Findings from the autopsy study have been made possible by the 304 people enrolled—with permission of their family or caregiver—in the autopsy study. The study enrolled its final participant on January 31, 2026. According to James Stone, MD, PhD, chair of the RECOVER Autopsy Cohort Coordinating Committee, the study also exceeded its enrollment goal for people with Long COVID. Enrolling more people with Long COVID in the study gives researchers greater opportunities to pinpoint changes in the body that lead to Long COVID—and eventually design treatments to stop or reverse those changes.
One key to achieving the study’s broader goals is sharing access to the biosamples collected through the autopsy study.
Authorized researchers can access the biosamples and, in some cases, images of biosamples through the study’s Digital Slide Archive.
Before adding images to the archive, researchers may treat the biosamples, which are preserved on microscope slides, with chemicals called stains to reveal details in the tissues that would not otherwise be visible. Staining allows researchers to look closely at the tissues on the slides for specific COVID-related changes, like scarring, tiny blood clots, and cell damage, in different tissues and organs. The slides allow researchers to examine samples from more than 50 locations in the body, including the brain, heart, lungs, and gut. The study team anticipates that analyses of stained slides will be completed by the end of March 2027.
Dr. Stone also shared that researchers are preparing 2 additional sets of study findings for publication later this year. The first publication will discuss a study comparing causes of death in people with and without Long COVID. The second publication will discuss a study examining samples taken from the back of the throat and behind the nose (nasopharyngeal swabs) for evidence of viral persistence.
