Call for papers - Long-term impacts of COVID-19 on child development

Guest Editors

Fiona Newlands, PhD, MSc, MA, University College London, UK
Snehal Pinto Pereira, PhD, University College London, UK
Sharon H Saydah, PhD, MHS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 20 February 2026

BMC Pediatrics welcomes research on the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on child development, encompassing physical, mental, and cognitive dimensions. We invite submissions that explore the effects of the pandemic on children's growth trajectories, identify disparities in long-term health outcomes, and propose management strategies aimed at supporting recovery and resilience.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Fiona Newlands, PhD, MSc, MA, University College London, UK
Dr Newlands is a Clinical Teaching Fellow at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH), where she contribute to postgraduate teaching on child and adolescent mental health. Prior to this, a significant strand of her research related to the Children and Young People with Long COVID (CLoCk) study, one of the largest national cohort studies of pediatric Long COVID globally. Her research background is in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Dr Newlands holds an MA in Psychology and an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Her interests lie in the intersection between physical and mental health, with a particular focus on how young people and families adapt to long-term physical health conditions.

Snehal Pinto Pereira, PhD, University College London, UK
Dr Pinto Pereira is an Associate Professor in Population Health and Applied Statistics in the UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science. She is a statistical epidemiologist by training and currently hold an MRC Senior Non-Clinical Fellowship. Prior to this, she held an MRC Career Development Award to work on the related topics of obesity, physical activity, muscle strength and ageing. Dr Pinto Pereira is an MRC-funded researcher leading work on obesity, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and ageing. She also leads and contributes substantially to several projects trying to understand how specific child maltreatments are related, via certain pathways, to outcomes in adulthood. Additionally, Dr Pinto Pereira is involved in the nationally funded Children & young people with Long Covid (CLoCk) study, which aims to describe the clinical phenotype and prevalence of post-COVID symptoms in children and young people.

Sharon H Saydah, PhD, MHS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
Dr Saydah is an epidemiologist and senior scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Commander in the United States Public Health Service where she leads the Long COVID and Other Sequelae Team in the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases. She is a leading researcher in infectious, clinical, chronic disease epidemiology, and public health surveillance. Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr Saydah’s work focused public health research and surveillance of diabetes among youth and young adults along with prevention of diabetes and its complications. Since then she has turned her focus to respiratory viruses. Dr Saydah is at the forefront of CDC’s efforts to understand, monitor, and track the impact of Long COVID in the USA.

About the Collection

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unprecedented challenges to child development across the globe. Emerging evidence suggests that children who experienced infection or were affected by the pandemic's extensive disruptions—such as school closures, social isolation, and economic instability—may face long-lasting developmental impacts. Understanding these effects is crucial as we strive to identify the specific challenges on the physical and mental well-being, as well as cognitive functioning, that children encounter during and after the pandemic. Addressing the long-term effects of COVID-19 on child development is vital for informing public health strategies and educational policies aimed at supporting affected children and families.

BMC Pediatrics invites submissions to our new Collection, Long-term impacts of COVID-19 on child development. This Collection seeks to illuminate the complexities of child development in the context of COVID-19. Key areas of interest include but not limited to long-term health impacts of COVID-19 on various pediatric populations, resilient infrastructure and management strategies to support children and their families in post COVID conditions, as well as health disparities exacerbated by the pandemic and their solutions.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to Collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Long-term impacts of COVID-19 on child development" from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.