The GCS NeuroCOVID Consortium was founded by the University of Pittsburgh’s Dr. Sherry Chou and Dr. Molly McNett of the Ohio State University in March 2020 to respond to reports of neurological conditions associated with the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Additional Adult investigators include Dr. Raimund Helbok (University of Innsbruck, Austria) and Dr. Shraddha Manali (Ohio State University, USA). Pediatric intensivist physician-scientists Dr. Ericka Fink of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Dr. Courtney Robertson of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Dr. Michelle Schober of Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and members of the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group (PNCRG) are leading the Pediatric arm of the consortium. This consortium is endorsed by the Neurocritical Care Society (NCS). Information about the study and link to register new sites can be found at:
https://www.neurocriticalcare.org/research/covid-19-research-opportunities
The consortium seeks to classify what kinds of neurological symptoms and conditions occurred in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and to determine their prevalence. The study further seeks to observe what treatments hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were provided and functional outcomes at discharge and later when the patient returns to home. Further, in-depth studies on advanced clinical features and neurological testing, longer term outcome, and mechanistic and prognostic biomarkers are actively under development.
The rationale and design for consortium studies are outlined in these publications:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12028-020-00978-4
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12028-020-00995-3
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12028-020-01100-4
The GCS-NeuroCOVID consortium has attracted collaborators from global research networks from Europe, North and South America, Asia, Middle East, and Africa. The Latin America Brain Injury Consortium (LABIC) (https://labic.la/) and POSSIBLE Research networks have endorsed and joined the adult GCS-NeuroCOVID consortium and the LARed Network in Latin America has joined the pediatric study. Thus far, 127 and 103 centers have registered for the adult and pediatric studies, respectively, from > 25 countries. New sites are being registered weekly and study documents are available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The dashboard below illustrates the most recent outreach of the GCS-NeuroCOVID consortium.
https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/bf682a6b-95f3-424a-9d3f-461db52cca56
The GCS-NeuroCOVID consortium has forged formal collaboration with the European Academy of Neurology which has an equally extensive adult population research network that is complimentary to the outreach of GCS-NeuroCOVID. This represents a significant global collaborative effort in combating neurological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. Principals of collaboration and data harmonization of these large research networks are outlined in this recent publication:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(20)30322-7/fulltext
The GCS-NeuroCOVID consortium is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) through Grant Number(s) UL1 TR001857 (University of Pittsburgh/Chou) and the Neurocritical Care Society INCLINE award (Fink et al, University of Pittsburgh). The University of Pittsburgh serves as the central coordinating center for both the adult and pediatric arms of the GCS-NeuroCOVID consortium.
The investigators are hopeful that additional research can generate a better mechanistic understanding of the link between COVID-19 and MIS-C using biomarkers, imaging and detailed health assessments to check for ongoing symptoms or health effects after children return home.
Resources:
Site registration and general study information: https://www.neurocriticalcare.org/research/covid-19-research-opportunities
Pediatric information and site map: https://www.pncrg.org/covid-19-study/
GCS-NeuroCOVID related news and interviews:
“Some coronavirus patients show signs of brain ailments”. The NY Times, April 1, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/health/coronavirus-stroke-seizures-confusion.html
“Neurologic Complications of COVID-19: Separating Fact from Fiction” – American Academy of Neurology
April 17th, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwS6RdO1PJc
“Young and middle-aged people, barely sick with covid-19, are dying of strokes”.
The Washington Post, April 25th, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/24/strokes-coronavirus-young-patients/
“This Is What the Coronavirus Can Do to Your Brain.”
AARP, April 29th, 2020.
https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/covid-19-brain-symptoms.html?intcmp=AE-HP-TTN-R2-POS4-REALPOSS-TODAY
ICUs become a ‘delirium factory’ for Covid-19 patients
CNN Health |by Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News| June 2, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/brain-coronavirus-delirium-kaiser/index.html
The long-term effects of Covid-19 infection
BBC Future | by Zoe Cormier | June 22nd, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200622-the-long-term-effects-of-covid-19-infection
Rare neurological disorder, Guillian-Barre Syndrome, linked to COVID-19
The Conversation | By Sherry Chou, Aarti Sarwal, & Neha Dangayach | July 8th, 2020
https://theconversation.com/rare-neurological-disorder-guillain-barre-syndrome-linked-to-covid-19-141511
Racing to Understand Covid-19 and the Brain
Cerebrum Datan Foundation | by Kayt Sukel | July 15th, 2020
https://dana.org/article/racing-to-understand-covid-19-and-the-brain/
Another COVID-19 Medical Mystery: Patients, Post-Ventilator, Who Don’t Wake Up.
WBUR |By Martha Bebinger |July 24th, 2020
https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/07/24/covid-patient-prolonged-coma
Covid-19 and the Brain
Sanjay Gupta’s Podcast | August 21, 2020 | Listen Online
“COVID-19: Separating Fact from Fiction – An Update” – American Academy of Neurology
Sept 10th, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akRhSMqGEI8