Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD – The Long Road to Awareness: Breaking down barriers in long covid research

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester
 / 
05/31/2023

The Long Road to Awareness: Breaking down barriers in long covid research

There is irrefutable data on the underpinnings of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (aka Long COVID). However, despite the burgeoning research on the topic, it has taken some time for the medical community and the general public to recognize the existence and severity of Long Covid. This is partly because the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is not fully understood, other post-infectious disease states were underfunded, and also because the symptoms of Long Covid can be difficult to quantify and are often invisible to others.

Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD

Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez is an accomplished academic Physiatrist, Professor, and Distinguished Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is also the Medical Director of Critical Illness Recovery and Neuro Rehabilitation at Warm Springs Rehabilitation Hospitals in San Antonio and Chief of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation service line at the University Health Hospital system. She is a fellow member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and on the Association of Academic Physiatrists' board of trustees. 

Dr. Gutierrez excitedly moved to San Antonio to lead the distinguished Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2020. Her area of clinical expertise is the care of patients with traumatic brain injury, stroke rehabilitation, interventional spasticity management, and now post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). During the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed two Post-COVID Recovery Clinics to aid in rehabilitating patients with functional, mobility, and cognitive deficits after infection with COVID-19. She has over 100 publications in these areas and topics related to health equity and inclusion.  She is also a sub-investigator in the NIH RECOVER trial through her institution, one of 17 hubs in the country to be part of the initiative to study Long COVID.


More Resources

Upcoming Salon Conversations

Image

Chad Lane – The Adaptive Age: AI’s New Frontier – The Evolution of AI: Learning, Adapting, Transforming

Oct 4, 2023 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
Adaptive AI in the workplace is heralding a new era of technical transformation, fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate and innovate. Unlike traditional AI models that rely on static algorithms, adaptive AI learns and evolves in real-time, mirroring human-like flexibility and responsiveness.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

Tony Hunter – Reimagining the Global Food System: Feeding 10 Billion in 2050

Oct 18, 2023 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
Tony Hunter will engage in a conversation about reimagining the global food system. He will challenge conventional methods and explore innovative approaches to sustainably and equitably feed a growing global population.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

William Skinner – California doesn’t have a water problem – it has a storage and distribution deficiency.

November 1, 2023 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
In recent years, California has faced severe droughts that have further highlighted the inadequacy of its water infrastructure. As a result, many experts argue that California doesn’t have a water problem per se but rather a storage and distribution deficiency.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

Debra Hopkins – Breaking The Chains: Empowering creativity and community through art and connection

Nov 15, 2023 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
The power of art is immense. It can evoke emotions of all kinds, from the most profound sorrows to the highest joys, simultaneously or separately. For many people, art is a form of therapy that goes beyond time and space.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

Wendy Whitman – Evil Obsessions: Unraveling Our Fascination with Crime

Dec 13, 2023 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
The “true crime” phenomenon has never been more evident. From television series to books to documentaries, there seems to be a never-ending fascination with crime, specifically murder. Serial killers are a constant topic of conversation, whether in the news or in fictional shows and novels. In interview after interview, Wendy Whitman has been asked to explain this obsession.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

Charles Feinstein – Addressing the Climate Emergency: Economic and Policy Options and Making Polluters Pay

Jan 17, 2024 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, with global consequences affecting the natural environment, basic livelihoods, and nearly every sector of human activity. The interview will briefly review the current scientific understandings that define climate change as a critical threat.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk