RECOVER Builds Large Nationwide Study Population for Research on ‘Long Covid’
NIH awarded nearly $470 million to build a national study population of diverse research volunteers and support large-scale studies on the long-term effects of Covid-19. The Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative made the parent award to New York University (NYU) Langone Health, which will make multiple sub-awards to more than 100 researchers at more than 30 institutions and serves as the RECOVER Clinical Science Core.
This major new award to NYU Langone supports new studies of Covid-19 survivors and leverages existing long-running large cohort studies with an expansion of their research focus. This combined population of research participants from new and existing cohorts, called a meta-cohort, will comprise the RECOVER Cohort. Funding was supported by the American Rescue Plan.
NIH director Dr. Francis Collins discussed the award Sept. 15 at a telebriefing that also included NHLBI director Dr. Gary Gibbons, NYU Clinical Science Core principal investigator Dr. Stuart Katz and NHLBI deputy director for clinical research and strategic initiatives Dr. Amy Patterson.
NIH launched RECOVER to learn why some people have prolonged symptoms (referred to as “long Covid”) or develop new or returning symptoms after the acute phase of infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The most common symptoms include pain, headaches, fatigue, “brain fog,” shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, fever, chronic cough and sleep problems.
“We know some people have had their lives completely upended by the major long-term effects of Covid-19,” said Collins, announcing the award. “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.”
Data from the RECOVER Cohort will include clinical information, laboratory tests and analyses of participants in various stages of recovery following SARS-CoV-2 infection. With immediate access to data from existing, diverse study populations, it is anticipated researchers will be able to accelerate the timeline for this important research.
“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 Gibbons, who also co-chairs RECOVER.
Researchers, people affected by long Covid and representatives from advocacy organizations worked together to develop the RECOVER master protocols that use standardized trial designs and research methods to enable uniform evaluation of study populations across studies and the ability to quickly pivot the research focus depending on what findings show. This approach allows for data harmonization across research studies and study populations. Data harmonization allows data to be compared and analyzed, which will facilitate the research process and provide more robust findings.
Studies will include adult, pregnant and pediatric populations; enroll patients during the acute as well as post-acute phases of SARS-CoV-2 infection; evaluate tissue pathology; analyze data from millions of electronic health records; and use mobile health technologies, such as smartphone apps and wearable devices, which will gather real-world data in real time.
Together, the studies are expected to provide insights over the coming months into many important questions including the incidence and prevalence of long-term effects from SARS-CoV-2 infection, the range of symptoms, underlying causes, risk factors, outcomes and potential strategies for treatment and prevention.
Also participating in the telebriefing were NICHD director Dr. Diana Bianchi, NIAID medical officer Dr. Andrea Lerner and NINDS associate director and director of the Division of Clinical Research Dr. Clinton Wright.