Unraveling long COVID: Here's what scientists who study the illness want to find out

Researchers looking for root causes of long COVID work in the autopsy suite inside the Clinical Center at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

For people suffering from long COVID's often disabling symptoms, including intense fatigue, breathing troubles, cognitive issues and heart palpitations, the list of scientific unknowns may sound defeating. There's still no validated treatment or diagnostic test specifically for the condition, although there are many candidates.

Clinicians who treat long COVID are acutely aware of the unsettled nature of the field. "You do sort of feel like you're out in the wilderness," says Dr. Rasika Karnik, medical director of UChicago Medicine's post-COVID clinic.