Happy to share some new #LongCOVID data that went to pre-print today. Before we begin breaking this down, one caveat: this work MUST be validated by a well-powered placebo-controlled randomized controlled trial before we can get too excited, but this is

1/researchsquare.com/article/rs-750… an exciting first step and something that we hope will deepen our understanding of use of combination antivirals in the #LongCOVID community. A bit of background about how we got here: in early 2025 our team was part of a consortium that published a roadmap for targeting viral
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I was asked to respond to this. Honestly I don't pay too much attention to this account because I prefer to spend energy on people and things that build community in #LongCOVID and IACI rather than curating divisiveness, but this shouldn't go without rebuttal so here we go.
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https://twitter.com/sunsopeningband/status/1958887804462612574

First up, as someone who works in innovation, I *love* unpopular opinions - that's where alternative points of view live that allow us to look at a problem in a different way. But IT IS disingenuous to dress up an *uninformed* or *misleading* opinion as "unpopular" - that's
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This is an issue that has been coming up today from various folks and I want to address it. As I said when we launched the manual, this is the beginning of a conversation, not the "final word". I also want to say that reading it with 20/20 hindsight, I understand why this 1/

https://twitter.com/x3r0gx4/status/1956352433799450957

language has been inflammatory to members of the community, because it the feedback I have received is that it "feels like we're trying to say that exercise is curative even with PEM, without saying the word exercise". I regret that this was the impression that our wording
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Really proud of my team for getting this out. It has been a heavy lift. When we opened the Cohen Center for Recovery from Complex Chronic Illness, we wanted to create a place that could provide the very best of care for people with #LongCOVID, #MECFS,
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beckershospitalreview.com/quality/patien… chronic tick- and vector-borne illness and other infection associated chronic illnesses. We wanted to make sure that this could be done billing codes that are covered by insurance, and most importantly, we did *not* want to become a destination clinic - we wanted to create a
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I was asked about my opinion on this recent study into #MECFS and I wanted to share here as well. First and foremost, sincere congratulations to the research team for some stellar work. I will never stop cheering for groups that are working to uncover the biological 1/

https://twitter.com/mecfsskeptic/status/1953353139639177370

underpinnings of these illnesses. Next, I think that the study is credible and well-conducted with a great, big data set that agrees with other studies in the space that have shown that, yes - people with #MECFS, #LongCOVID () and perhaps even other 2/medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

I'm glad to see @BuzzFeed running educational content about tick- and vector-borne illness like #lyme, but I must disagree with Dr Shapiro, who is quoted in this article, that an infected tick *has* to be on for 24-36 hrs to transmit Lyme Disease. The
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buzzfeed.com/jillianwilson/… public should be aware that transmission of Borrelia Burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes #Lyme disease can happen sooner than 24-36 hours. In fact, nymph ticks (much harder to spot than full-grown) have been known to transmit Lyme to a host in under 12 hours. Furthermore,
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In honor of #PrideMonth2025, I just wanted to take a moment to discuss the crucial role of intersectionality, gender and inclusion in research, specifically as it relates to our research involving #LongCOVID, #MECFS, chronic #lyme and other complex chronic illnesses. As we 1/ work to understand these illnesses, we must often contend with the fact that they are characterized by a diverse array of symptoms that cause dynamic disability (fluctuating severity of symptoms that can lead to fluctuating levels of disability). As we've learned, so many 2/

As with most of the harmful #LongCOVID rhetoric that gets occasionally flung in my direction, I was going to ignore this particularly egregious take, but a few members of the community who I respect asked me to respond and this account also chose to sling mud at someone that 1/

https://twitter.com/Virus2Host/status/1934331709136486775

I truly admire, @VirusesImmunity, and I just cannot let that stand. Let's start with the obvious: we are not "heroes", we are not "saviors". We are people. People who saw a disaster occurring and did our best to lend a hand. I am fallible, I am frequently wrong and if you 2/

Since I posted two threads about PEM yesterday, some general feedback themes have been coming up, so I just wanted to address them:
1) Thank you to those who rightly pointed out that in my description of PEM I should have mentioned that PEM can have permanent consequences to
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https://twitter.com/PutrinoLab/status/1933437518969557479

someone's baseline. Not dissimilar to what we see in multiple sclerosis, some people can bounce back from their PEM without a noticeable effect to their baseline, whilst others appear to experience progressive loss of function with every bout of PEM (or a combo of the two).
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Ok, so after that (unintentional) cliffhanger, let's talk about energy production infrastructure and post-exertional malaise (PEM) in people with infection- and exposure-associated chronic illnesses (IACIs) such as #LongCOVID, #MECFS, chronic #Lyme and more. Let's start with 1/ how cells produce energy. ATP is the body's energy currency, and we only know how to make this currency from glucose, so our bodies need to turn glucose into ATP. They can do so either aerobically (using oxygen and mitochondria) or anerobically (fast, but inefficient, no 2/

Wanted to put forward a thread about #PEM since there have been some new developments and also because I just need to get some of this out of my head and work through it. Folks with infection- and exposure-associated chronic illnesses (IACIs) like #LongCOVID, #MECFS, 1/ chronic #lyme and other tick- and vector-borne illnesses will often experience post-exertional malaise (PEM). In fact, it is often thought of as a cardinal hallmark of many of these diagnoses. To start, a simple working definition of PEM: it is a condition that emerges when 2/

A few comments that might be helpful after a phenomenal couple of weeks learning from brilliant people in #MECFS, #LongCOVID, chronic #Lyme and infection-associated chronic illness (IACI) communities and still buzzing after yesterday's @polybioRF meeting. These illnesses are 1/ complex and are going to require equally complex science to solve. When it comes to studying and managing these illnesses, I rarely feel sure about anything, but if I'm sure of one thing it is this: anyone telling you that one drug/one approach will solve all cases of an IACI 2/

Quite disheartening to return from 10 days working with some of the most important and relevant #MECFS and #LongCOVID researchers in the world and to read this drivel being allowed through from @bmj_latest. Let's be unambiguous about this: BMJ has 1/

bmj.com/content/389/bm… allowed an OPINION piece to be published about #MECFS that flies in the face of:
1. current consensus science
2. recent NICE guidelines that were corrected so as to not include recommendations based on fraudulent/discredited data (PACE Trial)
3. voices of ME/CFS patients
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Excerpt of an email received by a mentee of mine who is currently transitioning to independence as a career researcher. This is happening all over the country right now. The “equity research” my mentee was proposing was centered around novel neurotechnologies that increase the 1/ safety, privacy and independence of people with disabilities. Canceling programs like this doesn’t make America great, it makes America weak, behind the times, not at the bleeding edge of innovation and just kinda mean. Canceling programs that uplift early career scientists 2/

Two steps forward, one step back. For #LongCOVID awareness day today I had the honor of joining thousands of other New Yorkers in a peaceful protest to stand against many of the current administration’s recent damaging and thoughtless policies and executive orders. Let there 1/ be no misunderstandings here: many of the executive orders and policies being proposed and passed into law will erase entire populations of historically and currently excluded communities. Under the facile goal of “improving efficiency”, decisions are being made that not only 2/

A tumultuous 24-ish hours since our preprint was released yesterday. I mentioned that this was a fraught issue and I genuinely do understand that people have mixed feelings about the work. I wanted to take some time to respond to some of the concerns and comments that have 1/ arisen. First, and most importantly: #LongCOVID (LC) and post-vaccine syndrome (PVS) both exist. Anyone claiming that all LC or even *most* LC is actually PVS is unserious and is making up nonsense that is not supported by the consensus science. I cannot stress this strongly 2/

Grateful to continue to be able to do great work with the amazing team at @YaleMed, led by @VirusesImmunity and @hmkyale. Today one of our preprints dropped on what is a fraught and divisive topic: vaccine injury or post-vaccine syndrome (PVS). Before
1/medrxiv.org/content/10.110… we dig into the results, I want to state a few things very clearly about the team that conducted this work:
- We firmly believe in the value of vaccinations. However, we also believe that drugs will always have side-effects in a percentage of the population. Holding these two 2/

This is an amazing example of how certain things simply cannot be broken down to a magic pill or formula and I think this is a wonderful #scicomm learning opportunity.

Note the communication from @hubermanlab. 1) Makes a statement about how a key opinion leader says you can 1/

https://twitter.com/hubermanlab/status/1889323186489033145

*dramatically* increase endurance and strength. 2) Makes the caveat (“start slow”). Simple, direct, informative. Right?

Ok, so what’s the secret?
- Once a week, jog a mile with a kettle bell that is equal to 30% of your own weight in a briefcase carry. Switch arms from time 2/

Honored to be a part of the work led by @polybioRF and @microbeminded2 published in @TheLancetInfDis discussing actionable strategies to adequately address SARS-CoV-2 persistence in #LongCovid. This paper covers discourse on how to look for and measure severity of persistence 1/

https://twitter.com/polybiorf/status/1889299846105911777

so that it can be used as an outcome measure in clinical trials, discussion about promising antiviral and monoclonal agents: what has the best chance of working and when combination therapies should be considered, the critical need for more sophisticated clinical trial designs 2/

Feels like a good time for a little reminder: Countries aren't supposed to be run like businesses. Countries are supposed to spend money to support and serve their people. This means spending to support those living below the poverty line, the disabled and historically 1/ excluded groups. This means investing in research that doesn't immediately have a profitable output so that future innovations can be incubated and accelerated through companies that form within the country that supported the work. This means engaging in international aid so 2/

Wanted to check-in with these new @NIH changes that are going to affect so many. First let me remind everyone: I run 6 hybrid clinical/research centers, each with a specific clinical focus. Unlike the vast majority of my colleagues, federal funding sources account for less 1/ than 20% of my operational budget across all of these centers, so understand that my thoughts on this topic have nothing to do with self-preservation or any sort of self-serving agenda. First, sweeping change of this magnitude is going to cause great pain for thousands and 2/