Long Covid: UCL leads £8m studies into treatments and diagnosis

UCL researchers are leading the largest clinical trial on long Covid to date, involving over 4,500 people, as well as a study seeking to understand and treat the cognitive impairment associated with the condition, commonly known as brain fog. The two studies have received £8 million in government funding through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), out of a total of £19.6 million awarded to 15 projects to help better understand long Covid, improve diagnosis and find new treatments. The STIMULATE-ICP (Symptoms, trajectory, inequalities and management: understanding long COVID to address and transform existing integrated care pathways) study, led by UCL alongside University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), will recruit more than 4,500 people with the condition and test the effectiveness of existing drugs to treat long Covid by measuring the effects of three months' treatment, including on people's symptoms, mental health and outcomes such as returning to work. The study, which has received £6.8 million from NIHR, will also assess the use of MRI scans to help diagnose potential organ damage, as well as enhanced rehabilitation through an app to track people's symptoms. Chief investigator Professor Amitava Banerjee (UCL Institute of Health Informatics) said: "Individuals with long Covid have long been asking for recognition, research and rehabilitation. In our two-year study across six clinical sites around England, we will be working with patients, health professionals, scientists across different disciplines, as well as industry partners, to test and evaluate a new 'integrated care' pathway from diagnosis to rehabilitation, and potential drug treatments in the largest trial to-date.