An FCPS synopsis on long COVID rebuilt to clear DRC and ERC on schedule

The Challenge

An internal medicine resident’s proposed FCPS research examined mitochondrial dysfunction in patients with post acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (long COVID), a topic with real clinical urgency but a genuine scientific gap: while acute COVID-19 is well characterised, the mechanisms behind persistent post acute fatigue are not. Before CPSP would even consider the synopsis, it had to survive the Departmental Research Committee and Ethical Review Committee first, the two stages where an unfocused research question or an unclear consent process gets caught earliest and most cheaply.

The Outcome

Working through Stage 02 and Stage 04 of the framework, the synopsis was built around a specific, defensible design: a cross sectional study quantifying mitochondrial bioenergetic markers in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, correlated against validated fatigue assessment scales in a defined sample of PASC patients and healthy controls. Every methodological choice, the sample size, the marker panel, the comparison group, was justified against what DRC and ERC reviewers actually ask, not just described. The synopsis cleared both committees, and the research was carried through to a completed article, ready for the publication requirement that the FCPS pathway demands.