PolyBio Research Foundation

19 Nov 2024

1/ Introducing PolyBio’s new interactive website module, where you can learn about our #LongCovid Research Consortium projects, technologies, and findings across international institutions: polybio.org/consortium-p...

14 Aug

Featured in Bloomberg this week: UCSF’s PolyBio-supported LIINC team and their recent preprint suggesting SARS-CoV-2 viral and protein persistence in the gastrointestinal tracts of a portion of Long COVID patients. 1/

14 Aug

“Millions of people worldwide have experienced lasting symptoms after Covid-19… The condition is also part of a broader and still poorly understood group of chronic illnesses that can follow infections, meaning insights into its biology could have implications well beyond Covid.”

businessmirror.com.phLong-Covid study: Gut immune system struggling to clear virus | Jason Gale / Bloomberg NewsTHE immune systems of people with long Covid may remain locked in a prolonged battle with remnants of the coronavirus, producing inflammation while failing to effectively eliminate its source, new res...

14 Aug

Full access to article (courtesy of Business Mirror): businessmirror.com.ph/2026/08/12/l...

PolyBio is supporting research that investigates the bone marrow as a potential long-term SARS-CoV-2 reservoir site. Bone marrow-derived cells, including megakaryocytes and the platelets they produce, have previously been shown to contain SCV2 double-stranded RNA in Long COVID patients’ samples— 1/

polybio.orgLIINC PASC Tissue Program: A multimodal assessment of the tissue-based virologic drivers of Long COVID - PolyBio Research FoundationProject Summary:The PASC Tissue Program is the first in the world to comprehensively sample multiple tissues including gut, lymph node, cerebrospinal...

Learn more about the LIINC collaborative: polybio.org/projects/lii...

youtu.bePolyBio Spring 2026 SymposiumYouTube video by PolyBio Research Foundation

Listen to Dr. Tim Henrich’s latest update on bone marrow biopsies in Long COVID: youtu.be/tD5gWVEjudQ?...

At the forefront of these efforts is UCSF’s LIINC program, which recently expanded to collecting and analyzing bone marrow biopsies from Long COVID patients & recovered individuals with the support of PolyBio. 4/

After PET imaging studies from the team flagged potential SCV2 persistence in bone marrow, Spatial Omics on a growing number of bone marrow biopsies are helping quantify viral RNA & protein burden, immune cell phenotypes, & host gene responses at single-cell resolution in people with Long COVID. 5/

and have been highlighted as sometimes sheltering persistent virions via early data from Dr. Morgane Bomsel’s PolyBio-supported team. 2/

An ongoing focus of this research includes monitoring immune and metabolic changes in bone marrow and BM-derived cells that are associated with viral persistence, but cannot be detected in blood samples. 3/

17 July

Dr. Amy Proal in collaboration with the Cohen Center for Recovery from Complex Chronic Illness this week: “A big goal of ours is that [Long COVID] diagnostics are available to be ordered in insurance care for the most number of patients…

17 July

You have to choose a different regulatory route and that requires a lot of interactions with the FDA, a lot of validation experiments… This incubation process of getting the diagnostic out of academia and into the real world, that’s something we’ve been working on a lot.” @coresinai.bsky.social

youtube.comAMA with Drs Proal and Putrino!YouTube video by CoRE at Mount Sinai

17 July

Watch the full Q & A here: www.youtube.com/live/oHJEo0K... Learn more about PolyBio’s Commercialization Advisory Network: polybio.org/polybio-comm...

“What we’re finding across the genome are specific variants that are very much enriched, and have highly likely loss-of-function in these patients with [severe] Long COVID,” said Dr. Petter Brodin on his team’s PolyBio-supported genome study of Long COVID patients.

polybio.orgGenetic variants & restrained antiviral immunity in severe LongCOVID - PolyBio Research FoundationProject Summary: To determine the underlying genetic causes and other modifying factors like sex hormones and interferon responses impacting restrained T...

The genetic analyses are being combined with other forms of research including immune cell profiling and experiments in lymphoid organoid cultures. Read the full study summary: polybio.org/projects/gen...

youtu.bePolyBio Spring 2026 SymposiumYouTube video by PolyBio Research Foundation

Watch Dr. Brodin’s full presentation from PolyBio’s Spring 2026 symposium: youtu.be/tD5gWVEjudQ?...

The study is being performed in a group of 500< severe and uniquely well characterized Long COVID patients, with signs of organ dysfunction or disease after mild/moderate COVID-19.

The team is performing whole genome sequencing and variant analyses in relation to over 3000 whole genomes obtained from patients with variable presentations following SARS-CoV-2 infection within the global COVID Human Genetic Effort Consortium.

“The challenge that we’re currently facing is to take these variants into the relevant cell type where we think they actually exert their function,” such as human organoid models of the intestinal epithelium, allowing the team to observe how these variants impact tissue-based disease.

This PolyBio-supported project is determining underlying genetic causes, and other modifying factors like sex hormones and interferon responses, impacting restrained T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 & viral persistence in LongCOVID.

1 June

Written summaries of PolyBio’s Spring symposium presentations are available now! Check out shortened, simplified summaries, or full technical explanations of your favourite research projects. 2026-spring-symposium-polybio.netlify.app #Longcovidresearch #mecfsresearch #chroniclymedisease

Breaking: Funding from Vitalik Buterin’s Balvi Fund Expands Long COVID Low-Dose Rapamycin Clinical Trial with a New Open-Label Phase 1/

The support will also allow study coordinators to conduct home visits for certain participants to collect blood samples, helping expand access for individuals who are too ill or geographically constrained to consistently travel to study sites. 3/

We are currently recruiting for this trial of low-dose Rapamycin for Long COVID. Those interested should: -have a confirmed Long COVID diagnosis -be 18 years or older -be prepared to travel to the CoRE clinic for clinical visits (if possible) Email CoreResearch@MountSinai.org to apply now!

Breaking: Funding from Vitalik Buterin’s Balvi Fund Expands Long COVID Low-Dose Rapamycin Clinical Trial with a New Open-Label Phase 1/

The open-label extension phase will allow all participants – including those initially randomized to placebo – to receive low-dose rapamycin during a defined follow-up period, an approach expected to improve willingness to enroll while preserving the rigor of the RCT phase. 2/

polybio.orgPolyBio-Supported Study Identifies Association Between HHV-6 Reactivation and Long COVID Severity - PolyBio Research FoundationA collaborative study between the laboratory of Akiko Iwasaki at Yale University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has identified a potential link between reactivation of the herpesvirus...

Breaking: PolyBio-Supported Study Identifies Association between HHV-6 Reactivation & Long COVID Symptom Severity The work adds to growing evidence that chronic viral reactivation may contribute to the biological mechanisms underlying Long COVID. Read more: polybio.org/polybio-supp...

Putrino Lab@putrinolab.bsky.social

We have known for a while that #LongCOVID pathobiology for many involves reactivation of various herpesviruses. As we continue to validate this it is great to see this work coming out in collaboration with @VirusesImmunity’s incredible team. Here we www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/

medrxiv.orgAnalysis Of Salivary Herpesviruses Reveals Associations Between HHV-6 And Long COVID SeverityBackground Reactivation of human herpesviruses (HHVs), particularly EBV, is associated with more severe acute SARS-CoV-2 infections and the development of Long COVID (LC). Observations of higher anti-...

The work also raises important translational questions. If future studies replicate the findings, HHV-6 could become a target for biomarker-guided clinical trials and therapeutic intervention strategies.

Researchers suggest that salivary virome profiling may eventually help identify biologically distinct patient subsets who could benefit from tailored antiviral or immunomodulatory therapies.

Putrino Lab@putrinolab.bsky.social

The findings suggest that HHV-6 reactivation may contribute to chronic disease processes in at least a subset of Long COVID patients.

The researchers note that while salivary EBV shedding was not associated with Long COVID in this cohort, EBV could still play a role earlier in disease progression or within tissues not sampled in the study.

Putrino Lab@putrinolab.bsky.social

The team measured salivary cortisol, testosterone, and estradiol levels while simultaneously testing saliva for DNA from multiple herpesviruses—including EBV, HSV-1/2, HCMV, and HHV-6 A/B—alongside SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

While overall herpesvirus shedding did not significantly differ between Long COVID participants and controls, higher levels of salivary HHV-6 DNA were associated with greater Long COVID symptom severity, including stronger associations with anxiety, depression, & functional impairment.

Putrino Lab@putrinolab.bsky.social

A collaborative study between the laboratory of Akiko Iwasaki at Yale University and the CoRE clinic at Mount Sinai has identified a potential link between reactivation of the herpesvirus HHV-6 and Long COVID symptom severity.

The research team enrolled 45 participants with Long COVID and 45 age- and sex-matched controls. Participants completed detailed symptom surveys and provided saliva samples at multiple timepoints across two consecutive days.

polybio.org2026 Spring Symposium - PolyBio Research Foundation

9 May

Excited for PolyBio’s upcoming Spring symposium on Friday, May 22 from 11 AM to 5 PM ET? Here’s the full program of presenters you’ll hear from!

9 May

From novel platforms of detection for SARS-CoV-2 & herpesviruses implicated in Long COVID, to updates on clinical trials & the Long COVID Cure Initiative, this scientific symposium has a presentation lineup you won’t want to miss.