C.H. Romatowski
@chromatowski.bsky.social
This account will prob be about biomed research—complex chronic illnesses and Covid—w/some material on disability justice and organizing.
ME ‘05, LC ‘23, many of their friends along the way. Very severe (FUNCAP 0.9). No unsolicited advice please!
ME ‘05, LC ‘23, many of their friends along the way. Very severe (FUNCAP 0.9). No unsolicited advice please!
Pinned
There should be infinitely more interest in this medical mystery.
How many doctors can even name the phenomenon described below?
I’ll give a hint: it’s the hallmark of a disease that affects 1.3% of US adults, per CDC. (So docs should know about it!)
#MedSky
How many doctors can even name the phenomenon described below?
I’ll give a hint: it’s the hallmark of a disease that affects 1.3% of US adults, per CDC. (So docs should know about it!)
#MedSky
This is unimaginably flattering company to find myself in; I def recommend you check out the rest of this terrific starter pack.
A big starter pack of People Who Get It, imho. go.blacksky.community/5KTiNKd
November 29, 2025 at 2:55 AM
This is unimaginably flattering company to find myself in; I def recommend you check out the rest of this terrific starter pack.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
This gives me so much hope as someone who is on a boatload of meds just to make it so I can function with vasculitis.
Developed initially to target and kill tumors, they are now being engineered to target cells that are contributing to autoimmune diseases, like antibody-producing B cells.
#Science 🧪
#Science 🧪
‘They don’t have symptoms’: CAR-T therapies send autoimmune diseases into remission
Engineered T cells that have been used to treat ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus show promising results.
www.nature.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:17 AM
This gives me so much hope as someone who is on a boatload of meds just to make it so I can function with vasculitis.
This is really it.
November 29, 2025 at 12:36 AM
This is really it.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Hey MA friends. As you know, I have long covid, so the ability to mask with a well fitting respirator in public is essential to my health. (My docs all agree that I must avoid getting COVID again.) There’s a bill coming up in the MA legislature that has some troubling language. Please read 👇🏼
By Mon 12/1 at 5PM, send an email to protect right to mask in Massachusetts
Email written testimony in support of H1981, As amended by removing section 3
open.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Hey MA friends. As you know, I have long covid, so the ability to mask with a well fitting respirator in public is essential to my health. (My docs all agree that I must avoid getting COVID again.) There’s a bill coming up in the MA legislature that has some troubling language. Please read 👇🏼
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
A big starter pack of People Who Get It, imho. go.blacksky.community/5KTiNKd
November 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
A big starter pack of People Who Get It, imho. go.blacksky.community/5KTiNKd
The Sick Times: 'You know someone with Long COVID. They need you to ask about it genuinely.'
Written by Philip Hoover
'If community-building is a bulwark against autocracy, then asking after one another might be a good place to start.'
thesicktimes.org/2025/11/28/y...
Written by Philip Hoover
'If community-building is a bulwark against autocracy, then asking after one another might be a good place to start.'
thesicktimes.org/2025/11/28/y...
You know someone with Long COVID. They need you to ask about it genuinely. - The Sick Times
If community-building is a bulwark against autocracy, then asking after one another might be a good place to start.
thesicktimes.org
November 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
“Long Covid only happens to leftists”
Or society’s ableism is so rampant and devastating that becoming disabled commonly functions as a radicalizing experience. Who can say.
Or society’s ableism is so rampant and devastating that becoming disabled commonly functions as a radicalizing experience. Who can say.
November 28, 2025 at 1:21 AM
“Long Covid only happens to leftists”
Or society’s ableism is so rampant and devastating that becoming disabled commonly functions as a radicalizing experience. Who can say.
Or society’s ableism is so rampant and devastating that becoming disabled commonly functions as a radicalizing experience. Who can say.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Nice review from Tim Henrich et al laying out a framework for thinking about how the complex landscape of prior, concurrent, and subsequent microbial infection (viral, microbial, fungal) may interact w Covid infection and whether that might play a role in Long Covid elifesciences.org/articles/106...
The role of co-infection in the pathogenesis of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of post-acute sequelae: A perspective
Unraveling mechanisms underlying post-acute SARS-CoV-2 sequelae (long COVID) and finding therapeutic solutions require a full understanding of the causative role of SARS-CoV-2 persistence and/or infec...
elifesciences.org
November 27, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Nice review from Tim Henrich et al laying out a framework for thinking about how the complex landscape of prior, concurrent, and subsequent microbial infection (viral, microbial, fungal) may interact w Covid infection and whether that might play a role in Long Covid elifesciences.org/articles/106...
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
A recent study in case you or others want to learn more.
“Adults in the highest quartile of cumulative social disadvantage exhibited an increased odds of experiencing long COVID compared to those in the lowest quartile”—more than 250% higher, in fact.
Long Covid is a class issue.
“Adults in the highest quartile of cumulative social disadvantage exhibited an increased odds of experiencing long COVID compared to those in the lowest quartile”—more than 250% higher, in fact.
Long Covid is a class issue.
Cumulative social disadvantage and its impact on long COVID: insights from a U.S. national survey - BMC Medicine
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health disparities, with long COVID emerging as a major global public health challenge. Although clinical risk factors for long COVID are well-document...
link.springer.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A recent study in case you or others want to learn more.
“Adults in the highest quartile of cumulative social disadvantage exhibited an increased odds of experiencing long COVID compared to those in the lowest quartile”—more than 250% higher, in fact.
Long Covid is a class issue.
“Adults in the highest quartile of cumulative social disadvantage exhibited an increased odds of experiencing long COVID compared to those in the lowest quartile”—more than 250% higher, in fact.
Long Covid is a class issue.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Thanks for this. I hope you and yours have a good holiday.
Wanted to flag that some people you’re serving here are wearing masks. Poverty elevates risk for long-term disability from Covid while reducing resources needed to deal w/that outcome. Love for you to support better protection for NYC.
Wanted to flag that some people you’re serving here are wearing masks. Poverty elevates risk for long-term disability from Covid while reducing resources needed to deal w/that outcome. Love for you to support better protection for NYC.
NYC ACTION: Contact your NYC Council Member & urge them to co-sponsor Int 0332-2024!
This important bill would provide access to free masks, other PPE, & rapid tests through the mail to New Yorkers.
Email them: actionnetwork.org/letters/free...
Call them: council.nyc.gov/districts
This important bill would provide access to free masks, other PPE, & rapid tests through the mail to New Yorkers.
Email them: actionnetwork.org/letters/free...
Call them: council.nyc.gov/districts
November 27, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Thanks for this. I hope you and yours have a good holiday.
Wanted to flag that some people you’re serving here are wearing masks. Poverty elevates risk for long-term disability from Covid while reducing resources needed to deal w/that outcome. Love for you to support better protection for NYC.
Wanted to flag that some people you’re serving here are wearing masks. Poverty elevates risk for long-term disability from Covid while reducing resources needed to deal w/that outcome. Love for you to support better protection for NYC.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!
A reminder that the median book deal for a debut author in the UK is £7000, paid over 12-18 months. (from 2022 Society of Authors report). Some of your favourite writers are struggling. societyofauthors.org/2022/12/06/a....
A profession struggling to sustain itself - The Society of Authors
ALCS report on author incomes shows 60% drop in median incomes since 2006
societyofauthors.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
You've got to have some gall to call Covid conscious folks rigid when you haven't masked in public in years, cling to 2019 & refuse to evolve your daily habits to fit the science 🧬
November 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
You've got to have some gall to call Covid conscious folks rigid when you haven't masked in public in years, cling to 2019 & refuse to evolve your daily habits to fit the science 🧬
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
I always wear a mask in crowded indoor spaces but tonight I will be doing so *fiercely.* I will be remembering the online friend who died this week as a result of complications stemming from Long Covid. I will be honouring her memory by doing what I can to keep myself and other people safe. Always.😷
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I always wear a mask in crowded indoor spaces but tonight I will be doing so *fiercely.* I will be remembering the online friend who died this week as a result of complications stemming from Long Covid. I will be honouring her memory by doing what I can to keep myself and other people safe. Always.😷
My jaw is on the floor.
Egregious AI slop published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Egregious AI slop published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 27, 2025 at 10:43 PM
My jaw is on the floor.
Egregious AI slop published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Egregious AI slop published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Holy fucking shit this is a *real* image from a *real* (presumably peer-reviewed) paper in [Nature] Scientific Reports.
How many people had to sign off on this figure?
The editor, one hopes, the reviewer(s)? The copy editor?
What had to happen for THIS to get published?
How many people had to sign off on this figure?
The editor, one hopes, the reviewer(s)? The copy editor?
What had to happen for THIS to get published?
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 27, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Holy fucking shit this is a *real* image from a *real* (presumably peer-reviewed) paper in [Nature] Scientific Reports.
How many people had to sign off on this figure?
The editor, one hopes, the reviewer(s)? The copy editor?
What had to happen for THIS to get published?
How many people had to sign off on this figure?
The editor, one hopes, the reviewer(s)? The copy editor?
What had to happen for THIS to get published?
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Some positive news 👏🙌
Take the wins where you can
Take the wins where you can
November 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Some positive news 👏🙌
Take the wins where you can
Take the wins where you can
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Quick Black Friday reminder: if you buy a second heating pad, you can have a heating pad in your bed *and* on your couch. 💡🤓💵
November 27, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Quick Black Friday reminder: if you buy a second heating pad, you can have a heating pad in your bed *and* on your couch. 💡🤓💵
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
The absolute fucking irony.
NEW: A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
Amid Confusing CDC Guidance About Vaccines, Study Highlights New Risk of COVID-19 During Pregnancy
A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
www.propublica.org
November 27, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The absolute fucking irony.
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
Moving tribute to Alice Wong from Rebecca Cokley: “Alice was constantly watching what people were doing, & lifting up people whose work she thought deserved attention & amplification. This was core to the creation of the Disability Visibility Project.”
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
A Tribute to an Oracle, Alice Wong
Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated.
www.thenation.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Moving tribute to Alice Wong from Rebecca Cokley: “Alice was constantly watching what people were doing, & lifting up people whose work she thought deserved attention & amplification. This was core to the creation of the Disability Visibility Project.”
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
I don’t think people outside of healthcare realize how much AAP is standing out as a moral backbone of medicine right now, especially in pediatrics. There is so much fear at institutions. Seeing an org directly and repeatedly targeted refuse to budge an inch is extraordinary.
AAP: ‘Stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims’ about vaccines, autism
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its website to include false claims linking vaccines and autism, prompting a swift rebuke from the AAP and other medical experts.
publications.aap.org
November 27, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I don’t think people outside of healthcare realize how much AAP is standing out as a moral backbone of medicine right now, especially in pediatrics. There is so much fear at institutions. Seeing an org directly and repeatedly targeted refuse to budge an inch is extraordinary.
November 27, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
There are >800 LoCITT-T participants, & >200 people who are eligible & just need to take one more step to claim their spot.
There's time for new folks to join!
We're particularly hoping to enroll folks from ND, MS, & PR & more BIPOC participants:
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
There's time for new folks to join!
We're particularly hoping to enroll folks from ND, MS, & PR & more BIPOC participants:
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
November 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
There are >800 LoCITT-T participants, & >200 people who are eligible & just need to take one more step to claim their spot.
There's time for new folks to join!
We're particularly hoping to enroll folks from ND, MS, & PR & more BIPOC participants:
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
There's time for new folks to join!
We're particularly hoping to enroll folks from ND, MS, & PR & more BIPOC participants:
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
"A Tribute to an Oracle, Alice Wong"
"Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated."
essential reading on Alice from Rebecca Cokley
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
"Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated."
essential reading on Alice from Rebecca Cokley
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
A Tribute to an Oracle, Alice Wong
Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated.
www.thenation.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:49 PM
"A Tribute to an Oracle, Alice Wong"
"Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated."
essential reading on Alice from Rebecca Cokley
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
"Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated."
essential reading on Alice from Rebecca Cokley
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
I think about this all the time
I also wonder how many kids are using ChatGPT because long Covid has prevented them from being able to actually read and write anymore
November 26, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I think about this all the time
Whew how much this weighs on me…
And honestly it could be partially Covid. Who the hell even knows. I guess I'm lucky I had 50 years of good brain health.
I have a friend whose 15 year old daughter has had Covid 5 times. Imagine how many more times she could get covid by the time she's 50. It's crazy to think about
I have a friend whose 15 year old daughter has had Covid 5 times. Imagine how many more times she could get covid by the time she's 50. It's crazy to think about
November 26, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Whew how much this weighs on me…