The Microvascular Research Foundation in Birmingham is focusing on advancements and innovation in long COVID, despite pushback from the country's medical establishment.
The foundation, founded by Dr. Jordan Vaughn, owner and CEO of MedHelp, was created following years of research into long COVID.
Nurse practitioner and director of Clinical Research Summer Powers said the center is one of the nation's first dedicated long COVID programs. Powers has over 20 years of experience in clinical research and education.
Powers said in August 2021 that she and her husband were working at UAB, so they placed their daughter in daycare. Their daughter contracted COVID-19, and before they knew it, they all had it. They eventually got over the initial symptoms, but the battle wasn't over for Powers and her daughter. They continued to get sick for months after the diagnosis.
After experiencing chest pains, Powers found out she had pericarditis. By December 2021, both Powers and her young daughter were in the emergency room for breathing treatments. After returning home, she had to wake up her daughter every two hours for breathing treatments to avoid respiratory distress.
"Between the two of us, we had like eight visits to the emergency room, where every time she would get cold, we would get sick, and then we would have to go get some sort of respiratory support," Powers remembered.
Although she was vaccinated, Powers had COVID-19 four times.
