The Perfect Enemy | University of Arizona awarded $7.3 million grant to study long COVID-19 impact

TUCSON, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – The University of Arizona has accepted $7.3 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the impact of post-COVID-19 conditions.

UArizona is one of four other universities that were awarded the research grant that’s formally called “Tracking the Burden, Distribution, Impact of Post COVID-19 Conditions in Diverse Populations for Children, Adolescents, Adults” or Track PCC. “The University of Arizona has been at the forefront of COVID-19 research since the start of the pandemic, which leaves us well-positioned to explore answers to vitally important questions about the long-term effects of COVID-19,” said University of Arizona president Dr. Robert C. Robbins.

Associate professor in the UArizona College of Medicine Jennifer Andrews, Ph.D., will be one of three key researchers in charge of the project’s direction. All age groups and those in underserved populations will be included in the university’s research. “Arizona was hit hard by the pandemic with the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents compared with other states,” said Andrews. “Our involvement in this program ensures that the diverse rural and cultural populations unique to our state are represented in the data. Our additional focus on the inclusion of individuals with special health care needs pays special attention to the differing needs of that unique population.”

The research will gather data on the long-term impacts of a COVID-19 infection that’s often called long or long-haul COVID. The research will examine a wide spread of health consequences that continued more than 4 weeks after the virus’s infection. Health clinics and hospitals including Arizona Department of Health Services, the Mariposa Community Health Center, El Rio Community Health Center, MHC Healthcare, the Sunset Community Health Center, the Chiricahua Community Health Center, and Children’s Clinics of Southern Arizona will be contributing data to the story.