Defense Health Agency commits $7.1 million for PROBE-PASC
August 18th, 2026: Defense Health Agency awards $7.1M for PROBE-PASCNew here? Follow stories to track developments over time. Create a free account to get updates when stories you care about change.
Overview
Updated 1 hour agoThe Defense Health Agency has committed $7.1 million to UC San Francisco for a clinical trial network studying the biological mechanisms of long COVID. The award, recorded Aug. 18, covers work starting Sept. 1 under the PROBE-PASC project.
The money is obligated, not spent. It is one piece of a federal research budget that UCSF, the largest public recipient of NIH funding, has seen come under pressure from proposed caps on indirect costs.
Why it matters
Long COVID has no proven mechanism-based treatment; this network is designed to find one.
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Organizations Involved
Governing body of the University of California system; legally receives federal awards on behalf of campuses.
UC San Francisco is a public research university focused entirely on health sciences.
The Department of Defense agency that manages military health services and funds health research.
Timeline
February 2025 August 2026
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Defense Health Agency awards $7.1M for PROBE-PASC
Latest FundingThe agency obligated $7.1 million to UCSF for a clinical trial network studying the biological pathways of long COVID. Work starts Sept. 1.
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UCSF closes FY 2025 with record NIH funding
MilestoneUCSF received $824 million in NIH awards, the most of any public university in the U.S.
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Federal judge blocks NIH indirect cost cap
LegalA judge halted the cap after 22 states sued, including California. The relief was temporary.
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NIH proposes 15% cap on indirect costs
PolicyThe National Institutes of Health announced a cap on facilities and administrative funding, threatening UCSF with about $138 million in annual losses.
Historical Context
2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
AIDS Clinical Trials Group (1987)
The NIH created a national network for AIDS drug trials when HIV was untreatable.
The network produced data leading to antiretroviral combinations.
Turned AIDS from fatal to chronic and became a model for disease-specific trial networks.
Shows a dedicated trial network can move an unknown syndrome toward treatment.
NIH RECOVER Initiative (2021)
Congress gave the National Institutes of Health $1.15 billion to study long COVID. The RECOVER program enrolled tens of thousands of patients but has not produced an approved treatment.
Produced large observational datasets; no therapy.
Made long COVID a named federal research priority.
PROBE-PASC pursues the same goal with a different method: clinical trials designed to identify biological pathways.
