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Helping COVID-19 survivors stay healthy


June 23, 2020

Drs. Sara J. Abdallah and Juthaporn CowanDrs. Sara J. Abdallah and Juthaporn Cowan Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital are exploring more than 50 research projects to support the world-wide effort to find better ways to treat and prevent COVID-19.  

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund is providing seed funding for a number of these projects, including a study led by Drs. Sara J. Abdallah and Juthaporn Cowan that could help COVID-19 survivors stay healthy.   

The researchers will study the long-term effects of COVID-19 in survivors, checking in on them three, six and 12 months after they were initially infected.  

While researchers are beginning to understand what happens in the body during a severe COVID-19 infection, much less is known about the long-term effects in survivors. But based on what is known about other viral infections, the long-term effects could be serious, affecting the lungs, heart and muscles, as well as mental health.  

Survivors of mild, moderate and severe infections will be included in the study. The researchers will also assess the health-care resources used by survivors. Results will help improve care for COVID-19 survivors and optimize how health-care resources are used.    

Adults who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 and are interested in participating in this study can register online.

Research team at The Ottawa Hospital/uOttawa: Sara J. Abdallah, Nha VoducVicente Corrales-Medina, Kednapa ThavornAngeline Law, Habibat A. Garuba, Michaeline McGuinty, Angela Crawley, Juthaporn Cowan

External collaboratorsKim Lavoie (Université du Québec à Montréal), Ryan E.R. Reid  (St. Francis Xavier University)

Core Resources at The Ottawa Hospital: Ottawa Methods Centre, Clinical Investigation Unit 

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa.   

Media Contact 

Amelia Buchanan
Senior Communication Specialist
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-798-5555 x 73687
Cell: 613-297-8315
ambuchanan@ohri.ca