Scientific Board

He studied medicine and completed specialist training in pediatrics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. He holds a doctorate in public health and molecular sciences and postgraduate qualifications in pediatric infectious diseases from the University of Oxford.

His work includes Italian and international research on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 in children, including Long COVID. He also founded Surf4Children, which supports medical projects in Sierra Leone and inclusion activities for children with additional needs in Italy.

Institutional profile · Research background

She subsequently completed postdoctoral research at Mount Sinai and an NIH-funded fellowship at Columbia University, where her work continued to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying brain and behavioral disorders, including research connecting neuroanatomy and suicide risk. Her research career has been driven by an interest in how developmental processes shape brain function and vulnerability across the lifespan.

Following a COVID-19 infection in March 2020 that resulted in Long COVID, Dr. Fitzgerald brought her scientific training to bear on understanding the disease and the substantial gaps in research and clinical care experienced by patients and families. She joined the Patient-Led Research Collaborative in 2020, where she contributed to patient-led research and helped advance the integration of patient perspectives into clinical and basic science studies of Long COVID.

As Scientific Director of the Brain Inflammation Collaborative, Dr. Fitzgerald has expanded her work at the intersection of neuroscience, inflammation, and Long COVID. She built BIC's pediatric research platform to support investigation of brain and neurological manifestations of Long COVID in children and adolescents, with an emphasis on bringing together scientific rigor, developmental neuroscience, and the lived experiences of young patients and their families. Her work focuses on fostering collaborative, patient-centered research that can illuminate the biological mechanisms underlying Long COVID and ultimately advance better diagnostics, treatments, and care.

As a Scientific Board member for Long COVID Families, Dr. Fitzgerald brings expertise in neuroscience and neurodevelopment, experience in patient-led research, and a commitment to ensuring that the scientific agenda reflects the needs and experiences of people living with Long COVID and their families.

She develops and evaluates family-centered approaches to preventing early childhood obesity, including the Starting Early Program, which begins during pregnancy and continues through early childhood.

Dr. Gross is also a leader in the NIH RECOVER initiative. She serves as a principal investigator for its pediatric cohort and directs pediatric research for the RECOVER Clinical Science Core at NYU Langone Health, studying the frequency, course, and effects of Long COVID in children.

She earned her medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, completed pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, and undertook fellowship training in medicine and public health research at NYU.

Institutional profile · Research background

His theory of helping patients pace or stay within their energy envelopes and his development of scales to measure ME/CFS. Jason has served as the Vice President of the International American Association of ME/CFS. He also served as the Chairperson of the Research Subcommittee of the U.S. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee. He was given the Dutch ME-Foundation International ME-Award for outstanding work in the field of CFS. Dr. Jason was also awarded the Perpich Award for distinguished service to the IACFS/ME and the ME/CFS community. He recently received a Solve/ME award for outstanding contributions to the field.

Dr. Malone has contributed to national and international programs and guidance regarding pediatric Long COVID, including serving as lead author on the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation's Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) Infection Collaborative guidance statement on the assessment and treatment of PASC in children and adolescents. She has also served on the expert panel for the World Health Organization's Post COVID-19 Condition Case Definition for Children and Young People and on National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees for long-term implications and disability considerations for patients with long COVID. She currently serves as the external PI of Record for the NIH RECOVER-TLC BRAVE Clinical Trial investigating the effect of low-dose naltrexone on pediatric long COVID fatigue.

Dr. Malone is also the principal investigator of a U18 grant through the AHRQ Long COVID Care Network to expand and strengthen care for children and adolescents with long COVID. As part of this effort, her team has launched a Pediatric Long COVID ECHO telementoring program to support the primary care community in long COVID education and management. As the only pediatric partner in the AHRQ Long COVID Care Network, she works closely with other sites to provide education and resources to pediatric providers across the United States.

Dr. Malone has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill. She completed her pediatric neurology residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Malone's clinical practice focuses on the neurological care of children with long COVID, perinatal stroke, other brain injuries. Her research focuses on understanding complex pediatric disorders and on improving outcomes using mechanistic neurorehabilitation approaches. Regarding COVID-19, Dr. Malone investigates clinical phenotypes of children with persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection and investigates factors and mechanisms that promote good recovery.

She is passionate about helping children and families navigate these often complex and poorly understood conditions and ensuring that their experiences are recognized and taken seriously.

Dr. Miller completed her pediatric infectious disease fellowship and PhD in Investigative Medicine at Yale University, where she conducted research on the biology of post-acute infection syndromes. Her work has included studies of pediatric Long COVID and its underlying mechanisms, as well as publications on COVID-19 and other post-infectious conditions. She is committed to bringing together clinical care, research, and the lived experiences of children and families to advance understanding of Long COVID and improve the care and support available to affected children.

After medical school and pediatric training in India, she trained in England and became a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. She subsequently completed pediatric residency at Brookdale University Hospital in New York and an infectious diseases fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Her research investigates the lasting effects of SARS-CoV-2, including how host genetics and other risk factors relate to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and Long COVID. She also studies the gut microbiome and its relationship to infections in children with weakened immune systems, particularly C. difficile. Her work includes participation as a co-principal investigator in the NIH RECOVER initiative.

Institutional profile

Additionally, she is a practicing pediatrician. Her areas of expertise and training include general pediatrics, preventive medicine, health services research, epidemiology, and public health. Dr. Stockwell's research program, which concentrates on underserved children and adolescents, focuses on interventions to improve vaccinations, with an emphasis on health technology and health literacy, as well as on respiratory infections and long COVID. Dr. Stockwell serves as the contact PI for the Columbia University hub site for the NIH RECOVER Long COVID study and is the chair of the RECOVER Pediatric Coordinating Committee.

Dr. Yonts received her medical degree from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency/chief resident year at the University of California, Davis. She completed her pediatric infectious diseases fellowship here in D.C. as part of the combined Children's National/US Food and Drug Administration program, during which time she also served as a Medical Officer in the Office of Vaccine Research and Review (OVRR) in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).

Dr. Yonts' clinical interests include general infectious diseases, vaccines, and infection-associated chronic conditions (IACCs), including Long COVID. Dr. Yonts has served as the director of the Children's National Pediatric Post COVID Program Clinic for multidisciplinary evaluation and management of Long COVID in children and adolescents since its creation in May 2021.

Her main research and advocacy interests are in the areas of vaccine clinical development and policy, post infectious syndromes and infection associated chronic conditions in children. She has been Principal Investigator for several industry sponsored vaccine clinical trials and prospective observational cohort studies. She served as a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) Associate Liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and was a member of the ACIP HPV Working Group. She was an appointed member of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health's Advisory Committee on Long COVID during its brief existence. Her current work examines the delayed consequences of COVID-19 and Lyme Disease in children. She is also active in multiple national collaborative efforts to promote awareness, advocacy, clinical guidance and research of pediatric Long COVID in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), NIH's RECOVER-TLC initiative and Long COVID Families.

Institutional profile