On this special episode of the 5 Things podcast: In the beginning, people suffering from what is now called long COVID were forced into the shadows. Their symptoms - debilitating tiredness, lung issues and non-specific pain - didn’t seem to fit together. Over 3 years into the pandemic, the medical community is still grappling with the question of treatment. Why has it remained such a mystery? Dr. Francesca Beaudoin, Director of the Long COVID Initiative and Chair of the department of epidemiology [and Pandemic Center affiliate faculty member] at Brown University, joins 5 Things to explain.
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Pandemic Center
Francesca Beaudoin, M.D., M.S., Ph.D.
Interim Dean of the School of Public Health, Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health
Biography
As interim dean, Dr. Beaudoin leads the school’s strategy to advance its public health mission through education, research and policy translation. Prior to taking office as interim dean, Dr. Beaudoin served two years as academic dean overseeing the school’s academic departments, research centers, doctoral and master’s programs and undergraduate concentrations. She is a board-certified practicing emergency physician, clinical epidemiologist, and Principal Investigator of several NIH funded research grants that focus on the intersection between substance use/disorders, mental health, and pain. During the pandemic, Dr. Beaudoin also focused on COVID-19 therapeutics. At the Pandemic Center, her expertise on opioid and other substance use/disorders, along with COVID-19 therapeutics will help us prepare to better care for vulnerable populations in future pandemics.
Recent News
Excerpt - Francesca Beaudoin, an emergency room physician and clinical epidemiologist who directs Brown University’s long-covid initiative, said the findings “capture what we are hearing at the narrative level from patients — that … the systems [affected after recovery from covid’s acute phase] are varied, that it results in loss of quality of life, loss of work and school.” Beaudoin said patients send her updates, reporting they still cannot walk one block without becoming worn out.
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This article includes commentary from Francesca Beaudoin, Director of the Long COVID Initiative at the Brown University School of Public Health and Pandemic Center affiliate.
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The Washington Post
For covid long-haulers, the pandemic is far from over
Pandemic Center Affiliate Dr. Francesca Beaudoin is quoted in this article.
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