LONG COVID CONFERENCE 2026
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Program
Each session will start with a short testimony from a participant with lived experience participant and conclude with a 10-minute Q&A session to encourage discussion.
| 8:00am | REGISTRATION OPEN Please arrive for a 9:00am start Translational Research Institute; 37 Kent St, Woolloongabba QLD 4102 |
| 9:00am | Conference opening, Prof Kirsty Short (UQ, QLD) Conference Convenor Tribal experience (Welcome to Country) Queensland Chief Health Officer Address: Dr Marianne Gale |
| 9:20am | Session on INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES AND LESSONS ON LONG COVID TREATMENT Chairs: Prof. Kirsty Short & Prof. Lou Irving Jeffrey Robinson, Lived experience perspective Dr Anna Brooks, Long COVID in New Zealand (recording) Prof. Akiko Iwasaki, Long COVID in USA (recording) Dr Naveed Zafar Janjua, Long COVID in Canada Prof. Martin Wong, Long COVID in Hong Kong Prof. Nabila Seddiki, Long COVID in France Prof. Charles Feldman, Long COVID in South Africa (recording) Prof. David Strain, Long COVID in UK (recording) Followed by Q&A |
| 10:20am | Session on ADVANCES TARGETING THE MICROBIOME Chairs: Dr Sarah Annesley & Prof. David Watters Lydia Chan, Lived experience perspective Prof. Martin Wong The Role of the Gut Microbiota in Management of Long COVID Dr Amelia McGuinness Designing and delivering a faecal microbiota transplantation trial in Long COVID: The GLOW Trial Dr Paul Gill Investigating the Immunomodulatory and Clinical Effects of Using Dietary Fibre Intervention to Reduce Symptoms of Long COVID Followed by Q&A |
| 11:35am | MORNING TEA |
| 11:50am | Session on CURRENT AND EMERGING CLINICAL TRIALS Chairs: Dr Emily Eriksson & Prof. Lou Irving Sophie Julian, Lived experience perspective Dr Natalie Eaton-Fitch A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial of Low Dose Naltrexone for People Living with Long COVID Dr Cheryl Carcel Atorvastatin for Persistent Neurological Symptoms after COVID-19: An International, Multicentre, Randomised, Open, Blinded-Endpoint Trial (STRONGER) Followed by Q&A |
| 12:24pm | Session on FUTURE THERAPIES Chairs: Georgina McCallum & Distinguished Professor Stephanie Gras Beki-Lee Rose, Lived experience perspective Prof. Kirsty Short Preclinical Evidence for Semaglutides Prof. Kim Good-Jacobson Humoral Immune Response in Long COVID Followed by Q&A |
| 1:35pm | LUNCH |
| 2:15pm | Session on DRUG THERAPIES AND OFF-LABEL USE Chairs: Dr Yanshan Zhu & A/Prof Bernard Shiu Szilvia Tkacz, Lived experience perspective Prof. Nabila Seddiki Early-life SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Maternal Immune Protector, Mucosal Responses and Lessons for Long COVID A/Prof. Bernard Shiu Off-label Prescribing – A Common Practice Jane Sinclair Long COVID and Metformin Dr Nikolai Norevik Myklebust Nirmatrelvir for acute COVID-19 to prevent long COVID (PANORAMIC Norway): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial Dr Oyungerel Byambasuren A Bird’s-Eye View of the Long COVID Treatment Research Landscape: What Do We Actually Know from 259 RCTs and 309 Registered Trials Followed by Q&A |
| 3:55pm | AFTERNOON TEA |
| 4:15pm | Session on ADVANCES IN REHABILITATION Chairs: Dr Jo Wrench & Prof. Alex Holmes Robin Austin, Kerrie Chapman & Danielle Hitch Patients Driving Long COVID Research & Development Dione Knight The Patient Behind the Clinician: Why Allied Health Is Pivotal to Long COVID Recovery Raeya Bognar Energy is the Currency: Pacing, PEM and Practical Rehabilitation in Long COVID Anne Wilson & Laura Allen Partnering in Care: Shared Decision-Making Tools for Patients and Healthcare Professionals Followed by Q&A |
| 5:20pm | PANEL DISCUSSION Dr Michelle Scoullar, Prof. Brendan Crabb, Gerard Flannigan, Dist. Prof. Stephanie Gras |
| 5.45pm | Concluding remarks |
| 5.50pm | NETWORKING EVENT |