RECOVER grants for Long COVID pathobiology research are among those cut under new NIH directive

While other aspects of the NIH RECOVER program continue operating for now, scientists and advocates say Long COVID research is broadly under threat from the Trump administration.

Update, March 28, 2025: These grants have now been restored, as of Friday. See our follow-up story for more information.

Listen to Betsy and Miles discuss this story on our podcast:

Some grants for Long COVID pathobiology research in the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER program are among those rescinded by the federal government this week under a new order to cut all funding for COVID-related research. Up to 45 grants awarded in 2022 and 2023 may have been revoked, as well as more recent grants not yet publicly announced, sources told The Sick Times.

While other aspects of the vast RECOVER program — including its clinical trials initiative — remain in place for now, its overall status is uncertain as the Trump administration targets COVID-19 and Long COVID research. Researchers in this field are facing a climate of fear and uncertainty.

This grant news follows the recent termination of both the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, which coordinated research and policy about the disease among the federal government, as well as an advisory committee on Long COVID that brought perspectives from people with Long COVID and other experts to the White House. 

NIH RECOVER provided about $68 million of its initial $1.15 billion budget to pathobiology studies, which aim to understand the underlying biological issues that cause a disease. The program awarded 45 grants to researchers across the country in 2022 and 2023. Last year, it awarded another 18 grants, using additional funding that the NIH provided to RECOVER.

Many of those 45 first-round grants were rescinded this week, according to researchers within RECOVER who spoke with The Sick Times. These grants are among broader cuts to COVID-related research across the NIH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A new NIH guidance document claims, “Now that the pandemic is over, the grant funds are no longer necessary,” according to reports from Science and Nature.

This statement, of course, is untrue — COVID-19 continues to spread at high levels, killing and disabling Americans. There are currently no government-approved treatments for Long COVID, which impacts at least 400 million people worldwide.

The Sick Times reached out to principal investigators for all pathobiology grants listed on RECOVER’s website. Of the researchers who responded, only two who received funding in 2022-23 said that this funding was not rescinded — but in both of those cases, the studies were already completed and all funds had been spent.

The NIH did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The funding cuts are particularly frustrating for scientists as many of the supported studies were nearing completion, said Megan Fitzgerald, a patient representative in RECOVER familiar with the pathobiology research. In some cases, researchers were already in the process of submitting draft papers to scientific journals. “All this investment has been made and it’s now being flushed down the toilet,” she said.

Multiple researchers who were leading these grants expressed disappointment and frustration over the cancellations in correspondence with The Sick Times. “We had probably eight people [who] were still actively working to finish up the project, and we’re gonna have to find money for them or let them go,” said one scientist, who asked not to be named.

“This is not only disappointing and demoralizing from a scientific perspective, but in a broader sense, as a clinician who sees these patients every day, a much larger disappointment to the patient community,” said grantee Mitchell Miglis, an autonomic disorders specialist at Stanford University, in an email. His team’s project aiming to better understand the causes of post-COVID postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) had been progressing for two years and “was slated to be completed in just two months,” he said.

“If we can’t make progress towards better understanding and treatment of post-COVID conditions, as a society we will face major societal repercussions. These conditions cannot just be canceled and ignored,” Miglis added.

Another grantee at Stanford, Paul J. Utz, similarly noted that his team’s research was terminated mid-study. “We had just received hundreds of RECOVER blood samples which were to be run using cutting-edge assays developed using these NIH funds. Our work will be delayed as we seek alternative funding,” he said.

If we can’t make progress towards better understanding and treatment of post-COVID conditions, as a society we will face major societal repercussions. These conditions cannot just be canceled and ignored.

Mitchell Miglis

In addition to the pathobiology grants that had already been underway, the NIH has also canceled new, not-yet-announced grants intended to support research specifically focused on the underlying biology of children with Long COVID, according to a source familiar with the pediatric research.

RECOVER’s pediatric observational study “just spent five years collecting data on children,” said Megan Carmiliani, founder of the advocacy group Long COVID Families, and the new grants were intended to open up that information for researchers to analyze. Without funding to complete those studies, a “one-in-a-lifetime treasure chest of data” will be lost and efforts to find treatments for children will be set back, she added.

This lost research will have immense implications for children with Long COVID, said pediatrician and RECOVER investigator David Warburton at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. “The only entity that’s got enough money to take on these problems is the federal government. … If they don’t do it, there’s going to be an opportunity cost which will reverberate for generations.”

Other RECOVER grants, including the pathobiology studies funded in 2024 and clinical trials, remain in place for now, sources told The Sick Times. But researchers are concerned it could only be a matter of time before these, too, are cut.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Grace McComsey, a clinical scientist at Case Western Reserve University who received one of the 2024 grants. “All of RECOVER is very concerned.” 

Other NIH Long COVID studies, like the REVERSE-LC testing the drug Baricitinib, seem to be unaffected by the cuts so far. Baricitinib is an immunomodulatory drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19, among other conditions and diseases. Lead researcher Wes Ely told The Sick Times that the trial remains funded through a separate NIH grant and is currently enrolling. “Let’s hope to continue this path of discovery to find help and answers,” he wrote in an email.

While some studies continue to operate, the barrage of concerning news in recent weeks has created a climate of uncertainty and fear for scientists studying Long COVID. One researcher outside of RECOVER, who spoke with The Sick Times under the condition of anonymity, said that there is currently “no worse scenario” than the current one for Long COVID research and future pandemic preparedness.

Even if the U.S. elects a new president in 2028, “it’s going to take more than a decade to undo the damage that we’re going to have over the next four years,” the scientist said. “This is an existential threat.”

Multiple scientists said that the Trump administration’s “pandemic is over excuse” is out of touch with reality, and that the recent funding cuts contradict health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s commitment to support RECOVER during his confirmation hearing as well as his stated priority to research chronic diseases.

The Long COVID community must “band together” and “resist draconian measures,” the anonymous researcher said. “Advocate for some stability for funding for Long COVID research and care.”

It’s going to take more than a decade to undo the damage that we’re going to have over the next four years.

scientist working on long covid research

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Miles Griffis contributed reporting.

Related advocacy opportunities: The Long COVID Campaign has made a tool available for people to send calls and emails in favor of federal Long COVID funding, while the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project has set up a letter to the Trump administration on Action Network. 

The Sick Times will continue following Long COVID-related news from the Trump administration. Send us tips at editors@thesicktimes.org, or reach out to Betsy on Signal @betsyladyzhets.25.

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