Faculty member Mei Liu, Ph.D., has co-authored two recent journal articles about COVID-19 in children. The articles were both published in April 2025 in the journals JAMA Network Open and PLOS Digital Health.
The first article, Kidney Function Following COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents, looked at more than 1.9 million de-identified patients under the age of 21. It found that kidney function decreases, and new chronic kidney disease increases post COVID. This research was part of the National Institutes of Health Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative.
The second article, Pediatric Long COVID Subphenotypes, used electronic health records to study Long COVID in young people. Using machine learning, the researchers found a majority of patients experienced cardiorespiratory problems. Other major issues included pain and psychiatric conditions. This study was also part of the RECOVER Initiative.
Liu is an associate professor in the UF College of Medicine’s Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics (HOBI) and affiliated with the Institute for Child Health Policy.
Access the peer-reviewed journal articles from the links in the citations below.
Li L, Zhou T, Lu Y, Chen J, Lei Y, Wu Q, Arnold J, Becich MJ, Bisyuk Y, Blecker S, Chrischilles E, Christakis DA, Geary CR, Jhaveri R, Lenert L, Liu M, Mirhaji P, Morizono H, Mosa ASM, Onder AM, Patel R, Smoyer WE, Taylor BW, Williams DA, Dixon BP, Flynn JT, Gluck C, Harshman LA, Mitsnefes MM, Modi ZJ, Pan CG, Patel HP, Verghese PS, Forrest CB, Denburg MR, Chen Y. Kidney Function following COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents. JAMA Netw Open, 2025;8(4):e254129. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2832549
Lorman V, Bailey CL, Song X, Rao S, Hornig M, Utidjian L, Razzaghi H, Mejias A, Leikauf JE, Brill SE, Allen A, Bunnell HT, Reedy C, Mosa ASM, Horne BD, Geary CR, Chuang CH, Williams DA, Christakis DA, Chrischilles EA, Mendonca EA, Cowell LG, McCorkell L, Liu M, Cummins MR, Jhaveri R, Blecker S, Forrest CB. (2025) Pediatric Long COVID Subphenotypes: An EHR-based Stud from the RECOVER Program. PLOS Digital Health 4(4): e0000747. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000747