John Barnard, MD
@drjohnbarnard.bsky.social
Retired physician executive; ABP-board certified pediatric gastroenterologist; emeritus prof of pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine and Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Measles Could Go “Viral” When America was great and measles was common, the US Public Health Service published a weekly report on infections like cholera, plague, and measles. Here is a photo of a 1938 measles report. This is what will happen if immunization rates fall below herd immunity levels.
Are you puzzled by #CBME? Confused by EPAs, milestones and competencies? Then our NEW episode with Dr. Cary Sauer is for you! We break down this important #MedEd concept and how it applies to pediatric GI training. 🎧 👉 www.buzzsprout.com/581062/episo...
A unique CXR finding found in children. Click on the link to view so called “round pneumonia”, in this case due to Mycoplasma | New England Journal of Medicine www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Round Pneumonia | NEJM
A 4-year-old girl presented with a 3-day history of fever and dry cough. A chest radiograph showed a large, rounded opacity in the left lower lobe with subtle air bronchograms.
nejm.org
🚨From the Desk of the President🚨Interested in joining the webinar wave? 🌊 The 2026 @naspghan.bsky.social Webinar submission form and site 💻are still open until 4/30/25 so get those brilliant submissions in! Excited to see the new ideas brewing!! tinyurl.com/4t8b87e6
In 2023, guns continued to be the top cause of death for children. More than cancer. More than car accidents. More than sudden unexplained infant death (SUID). Gun deaths are 100% preventable.
ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S000...
A shock to the global nutrition system: why nutrition scientists should challenge the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development and the United States' withdrawal from the W...
Imagine a world where over 1 million children across 85 countries died from a single nutrient deficiency—deaths that could be prevented with a semi-annual vitamin supplement. Millions of lives saved c...
ajcn.nutrition.org
How decreased/eliminated funding from US influences global health? A summary + data from Locks et al - how global nutrition system is affected. @NASPGHAN has a survey to hear more of how spending cuts are affecting you to further work on advocacy efforts - www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZCJP9NX
Insightful commentary by a autistic science and university leader @holdenthorp.bsky.social @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/o...
Opinion | Sorry, R.F.K.: There Is No Autism Mystery
Greater awareness, not vaccines, has driven an increase in diagnoses.
nytimes.com
Just published @science.org On fixing the NIH 15% cap "The consequences of failing to do so—reduced research capacity, weakened scientific competitiveness, and increased financial strain on institutions—are simply too dire to ignore." science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Measles is a vaccine preventable disease. My condolences to the family bearing this tragic loss.
Eric Topol@erictopol.bsky.social · last yr.Another unvaccinated child dies from measles, a fully preventable disease, and only the second child to die from measles in the US in the past 22 years
Hey! Along with millions of other people across the US, this is MY family’s fall 2025 flu vaccine we are putting at risk here! www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...
F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots
The cancellation plays into fears among scientists who worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use his position as health secretary to sow doubts about vaccines.
nytimes.com
Best to prevent obesity in children. We are not there yet. In the meantime, this placebo controlled trial of a GLP1 receptor agonist is good news. Nice summary below.
NEJM.org@nejm.org · last yr.#Obesity often develops in childhood. In children with obesity, treatment with liraglutide for 56 weeks + lifestyle interventions induced a greater mean change in BMI than lifestyle interventions alone. Full SCALE Kids phase 3a trial results: nej.md/3MBP1uc #MedSky #PedSky
If you wish to know how much NIH funding your state receives, and the economic activity that results from it (the "NIH multiplier effect"), check out this website. May be useful for writing your representatives in Congress. www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research
Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.
unitedformedicalresearch.org
Indirect (facility and admin) costs are real. For 70 years, the US biomedical research enterprise has been structured on recovery of these institutional expenditures. Reduction of indirect costs recovery to 15% will cripple US biomedical research for decades. www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage
Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars
science.org
This is a well-reasoned interpretation of the current discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion. We can do better. Former surgeon general: America needs a better discourse on DEI www.statnews.com/2025/02/04/d... via @statnews.com
Former surgeon general: America needs a better discourse on DEI
“As a former U.S. surgeon general, I believe our country deserves a better discourse on DEI,” writes Jerome Adams.
statnews.com
Great advice herein. As a pediatric gastroenterologist, I can especially endorse: "trust your gut"!
Bryan Carmody@jbcarmody.bsky.social · 2y agoStarting today at noon, Match applicants can begin submitting their rank order lists. But before you do… here’s what residency applicants consistently overvalue - and what they consistently undervalue - when picking a program. Rank Order List: Buyers and Sellers Edition youtu.be/rDtlD1BH0Yw
Starting today at noon, Match applicants can begin submitting their rank order lists. But before you do… here’s what residency applicants consistently overvalue - and what they consistently undervalue - when picking a program. Rank Order List: Buyers and Sellers Edition youtu.be/rDtlD1BH0Yw
Rank Order List: Buyers and Sellers Edition
YouTube video by Sheriff of Sodium
youtu.be
It is easy to understand the benefit of a new cure for cancer. It feels like a miracle. Vaccines are different. We will never know if one of us, or one of our loved ones, has been saved from death or severe illness by a vaccine. That's prevention. And it is no less a miracle than a cure for cancer.
According to US News, I am still a practicing doc, living in Gainesville FL, practicing in Columbus OH, and holding hospital privileges in nearby West Virginia hospitals. I remain on insurance rolls and appointments are available! Other than living in Gainesville, none of this is true!
Recruit more physicians and scientists to the clean air of the BlueSky, friends!
Eric Topol@erictopol.bsky.social · 2y agoWelcome immigrants from X interested in science to the friendlier skies of @bsky.app, as documented by a new @nature.com survey (but you already knew that 😉) "Bluesky is much better for science. There is much less toxicity, misinformation, and distractions." www.nature.com/articles/d41...
It was the CDC's communications that alerted the medical community to the dramatic national increase in M. pneumonia infections this fall. These alerts appropriately reshaped clinicians' approach to management of children and adults with respiratory symptoms. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/wal...
Walking Pneumonia Is Spiking. Here’s How To Stay Safe
The respiratory illness typically affects school-age kids, but the CDC reports a rise in cases in children aged 2-4.
sciencefriday.com
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring
Researchers facing
science.org
Pediatric gastroenterology colleagues, take note. Fascinating to think of the future of non-invasive ways to monitor our IBD patients for relapse - kind of like a DAILY calprotectin!
Eric Topol@erictopol.bsky.social · 2y agoHow wearable sensors were used to detect subclinical inflammation up to 7 weeks before a flare of inflammatory bowel disease www.gastrojournal.org/article/S001...
This seems to be a very practical resource. Love it. Important as the body of evidence linking consumption of ultra processed foods to adverse health outcomes is increasingly robust.
MargolisLab@margolislabnyu.bsky.social · 2y agoOver 50,000 food items, 1,000+ ingredients analyzed, and one mission: helping you choose less processed foods, highlighted in Nature Food: 🍎🛒 @karapedsgastrodoc.bsky.social @menicgiulia.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Microbiome analysis from over 21,000 vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores reveals microbe signatures associated with each diet type. Microbes found in diets rich in plant-based foods were associated with favorable markers of cardiometabolic health! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Gut microbiome signatures of vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diets and associated health outcomes across 21,561 individuals - Nature Microbiology
Using 21,561 individuals, the authors present a cross-sectional study of how gut microbiome signatures are associated with dietary intake patterns and with host health outcomes.
nature.com
Whooping cough (pertussis) cases 5x higher this year than last! A combo of factors: * normal cyclical swings in infexns * pandemic changes in behavior (masking, distancing), now w/ rebound in cases - although we’re seeing decreases in RSV this year so I’m skeptical * decreased vaxx rates 🧪🩺🛟
Whooping cough cases reach highest level in a decade
The U.S. has recorded over 32,000 whooping cough cases this year, compared with around 5,100 as of mid-December last year. Infants are most vulnerable to the bacterial infection.
nbcnews.com
Whooping cough, a vaccine preventable disease, on the rise in 2024.
I read Oshinsky's Polio a few years ago. It remains one of the best books I have ever read. If you like medicine, history, science, politics, competition, intrigue and triumph, give it a go. You won't be disappointed.
