The Quarantine Chronicles, published in the journal RPTH (Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis), is a reflective paper documenting one of the most remarkable grassroots scientific initiatives to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic — the Blood and Bone webinar series. Launched in early 2020 when labs shuttered and conferences evaporated overnight, this daily online seminar became a lifeline for researchers in hematology, hemostasis, thrombosis, and bone biology, drawing up to 600 attendees per session and sustaining an average of 200–300 daily viewers for months.
If you’ve landed here searching for this paper, you’re likely a trainee, researcher, or clinician in the hematopoiesis or hemostasis field trying to locate the original publication or understand what it covered. The full paper is available in RPTH under DOI: 10.1002/rth2.12394. Below, we break down what the paper reported, why it matters, and what lasting impact this experiment in open science has had.
What Was the Blood and Bone Webinar Series?
When COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020, the scientific conference circuit — a cornerstone of academic collaboration — collapsed almost overnight. ASH, ISTH, and dozens of smaller meetings were canceled or scrambled to go virtual. Into that void stepped a handful of researchers who did something deceptively simple: they opened a blank Google Doc and invited speakers to sign up.
No editorial committee. No abstract review board. No gatekeeping whatsoever. The result was a self-organizing, community-driven seminar series that filled its schedule through September 2020 within weeks. The series ran daily on Zoom with simultaneous YouTube live-streaming, accommodating up to 1,000 attendees per session.
What surprised the organizers most was the quality and diversity that emerged organically. Without any top-down curation of the speaker list, the program turned out to be well-balanced across career stages, geography, gender, and scientific subdiscipline.
Key Statistics from the Quarantine Chronicles Paper
The RPTH publication provided concrete data on engagement and reach. Here’s a summary of the numbers that stood out:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Platform capacity | Up to 1,000 Zoom attendees |
| Peak single-session attendance | 600+ attendees |
| Average daily attendance | 200–300 attendees |
| Duration of sustained attendance | 7+ consecutive weeks |
| Trainee series format | 3 talks × 20 minutes each (weekly, Thursdays) |
| Speaker curation method | Open Google Doc — no editorial filtering |
| Streaming platforms | Zoom (primary) + YouTube (live-stream) |
Why This Paper Matters Beyond the Pandemic
At first glance, the Quarantine Chronicles might read as a feel-good pandemic story. But the paper raises genuinely important questions about how scientific communication should work going forward.
1. Open Access to Seminars Democratizes Science
Before COVID, attending a top-tier research seminar usually meant being at a well-funded institution or affording conference travel. The Blood and Bone series proved that a zero-cost, zero-barrier model could attract hundreds of engaged scientists from around the world — daily. Researchers from low- and middle-income countries, who are chronically underrepresented at in-person conferences, could participate equally.
2. Self-Organization Produced Diversity
One of the paper’s most striking observations is that the speaker lineup — assembled without any diversity mandate or curatorial oversight — naturally reflected a broad range of voices. This challenges the common assumption that diversity in scientific programming requires heavy-handed intervention. When barriers to participation are removed, balance can emerge organically.
3. Trainee Visibility Got a Boost
The weekly Thursday trainee series gave early-career researchers a platform that simply doesn’t exist at most traditional conferences. A 20-minute talk streamed to hundreds of established investigators is career-changing exposure for a postdoc or graduate student. Several participants have credited the series with sparking collaborations and job opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise had.
That same appetite for accessible venues has shaped events like the Platelet Society early career researcher meeting, where trainees present to specialist audiences without the cost and travel barriers of large congresses.
The Broader Context: Virtual Seminars in Hematology
The Blood and Bone series wasn’t the only pandemic-era virtual initiative, but it was among the earliest and most successful in the blood and bone field. Other efforts included the ASH Research Webinars, ISTH Academy virtual sessions, and institution-specific series. What set Blood and Bone apart was its radical openness — anyone could propose a talk, and anyone could attend.
The RPTH paper frames this as a case study in turning crisis into opportunity. The authors argue that the pandemic didn’t just force a temporary workaround; it revealed structural inefficiencies in how scientific knowledge gets shared. Conferences are expensive, exclusive, and episodic. A daily webinar series is none of those things.
How to Access the Full Paper
The Quarantine Chronicles was published in Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis (RPTH), which is the open-access journal of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH). You can read the full text at:
- DOI: 10.1002/rth2.12394
- Journal: RPTH (Wiley Online Library)
- Access: Open access — no paywall
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Quarantine Chronicles published in the journal RPTH about?
It’s a reflective paper documenting the Blood and Bone daily webinar series that launched during COVID-19 lockdowns. The paper describes how a self-organized, open-access seminar series attracted hundreds of hematology and bone biology researchers daily and sustained engagement for months — all without any formal editorial oversight of the speaker schedule.
Is the Blood and Bone webinar series still running?
The original daily series ran through at least September 2020. While the intensive daily schedule wound down as pandemic restrictions eased and in-person meetings resumed, the model inspired ongoing virtual seminar programs in the hematology and thrombosis communities. Check current ISTH and ASH resources for active virtual programming.
Who organized the Blood and Bone seminar series?
The series was initiated by researchers in the hematopoiesis and hemostasis/thrombosis communities. Rather than being run by a single institution or society, it was a grassroots effort where the speaker schedule was filled collaboratively via a shared Google Doc — a model that was unusual at the time but proved remarkably effective.
Can I still watch recordings of the Blood and Bone talks?
Because sessions were live-streamed on YouTube, many recordings remain available online. Search YouTube for “Blood and Bone seminar series” to find archived talks. Availability may vary depending on whether individual speakers consented to permanent hosting of their recordings.
Why was this paper published in RPTH specifically?
RPTH (Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis) is the open-access journal of the ISTH, making it a natural home for a paper about open-access scientific communication in the thrombosis and hemostasis field. The journal publishes not only original research but also commentaries and perspectives on scientific practice — which is exactly what this paper represents.
Key Takeaways
- The Quarantine Chronicles in RPTH documents a pandemic-born webinar series that became a model for open scientific communication.
- Peak attendance exceeded 600 participants, with 200–300 daily attendees sustained over 7+ weeks.
- The series required no editorial curation yet produced a diverse, high-quality speaker lineup — challenging assumptions about how scientific programming needs to be managed.
- A dedicated trainee series gave early-career researchers unprecedented visibility.
- The paper is open access and freely available through Wiley Online Library.
