Can the COVID-19 pandemic advance neuroinfectious research?

Authors

Michael R Duggan
Zena K Chatila
Lavinia A Auber
Esther Silberberg
Juan R Fernandez
Keenan A Walker
Nikki M. Schultek, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic MedicineFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-18-2025

Abstract

Investments in SARS-CoV-2 research provide a unique opportunity to explore how microbes may contribute to neurological conditions, an area of investigation that has been chronically underfunded. As exemplified by HIV/AIDS funding, crisis-driven research can yield broader biomedical advances, including spillover effects that address unanticipated and unmet medical needs. Leveraging newly established SARS-CoV-2 funding opportunities to study immune crosstalk and genetic predispositions could reveal therapeutic pathways and biomarkers for individuals who are vulnerable to infection-related dementia risk and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Despite the vast consequences of SARS-CoV-2, research investments following this pandemic may have long lasting benefits for other scientific endeavors, including insights for microbial contributions to neurodegenerative disease.

Publication Title

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Volume

132

PubMed ID

41421733

Comments

This article was published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, Volume 132, Issue , pages .

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2025.106233.

Copyright © 2025 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Recommended Citation

Duggan, Michael R; Chatila, Zena K; Auber, Lavinia A; Silberberg, Esther; Fernandez, Juan R; Walker, Keenan A; and Schultek, Nikki M., "Can the COVID-19 pandemic advance neuroinfectious research?" (2025). PCOM Scholarly Works. 2352.
https://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/scholarly_papers/2352 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2025.106233