People living with Long COVID are looking for answers.

REVERSE-LC is a study to see if a drug called Baricitinib can help.

REVERSE LC is a study to see if an FDA-approved drug called Baricitinib (ber-uh-sit-uh-nib), which is already used to treat COVID, can help improve thinking and memory problems and reduce fatigue for people who have Long COVID.

Learn how to Participate

View on ClinicalTrials.gov

How it Works

We enroll 550 adults who previously had COVID and are experiencing memory and thinking problems.

Half are assigned to the Baricitinib group.

Half are assigned to the Placebo group.

Participants help us discover answers about how taking baricitinib affects brain function, heart and lung function, and quality of life.

How to Participate

Who Can Participate?

Adults 18 and older who have had thinking and memory problems for at least 6 months after a COVID-19 infection

Part

1

Screening and Enrollment

To make sure this is the right study for you, we’ll ask you to complete some questionnaires, take a few tests, and complete some bloodwork.

The questionnaires, tests, and bloodwork will be completed over 1-2 in-person visits to enroll into the study.

View study site locations

Part

2

Study Participation

After confirming that this is the right study for you, we’ll send you home with study pills to take every day for 6 months. While you’re taking the study pills, you’ll be asked to come into your study site for bloodwork once a month for 6 months. At 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months you’ll also be asked to complete some questionnaires and tests during your visit.

After 6 months, you’ll stop taking the study pills. This doesn’t mean your time in the study is over though. For 6 more months, you’ll fill out monthly surveys in an app on your phone.

Part

3

Finishing the Study

12 months after you start the study, you’ll be asked to come in for one last in-person study visit. At this visit you’ll do the same questionnaires, tests, and bloodwork that you did on your first visit.

If you decide to join, you’ll be part of the REVERSE LC study for 1 year.

Help us discover answers about how taking Baricitinib affects brain function, heart and lung function and quality of life in people with Long COVID.

Learn how to participate

The Reverse-LC Study’s

Patient-Led Research Scorecard

Our trial was graded by leaders at the Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) (Hannah Davis, Gina Assaf), ME-Action (Jaime Seltzer), and National Academy of Medicine Long COVID testifier (Kelly Sealey).

This scorecard was created by Patient-Led Research Collaborative.

The figure shows the high degree of collaboration between the physician-scientists and patient-researchers with not only lived experience of the illness, but also experience with the research process, participatory design, patient engagement, and study design.

We are grateful for the input from so many who shared their wisdom and advice to make this NIH-funded trial the best it can be. Reverse-LC is a campaign of human service and scientific discovery.

Collaborators and Investigators

Enrolling Sites

Scientific Support Teams (non-enrolling)

Enrolling Sites

1

Coming Soon

Swedish Medical Center

Seattle, WA

2

University of California, San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

3

Coming Soon

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

4

Coming Soon

University of Arizona/Banner

Tucson, AZ

5

Coming Soon

University of Texas, San Antonio

San Antonio, TX

6

Coming Soon

University of Colorado-Anschutz

Aurora, CO

7

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

8

Coming Soon

University of Illinois - Chicago

Chicago, IL

9

Coming Soon

MetroHealth Cleveland

Cleveland, OH

10

Coming Soon

University Hospital Cleveland Case Western

Cleveland, OH

11

Coming Soon

West Virginia University

Morgantown, WV

12

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Nashville, TN

13

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

14

Coming Soon

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

15

Coming Soon

NYU Langone

New York, NY

16

Coming Soon

Yale University

New Haven, CT

17

Coming Soon

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston, MA

Scientific Support Teams (non-enrolling)

18

Stanford University

Stanford, California

Enrollment is limited to eligible people living in North America. Enrolling sites are limited by how much they are able to reimburse participants for travel costs. The study team at whichever enrolling site is most convenient for you will have more information.

REVERSE-LC Team

Research turning mirrors into windows

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) are two of 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life through supporting and conducting dementia related research. NIAID research is focused on understanding, treating and ultimately preventing numerous infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

Thinking of participating?

Learn how

News

NIH-funded trial to determine if immunomodulation can improve brain and cardiovascular dysfunction in Long COVID

Original Baricitinib “COV-Barrier” Trial in Acute COVID-19 by our Study Team

Investigators leading our Reverse-LC study helped design and run the original, Phase III, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 2021 of this same medication for acute COVID-19, which proved in over 1,500 patients that baricitinib saved lives (see two links below).

Efficacy and safety of baricitinib for the treatment of hospitalised adults with COVID-19 (COV-BARRIER): a randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial

Efficacy and safety of baricitinib plus standard of care for the treatment of critically ill hospitalised adults with COVID-19 on invasive mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: an exploratory, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

This and other strong supportive clinical trial efficacy and safety data led the FDA to approve baricitinib in 2022 as the first immunomodulator for patients in the ICU with acute COVID-19.

‍Our Reverse-LC study will enroll people who were NOT in the ICU on a ventilator when they had acute COVID-19, who went on to develop Long COVID symptoms that lasted 6 months or more.

The hypothesis we are testing is that the immunomodulatory effects of this medication will help reduce the brain and cardiovascular problems patients suffer in Long COVID.