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501(c)3 transforming how #LongCovid, #ME/CFS & Lyme+ are studied, diagnosed, and treated. Leading the #LongCovid Research Consortium.
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May 3 35 tweets 16 min read
At PolyBio, our Long COVID Research Consortium & related complex chronic illness projects are moving full speed ahead. On Friday May 16 we have planned an online Symposium where PolyBio-supported researchers will present updates on their projects. The symposium schedule is below!

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regist… Amy Proal, PhD
11:00 am ET (3:00 pm UTC)

An overview of PolyBio’s complex chronic illness research & clinical trials program

Dr. Proal will detail PolyBio’s collaborative infrastructure to study and treat infection’s chronic consequences across a wide range of conditions. These include long COVID, ME/CFS and tick-borne/vector-borne illness, but also Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and even human aging.Image
Apr 24 6 tweets 2 min read
1/ “[SARS-CoV-2] S1 protein leads to lower glucocorticoids,” said Dr. Matt Frank, who worked on a project to create a “multi-hit” model of Long Covid. “This may then disinhibit brain immune cells such as microglia, thereby priming these cells to subsequent inflammatory insults,” like a later bacterial or viral infection. 2/ PolyBio supported the research by Dr. Frank and team on neuroimmune priming in Long COVID. The team recently published their findings in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity.

polybio.org/multiple-hit-m…
Apr 19 24 tweets 5 min read
BREAKING: PolyBio-supported study reveals long-term immune and metabolic damage after COVID-19 infection

New preprint study reveals profound & long-lasting biological disruptions that can follow a SARS-CoV-2 infection, i.e. changes connected to altered metabolism & cancer-associated epigenetic changes

polybio.org/polybio-suppor… 2/ New research published by scientists from the University of California San Francisco reveals that COVID-19 can lead to significant and enduring alterations in the immune and metabolic systems of impacted individuals. Preprint data showing measures of inflammasome activity and oxidative stress in monocytes from participants with and without prior COVID-19.
Apr 15 14 tweets 3 min read
BREAKING: Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation donation expands PolyBio Long COVID program

Funds will support exploration of SARS-CoV-2’s potential to drive cancer, as well as continued work delineating persistence of the virus in long COVID tissue & therapies to clear persistent virusTwo scientists look at imaging on a computer in a dark clinic room at UCSF. They are both wearing black respirators. Photo credits Noah Berger. 2/ PolyBio Research Foundation is excited to announce a donation from the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation. Funds will facilitate the expansion of PolyBio’s Long COVID Research Consortium (LCRC) – a global collaboration of scientists working to rapidly study and treat long COVID.A scientist at UCSF points to data from their team showing SARS-CoV-2 spike RNA in gut tissue collected from a long COVID patient. (Photo by Noah Berger)
Mar 28 5 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: Development of a spike protein-specific radiolabeled antibody used with PET imaging shows presence of spike in brain & lungs of macaque monkeys 3 months post-COVID; provides new viral reservoir detection opportunity for long COVID: nature.com/articles/s4146… 2/ This PolyBio-supported project at UCSF is working to develop similar imaging methods. The goal is to detect spike protein associated with SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs throughout the body & brains of long COVID patients: polybio.org/projects/use-o…A pink bone with blue + red bone marrow to the right of a zoomed in microscope image of cells with red dots to depict viral persistence. To the left of the circular image of cells is a pink and purple gastrointestinal tract. Directly above the cells is a pink neuron with several branches.
Feb 11 20 tweets 3 min read
BREAKING: Cutting-edge Recommendations Provide Treatment Path for Millions of Long COVID patients 💊

In a new report global experts outline key considerations to address persistent SARS-CoV-2; provide a roadmap to test critical new long COVID therapies: polybio.org/cutting-edge-r…Image 2/ Long COVID, a debilitating condition following #SARS-CoV-2 infection, continues to disable tens of millions of people globally, yet no approved treatments exist. However, long #COVID is not a mystery.
Dec 20, 2024 7 tweets 2 min read
News 👉A new study published in Nature Communications has unveiled a crucial connection between chronic #infection with Cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and the development of #Alzheimer’s disease in certain individuals:

polybio.org/new-research-i… 2/ The research, led by a team of scientists at Arizona State University who are part of PolyBio's research network, suggests that in some individuals, HCMV may remain active in the #gut.
Dec 14, 2024 5 tweets 2 min read
1/ PolyBio's Dr. Michael Peluso presented evidence from the PolyBio-supported Long-Term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus (LIINC) study out of UCSF at 2024's Demystifying Long COVID International Conference.

Here are the highlights. Image 2/ Antigen Persistence in LIINC Study
• Spike antigen persistence in post-acute COVID patients detected in 13% from 3-6m, 11% from 6-10 m & 7.4% from 10-14 m after infection
• 2x higher risk of Spike persistence in hospitalized patients Image
Oct 30, 2024 12 tweets 3 min read
We are excited to announce an $800,000 donation to Mount Sinai to support a clinical trial of the drug rapamycin in patients with long COVID. The trial will be conducted at CoRE: a clinic directed by Dr. David Putrino and PolyBio's Dr. Amy Proal:
polybio.org/polybio-suppor… 2/ "We extremely motivated to run a clinical trial for an affordable, generic drug with the potential to help long COVID patients" says Dr. Proal, who serves as PolyBio's President and Scientific Director of CoRE.
Oct 22, 2024 25 tweets 10 min read
PolyBio’s Fall Symposium is fast approaching on Friday November 8!

From 11 AM to 5 PM, our partner scientists will discuss updates to their #longcovid research projects. The lightning talk schedule is as follows:

polybio.org/fall-2024-symp… Amy Proal, PhD
PolyBio Research Foundation
11:00 – 11:10 am ET (3:00- 3:10 pm UTC)
An overview of PolyBio’s complex chronic illness research & clinical trials program Image
Aug 6, 2024 18 tweets 4 min read
PolyBio Research Foundation is excited to announce a $1M donation to UCSF.  The donation will allow the UCSF LIINC team to study #ME/CFS patients with advanced technologies, several of which have never yet been used in the field: polybio.org/1m-polybio-don…
Image 2/ Funds for the collaboration were gifted to PolyBio from several #ME/CFS families and Kanro – a philanthropic fund to support open source #scientific research established by Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum.
Aug 5, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
Yes enough already! These leads on #LongCovid disease mechanisms are HUGE, which is why we’re doing everything in our power to support the team moving forward 2/ First we’re supporting the LIINC study, in part to serve as as a clinical sample & data core for the #LongCovid Research Consortium (LCRC), with samples shared with other international teams: polybio.org/projects/suppo…
Jul 27, 2024 9 tweets 2 min read
We are excited to have supported this new study via our #LongCovid Research Consortium.  The project team are our incredible @CUBoulderBN colleagues at the University of Colorado Boulder: polybio.org/multiple-hit-m…
Image 2/ The findings suggest that multiple infectious “hits” (#viral and #bacterial) may amplify long-term neuroinflammatory or neuroimmune symptoms in patients with #LongCovid.
Jul 3, 2024 13 tweets 3 min read
Breaking!: Research published today in Science Translational Medicine and supported by PolyBio Research Foundation shows that the #SARS-CoV-2 virus can chronically persist in the gut of patients with long COVID for over 2 years: polybio.org/chronic-virus-… 2/ The findings, published by a UCSF team known for innovation in HIV research, also documented T cell immune activation across the bodies and brains of people after COVID. This T cell activation was particularly elevated in the spinal cord and gut wall of long COVID participants Image
May 10, 2024 31 tweets 8 min read
The PolyBio Symposium is just a week away!

Scientists from our #LongCovid Research Consortium will give 10 min lightning talks on their research/clinical trial projects: polybio.org/spring-2024-sy… 2/ Talks will share new developments on #SARS-CoV-2 persistence, the impact of infection on #neurodegenerative & cardiovascular disease, new treatment pathways, and more.

They include:
May 3, 2024 10 tweets 3 min read
We are proud to have supported this new paper published in @BrainBehavImm.

Led by @MBVanElzakker & team at @MGHMartinos, it is the is first study to document neuroinflammation in the long COVID brain along with evidence of vascular problems: polybio.org/longcovid-brai… 2/ Neuroinflammation was located in some #brain areas that are exposed to circulating blood factors via gaps in the “blood-brain barrier” of the brain’s blood vessels. Image
Apr 11, 2024 11 tweets 3 min read
Great to see this new piece in @ScienceMagazine highlighting LongCovid clinical trials working to target #SARS-CoV-2 persistence. We are proud to be supporting nearly all the teams/trials mentioned in the piece via our LongCovid Research Consortium: science.org/content/articl… 2/ They include the trial at Sinai where @PutrinoLab , @polybio’s Dr. Amy Proal and Akiko Iwasaki’s group at Yale “will study two broad-spectrum antivirals that don’t require viral replication to work: Truvada and Selzentry, both approved for HIV”: polybio.org/projects/a-cli…
Feb 22, 2024 23 tweets 6 min read
We are excited to announce a 2nd series of collaborative projects & clinical trials supported via our LongCovid Research Consortium: polybio.org/new-longcovid-… 2/ The projects/trials further address #SARS-CoV-2 persistence in #LongCOVID, plus the impact of viral activity on #Alzheimer’s & cardiovascular disease. They include:
Jan 12, 2024 9 tweets 2 min read
PolyBio is glad to have supported this Nature Immunology paper showing #LongCovid immune dysregulation connected to potential #SARS-CoV-2 tissue reservoirs. Learn more about the findings here: polybio.org/polybio-suppor… 2/ Overall, Long COVID patients showed differences in the distributions of their T cells, implying ongoing #immune responses. The team also documented a mis-coordination between the SARS-CoV-2-specific T and B cell responses of Long COVID patients.
Nov 1, 2023 18 tweets 3 min read
We are excited to announce a $15M gift from Kanro: a philanthropic fund to support scientific research established by Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum: finance.yahoo.com/news/polybio-r… 2/ The funding will support a second phase of research and clinical trials via the #LongCovid Research Consortium (LCRC): a global scientific collaboration to rapidly and openly study core biological drivers of Long COVID: polybio.org/longcovid
Oct 21, 2023 14 tweets 3 min read
We are excited to share that @MBVanElzakker & team at @MGHMartinos have published a preprint with the results of a high-resolution #LongCovid imaging study. They identified neuroinflammation across a wide range of brain regions in LongCovid patients: polybio.org/polybio-suppor… 2/ They additionally found that #neuroinflammation positively correlated with blood measures related to vascular dysfunction. The study is supported via our LongCovid Research Consortium Image