Sharing insights from Long COVID experts

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.

View the recording.

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.

View the recording.

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, gender, 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.

View the recording.

A transcript of the event is available here (PDF, 136 KB).

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