July 18, 2021

19.6 million announced for new research into diagnosis and treatment of long COVID

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is awarding almost £20 million to 15 research studies across Britain to improve the understanding of long COVID, from diagnosis and treatment through to rehabilitation and recovery.

The projects were funded following a UK-wide research call for ambitious and comprehensive research into understanding and addressing the longer term physical and mental health effects of COVID-19 in non-hospitalised people.

This briefing brought together the leads of three of the studies, part of the package of NIHR funding to help answer key questions around long COVID, including:

• What are the causes of long COVID?
• How effective are different care services for patients with the condition?
• What interventions, including drug treatments, are most suitable for those with chronic symptoms?
• Why do long COVID patients experience breathlessness and a reduced ability to exercise?
• How to understand and treat ‘brain fog’.

Journalists dialled in to this briefing to hear from the Chief Investigators on some of the new studies as they discuss the current Long COVID situation and what their studies will investigate.

Speakers included:

Prof Amitava Banerjee, Associate Professor in Clinical Data Science, University College London & CI on the STIMULATE-ICP1 study

Prof Fergus Gleeson, Professor of Radiology, University of Oxford & CI on the EXPLAIN2 study

Dr Dennis Chan, Principal Research Fellow, University College London & CI on the CICERO3 study

Prof Nick Lemoine, Chair of NIHR’s long COVID funding committee & Medical Director, NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN)