The way I felt my heart rate speed up upon learning WE HAVE A NEW EDITION OF FIELDS 🥳🥳🥳
Helen Lazear@lazearlab.bsky.social · yesterdayThe new edition of Fields is out - so much virology! Happy to see our flavivirus chapter in print at last.
Mera L🪬
@mlicc1701.bsky.social
Virologist in progress. Duke University 💙😈 alumn, current Regional Biocontainment Lab research analyst. Forever repping the Sheahan Lab at CVRG (y'know, at that other blue 🩵🐏 school). Pop punk millennial. she/they. ✡️•🏳️🌈•🖖 Views are my own, not Duke's.
Helen Lazear@lazearlab.bsky.social · yesterday
If you missed Friday's webinar it is now available online. A huge thanks to our panelists @pauloffit.bsky.social and Jonathan Temte (@wifamilymedicine.bsky.social) for breaking down why measles has spread to the extent is has and what’s next for public health. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hnz...
Measles: Why it isn't stopping
YouTube video by Brown University School of Public Health
youtube.com
This counts double for diseases that mostly affect poor people. No profit-driven pharma company will end TB. (they are welcome to prove me wrong)
Michael D. Green, PhD@michaeldgreen.phd · 2d agoInteresting article from @matthewherper.bsky.social at a crossover of my interests. I’m at AHA, and the failure of a few drugs that target lp(a) and inflammation have ppl reflecting. There was sound science but the trial failed. AI companies should think about this! www.statnews.com/2026/11/08/h...
Nature research paper: Nectin-4 mediates rubella virus entry in airway and placental cells go.nature.com/4AcOllS
Nectin-4 mediates rubella virus entry in airway and placental cells - Nature
Nectin-4 is identified as a pivotal host entry receptor for respiratory transmission and early placental infection of rubella virus.
go.nature.com
another form of "one gene, one disease" hype, now at least three decades old the expectation that hard medical problems will yield low-hanging fruit if we would simply apply new, brute-force reductionist tools continues to be an intellectual stumbling block for our best and brightest
Alondra Nelson@alondra.bsky.social · 2d ago"Executives leading the companies that discover new drugs say AI isn’t going to cure cancer anytime soon. They are dimming the hype around the technology’s use in drug research, saying human biology is too complicated even for superintelligence." www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sili...
“It’s easy to pay attention to fools like RFK and Hegseth,” says David A. Super, an administrative and constitutional law professor at Georgetown. “But Russ Vought is actually pretty good at his job. He’s just evil as hell.” www.thebulwark.com/p/revenge-of... Impeachvought.com
Impeach Vought
We are current and former federal workers from across the government. We have witnessed first-hand the harm Russell Vought has inflicted on American communities. We are urging Congress to act now to p...
impeachvought.com
I’ve worked long-term locally and via US Embassy teams in Honduras, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya plus in lesser capacity in many other countries; and I can say with certainty this is a “worst practice” that we shouldn’t be doing and that will bite us in the ass later
Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · 4d ago“Country by country, the Trump administration has been negotiating secretive agreements with nations across Africa to provide health aid under strict conditions. The agreements, structured to benefit the United States, are undermining efforts to prepare the world for the next pandemic”
The Trump administration has been negotiating secretive agreements with dozens of individual countries. Public health experts say a global agreement would be far more effective. 🎁 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/11/06/u...
U.S. Global Health Strategy Jeopardizes Prevention of Pandemics, Experts Warn (Gift Article)
The Trump administration has been negotiating agreements with dozens of individual countries. Public health experts say a global agreement would be far more effective.
nytimes.com
What are the chances of both measles and rubella viruses using the same receptor?
Waggoner Lab@labwaggoner.bsky.social · 6d agoNectin-4 mediates rubella virus entry in airway and placental cells @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
As alumni of the Baric lab, we wanted to honor Ralph's career accomplishments in terms of his research and impact. We wrote this short tribute published in the Journal of Virology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Outstanding scientific talent devoted to consequential problems | Journal of Virology
In uncertain times for scientific research, a giant in the field of virology concludes his remarkable career. Dr. Ralph S. Baric, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor, retired June 1 from the ...
journals.asm.org
My proposal for a “Rebuild American Science Act”: - Hard limits on executive interference - End forward funding - Rebuild the training pipeline (raise stipends, more training grants) - Permanent H-1B fee exemption for universities - Full transparency of success rates - Double the NIH & NSF budgets
We've assessed the symptoms, we identified the disease. We're stabilizing the patient. Now it's time to apply the therapeutic treatments for restoring the health of the patient. 👇👇👇👇
Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · 7d agoALRIGHT, DORKS! We voted. NOW LET’S GET TO WORK. NOW WE CLOSE THIS CHAPTER ON FASCISM AND BRING IN A BRIGHTER FUTURE. JOIN US ON THURSDAY AT 7pm et TO HEAR YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT! events.standupforscience.net/stand-up-for...
My condolences to all the university presidents who got on their knees for nothing.
Gina Hinjosa call Abigail Spanberger and get some CIA advice on how to ruthlessly right size your Board of Trustees and Board of Regents at the UT system.
🌶 David Gray Widder@davidthewid.bsky.social · 7d agoWe have a democratic governor in Texas: Gina Hinojosa, who staked her campaign on public education. The governor appoints university regents, who have been destroying our universities. This win meaningfully changes things for Texas universities, students, us early career faculty here.
Fair to say science funding isn't top of mind for most voters today, but there's plenty of science-related issues that could move the needle, particularly healthcare and vaccine policy. Here's what's at stake. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
The 2026 midterms are today—here’s what scientists say is at stake
The second Trump administration has dismantled, disrupted or weakened many of the country’s scientific bodies
scientificamerican.com
Such an important point: “Science is an essential backbone of democracy. In an increasingly complex and fast-changing world, people need access to verified information and independent knowledge to make informed decisions”
Nature@nature.com · last wk.Science is an essential backbone of democracy go.nature.com/4zoPGpX
This is great news for much of the world that needs lenacapavir PrEP for HIV prevention — but it will *not* be available in the U.S.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · last wk.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of the world’s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV. It's a big step toward making the drug available inexpensively and more quickly in 120 low- and middle-income countries.
A generic, injectable lenacapavir PrEP that protects people from HIV infection for 6 months has received FDA approval and is slated to sell for $40 a year--comparable to pricing of oral PrEP. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. approval of cheap, generic HIV prevention shot may boost global rollout
Indian company pledges to sell injectable lenacapavir in low- and middle-income countries for only $40 a year
science.org
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, used to be a death sentence. Today, it's a preventable and manageable chronic condition thanks to decades of NIH-funded research. Let's talk about one of the greatest science success stories of our lifetime. 🧵 🧪 ✊️ 🎉
“…about 80% of new cases are coming from outside the chain of monitored contacts, meaning an overwhelming share of infections are coming from unknown chains of transmission to health authorities”. I can’t help but think of Trump and Musk’s destruction of USAID today.
Congo Ebola outbreak deaths top 5,000 as fear of continent-wide spread mounts
The latest Ebola outbreak is the second deadliest in history.
nbcnews.com
“beneath the surface, the system of federally funded science that helped make the United States a global superpower is…” being dismantled. Correct. I said last week that RFK is destroying NIH and American biomedical science. It’s a Trump-administration-wide war on science.
Larry Glickman@larryglickman.bsky.social · 2w agoJust appalling, and part of a pattern of the Trump administration purposely weakening or destroying pillars of strength for the country and the world. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/31/c...
For those of us in the thick of it, this is nothing new or surprising, but still truly scary stuff for the future of science in America. Fitting they publish it on Halloween. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/31/c...
How Trump Is Dismantling America’s Scientific Research Machine (Gift Article)
The system that has driven life-altering discoveries and helped make the United States a superpower is now under intense strain.
nytimes.com
A Trump policy strategist said: “Funds taken away from one university could eventually make their way to other schools whose behavior and ideology the White House approved of”. This article is an incredibly accurate summary of what Trump is doing to US science, and utterly infuriating.
How Trump Is Dismantling America’s Scientific Research Machine
The system that has driven life-altering discoveries and helped make the United States a superpower is now under intense strain.
nytimes.com
Really good overview of the current H5N1 situation, including recent spillover into mink in Utah. virological.org/t/preliminar...
Preliminary report on H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in Utah mink, August 2026
Alvin Crespo-Bellido1, Jennifer L. Havens1, Thomas P. Peacock2,3, Florence Débarre4, Martha I. Nelson1 1 Division of Intramural Research, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, ...
virological.org
I basically think that unless you're constantly in right-wing forums right now, it's impossible to see just how bad the antivax swing has gotten especially in the last few months. I really don't think everyone in public health gets how bad it is and how far it's gone beyond weird press conferences
THAT'S MY MOTHERFUCKIN HOMETOWN TEAM!!!!!! #WinOurWay #ThisIsMyCrew #ForUeck #PocketPancakesandthePowerofFriendship
It’s mind blowing RFK Jr now gets to unilaterally approve drugs—without any testing for safety or efficacy, without any clinical trials at all It really will kill people It’s also the thing he RAGED against before he led the US health system—the hypocrisy, corruption, & evil are stunning
public health guy@publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 2w agopeople really are going to die because of this. we no longer have a drug approval process. we have whatever this loser is getting paid to approve
A 28-year old dude, one who was utterly clueless about global health and development, took evil, callous actions that contributed to the deaths of 500,000 kids within one year of gutting USAID
Katie Drummond@katie-drummond.bsky.social · 2w agoNEW: The DOGE operative who gutted USAID -- firing thousands of employees and canceling lifesaving programs -- never actually signed the paperwork that's legally required for him to be employed by the agency.
The thing about RFK Jr is that he’s not just a eugenicist who peddles extreme and dangerous anti-science, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories that cause suffering, pain, and death, but he’s also a vile racist piece of s**t
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 2w agoRFK: "There's five hundred million Arabs in the world. And yet they don't produce science. They don't win the Nobel Prize. They don't win the Fields Prize. They don't win the Wolf Prize. They don't produce literature."