The newly funded projects will support the development of tools and therapies to enhance support for people living with long COVID.
Three UNSW Sydney projects have been awarded funding under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to improve the quality of care for people affected by long COVID. The newly funded initiatives will work on developing new diagnostic and monitoring tools and therapies.
Long COVID, also known scientifically as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), refers to the long-term symptoms, such as fatigue, brain fog and breathlessness that some people experience after having COVID-19. It's a chronic and often debilitating condition that can affect many body systems, and the causes are yet to be fully understood.
Dean of UNSW Medicine & Health, Professor Cheryl Jones, said the grants would drive critical research into long COVID and help transform patient care.
"Long COVID remains a significant challenge, and research is essential to developing innovative treatments and interventions," Prof. Jones said. "These projects will deepen our understanding of the condition and pave the way for therapies that improve recovery and quality of life for people living with persistent symptoms."
Innovative treatments and therapies
Dr Carolina Sandler from the School of Health Sciences at UNSW Medicine & Health was awarded $2,998,859 to support better education and training for health professionals treating patients with long COVID. Called the SAGE Trial - Scalable Allied Health and General Practitioner Responses to Long-COVID in primary care - it will upskill GPs, practice nurses, allied health professionals and patients in diagnosing and caring for long COVID.
Symptom-focused physical rehabilitation and psychological support strategies have been shown in international studies to improve quality of life and function and reduce symptoms of long COVID. However, these strategies are yet to be trialled as an integrated, holistic intervention.
"SAGE addresses a critical gap in care for Australians living with long COVID by developing and evaluating a multidisciplinary model of care in primary care with the goal of improving function, quality of life, and confidence in care," Dr Sandler said. "The trial has the potential to transform national guidelines and provide a framework that can be scaled nationally, ensuring the health system meets the needs of people with PASC."
Dr Chan Phetsouphanh from the Kirby Institute and UNSW Medicine & Health was awarded $984,531 for investigating biomarkers and driver mechanisms of long COVID. The project will seek to identify biological signs and understand underlying processes in the body that lead to long-lasting symptoms after infection.
"Understanding the pathogenesis of long COVID is crucial for developing rational and evidence-based therapies, which will ultimately help to alleviate the burden of disease caused by long COVID," said Dr Phetsouphanh.
Associate Professor Lucette Cysique from the Kirby Institute and UNSW Medicine & Health was awarded $725,482 for a project aiming to identify key factors contributing to the incidence and prognosis of long COVID in large international and national cohort studies.
"There is strong evidence to indicate long COVID is essentially another example of Post-Infective Fatigue Syndrome (PIFS)," said A/Prof. Cysique. "Like PIFS, the main symptoms of long COVID are fatigue, post-exertional malaise, cognitive difficulties, often referred to as 'brain fog', sleep disturbance, and breathlessness.
"There is ongoing debate among the community and some researchers about whether PIFS is the best framework for understanding long COVID.
"Our project will directly address this question, providing unique insights into similarities and differences in the syndromal conditions and identify common factors that impact prognosis."
The NHMRC is administering the grants on behalf of the Australian government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Find out more about the MRFF's Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 Grant Opportunity .
