Core, NYU Langone Health
Build the RECOVER Consortium—a group of lead investigators among the research awardees—to harmonize and coordinate data, develop methods for monitoring protocols, and guide communication and engagement with key stakeholders such as patients and clinicians. Learn more about NYU Langone Health's role.
Data Resource Core, Massachusetts General Hospital
Help enable tracking and searchability across all data sources and provide expertise in statistical analyses and data standardization, access, and sharing.
Biorepository Core, Mayo Clinic
Receive, manage, and make available to researchers a diverse range of biospecimens obtained from RECOVER research studies.
Administrative Coordinating Center, RTI International
Provide oversight and monitoring support in addition to communication, work group, protocol development, and implementation support. Learn more about RTI International's role.
studies.recovercovid.org