Episode 65: Dr Amy Proal - PolyBio

David was small and nimble with his sling when he defeated Goliath. Maybe instead of a moonshot we need an Amy. Microbiologist Dr Amy Proal spearheads the Long Covid Research Initiative (LCRI) at PolyBio Research Foundation, the non-profit organisation of which she is President and Research Director.

PolyBio Research Foundation is a non-profit organisation that brings together some of the brightest scientific minds to research how infection-associated chronic conditions are studied, diagnosed and treated. A privately funded venture, PolyBio plans to raise $100 million to enable studies and  trials. So far they have raised $15 million. This fund pales in comparison to the $1 billion Long Covid initiative, RECOVER, that was created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S.A.

But the RECOVER monolith does not garner much admiration from the Long Covid community.  It is accused of being too slow, not channelling the funds to the correct researchers, and focusing on the wrong things. Proal and the PolyBio group are advocating for higher risk, higher return strategies.

One of the lead contenders for the cause of Long Covid is that the virus remains in the body, hiding in tissue, which makes it difficult to detect using standard blood work and difficult for the body’s immune system to clear it.  This can lead to a constant state of inflammation and could explain the majority, if not all, downstream symptoms. 

In September 2023, Proal and a stellar team of Long Covid researchers published a position paper in Nature, setting out research priorities to guide the further study of a SARS-CoV-2 reservoir in Long Covid.  The goal is the commissioning and acceleration of clinical trials for antivirals or other therapeutics that have the potential to clear a SARS-CoV-2 reservoir.

Amongst their remarkable projects, PolyBio is funding the monoclonal antibodies trial at UCSF that we recently discussed with Michael Peluso, a study into T cells as biosensors, and research into combined anti-viral therapeutics.

Their recent Long Covid Fall Symposium reads like a who’s who in Long Covid research, from Akiko Iwasaki and David Putrino, to Maayan Levy and Resia Pretorius, it is available to watch, in full, here.