Collaboration to research impact of ‘Long COVID’

TORONTO – BrainFx, a wholly owned subsidiary of Highmark Interactive, announced its collaboration with Mayo Clinic to assess the impact of “Long COVID” or “Post-COVID-19 Syndrome” on cognitive function. Long COVID, according to recent studies, affects somewhere between 10 and 40 percent of people who have had COVID-19, even in those with mild or no symptoms. The most common symptoms of Long COVID include shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction (or ‘brain fog’) and fatigue and can negatively impact a person’s ability to complete their daily activities, including work or school.

Much is still unknown about how COVID-19 will affect people over time which is why it is critical to develop a better understanding of who it impacts, how it impacts them and for how long. By assessing which functional cognitive skills are being affected when COVID-19 brain-related symptoms are reported and tracking this in the context of a person’s history, Mayo Clinic and Highmark will employ the BrainFx platform to assist researchers in tracing the symptoms to objective areas of physiologic dysfunction or other contributing factors. This improved understanding can assist with treatment decisions, and support health providers with clinically useful, data-driven insights that can help with rehabilitation in people with Long COVID.

The teams will leverage the medical expertise of Mayo Clinic Drs. Vanichkachorn and Cowl and Highmark’s BrainFx Virtual Cognitive Assessment platform to develop and pilot the COVID-19 Cognitive Recovery Tracker™ (CCRT) first within Mayo Clinic sites and then expand the pilot nationally.

“Our collaboration with Mayo Clinic to better understand and track the effects of Long COVID is critical and urgent work. The insights we will gain from our collaboration have the potential to improve the quality of life for many people coping with Long COVID,” said Dr. Sanjeev Sharma (pictured), CEO of Highmark. “We were excited when we added the BrainFx organization and technology to the Highmark group of companies and are now proud to work with such esteemed and knowledgeable collaborators at Mayo Clinic.”

About Highmark 
Highmark Interactive was created to change the paradigm of testing and management for brain and mental health. Highmark’s approach is focused on providing real-time data to health providers to support proactive, preventative interventions and targeted care planning to improve health outcomes. Highmark Interactive acquired BrainFx in May 2021 to complement its FDA cleared, EQ patient-led assessments of neurofunction with BrainFx’s clinician-led assessments of neurofunction. Together, the technology is used in >300 multidisciplinary rehabilitation clinics globally. Highmark Interactive’s unique solution is revolutionizing how individuals experience brain and mental healthcare, as well as unlocking insight for precision medicine and creating a modern model for delivering mental health and neurorehabilitation services. To learn more, visit https://www.highmark.tech/