The UPMC Post-COVID Recovery Clinic has treated at least 1,200 patients. But Alison Morris, an MD professor of medicine, notes one of the challenges: Long COVID, the often-debilitating multisymptom condition that can affect a patient long after a COVID-19 infection, is not well defined.

The University of Pittsburgh and UPMC will expand care and understanding of the condition, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The first-of-their-kind awards, given to nine organizations, provide $1 million per year for the next five years to study science-based best practices for the condition.

The Post-COVID clinic will use the grant to partner with UPMC Family Medicine Academic Clinic Practice to establish the Pitt Improving Access to Culturally Relevant Long COVID Care and Treatment (IMPACCT) Program. The program will teach the next generation of community providers about long COVID care—especially doctors and trainees in family medicine—and improve access to primary and specialty care for patients from underserved and rural populations.

Some patients with problems like exercise intolerance, cardiopulmonary issues and brain fog might have undiagnosed long COVID, the researchers say. At a kickoff meeting for the grant on Nov. 20, 2023, Morris said the project aims to address the gaps in outreach and equity, noting that only 8% of the UPMC Post-COVID Recovery Clinic’s patients are Black. “That doesn’t reflect the population of Pittsburgh or the impact of COVID, which disproportionately affected the Black community,”­ she said.

The Black Equity Coalition (BEC), a group of physicians and health experts, will provide input on culturally and socially relevant care to ensure an equitable approach. Tracey Conti, an MD, chair of family medicine and a leader of the BEC, says, “Anytime we can take practices and implement them to a broader portion of the population, we’re excited to be a part of that.”

Morris is one of three principal investigators on the project, along with Frank Sciurba, an MD professor of medicine, and Howard Degenholtz, a PhD professor of health policy and management in the School of Public Health.

“This is representative of the collaborative environment that exists at the University of Pittsburgh,” Sciurba says. “The ability to build collaborations across disciplines really sets us apart.”

At the kickoff meeting, one patient of the Post-COVID clinic described her experience with fatigue so severe that when she tried to go roller-skating, she could not untie the laces of her skates. “It feels like I’m in a sinking boat alone trying to bail the water out,” she said. A community engagement manager for the BEC, who also has been dealing with long COVID symptoms, thanked her for speaking. “You’re not in this boat by yourself,” she said. “You’ve just taken some water out of my boat, and I know that I’m not crazy.”

Read more from the Winter 2024 issue.