The Long Covid Research Initiative

A patient-driven movement to accelerate Long Covid Research

Million people with Long Covid¹

Million children with Long Covid¹

$386B

Economic cost of Long Covid to the USA to date²

The Long Covid Research Initiative is a collaboration of scientists, clinicians, and patients to rapidly and comprehensively study and treat Long Covid

Long Covid is no longer a mystery. New research is revealing key drivers of the condition, including evidence strongly suggesting that patients with Long Covid do not fully clear the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Instead, the virus may persist in tissue where it continues to provoke the immune system. This could drive a wide range of downstream consequences, such as blood clotting, neuroinflammation, and neuropathy. The persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in tissue is called a viral reservoir.

The Long Covid Research Initiative is establishing a virtual research institute with a two-pronged approach, consisting of research and therapeutics, with a shared focus on the topic of viral reservoir:

The LCRI Research Program, in which scientists from top global institutions unite their collective expertise to study the disease mechanisms of Long Covid
The LCRI Clinical Trials Program, in which Research Program findings are translated into therapeutic targets to be used in clinical trials

These programs include scientists and clinicians from Harvard, Stanford, UCSF, the J. Craig Venter Institute, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, Mount Sinai, Cardiff, and Yale.

RNA for SARS-CoV-2 (pink) and the ACE2 receptor (white), found in salivary gland cells, outlined in green. Credit: NIH.

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¹ Symptoms lasting longer than 12 weeks. Extrapolated from UK’s ONS data, up to Aug 13th, 2022. Extrapolated to world population excluding China, adjusted for demographics.

² Estimate from SolveME whitepaper Long Covid Impact on Adult Americans: Early Indicators Estimating Prevalence and Cost