“Is it ethical to use customer’s data to try to scoop their customer?”

Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 2d ago

Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc

In 33 of 38 studies, women were less likely to get treatment! After a heart attack, women get meds while men have surgery. Men w Parkinson’s get deep brain stimulation. Men w liver failure get a transplant. Female kidney patients use a catheter longer. Women are less likely to get opioids for pain.

Prof Nisreen Alwan@nisreenalwan.bsky.social · last wk.

Sexism is still engrained in almost everything to do with our systems. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

This shocking new action would cripple research and innovation as we know it at US institutions. It’s hard to imagine how we continue without the opportunity to work with the best and the brightest.

Michael Clemens@mclem.org · 2w ago

The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week. It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.

“Vaccine dosing is a scientific challenge and vaccine access a policy problem. But vaccine refusal is a much bigger obstacle, made even harder by a growing political divide in vaccine acceptance.“ History, science, politics, & a call to action. Great piece from @aetiology.bsky.social!

Tara C. Smith@aetiology.bsky.social · last mo.

My latest: Kennedy is undermining the #measles response in Pennsylvania by suggesting recent deaths were "fabricated," and his years of lies about vaccines have made it much more difficult to end our ongoing measles outbreaks throughout the country and prevent new ones from happening.

“But, we are repeatedly told, employers want students with skill at using generative AI. This doesn’t mean, however, that this skill needs to be taught in every class or to every student. Employers want many things, and we are not all responsible for teaching all of them.“

Iris van Rooij 💭@irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"The class atmosphere became tense as more students pushed back against this required use of generative AI. They wanted to know what their classmates thought rather than what a large language model produced in response to prompting; they wanted to wrestle with difficult readings and complex ideas"

I’m just home after visiting family in Michigan. This outbreak came up at every meal and absolutely influenced what folks were eating. Rapid, coordinated public health responses (or lack thereof) shape our lives in so many big and small ways!

BK. Titanji@boghuma.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Any outbreak of an infectious disease, even relatively benign ones, if allowed to spread uncontrolled will record rare complications/ presentations and even deaths. Cyclospora outbreak has caused 2 deaths in Michigan. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

“A broad-based coalition for public health can be built, but if your starting place is kicking back a cup of coffee in the Ohio diner w/ MAHA influencers, rather than with the miners in Belmont County dying of black lung disease while the feds block new silica protection rule…Which side are you on?”

Gregg Gonsalves@gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 2mo ago

There are lots of ways to build a coalition to fight for public health. But a new collaborationist politics is sprouting up which excuses too much & pretends that MAHA is something other than it is: a movement built to destroy & built on lies by its founders. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Was reminded today of this chat about evidence and covid from April 2020, organized by @whaleactually.com, with @anecdatally.bsky.social @sarahwieten.bsky.social @dremilyrsmith.bsky.social and Althouse the traitor (😘). Feels like about 4 million years ago. www.metacausal.com/2020/04/30/c...

Chat: Trial by Virus

This was an organized chat about how how clinical trials are impacting and are impacted by COVID-19. The original chat took place on April 15, 2020. Since then several major trials have had partial…

metacausal.com

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets

The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

nature.com

The full results of the STOMP trial are now published in @nejm.org Tecovirimat did not shorten time to symptom resolution or impact symptoms of clade II mpox. The findings are similar to PALM007 trial which found no beneficial effects of the drug for clade I mpox www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Tecovirimat for the Treatment of Mpox | NEJM

Tecovirimat is approved for smallpox treatment under the Food and Drug Administration Animal Rule on the basis of efficacy in nonhuman primate models of mpox (previously known as monkeypox). Howeve...

nejm.org

8 more children died from influenza complications last week, according to CDC's FluView report, bringing the total to 60 pediatric deaths so far this season. The agency keeps tabs on childhood deaths caused by the flu, but doesn't recommend flu shots as a way to prevent infection👇

Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 4, ending January 31, 2026

Seasonal influenza activity remains elevated nationally.

cdc.gov

As if Nipah virus weren’t bad enough, some patients in Asia were coinfected with an emerging bat virus called Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV). Symptoms of PRV include fever, disorientation, abnormal gait, and difficulty breathing. PRV seems to have traits that increase likelihood of zoonosis.

Emerging bat virus found in stored throat swabs from 5 patients with suspected Nipah virus infection

cidrap.umn.edu

Proud to be one of so very many people who had the chance to learn from Dr. Foege. I admire that he was often leading with a call to action, asking each of us how we can contribute to a healthier world. Rest in peace, Dr. Foege.

Liz Szabo@lizszabo.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Dr. Bill Foege, a giant in public health who helped rid the world of smallpox, has passed away. Mike Osterholm on Foege’s legacy. “On behalf of CIDRAP, I extend our deepest condolences to his family, colleagues, and the countless individuals whose lives were saved through his work.”

WHO removing Us Flag

I realize I should articulate a professional opinion about the new dietary guidelines (I will). And also there are even more important things happening in the US right now. But I have to get this off my chest… IMO the new food pyramid is bad graphic design! It’s both unclear and ugly, right?

The CDC changed the universal vaccine schedule & no longer recommends Rotavirus Hepatitis A & B Meningitis Influenza RSV I’ve cared for previously healthy kids who died from RSV, influenza and meningitis. We all are going to be caring for a lot more now. In our already overflowing hospitals

RFK Jr's HHS had a press call to announce they were — based on no new data — overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule. Senior officials at HHS answered questions but refused to go on the record, saying we could only attribute the quotes to "officials." www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

U.S. overhauls childhood vaccine schedule, recommends fewer shots

The U.S. no longer broadly recommends vaccines for flu, hepatitis A and B, and RSV. Health officials say the guidance aligns with that of peer countries.

washingtonpost.com

Atlantic: Rotavirus Could Come Roaring Back—Very Soon By Katherine J. Wu @theatlantic.com bit.ly/3YWlGAS

Rotavirus Could Come Roaring Back—Very Soon

A leading vaccine expert on what the country’s newly overhauled immunization schedule means for children

bit.ly

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), run by Oz and his boss, RFK Jr., will no longer require physicians to report vaccination rates. Instead, they plan to start having doctors report if they’ve discussed “alternative” vaccine schedules.

CMS to stop requiring states to report childhood vaccination levels

cidrap.umn.edu

Areas with ⬆️ numbers of exemptions to vaccine requirements 🔜 have more disease 🦠

Julia Raifman, ScD@juliaraifman.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Excellent piece by @sarahd1.bsky.social on costs of “medical freedom” “No state has ever completely eliminated vaccine requirements… Policymakers… can look to research that has shown that areas with greater numbers of exemptions to vaccine requirements do see more disease.”

Wrapping up the last few bits and bobs for friends and colleagues. T minus six hours until holiday break!

👋 Breastfeeding & infant feeding expert here! All babies need safe, accessible nutrition. Most people already want to breastfeed and 84% start out doing so but can’t realize their goals. What we need are *policies* that make it possible to breastfeed for all who desire to do so and…

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 10mo ago

RFK Jr: "All of the ingenuity of corporate America has not produced an infant formula that is superior in nutrition and all the qualities that we want to the infant formula that God made, which is the infant formula in a mother's breast."

The decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to downgrade its recommendations to protect infants from hepatitis B is a dangerous move that will harm children. Click here to read AAP's full statement: bit.ly/3Y9ZQJT

A perfect time to reshare a few of these key studies that highlight the importance of universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.

Julia Raifman, ScD@juliaraifman.bsky.social · last yr.

In theory, it’s sound to focus on Hepatitis B screening in pregnancy & targeted vaccination But in practice, pregnant people at elevated risk of Hepatitis B are also at risk of less prenatal care We can learn from syphilis - we haven’t been able to screen & treat in pregnancy as well as we wish

Multistate infant botulism outbreak adds 8 more cases, 23 total All 23 cases involve hospitalization. www.cidrap.umn.edu/b...

🚨Dept. of Education proposes to exclude public health degrees from the “professional degree” category. That means new public health experts could lose access to key higher ed resources, like loan limits & reimbursement. A bold strategy to let infectious diseases win! 🦠 aspph.org/department-o...

Department of Education Proposal Excludes Public Health Degrees from “Professional Degree” Definition

Discover the new results and implications of Dept of Ed consensus regarding professional degree programs and public health education.

aspph.org

“So the plan is to have a plan — eventually.” @rollingstone.com with the healthcare and US policy analysis we need.

Peter Wade@peterwade.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The Republicans’ so-called health care plans are so secret they won’t share them with members of their own party. “Mike Johnson, for a month now, cannot give me a single policy idea," Marjorie Taylor Greene said. 🤫 www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

There are ongoing claims that acetaminophen (Tylenol) use in pregnancy causes autism. Here’s five things you should know 🧵

Nearly 1 in 5 Urinary Tract Infections Linked to Contaminated Meat New study finds people in underserved neighborhoods face the highest risk of foodborne infections Primary source study posted in thread

Nearly 1 in 5 Urinary Tract Infections Linked to Contaminated Meat | Milken Institute School of Public Health | The George Washington University

New study finds people in underserved neighborhoods face the highest risk of foodborne infections

publichealth.gwu.edu

Excellent thread on the paper out this week in Nature suggesting COVID mRNA vaccines may support the immune system in responding to cancer ⬇️

Edward Nirenberg@enirenberg.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Okay so as promised... let's go through this paper and why it matters 🧵 #medsky #immunosky #idsky