Long COVID and post-acute sequelae — NIH Funding Overview
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed June 9, 2026Data refreshed September 5, 2026Editorial standards
Long COVID — clinically termed Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) — is the focus of the NIH RECOVER Initiative, a large multi-cohort program established in 2021 to characterize, treat, and ultimately prevent persistent symptoms following acute COVID-19.
Funding snapshot
Award data on this page reflects a snapshot of NIH RePORTER records last refreshed on September 5, 2026. For live numbers, use the interactive trends view.
Why this matters now
PASC affects millions of Americans and remains poorly understood mechanistically. Continuing congressional appropriations to RECOVER and adjacent programs at NHLBI, NINDS, NIAID, and NIMH make long COVID one of the few research areas with stable, predictable federal investment through the late 2020s.
How NIH funds this area
Most long COVID awards are U01, U19, U54 cooperative agreements tied to RECOVER, with R01 and R21 grants supporting mechanistic substudies. The data below covers all NIH ICs mentioning long COVID or PASC in award text.
How to use this funding brief
Use this page to distinguish RECOVER network infrastructure from investigator-initiated mechanistic work. Cooperative awards can identify established cohorts and data resources, while R01 and R21 searches are more useful for testing where independent questions still receive support.
Official source: NIH RECOVER Initiative: About RECOVER
Search tactics
- Search "PASC" alongside "long COVID" — the terms appear in different awards.
- Filter by activity code U01 to surface RECOVER-network sites.
- NHLBI, NINDS, and NIAID are the most active institutes for long COVID research.
What the data shows
- Funding peaked in FY2024 at $131M. The FY2025 total of $108M is +332% versus FY2021.
- The number of awards rose about 3% in FY2025.
- About 82% of FY2026 dollars so far are non-Type-1 award actions, including competing renewals, supplements, non-competing continuations, and institutional changes. This is a descriptive record mix, not a measure of renewal activity alone.
- The average FY2025 award was $686K, and R01 was the most common mechanism in the recent window.
Editorial read
Long COVID is the one tracked area whose funding clearly peaked and receded: totals surged several-fold from FY2021 to a FY2024 high driven by the RECOVER consortium’s cooperative awards, then stepped down as that initiative matured. The portfolio is rebalancing toward investigator-initiated work, so recent R01 and R21 activity is a better signal of where independent projects can still land than the headline trend line.
Yearly NIH Awards for Long COVID and post-acute sequelae
Counts and total funding per fiscal year from NIH RePORTER. Recent fiscal years may understate final totals because of reporting lag.
| Fiscal Year | Project Count | Total Funding | Avg Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 31 | $24,929,519 | $804,178 |
| FY2022 | 86 | $117,880,410 | $1,370,702 |
| FY2023 | 126 | $110,798,213 | $879,351 |
| FY2024 | 153 | $131,016,051 | $856,314 |
| FY2025 | 157 | $107,748,809 | $686,298 |
| FY2026 | 109 | $87,524,073 | $802,973 |
Open the full interactive trends view for Long COVID and post-acute sequelae →
Top NIH Institutes (last 90 days)
Which NIH institutes funded the most Long COVID projects in the most recent 90-day window.
| Institute | Awards (90d) | Funding (90d) |
|---|---|---|
| NIH | 47 | $46,380,515 |
| AHRQ | 1 | $1,000,000 |
| VA | 8 | $0 |
Common Activity Codes (last 90 days)
Which grant mechanisms (R01, R21, U01, P30, etc.) appeared most often for Long COVID in the recent period.
Most Active Institutions (last 90 days)
Universities and research organizations with the most Long COVID awards in the most recent 90-day window.
- UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA — 3 awards
- TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON — 3 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO — 3 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH — 3 awards
- VA NORTH TEXAS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM — 2 awards
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON — 2 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS — 2 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA — 2 awards
Recently Awarded Long COVID and post-acute sequelae Grants
Twelve most recent awards mentioning Long COVID, drawn from NIH RePORTER. Click through to Find PIs for the full investigator search.
Immune determinants of lung sequelae post-acute viral infection
1R01HL182700-01A1Jie Sun · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, VA · $354,982 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R01Summary Severe respiratory viral infections can cause long-lasting lung damage, leading to persistent dyspnea, compromised lung function, and non-resolving fibrosis. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights these issues, with over 60 million individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). Our preliminary studies indicate that an aberrant…
Interactions of SARS-CoV-2 infection and genetic variation on the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease in Ancestral and Admixed Populations
5U19AG076581-04GABRIEL DE ERAUSQUIN · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER, TX · $3,973,798 · awarded Aug 26, 2026 · U19The science proposed in this program takes advantage of the unique scientific opportunity created by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, to study the interaction between a definable and time-limited risk-inducing environmental event (exposure to the virus) and genomic variation on the occurrence of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and related…
A Prospective Study of Persistent Symptoms of Lyme Disease
3P01AI181934-03S1Linden Hu · TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON, MA · $2,143,584 · awarded Aug 21, 2026 · P01ABSTRACT: OVERALL Despite years of research, there is no diagnostic test for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS); there is no consensus treatment for PTLDS; there is no agreement on the mechanisms causing disease or even how frequently it happens. And while there have been intriguing findings by many outstanding researchers, they have not been…
Characteristics and Determinants of Post-COVID Neurocognitive Dysfunction
5I01CX002739-03Roger Bedimo · VA NORTH TEXAS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, TX · awarded Aug 21, 2026 · I01Neurologic symptoms are among the most common post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Recent studies show that there is a very high rate of neurocognitive changes among Veterans surviving acute COVID- 19 infection. The long-term neurocognitive changes of this infection could be even worse and remains incompletely characterized. Moreover, neurological…
Characteristics and Determinants of Post-COVID Neurocognitive Dysfunction
5I01CX002739-02Roger Bedimo · VA NORTH TEXAS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, TX · awarded Aug 17, 2026 · I01Neurologic symptoms are among the most common post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Recent studies show that there is a very high rate of neurocognitive changes among Veterans surviving acute COVID- 19 infection. The long-term neurocognitive changes of this infection could be even worse and remains incompletely characterized. Moreover, neurological…
Genomic Architecture of LGL Leukemia
4R01CA178393-08Thomas Loughran · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, VA · $2,042,314 · awarded Aug 12, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Large granular lymphocytic leukemia (LGLL) results from a clonal expansion of antigen-driven cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or natural killer (NK) cells. LGLL is characterized by an inability to complete activation-induced cell death (AICD), inflammatory cytokine production, autoimmune disease, and cytopenias (primarily neutropenia and…
English Longitudinal Study of Ageing - Renewal 2024
3R01AG017644-27S1Andrew Steptoe · UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · $706,157 · awarded Aug 12, 2026 · R01This application is for competitive renewal of funding of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to cover two waves of full data collection – wave 12 (2025/26) and wave 13 (2027/28), together with a 3rd administration of the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP). ELSA has been part-funded by NIA since it began in 2002 as a sister study to…
Determining the role of the cytokine interleukin-22 (IL-22) in SARS-CoV-2 infection
1R21AI193667-01A1Lauren Zenewicz · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR, OK · $178,750 · awarded Aug 10, 2026 · R21PROJECT SUMMARY SARS-CoV-2 infection often has lasting, long-term effects on people’s health. Post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV- 2 infection (PASC), informally called “Long COVID”, is a clinically heterogenous disease with different patients having different affected tissues. In addition to the lungs, the site of primary infection, PASC patients also report…
Leveraging the sensitivity of antigen-specific T cells to interrogate disease mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets for Long COVID
5K99AI187316-02Mark Painter · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, PA · $175,428 · awarded Aug 7, 2026 · K99Project Summary/Abstract: An estimated 400 million people worldwide have experienced persisting and sometimes debilitating symptoms for months and years after SARS-CoV-2 infection, known as Long COVID (LC). No proven therapies exist to treat LC, and the underlying mechanisms driving disease remain poorly understood. Reactivation of herpesviruses such as…
HIV and its impact on Long COVID prevalence and manifestations
5F30AI186615-02Skye Opsteen · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, AL · $43,996 · awarded Aug 4, 2026 · F30PROJECT SUMMARY The purpose of this NIH F30 application is to support the PI, Skye Opsteen, and her mentored research and career development for the next three years. The proposed activities will strengthen her potential to become a successful physician scientist. The major goal of this project is to develop her experimental immunology skills to inform the…
Role of LDLR in COVID-Induced Myocarditis
5I01BX006199-02Lina Shehadeh · MIAMI VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, FL · awarded Aug 4, 2026 · I01Myocarditis associated with COVID-19 infection, long COVID syndrome and COVID mRNA vaccination have emerged as urgent unmet clinical needs. Two recent studies involving >80-million persons including national healthcare databases from the US Department of Veteran Affairs confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or mRNA vaccination significantly predispose…
Identifying Biological Signatures for Long COVID Development in Saliva
1R01DE035709-01Laura Jacox · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL, NC · $682,398 · awarded Aug 3, 2026 · R01ABSTRACT Long COVID is a debilitating, multi-system illness that affects over 65M people worldwide. Presently, there are no clinical tests for diagnosis of Long COVID. Instead, diagnosis is based on symptoms that develop, persist, or recur for at least 3 months following acute COVID-19. Providers cannot accurately predict which patients will go on to…
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