--- description: Find out why Ziyad Al-Aly is on the TIME100 Health list. title: Ziyad Al-Aly image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47ea694b85d5d1dd/698a55f847ca3893f73bd71b/T100health-2024-Ziyad-Al-Aly.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 02, 2024 # Ziyad Al-Aly by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/) ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.  Ziyad Al-Aly Ziyad Al-AlyCourtesy Al-Aly Anytime an important new study on Long COVID comes out, there’s a good chance Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is behind it. Since 2020, Al-Aly has published about 20 studies—a prolific number in the slow-moving research world—that have helped shape the world’s newfound understanding of the long-term effects of COVID-19, which can range from debilitating fatigue and brain fog to increased risks of chronic conditions. Al-Aly is the first to admit that, prior to 2020, he knew almost nothing about postinfectious illness; back then, much of his research focused on the health effects of air pollution. He paused that work when the pandemic hit, turning his attention to Long COVID after reading [an April 2020 New York _Times_ op-ed](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/opinion/coronavirus-recovery.html "undefined") by patient advocate Fiona Lowenstein. Since then, he has published research detailing the numerous organ systems affected by Long COVID, the risks posed by multiple COVID-19 infections, and how Long COVID compares with chronic symptoms of viruses like the flu. Next, he says, he’ll focus his efforts on potential Long COVID treatments and determining whether SARS-CoV-2 is unique in its ability to cause chronic damage. All of these efforts are guided by Long COVID patients, Al-Aly says. “I feel connected at a visceral level,” he says. “People are asking us \[to do this work\] and I feel a sense of responsibility.” So will he ever go back to researching air pollution? “I identify as a Long COVID researcher now,” Al-Aly says. TIME100 Health: Ziyad Al-Aly ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6966812/ziyad-al-aly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6966812/ziyad-al-aly/"},"headline":"Ziyad Al-Aly","datePublished":"2024-05-02T12:06:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:30:27.716Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6966812/ziyad-al-aly/","keywords":["time100health2024","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47ea694b85d5d1dd/698a55f847ca3893f73bd71b/T100health-2024-Ziyad-Al-Aly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"creator":"Jamie Ducharme","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47ea694b85d5d1dd/698a55f847ca3893f73bd71b/T100health-2024-Ziyad-Al-Aly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time100-health-2024/","name":"time100health2024"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health/6966812/ziyad-al-aly/","name":"Ziyad Al-Aly"}}]}] ```