iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Researchers are learning to crack the blood-brain barrier to get drugs more easily into the brain. This has already opened doors for treating a rare genetic disorder and is being tested in a Phase 3 trial for Alzheimer's. My latest in National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/health/artic...

nationalgeographic.com

The Quest to Deliver Alzheimer's Drugs Directly to the Brain

Scientists have spent decades trying to get medicine across the blood-brain barrier. Two treatments for a rare genetic disorder have already made it through. Now an experimental Alzheimer’s drug is pu...

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For FTD Awareness week, I wrote about the rare MAPT variant that causes frontotemporal dementia and the push by advocates to finally include individuals with the gene in clinical trials. beingpatient.com/could-a-gene...

beingpatient.com

Could a Gene in Alzheimer's Research Also Unlock Answers for FTD?

Her husband had a rare genetic mutation that caused frontotemporal dementia. Now Tanya Steel is pushing for research targeting the gene.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I also highlight how sparse funding and trial landscape for Long COVID is in Canada, compared to other countries. Thanks to all who commented for the story, including Dr. Zeest Kahn, Michael Hoerger, Nina Steinkopf, and Rob DeRosa /n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The trial uses self-reported outcomes, which may be problematic when the intervention depends on changing how people view and perceive their symptoms. 8/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

t may mimic the way that the Lightning Process prescreens people for those "ready to engage" with its tenets. “Motivation has little relevance when combating most serious illnesses like cancer or Long COVID,” said Michael Hoerger. 7/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

To participate in the trial, people are screened with a questionnaire called “readiness to change,” to ensure that those who participate are already motivated to shift their behavior. This questionnaire has not been used in other Long COVID studies. 6/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The three-day program teaches people “strategies” that include saying “stop” when they feel negative thoughts or symptoms, and to choose to avoid symptoms by interrupting them through physical gestures and visualizing themselves feeling positive. 5/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The program is a commerical three day training program that draws on the pseudoscientific practices of neuroliguistic programming and osteopathy. 4/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The Lightning Process has been heavily criticized by experts and people with Long COVID and related diseases. Some advocates have accused the program of exploiting people, while other experts question its validity. 3/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The study is funded for $188,904 CAD (around $136,000 USD) through the Hamilton Academic Health Sciences Organization. Part of the cost will go to pay the Lightning Process Practitioners. This study’s team includes a researcher trained to deliver the program. 2/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

For @thesicktimes.org, I covered a petition that over 1,700 people have signed calling for a pause to a trial that's applying for ethical approval to test a psuedoscientific program for #LongCOVID called The Lightning Process. thesicktimes.org/2026/09/22/p... 1/n

Screenshot of Sick Times article. Title: "People with Long COVID demand pause of McMaster University clinical trial"

DEK: The trial, run by researchers at McMaster University in Canada, is testing the Lightning Process, a pseudoscientific mind-body program that outside experts have heavily criticized.

Image: A college building

ey points you should know:

A petition signed by 1,700 people asks for a pause and independent review of a trial run by McMaster University researchers who want to test the Lightning Process.

The Lightning Process is a pseudoscientific mind-body program to try to treat Long COVID that has been accused of exploiting people with Long COVID and related diseases.

The trial is designed in part by a Lightning Process practitioner and prescreens participants for motivation using a questionnaire that isn’t validated for Long COVID.

There are very few trials and little funding in Canada for Long COVID research, and advocates believe that studying the Lightning Process instead of pathobiological pathways is a waste of funding.

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Reposted by Simon Spichak

Miles W. Griffis @mileswgriffis.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Over 1,700 people have signed a petition calling on McMaster University to review a Long COVID clinical trial evaluating a pseudoscientific "mind body" program. "It seems like we're in the dark ages," the petition author told @spichaksimon.bsky.social thesicktimes.org/2026/09/22/p...

thesicktimes.org

People with Long COVID demand pause of McMaster University clinical trial - The Sick Times

The trial, run by researchers at McMaster University in Canada, is testing the Lightning Process, a pseudoscientific mind-body program that outside experts have heavily criticized.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Still looking to chat with teachers about AI use in primary and middle schools. #EdTech #GenAI #JournoRequests

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Would be happy to connect with them and send a few Qs over!

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Hi, I'm a science journalist working on a story for JMIR. I'm writing about the impact of generative AI in primary and middle school. Hoping to hear from teachers about AI use in school and any guidance administrators are providing. Happy to provide anonymity. DM me to chat!

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Reposted by Simon Spichak

The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 24/07/2026

Long COVID’s heterogenous nature means vast variations in symptoms and severity that may also make it more difficult to study and design good treatment trials. How do you separate strong studies from weak ones, and spot the bunk? Read more from @spichaksimon.bsky.social: bit.ly/4fxNWli

ID: Collage graphic featuring a bar chart, an image of a mouse, a bottle of white pills turned over on its side, a gloved hand holding a petri dish, and a researcher peering into a microscope. The background of the image is blue and white graph paper. The text reads, “The Sick Times. How to interpret clinical trial results for Long COVID. By Simon Spichak.”

What kind of study is it?

Observational studies: Follow people over time, with no randomization or control group.

Clinical trials: Experiments that investigate how a drug is absorbed in the body, its safety, and its efficacy.

Phase 1 trials: test the safety of a new supplement, medication, or device.

Phase 2 trials: help provide a sign of whether the drug might work.

Phase 3 trials: are the final stage for new treatments. These are large studies conducted across multiple hospitals or research centers that pit a new drug or medical device against a placebo.

Phase 4 trials: may add more safety and effectiveness data or test whether an approved treatment or supplement could be repurposed.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

For the @thesicktimes.org I wrote a primer on how to read trials critically. We go over what different types of trials can and can't tell us as well as the difference between a statistically significant and a meaningful result. thesicktimes.org/2026/07/21/h...

thesicktimes.org

How to interpret clinical trial results for Long COVID - The Sick Times

With no proven treatments or cures, many people with Long COVID are turning to off-label medications, supplements, and medical devices to treat their symptoms. There are numerous options — and some of...

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Reposted by Simon Spichak

The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 01/07/2026

☀️ As The Sick Times approaches our 3-year anniversary, we’re shifting from a startup to a more sustainable newsroom, in it for the long haul. And we’re marking that shift with a summer sustainability fundraiser. 🌱 2 weeks, 200 new Supporters? Help us grow? the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/

Black and chartreuse text over a cartoon fam background reads, “The Sick Times. Help us create, grow, and sustain our Long COVID journalism.”

2. Thermometer graphic in which The Sick Times' fundraising goal is represented by a row of pixelated hearts, as you might see in an old-school video game. The hearts are all black outlines, and the first one on the left is filled in with a little bit of red. Text above the hearts reads: "The Sick Times - Goal: 200 new monthly supporters." Underneath the hearts, there is a cartoon drawing of a field with flowers.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Although millions of artificial intelligence (AI)–enabled toys are marketed and sold as educational companions, there is almost no research about their impact on neurodevelopment in young children. Sharing my latest for @jmirpub.bsky.social about AI toys. jmir.org/2026/1/e102064

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Somehow after all this time, it's still recruiting trial participants!

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

When these studies proliferate and poison the medical literature, they become fodder for rehabilitation clinics and self-help gurus to sell unevidenced treatment plans. These multiply the harms for an already medically neglected group of people. /end

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I argue that ethial committees need to do a better jo and ensure that researchers are designing trials that are safe and use actual validated measures. 9/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

But the ethical committee found nothing wrong and the study is continuing to recruit participants. 7/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

They wouldn't send me a response and told me to get in touch with the other group to view what they wrote in response. It turned out that there were three groups of journalists/researchers/advocates that lodged similar concerns. 6/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

So here's the fun part! We wrote a letter to the ethics committee and were told that they'd do a post-approval review of the study protocol and get back to us. They ended up writing a letter and sending it to a completely separate patient group that raised similar concerns. 5/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

The researchers justify this study design by claiming that people with Long COVID have a bias against exercise, and that concealing the initial study design would mask so-called “nocebo effects,” in which people experience side effects because they think they’re being harmed. 4/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Participants are initially told that they are taking part in an observational study designed to follow Long COVID and assess the costs of standard care, but half will receive the exercise intervention. 3/n

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

The PREFACER study tests exercise and rehab without properly accounting for PEM, and uses a Zelen deisign that I and other researchers and patient advocates believed violates informed consent and other research standards. 2/n

Last year, researchers in Ontario, Canada started recruiting participants for a Long COVID trial testing the feasibility of exercise and rehabilitation. Like many other studies of exercise, it doesn’t use validated measures for post-exertional malaise (PEM). But the Pursuing Reduction in Fatigue After COVID-19 via Exercise and Rehabilitation (PREFACER) study, run by researchers at Western University, stands out because it involves deceiving participants — undermining informed consent and potentially violating Canadian ethical research standards.

The trial pits usual care, which refers to any off-label medications or supplements people are already taking, against personalized exercise and rehabilitation. But rather than informing participants they’re taking part in an interventional study, meaning that one group will receive an experimental treatment, the researchers use a “modified Zelen design” that conceals this fact.

Participants are initially told that they are taking part in an observational study designed to follow Long COVID and assess the costs of standard care, but half will receive the exercise intervention.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

What happens when you write a letter to an ethics board about concerns over a Long COVID trial? The ethics committee sends a response to an entirely different group of people and tells you to contact them to get a response! My commentary for @thesicktimes.org thesicktimes.org/2026/06/02/r... 1/n

thesicktimes.org

Research ethics boards need urgent training on Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis - The Sick Times

Last year, researchers in Ontario, Canada started recruiting participants for a Long COVID trial testing the feasibility of exercise and rehabilitation. Like many other studies of exercise, it doesn’t...

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Most Canadians receiving benefits do not know how AI is reshaping the system. Those most affected by these systems have no idea that they're in use and don't get a chance to discuss their implementation.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Questions about the algorithm impact assessments fall outside the purview of Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. His office directed Ricochet to the Treasury board, since Solomon does not oversee federal use of AI.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Across the board, Ottawa has not had sufficient transparency over AI use. Federal ministries are required to complete risk evaluations of AI tools at the design stage and before deployment. A 2025 study found that most departments regused to release them.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Experts also questioned whether the contract was worth the $3.3 million.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

In a presentation to the York Regional Polce Board, the CEO of the company that makes the platform featured slides calling it "Governmetn of Canada approved."

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Taxpayers funded the development of the Machine Trust Platform which was at the center of the contract. From 2019 to 2022, multiple federal ministries, including the RCMP, paid more than $2.4 million to pilot the software.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

In Australia, an illegally implemented AI system known as Robodebt demanded repayments from tens of thousands of welfare recipients for debts they didn’t owe.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

There's a history of governments attempting to automate welfare systems using AI. In the Netherlands, an algorithm falsely flagged childcare benefits claims from 26,000 parents — predominantly immigrant families — as fraudulent between 2013 and 2019.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

In 2020, Canada’s Revenue Agency spent $18 million on a chatbot to help with tax filing, but a recent Auditor General’s report found it provided incorrect or incomplete information most of the time.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Canada already uses several AI programs and chatbots within the benefits system. One chatbot built by Accenture, answers staff queries about employment insurance regulations. Others help employees search through information, edit text, code and support research tasks.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Renée Sieber who researches government AI adoption, warns such systems could justify further layoffs of public service workers and obscure accountability by blaming the AI or assessment tools that helped greenlight them when something goes wrong.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Almost 232 of the 251 pages of documents, which included a final report pertaining to the contract and a training manual were redacted.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

To protect the commercial interests of its developers, the government is keeping key details about the software secret, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Canada’s government is putting its faith — and $3.3 million — in software designed to assess which #AI chatbots are trustworthy for the benefits system, which supports almost 16 million Canadians. My latest for @ricochetmedia.bsky.social ricochet.media/politics/ins...

ricochet.media

Inside the black box reshaping Canada’s benefits system

Understand the impacts of how new AI tools are reshaping Canada’s benefits system on transparency and accountability for citizens.

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Reposted by Simon Spichak

Ricochet Media @ricochetmedia.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Inside the reshaping of Canada’s benefits system Documents reveal feds relying on secretive AI oversight software to guide modernization efforts — raising fears about automated denials, bias and disappearing accountability. New from @spichaksimon.bsky.social: ricochet.media/politics/ins...

ricochet.media

Inside the black box reshaping Canada’s benefits system

Understand the impacts of how new AI tools are reshaping Canada’s benefits system on transparency and accountability for citizens.

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Simon Spichak @spichaksimon.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Are chatbots eroding our thinking skills? I went beyond the headlines and spoke with researchers for Refractor to understand the phenomenon. So far, the evidence is limited and not conclusive, but for experts say there’s enough reason to be concerned. refractor.io/science/chat...

refractor.io

Are chatbots eroding our thinking skills?

Last year, researchers at the MIT Media Lab shared preliminary research investigating the cognitive costs of using a chatbot for writing essays. Though the study hadn’t gone through peer-review yet – ...

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Reposted by Simon Spichak

Miles W. Griffis @mileswgriffis.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Let's give @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social her flowers 💐! She's been nominated as an emerging leader by @inn.org as a luminary in non-profit news. Beyond her incredible reporting/editing on #LongCOVID, Betsy does so much unsung work that makes The Sick Times the force that it is. #INNYs2026

A film photo of Betsy Ladzyhets. She is a white woman in her 20s with short brown hair. She stands beside a green door and wears a light blue button up shirt and an N-95 mask.

A screenshot from the INN award nominees reads:

Emerging Leader of the Year

Honors an individual with less than five years in executive leadership who is an emerging luminary in the field.

Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, The Maine Monitor

Khadijah Bland, The Kansas City Defender

Betsy Ladyzhets, The Sick Times

Tonya Hart, Cardinal News

Join INN for the 2026 Nonprofit News Awards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 16: Join the waitlist (finalists will be prioritized for attendance).

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