Researchers and clinicians at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing will study the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the lives and health of infants, youths and young adults.

The project is part of the nationwide Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery, or RECOVER, initiative, funded by the National Institutes of Health to investigate the spread and impact of long COVID on children and young adults and create solutions to the effects of the virus.

“The RECOVER project is going to help us understand long COVID so we might develop treatments for those affected by the pandemic for years to come,” said Amy Salisbury, professor and associate dean at the VCU School of Nursing and a principal investigator of enrollment sites for the RECOVER initiative.

“It’s also going to give back to the families deciding to participate in the study by understanding important information about their children’s development, health and mental well-being.”

The RECOVER project has been in the planning stages since September 2021, when the NIH announced an expansion of its research into long COVID’s effects. Researchers are now enrolling participants, with the VCU School of Nursing leading the efforts of a research consortium made up of VCU, Rhode Island Hospital and NYU Langone Health.

The VCU research team seeks to recruit and study the long-term health and well-being of about 240 Central Virginia families with children, youth or young adults ages 25 or younger who have had any COVID-19 symptoms.

Families will be enrolled through several avenues, including Richmond community events such as National Night Out on Aug. 2. Families interested in participating in the study can sign up at https://rampages.us/virginiakids4covidproject/.