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Sarah Nowak, PhD

@snowaking.bsky.social

73 followers 390 following 33 posts

complex/social/dynamical/health systems Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont https://sarahnowakphd.com/ #medsky #sciencesky

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Economics 38%

Public Health 19%

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Families, Jonathan Wolff , and 9 more Brendan Nyhan, Families, Jonathan Wolff, Cameron Campbell, Gerry Canavan, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Caroline T. Schroeder, Andrew Jacobs, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Sarah A. Nowak, David Webster, Colm O’Cinneíde

Politico @politico.com · Aug 4

EXCLUSIVE: Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, his first major action as interim NASA administrator.

Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon

This is the first major agency effort by the interim NASA administrator, who is also the Transportation secretary and a former Fox News host.

www.politico.com

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Jun 3

NIH released its Autism Data Science Initiative Funding Opportunities announcement. It doesn't use a normal NIH funding mechanism, so there's less transparency and standardization to the process than is typical. It also has a crazy fast timeline. dpcpsi.nih.gov/autism-data-... #medsky #sciencesky

Autism Data Science Initiative Funding Opportunities | DPCPSI

Research Opportunity Announcement (ROA): OTA-25-006 Autism Data Science initiativeNavigation #NavigationSection 1: Overview InformationSection 2: Objectives of this OpportunityBackgroundSources for Au...

dpcpsi.nih.gov

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · May 14

The hummingbirds are here! Yes, this is basically my profile picture, but that was last year and this is today. #vermont #birding

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · May 6

We get spring late in #vermont, but even more than bulbs, my bleeding hearts are my favorite sign.

bleeding heart flowers in front of a mossy tree trunk

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Apr 29

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/w... #medsky #sciencesky

5 Places to Turn for Accurate Health Information (Gift Article)

Changes to federal health websites have raised concerns about their reliability. These independent sources offer an alternative.

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Apr 17

"you call us... and that includes all of us, including our brother, SMART apprentice Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who we demand be returned to us and his family now."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K31t...

Building Trades President responds to unlawful deportation of union worker

YouTube video by More Perfect Union

www.youtube.com

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 27

Like "censoring" the idea the vitamin A can be just as effective against measles as the vaccine? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/h...

It seems like this call could be interpreted to include pretty much any public health messaging, including things like smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. #medsky

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 24

Oh FFS

image with text: At 11:44 a.m., the account labeled “Pete Hegseth” posted in Signal a “TEAM UPDATE.” I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 18

What could go wrong?
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/h... #sciencesky #medsky

RFK Jr.’s Prescription for Bird Flu on Farms: Let It Spread (Gift Article)

The health secretary has suggested allowing the virus to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Such an experiment would be disastrous, scientists say.

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 17

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/h...

Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories (Gift Article)

In a recent interview, the health secretary also suggested that the measles vaccine had harmed children in West Texas, center of an outbreak.

www.nytimes.com

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 17

"In highly unvaccinated communities like Mennonites, it is something we recommend." - RFK Jr. He seems to be implying the reverse as well -- that it is ok, perhaps even recommended, to free ride on community immunity where vaccination rates are high. #medsky #sciencesky

Vaccines are "recommended" for West Texans, but the risks of immunization have been underestimated, he said. Mr. Kennedy acknowledged that vaccines "do prevent infection" and said that the federal government was helping ensure that people have access to "good medicines, including those who want them, to vaccines." "In highly unvaccinated communities like Mennonites, it's something that we recommend," he said.

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 16

publications.aap.org/aapnews/news... #medsky #sciencesky

AAP, physician groups urge NIH to restore funding for vaccine uptake studies

The call to restore grant funding to study vaccine hesitancy and uptake comes amid a large measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, where most of those infected are unvaccinated children.

publications.aap.org

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 14

This pairs well with my last post bsky.app/profile/snow...

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 14

This is what happens when you listen to (We're in the middle of a) Hostile Government Takeover on repeat on Spotify. This is a real mix I saw today in my app.

Image of a made for you spotify mix called Protest Songs Mix. "Protest Songs music picked just for you"

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Mar 14

This is what happens when you listen to (We're in the middle of a) Hostile Government Takeover on repeat on Spotify. This is a real mix I saw today in my app.

Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · Feb 28

Today, a reporter from the Russian state news agency TASS gained unauthorized access to the Oval Office. How does one gain unauthorized access to the Oval Office? Meanwhile, AP and Reuters were blocked.

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Feb 28

Cancelled Amazon prime today

Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt.bsky.social · Feb 27

Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · Feb 27

NEWS

The FDA, which operates under the authority of Robert Kennedy Jr., canceled the meeting to discuss next year’s flu vaccines.

This could interfere with or delay production of flu vaccines.

86 children and 19,000 adults have died from flu this season.

About 430,000 people were hospitalized.

F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots (Gift Article)

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.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Amy Bruckman, Sarah A. Nowak, Ted Temzelides

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Feb 26

The large clinical trial of a new Covid vaccine pill (not shot) was halted by RFK Jr www.aol.com/multimillion...
The Covid nasal vaccines may be next up to be axed.

Multimillion-dollar Biden-era COVID-19 vax project halted by Trump’s HHS

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. paused a $240 million contract to create a new coronavirus vaccine.

www.aol.com

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Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

Representative Becca Balint @balint.house.gov · Feb 21

I'm excited to share that @sanders.senate.gov and Senator Peter Welch will be joining our tele-townhall so Vermonters can hear from us together!

Join us on Wednesday, February 26, at 6:30PM. RSVP at balint.house.gov/live. Talk to you soon!

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Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Feb 20

Gift link.

The actual story of the shackled people being deported without even being told where they were being taken — maybe to countries where they’d face torture or death — while their terrified children cried.😢

The White House posted that pic with “ASMR” tag.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Feb 19

This kind of foreign policy gaslighting frightens me more than anything else.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

Trump Administration Live Updates: President Calls Zelensky a ‘Dictator’ Who Took U.S. Money to Go to War

www.nytimes.com

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Feb 4

The intention is incredibly bad, and if this is a real list, the execution is incredibly stupid. Bias has a technical meaning important for evaluating the performance of statistical/machine learning/AI methods that has nothing to do with the specifics of the application, just one of many examples.

Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · Jan 31

"Why Did the LA Times Edit This RFK Jr. Article to Be More Pro-Trump?"
newrepublic.com/post/191007/...

Why Did the LA Times Edit This RFK Jr. Article to Be More Pro-Trump?

The op-ed writer slammed both the paper and its owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong.

newrepublic.com

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Jan 27

This is NOT the way to cover RFK Jr. Are there some areas where he might be reasonable? Sure. Someone doesn't have to be terrible on *every* aspect of policy to be a terrible choice to lead a gov't agency.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...

Did RFK Jr. or Michelle Obama say it about food? Take our quiz

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to take on the food industry, echoing Michelle Obama’s efforts to improve nutrition in America. Test to see if you know who said what on U.S. nutrition.

www.washingtonpost.com

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Jan 13

Interesting article about some of the *correlations* between raw milk consumption and reduced allergies that drive the raw milk movement. (Does *not* suggest that the benefits outweigh the risks, only that there's interesting science to be done.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/m...

Some Raw Truths About Raw Milk (Gift Article)

Despite the serious risks of drinking it, a growing movement — including the potential health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — claims it has benefits. Should we take them more seriously?

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

Joe Katz @joekatz45.bsky.social · Dec 11

ICYMI: the NOAA says continuing permafrost thaws have flipped the Arctic from a carbon sink to a source of emissions

The state of the Arctic: High temperatures, melting ice, fires and unprecedented emissions

The Arctic tundra has switched from a carbon sink to a source of emissions, according to a NOAA report.

www.nbcnews.com

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Dec 5

Small but interesting study. Anecdotally, I've definitely experienced low-level illness seemingly turning into full-blown illness following dumb decisions to not scale back on relatively intense planned exercise.
mmrjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Elucidating regulatory processes of intense physical activity by multi-omics analysis - Military Medical Research

Background Physiological and biochemical processes across tissues of the body are regulated in response to the high demands of intense physical activity in several occupations, such as firefighting, l...

mmrjournal.biomedcentral.com

Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Dec 5

🙁 on the heels of the LA Times's non-endorsement

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Sarah Nowak, PhD @snowaking.bsky.social · Dec 1

Why would you make strawberry candy look exactly like watermelon?

Image with wedge-shaped candy with green/light green stripes at the bottom and dark pink on most of the wedge. Text "Jelly strawberry twist cones"

Reposted by Sarah A. Nowak

Fabio Votta📊🐧 @favstats.eu · Nov 25

For a closer view on the meme :) we found that dictionaries outperformed some LLMs in classifying whether content was political or not.

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