The long-term impacts of COVID-19 infection aren’t well known, and the National Institutes of Health plans to change that.
NIH awarded NYU Langone Health nearly $470 million to launch a national study population of diverse research volunteers, as well as support other large-scale studies, on the long-term effects of COVID-19.
The Manhattan-based institution received the parent award from the NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, and NYU will give sub-awards to more than 100 researchers at more than 30 institutions. NYU Langone will also serve as the RECOVER Clinical Science Core. Funding was aided by the American Rescue Plan.
NIH launched the RECOVER initiative to better understand why some people have prolonged symptoms of the virus, known as long or long-haul COVID, or why some develop new or have symptoms return after seemingly recovering from the illness. The most common long COVID symptoms include pain, headaches, fatigue, “brain fog,” shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, fever, chronic cough and sleep problems. Almost 25% of COVID-19 patients develop long-haul symptoms, one study has shown.
“We know some people have had their lives completely upended by the major long-term effects of COVID-19,” NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, said in a statement. “These studies will aim to determine the cause and find much needed answers to prevent this often-debilitating condition and help those who suffer move toward recovery.”
Creating a nationwide study population and giving researchers access to data from existing, diverse study populations will likely help shorten the timeline for better understanding long COVID. The cohort from the RECOVER initiative is a combined population of research participants from new and existing cohorts, called a meta-cohort. The study data will include clinical information, laboratory tests and analyses of participants in various stages of recovery after being infected with the virus.
“This scientifically rigorous approach puts into place a collaborative and multidisciplinary research community inclusive of diverse research participants that are critical to informing the treatment and prevention of the long-term effects of COVID-19,” said Gary Gibbons, MD, director of NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and one of the co-chairs of the RECOVER Initiative.
The RECOVER master protocols were developed by researchers, people affected by long COVID, and representatives from advocacy organizations. People in the studies will be diverse, including adult, pregnant, and pediatric populations and those in the acute and post-acute phase of infection. Other studies will examine data from millions of electronic health records and use mobile health technologies, such as smartphone apps and wearable devices.
Researchers are hopeful the studies will reveal insights into long COVID over the coming months.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."