Stephen Kissler
@skissler.bsky.social
Infectious disease epidemiologist / computer science professor @ CU Boulder. Trying to figure out how to keep us all healthy and fed.
We opened an ICU that had been shuttered for well over a decade so that a hospital that has 18 MICU beds could fit 46 patients on ventilators
Gabriel Bosslet@gbosslet.bsky.social · 3d agoRFK Jr said these words today on national television "There were ICUs that were empty all over the country including in New York at the height (of the pandemic)" hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha You are a fucking idiot hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha <sobs silently>
I'm excited to share a preprint that's been years in the making: the idea took shape during the COVID pandemic. Anecdotally, people would sometimes spread COVID at work but not at home, and vice versa. Why? One explanation would be if infectiousness is fleeting...
How bursty infectiousness shapes epidemic dynamics
An epidemic’s expected course is determined by the magnitude and timing of a typical person’s infectiousness — captured, in turn, by the basic reproduction number and the generation-time distribution....
medrxiv.org
In 2017, while working at Epicentre/Medecins Sans Frontieres I helped to develop the Urgepi program in southeast DRC. What started as measles surveillance program has matured into a prioritization scheme for outbreak prevention and response that serves 15m people (land area ~Spain).
Risk-targeted interventions for measles control- Lessons from an emergency response project in the Katanga Region, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2021-2023)
The Urgepi project is a measles emergency initiative implemented by Medecins Sans Frontieres Operational Centre Paris (MSF-OCP) in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a setting cha...
medrxiv.org
Another preprint led by @hadley-liza.bsky.social (who is on a roll!) now out on medRxiv: how can we infer measles vaccination rates given incomplete data? This one's the result of an incredible collaboration with @papsti.bsky.social & others at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Making inferences with incomplete epidemiological data: a proof-of-concept estimating measles vaccine coverage across Canada
Background & aims of study Current measles outbreaks around the world have highlighted the evolving immunity landscape of some vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). In Canada, there have been approxima...
medrxiv.org
1. The new Trump / Kratsios plan for US science appears explicitly designed to destroy US universities. Diverting money to tech donors is probably just a bonus. Gift link.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
nytimes.com
Was an honor to get to play a small role in this — congrats @hadley-liza.bsky.social on a really nice article on strengthening communication between scientists and policymakers! www.nature.com/articles/s44...
How understanding the diversity of perspectives and systems in governments can increase the impact of scientific research - Communications Health
Communications Health - How understanding the diversity of perspectives and systems in governments can increase the impact of scientific research
nature.com
This is a *fantastic* video that explains exactly WTF is going on with Taylor Farms and how tracing works TLDR: - they are responsible - the false positive was only on one of several samples - it’s difficult to test parasites - there may still be other sources - Taylor Farms is being shady AF
An analysis of public comments on a White House proposal to change the way federal contracts and grants are doled out shows widespread opposition. www.statnews.com/2026/07/15/t...
Flood of comments on White House grantmaking overhaul is largely negative, analysis shows
An analysis of public comments on a White House proposal to change the way federal contracts and grants are doled out shows widespread opposition
statnews.com
Today is the last day to tell OMB not to put politics over science and public health.
Throughout your scientific career, you will read hundreds of dense manuscripts. 📚 As the literature stack piles up, remembering exactly where you saw a specific methodology or finding can be tough. Here is how I use a relational database to keep track of it all (and et al.). 👇
NIH grants have been under political scrutiny since early 2025. But what does the screening process actually look like? What is being flagged? I spent a month digging into leaked docs and emails. We've published the 235-word list that are being flagged by an internal AI tool. And so much more. 🧵
Inside the new political screening that’s stalling NIH grants
Mandatory reviews by top health officials and checks for 235 disfavoured terms have left hundreds of vetted grant applications in administrative limbo.
nature.com
We got a big bump in traffic yesterday when people learned about us on NPR. Thank you to @npr.org for covering our launch and bringing our story to people's attention! And thank you to all our new followers. We can do this together! 🌍️🧪💪 #ClimateAction #ClimateForUs #ProtectScience
I'm very excited to share this preprint led by @sorenlouislarsen.bsky.social and Chloe Yand, and made possible by the collaboration with my friend and colleague @ayesha-mahmud.bsky.social. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
Same household, different choices: variation in health behaviors related to respiratory viruses in Illinois
While SARS-CoV-2 and influenza continue to place a significant burden on population health, within-household differences in decisions towards vaccination and seeking care across these two pathogens, a...
medrxiv.org
A year before he passed away, I interviewed Dr Paul Farmer @pih.org about his book on Ebola So relevant right now, especially the dangers of “control-over-care approach” - i.e. isolation & quarantine, but fails to ensure adequate clinical care to the sick www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...
Ebola, Covid-19 And The Elusive Quest For Global Health Equity
Published during this pandemic, Paul Farmer’s new book, “Fevers, Feuds, And Diamonds,” is important, as it presents a critical dissection of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the lessons we can l...
forbes.com
Thank goodness, now there's somewhere to submit that project I've been stalled out on for three years...
🚨 Disease modelers: Do you use empirical VE estimates interchangeably to inform vaccine effect parameters? Me too, and it’s distorting our predictions. VE estimates often do not align with model parameters. We discuss these pitfalls & solutions in our new preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2605.18571 🧵👇
Incorporating vaccine effects into epidemiological models: common pitfalls and solutions
Incorporating vaccination into mathematical models appears deceptively simple: models integrate vaccine-derived protections, such as reduced susceptibility to infection, using parameters informed by e...
arxiv.org
The true size of the DRC Ebola outbreak is uncertain. Imperial modelling team estimates that as of 17 May 400-800 cases had occurred, but can't rule out more than 1000. Great work by Anne Cori and team www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-i...
Report - Estimation of the size of the outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Report - Estimation of the size of the outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
imperial.ac.uk
1. #WHO has declared the #Ebola #Bundibugyo outbreak in NE DRC a public health emergency of international concern, aka a PHEIC. Yet another sign this is likely to be a very challenging outbreak. So far there've been 8 confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases & 80 suspected deaths.
Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern
Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 12 - Determination of a public health emergency of international concern, including a pandemic emergency of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the Di...
who.int
WHO@who.int · 3mo agoUnder the IHR (2005), @drtedros.who.int, the Director General of WHO, having consulted the States Parties where the event is occurring, has determined that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in DRC & Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern bit.ly/3P4ZDac
New manuscript, led by @hadley-liza.bsky.social! Model visualization is key for supporting communication between epidemiologists and policymakers. But misunderstandings still abound: so, how can we do better? www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...
Frontiers | Visualizing epidemiological models for policy: design principles for effective communication
Communicating scientific ideas to policy actors is a longstanding challenge, especially in epidemiological modeling where evidence is inherently uncertain. C...
frontiersin.org
I may have lots of complaints about the US government’s response to hantavirus, but our colleagues at @unmc.bsky.social are the best of us. I’m moved by their humanity 🥹
Sooooo... Several people shared this slide with me. NIH is apparently working on a new parent mechanism called an RP1. I have many questions (and only a few answers). (EPMC is the NIH-wide Extramural Program Management Committee co-chaired by Jon Lorsch). 1/4
COVID infected 17% of the Diamond Princess in a month. Hantavirus: 5% of the Hondius in five weeks. The biology explains why this outbreak won't scale. www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Why Hantavirus Will Not Be The Next Pandemic
An ecologist explains why the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak, while serious, will not become the next pandemic. The biology of Andes virus limits large-scale spread.
forbes.com
The #hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship off the coast of Africa is a serious public health event that needs to be handled properly. But if you are having #Covid flashbacks, put those worries to rest. The risk here is to people on the ship & their close contacts. www.statnews.com/2026/05/07/h...
Cruise ship hantavirus outbreak worries experts, though they discount pandemic fears
Scientists are worried that hantaviruses haven’t been as well studied as they ought to be, but not that the MV Hondius cruise ship is ground zero for the next pandemic.
statnews.com
I'm starting a newsletter! I'll be sharing "dispatches" or "field notes" about AI, language, and culture, drawn from my research, reading, and traveling. Short, frequent, informal!
Welcome to Field Notes
A little bit about me and why I'm writing here
field-notes.leaflet.pub
A few additional key details 👇, building on what I mentioned yesterday - human-to-human transmission on-board is the most likely explanation, but, importantly, does not mean this is likely to cause a larger outbreak. The ship’s doctor among suspected cases + reportedly, no rodents on board.
Kai Kupferschmidt@kakape.bsky.social · 3mo agoI've spent yesterday and today talking to researchers across the globe trying to understand the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. My story in @science.org is here (and some threaded thoughts coming): www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 #IDsky
It was absolutely wonderful to write something again with @skissler.bsky.social, @danlarremore.bsky.social and Aishani Aatresh. Here's our new review/perspective on the value of measuring and modelling viral kinetics as part of routine surveillance: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
Integrating viral kinetics into routine outbreak surveillance: challenges, opportunities and lessons from COVID-19
Abstract. Viral kinetics provide crucial insights into the biology and epidemiology of infections, with direct implications for basic science, therapeutics
royalsocietypublishing.org
Hot off the press: Management implications of shifting Culex quinquefasciatus West Nile virus transmission suitability in Florida, new paper with @lippikiyay.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/1530...
Management implications of shifting Culex quinquefasciatus West Nile virus transmission suitability in Florida - Sadie J. Ryan, Catherine A. Lippi, 2026
Background: West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus, has circulated in the United States since 1999. In 2025, Florida was home to 24 million people, ...
doi.org
My #atscience talk about Lea is now online! If you've only ever heard me talk about NLP, here's a chance to hear me rant about #atproto (the protocol you're reading this on!), social media for researchers, and the free internet. And if you're interested in helping us build Lea, please reach out!
Lea: A Social App for Researchers - ATmosphereConf 2026
YouTube video by AT Protocol Development, Tech Talks, and Events
youtube.com
Maria Antoniak@mariaa.bsky.social · 4mo agoI'll be at #atscience #atmosphereconf all day today! I'll be speaking at 10:15AM about Lea, a social app for researchers, plus a panel at 2PM. Please say hi and chat with me about online communities, AI/ML/NLP, custom feeds, verification, labelers, "community notes," scifi books and movies, etc.
