NIH launches database to track neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19

The new COVID-19 Neuro Databank/Biobank will gather information on COVID-19-related neurological outcomes, according to a press release.

The COVID-19 Neuro Databank/Biobank was developed, and will be maintained, by NYU Langone Health in New York City as a resource for clinical information and biospecimens from people who have experienced COVID-19-related neurological issues, the release said. The database is supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the NIH.

“We know that COVID-19 can disrupt multiple body systems, but the effects of the virus and the body’s response to COVID-19 infection on the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscle can be particularly devastating and contribute to persistence of disability even after the virus is cleared,” Barbara Karp, MD, program director at NINDS, said in the release. “There is an urgent need to understand COVID-19-related neurological problems, which not uncommonly include headaches, fatigue, cognitive difficulties, stroke, pain and sleep disorders as well as some very rare complications of serious infections.”

The web-based data portal is open to health care providers and participating clinical sites throughout the country, where interested participants can submit deidentified information and specimens, according to the release. Researchers are looking for information about neurological symptoms, comorbidities, course of disease, complications, sequelae and outcomes.

According to the release, the project is led by Andrea Troxel, ScD, professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and Eva Petkova, PhD, professor of population health and child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Researchers and clinicians can request access to the database via the NeuroCOVID website at https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/population-health/divisions-sections-centers/biostatistics/research/nih-neurodatabank-neurobiobank.

Reference:

NIH. NIH launces database to track neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19. Available at: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-launches-database-track-neurological-symptoms-associated-covid-19. Accessed Jan. 29, 2021.