Episode 50: Ziyad Al-Aly – Clinical Epidemiologist

Since the pandemic began Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist, has taken and analysed huge data sets to unravel the condition of Long Covid, leading and contributing to a huge number of studies.  He was instrumental in the characterisation of post-acute sequelae and more recently has been responsible for studies looking at the long term neurological outcomes of COVID-19, the increased risk of diabetes caused by the disease, and the risks associated with reinfection.

The scope of Al-Aly’s work is vast.  His role as the Chief of Research and Education Service at Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System enables him access to hundreds of thousands of health records from which he has been able to draw for his remarkable analysis. 

Much of Al-Aly’s work makes for stark reading, if not altogether surprising to those of us suffering the continued blows from Covid:

“People who had recovered from COVID-19 showed stark increases in 20 cardiovascular problems … they were 52% more likely to have had a stroke… out of every 1,000 people studied, there were around 4 more people… who experienced stroke.

The risk of heart failure increased by 72%.”

But in this conversation - that ranges from vaccine impact, to mitigation strategy, antivirals to reinfection - his humility, openness to other’s ideas and ability to view objectively are a reminder of the extraordinary people that are working to understand this condition.