Jon Douglas

Five minutes to share how we’re bringing research closer to everyday life.

Paris-Saclay researchers studied 172 adults under 65 with respiratory infections before COVID. RSV and other respiratory viruses led to more hospitalizations than influenza. Underlying lung disease predicted worse outcomes. Young doesn’t mean low risk. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In the Netherlands, 16-year-old Charlotte has spent two years bedridden with Long COVID, unable to attend school or care for her horse. She traveled to Italy for experimental immunoglobulin treatment, briefly improving before severe side effects. www.ad.nl/westland/cha...

University of British Columbia researchers conducted a randomized trial of 160 Long COVID patients. Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) did not significantly improve fatigue, pain, physical activity, or quality of life compared with placebo after 16 weeks. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Researchers at Southern University of Science and Technology found that a single SARS-CoV-2 spike mutation weakened ACE2 binding by 3.5-fold, reducing cell fusion and viral infectivity. journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Researchers at the University of Zaragoza studied 342 people with Long COVID. Women reported poorer quality of life, more severe breathlessness, and more frequent cognitive, gastrointestinal, and pain symptoms. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Last day to register for next week’s NIH RECOVER-TLC workshop! 🧬🦠🔬 Attend November 4-5 in Bethesda or virtually as researchers, clinicians, and patients work to move Long COVID treatments forward. Hope to see you there! fnih.org/our-programs...

Researchers reviewed 105 Long COVID and ME/CFS clinical trials and found major gaps in how treatment success is measured. Only 18% of Long COVID trials assessed post-exertional malaise (PEM). Many relied on fatigue scores that miss disability & crashes. www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...

University of Perugia researchers reviewed evidence linking persistent JAK/STAT signaling to inflammation, autoimmunity, and dysautonomia in Long COVID. JAK inhibitors show early promise, but larger trials are needed. www.frontiersin.org/journals/pha...

Jools Oliver, 51, revealed she was diagnosed with ADHD and autism in her 40s after her children received similar diagnoses. She describes decades of exhaustion and misunderstanding. She also lived with Long COVID for two years. www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/jami...

Peking University researchers analyzed over 1,000 blood samples and found that COVID variant BA.3.2.2 evades antibodies common in children but remains vulnerable to those shaped by earlier vaccination. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I’m tired of science taking actual time. WHERE IS THE 80s TRAINING MONTAGE OF EVERYONE DISCOVERING CURES AND GETTING BETTER? KENNY LOGGINS, PLEASE 🙏

Johns Hopkins researchers found persistent brain inflammation and memory loss in female mice after COVID, driven by increased TLR7 signaling. Blocking TLR7 prevented these effects, revealing a potential Long COVID treatment target. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Fukuyama University researchers tested 12 fungi from Japanese pepper plants and found 6 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 in cells. One produced sapinopyridione, which blocked a viral enzyme needed for replication, offering a potential new antiviral drug candidate. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

University of Ferrara researchers studied 485 people and found that COVID infections after vaccination strengthened antibody and T-cell immunity. Hybrid immunity improved recognition of viral variants, while vaccination was linked to milder illness. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

University of Ljubljana researchers studied 117 COVID-19 survivors and found heightened inflammatory responses 2 years after critical illness. Their immune cells released more IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-8 when stimulated. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

University of Bristol researchers studied 18.4 million people and found COVID-19 was linked to increased gastrointestinal diseases for up to 2 years, especially after severe infection. Vaccination was associated with lower risks. bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/4/4/...

University of New Hampshire researchers analyzed insurance records from over 1 million adults and found that people with Long COVID and other disabling conditions had roughly 2x more primary care visits, 2-5x more ER visits, and 4-6x more hospital stays. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

University of Würzburg researchers studied 323 Long COVID patients and found low-dose prednisolone modestly improved fatigue, but benefits faded after treatment. B vitamins showed no benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...

University of Technology Sydney researchers followed 113 COVID-19 ICU survivors and found 26% still had communication or swallowing difficulties after 6 months, affecting speech, eating and daily life. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

University of British Columbia researchers call for Long COVID care to move beyond symptoms, focusing on viral persistence, immune dysfunction and biologically targeted treatments. publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/...

Researchers at University Medical Center Göttingen studied 892 adults and found that people with Long COVID reported significantly worse sex lives, even after accounting for depression and other health factors. The impact was similar in men and women. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

University of Alberta researchers studied 1 patient with severe ME/CFS who experienced brief symptom remission after both Shingrix vaccine doses. Immune testing showed reduced T-cell exhaustion markers and improved NK cell function. Symptoms returned. sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Gladstone Institutes and UCSF researchers found that SARS-CoV-2 uses its ORF3a protein to increase cholesterol uptake in cells, fueling viral replication. Removing ORF3a reduced this effect in cells and hamsters, revealing a potential antiviral target. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Help us bring research closer to everyday life. Vote for TrialPilot in the TOP × HHS People’s Choice Awards! Create an account and give our project an upvote. Thank you for your support! invisibleillness.crowdicity.com/post/896878?...

Karolinska Institutet researchers found that antiviral T cell memory is organized by body region. COVID and flu memory clustered near the lungs, norovirus near the gut, while nearby lymph nodes shared similar immune memory. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Emory University researchers found that Shiftless, an immune protein normally thought to fight viruses, can actually help SARS-CoV-2 infect cells and weaken their response to interferon. Blocking it reduced coronavirus infection in lab cells. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

WHO researchers analyzed 592,898 hospitalized COVID-19 patients across 64 countries. 76% of those with prescribing data received antibiotics, despite only 8% having suspected bacterial infections. Antibiotic use was linked to higher mortality. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Microsoft researchers tested an AI diagnostic system on 629 medical cases. It correctly diagnosed 83% of complex cases and 80% of emergency cases, compared with 36% and 47% for physicians. The AI asked more questions and often needed fewer tests. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Researchers found that STAT3 acts as an immune switch in mice infected with cytomegalovirus. Depending on inflammation and signals from IL-15 and interferons, it can either strengthen or suppress natural killer (NK) cell responses. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

University of Derby researchers studied 127 people, including 63 with Long COVID. They found elevated IL-12, suggesting ongoing immune activation. Inflammatory patterns varied between patients, reinforcing the need for biological subtypes. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

A new NPR podcast explores how viruses that lie dormant in our bodies can wake up when our immune systems are stressed, and what that might mean for long COVID. www.npr.org/2026/10/23/n...

University College London researchers mapped 19 drug binding sites on a SARS-CoV-2 protein essential for viral replication. Using 14 million viral sequences, they identified promising targets for future antivirals that may work across coronaviruses. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

UK researchers studied 151 people and found no increased blood clotting, impaired clot breakdown, or excess fibrin microaggregates in nonhospitalized Long COVID patients compared with recovered controls. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Final presentations for the TOP × HHS Tech Sprint are today! 🤞 We built TrialPilot to bring research closer to everyday life. Wish us luck! www.trialpilot.app

Shionogi analyzed data from 971 COVID-19 patients and found that ensitrelvir reduced infectious virus to undetectable levels in 95.7% of treated patients versus 72.1% on placebo by Day 4. Direct evidence of antiviral activity. www.shionogi.com/global/en/ne...

HealthBio researchers studied 10 people with post-treatment Lyme disease and detected bacterial proteins in immune cells years after treatment, without evidence of active infection. The findings suggest leftover antigens may fuel chronic inflammation. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Fred Hutchinson researchers studied B cells from 7 humans and found that newer SARS-CoV-2 variants were nearly 3 times less likely to be recognized by naïve immune cells. Mutations in spike appear to make the virus inherently harder to recognize. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

University Hospital Bern researchers report a case where SARS-CoV-2 triggered a severe inflammatory flare in a pregnant woman with Schnitzler syndrome. Blocking IL-1 with anakinra rapidly reversed symptoms and lowered CRP within five days. smw.ch/index.php/sm...

Weill Cornell researchers studied 8 Long COVID patients and found persistent SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in small blood vessels, alongside inflammation and collagen buildup that may restrict blood flow, even years after infection. ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S000...

Stanford researchers mapped 1 million neutrophils from 781 samples, revealing distinct immune cell states linked to infection, cancer and chronic disease. Even within normal ranges, higher neutrophil counts were associated with worse long-term survival. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Albany Medical College researchers analyzed blood from 299 people and found persistent immune and metabolic abnormalities in Long COVID. A machine learning model achieved 0.97 AUC, offering a promising path toward a diagnostic blood test. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

University of Auckland researchers found abnormal protein buildup in the protective lining of the brain in Parkinson’s patients. In mice, these proteins triggered inflammation and disrupted the brain’s waste clearance system. rupress.org/jem/article/...

University of Bern researchers analyzed lung and brain tissue from 186 mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. AI-assisted imaging accurately quantified viral nucleocapsid protein, linking its presence to viral RNA and tissue damage. www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/18...

University of Toronto researchers found that GLP-1 and GLP-2 drugs reduced T-cell-driven intestinal injury in mice. Together, semaglutide and teduglutide reduced inflammation and protected the gut lining, highlighting a potential treatment strategy. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

NIH announced a new Vaccinology and Immunology Center, with several hundred patients expected. Researchers will investigate the biology of Long COVID and illnesses following vaccination, identify risk factors, and explore treatments. www.nih.gov/about-nih/ni...

University of Oviedo researchers studied 41 people and found that those with Long COVID recalled significantly less verbal information after 9 months, despite similar initial performance. Memory retrieval was also slower. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Researchers at Mexico’s National Institute of Medical Sciences studied 367 COVID-19 patients in a randomized trial. Pirfenidone, an anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic drug, showed promising but inconclusive reductions in Long COVID 4-5 years later. www.ijidonline.com/article/S120...

Northwestern University studied 100 Long COVID patients with fatigue and found 53% had sleep apnea, including 20% with moderate to severe disease. Yet sleep apnea severity did not significantly explain their fatigue, brain fog, or cognitive impairment. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Researchers studied 68 children and found SARS-CoV-2 variants trigger distinct immune responses in the nose. Alpha and Delta produced stronger antiviral interferon responses, Omicron shifted toward inflammatory macrophage signaling and T-cell activity. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...