About
The Long Covid Science and Society Symposium held on April 20, 2026 will bring together social scientists researching the social, political, and economic implications of Long Covid.
Speakers include researchers in the United States, Brazil, France, and elsewhere, as well as researchers investigating other chronic and contested illnesses, such as Congenital Zika Syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, etc.
We aim to learn from the experiences of different patient communities and from global perspectives on Long Covid. The gathering will also engage key stakeholders, such as patient advocates, clinicians, and scientists, so that their views can help shape existing social science research on these patient communities.
Organizing Team
At the core of the conference is a research team funded by a Democracy, Governance, and Trust Grant from the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and the Humanities. For the past year and a half, the research team, based in the United States, Brazil, and France have investigated questions about how participatory science and democratic governance can help address the ongoing crisis of trust and mistrust in science.
Members of the research team include Gil Eyal, Larry Au, Cristian Capotescu, Maya Sabatello, Madeleine Akrich, Vololona Rabeharisoa, Florence Patterson, André Luis Sica de Campos, Janína Pamplona da Costa, Renan Gonçalves Leonel da Silva, Yanze Yu, Kerianne Liebman, Isamael Rafols, and Pierre Robicquet.
The conference will build on ongoing discussions from this research team in thinking about how scientists can better engage patients in ensuring that the knowledge that is produced from scientific studies can serve the interests of the patient community.
More about the project can be found here: https://www.trustcollaboratory.org/emergentdiseases
Funders
We would like to thank the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP), the Trust Collaboratory, and the Incite Institute at Columbia University, as well as the National Science Foundation through the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities (T-AP) for support.
Contact Us
Have questions? Interested in partnering with us?
Please feel free to reach out to Larry Au (lau1@ccny.cuny.edu).
Long Covid & Society 