Long Covid Research Advances: Scientists and Patient-Researchers Seek Treatments
The September/October 2026 edition of Smithsonian magazine explores the ongoing efforts to comprehend and address long Covid, which impacts around 21 million adults in the United States. Featured in the article is Julia Moore Vogel, a computational biologist who contracted Covid in July 2020 and subsequently experienced severe long Covid symptoms. Despite her challenges, she co-authored the significant paper 'Long Covid: Major Findings, Mechanisms and Recommendations' in January 2023, which has been cited 4,000 times, and is currently leading a clinical trial for tirzepatide. Additionally, the piece discusses Michael Peluso's LIINC study at UCSF and Tim Henrich's investigations into viral persistence. While there are no FDA-approved treatments yet, 90 drug trials are in progress, focusing on repurposed medications. Researchers liken the disease's intricacies to a double-sided puzzle.
Key facts
- Julia Moore Vogel, a computational biologist, contracted Covid on July 8, 2020, and developed severe long Covid.
- Vogel co-authored the paper 'Long Covid: Major Findings, Mechanisms and Recommendations' published in Nature Reviews Microbiology in January 2023.
- The paper has been viewed online two million times and cited 4,000 times.
- An estimated 21 million American adults have experienced long Covid symptoms.
- Michael Peluso runs the LIINC study at UCSF, which has enrolled about 2,000 patients.
- UCSF researchers have found viral reservoirs in the gut and bone marrow of long Covid patients.
- Around 90 long Covid drug trials are underway or concluded worldwide.
- No medications have been approved by the FDA to specifically treat long Covid.
- Vogel runs a clinical trial testing tirzepatide for long Covid.
- The article mentions hypotheses including viral persistence, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial disruption, and reactivation of latent viruses.
Entities
Artists
- Julia Moore Vogel
- Michael Peluso
- Tim Henrich
- Eric Topol
- Hannah Davis
- Lisa McCorkell
- Amy Proal
- Steven Deeks
- Akiko Iwasaki
- Michela Locci
- Irini Sereti
- David Kaufman
- Nancy Klimas
- Ed Yong
- Emmanuel Velazquez
- Theresa Moore
- Bobby Vogel
Institutions
- University of California, San Francisco
- Scripps Research
- National Institutes of Health
- All of Us Research Program
- Patient-Led Research Collaborative
- PolyBio
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
- Mount Sinai Hospital
- Yale New Haven Hospital
- Stanford University
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Yale University
- University of Pennsylvania
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- Covid-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project
- Center for Complex Diseases
- Invivyd
- Smithsonian magazine
Locations
- San Diego
- La Jolla
- San Francisco
- Mission District
- Torrey Pines
- Carmel Valley
- upstate New York
- Schaghticoke
- Hoosic River
- United States