The account claimed to be an anthropology professor who had grown up in Alabama and “fled the south because of their oppression of queer folk,” according to the Times.
It also made pointed references to being Native American and began to identify as Hopi earlier this year.
And it was active in the career of McLaughlin, a neuroscientist, even promoting a petition for her to receive tenure Vanderbilt University, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
In April, @Sciencing_Bi announced its coronavirus diagnosis and then documented the symptoms including a loss of language fluency, according to Buzzfeed News.
The account blamed ASU for her condition, tweeting in June that the school “forced me to teach 200 person lectures instead of closing” in April.
She also claimed the university cut her salary by 15 percent while she was in the hospital.
Then, a seemingly distraught McLaughlin wrote in a lengthy, mournful Twitter thread on Friday that the anonymous professor had died.
Hellbound and Down 