Quantification of perivascular spaces in neuropsychiatric long-COVID/post-COVID (LC/PC) syndrome as a biomarker for persisting perivascular inflammation and disease trajectories

• Funding agency: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)
• Funding period: 01.07.2023-30.06.2025
• Project number: JE2/TP5

I am a Co-PI for this subproject of the BMBF-funded start-up phase of the DZPG (Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit/German Center for Mental Health). A consortium of researcher is working on this subproject, including Bianca Besteher, Oliver Speck, Jose Bernal Moyano, Nils Opel, and Christian Gaser.

Motivated by evidance that SARS-CoV-2 induces perivascular inflammation which can cause microvasculare damage and imparied clearance in the brain, the goal is to automatically segment and quantify enlarge perivascular spaces (EPVS) from T1-weighted 3T images in long-COVID/post-COVID (LC/PC) patients and relate EPVS load to psychiatric symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and cognitive impairment.