Our Research

CODA’s Research Focus: Neuroimmune Science

Complex disorders don’t happen in isolation and neither should research.

Everything we do at CODA is designed to translate scientific insight into the right treatment for each patient at the right time, bringing together the people, data, and disciplines needed to move from biology to real-world impact.

Our interdisciplinary approach, powered by best-in-class scientists and real-world data, identifies actionable disease drivers and stratifies patients by underlying biology to guide targeted treatment decisions.

Through continued and extensive landscape analysis, CODA has established five core research areas that guide and connect this work.

CODA’s Five Research Areas

  • Outline drawing of a human brain in blue.

    Neural & Autonomic Dysregulation

    Disruptions in neural and autonomic signaling can alter how the body processes sensory input and regulates internal state. These changes can impair homeostatic control, amplify signaling responses, and sustain maladaptive feedback among neural, autonomic, and immune systems.

  • Immune system defense

    Immune Network Dysregulation

    The immune system can shift into a persistently activated yet poorly regulated state, with altered signaling across immune pathways. This can drive ongoing inflammation, disrupt coordinated immune function, and limit the system’s ability to resolve activation and return to baseline.

  • Blue abstract geometric snowflake illustration.

    Viral & Microbial Persistence

    Residual viral or microbial components may persist within tissues or protected biological compartments, continuing to engage immune recognition pathways. This ongoing signaling can sustain innate immune activation and reinforce downstream neural and inflammatory responses.

  • CSF, Glymphatics, Cerebral & Venous Blood Flow

    Alterations in cerebrospinal fluid movement, glymphatic function, and cerebral and venous blood flow can shift pressure dynamics and impair metabolic exchange. These disruptions can reduce support for neural tissue and destabilize coordinated signaling across brain systems.

  • Icon of a human figure surrounded by arrows pointing outwards.

    Structural Mechanics & Instability

    Changes in connective tissue integrity can affect how mechanical forces are distributed across the body. This can influence joint stability, alter sensory input, and impact the consistency of signaling across neural and vascular structures.

Together, these areas form the foundation of our work—and our path toward real answers.

Together, these areas form the foundation of our work—and our path toward real answers.

Multiple neuroimmune programs and studies are underway or in active development.

And we can’t move forward without your participation and support. These studies only happen with patient engagement and funding. Please donate to power the science patients are waiting for.

  • Craniocervical dysfunction is often reported by patients with complex multisystem disorders, yet it remains under-investigated and inconsistently addressed in both research and clinical practice, leaving patients with few to no evidence-based interventions. 

    The underlying mechanisms remain unknown, but what we do know is that the craniocervical region is central to stability, blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow, vestibular balance, autonomic regulation, immune activity, and more. 

    CODA CCD investigates altered neuroimmune signaling at the craniocervical junction contributes to the initiation and progression of complex disorders. Structural factors in this region may heighten these neuroimmune shifts.

    CODA CCD offers a unique human model for studying and understanding the following interconnected areas:

    • Neuroimmune and inflammatory response

    • CSF & glymphatic flow

    • Cerebral and venous flow

    • Autonomic and vagal signaling

    • Structural Instability and compression

    • Musculoskeletal & neuromuscular control

  • CODA invests in multiomics studies and AI data analysis to have the data and tools to better understand which patients respond to which therapies: the backbone of precision medicine.

    Therapies only succeed when we understand who may respond and why. CODA subtyping studies investigate biological differences across patients to better understand who may respond to specific treatments. 

    MELO Study:

    CODA partnered with ChronicleBio and Precision Life to launch the MELO Study, a study aimed to identify potential biomarkers that may help explain the biological underpinnings of Long COVID and ME/CFS. 

    These biomarkers have been associated with these syndromes in previous scientific studies. They can be used to identify factors that increase patient’s risk and narrow down potential causes of particular symptoms.  These findings are not yet validated for diagnosis or treatment, but they provide a window into areas of biology that warrant deeper investigation. 

    It was important to CODA that these results be returned as a meaningful give-back to patients, offering insight into how research models work and how their participation drives scientific progress.

    Over time, these insights could enable the development of more targeted studies, improved diagnostics, new treatments, and a better understanding of why these conditions affect people so differently.

  • Breakthroughs happen when the best minds work together. Advancing this field requires bringing leading scientific labs into the work and creating real incentives for collaboration. Supporting fellows is one of the most effective ways to attract top talent, expand expertise, and keep research centered on the needs of patients.

    CODA supports junior and senior fellows at leading medical institutions to ensure science remains centered on patients.

    To inquire, please email info@complexdisorders.org.

  • CODA consistently accepts proposals that examine the most important areas of neuroimmune science.

    To inquire, please email info@complexdisorders.org.

CODA Publications

Reproducibility of genetic risk factors identified for long COVID using combinatorial analysis across US and UK patient cohorts with diverse ancestries

Published: 08 May 2025