Kristian G. Andersen
@kgandersen.bsky.social
Infectious diseases & genomics. Immunologist in (voluntary) exile. Minimal sarcasm. Fierce HOA (Hater of Acronyms). Personal account - opinions expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.)
RTs appreciated.
RTs appreciated.
November 26, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.)
RTs appreciated.
RTs appreciated.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Unfortunately, I can confirm that this is true.
I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.
Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.
I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.
Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.
Hearing news that Carl Dieffenbach, the Director of the Division of AIDS at #NIH (NIAID), has been removed from his position because he was "not aligned with HHS/OMB."
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
Russell Vought continues to remove great scientists as part of the Project 2025 mission to politicize and destroy NIH.
🧪 1/
November 24, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Unfortunately, I can confirm that this is true.
I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.
Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.
I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.
Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.
A nice article, highlighting the important work our collaborators in South Africa are doing using wastewater to surveil a bunch of different vaccine preventable diseases (and finding a lot more of them than other reports would make you believe…).
💪🇿🇦
www.nature.com/articles/d44...
💪🇿🇦
www.nature.com/articles/d44...
Wastewater surveillance reveals disease trends in South Africa
From COVID-19 to measles, scientists are showing how wastewater surveillance can expose underreported infections and strengthen national health monitoring.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:28 AM
A nice article, highlighting the important work our collaborators in South Africa are doing using wastewater to surveil a bunch of different vaccine preventable diseases (and finding a lot more of them than other reports would make you believe…).
💪🇿🇦
www.nature.com/articles/d44...
💪🇿🇦
www.nature.com/articles/d44...
This one spotted by @siamosolocani.bsky.social - SUCH a cool example of SARS-CoV-2 evolution! Triple strike! (this happened with Omicron as well, where it took out three serines in a triple strike too).
nextstrain.org/fetch/genome...
nextstrain.org/fetch/genome...
November 23, 2025 at 5:52 PM
This one spotted by @siamosolocani.bsky.social - SUCH a cool example of SARS-CoV-2 evolution! Triple strike! (this happened with Omicron as well, where it took out three serines in a triple strike too).
nextstrain.org/fetch/genome...
nextstrain.org/fetch/genome...
The skinny on this is that *any* grant can be terminated at *any* time for *any* reason, making planning impossible.
For more background on this, see my thread from a few months ago: bsky.app/profile/kgan...
For more background on this, see my thread from a few months ago: bsky.app/profile/kgan...
November 23, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The skinny on this is that *any* grant can be terminated at *any* time for *any* reason, making planning impossible.
For more background on this, see my thread from a few months ago: bsky.app/profile/kgan...
For more background on this, see my thread from a few months ago: bsky.app/profile/kgan...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
A person in Washington State who kept backyard poultry has died from #H5N5 #flu. The person was the first known infection with this subtype of flu globally & the second recorded death in the US from an #H5 flu virus. Health authorities say there's no evidence the person spread the virus to others.
November 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
The extent of the damage done to public health, biomedical science, and healthcare in the US in less than a year will take a generation or more to repair. This is the scale of the destruction. Let that sink in. A new president, Congress won't be enough to reverse things fully. It's that bad.
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
The extent of the damage done to public health, biomedical science, and healthcare in the US in less than a year will take a generation or more to repair. This is the scale of the destruction. Let that sink in. A new president, Congress won't be enough to reverse things fully. It's that bad.
"The points in the deal appear to be so lopsided in Putin’s favor that they might as well have been dictated by Moscow."
Indeed.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Indeed.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump’s Devastating Plan for Ukraine
The White House is giving Putin permission to try again.
www.theatlantic.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM
"The points in the deal appear to be so lopsided in Putin’s favor that they might as well have been dictated by Moscow."
Indeed.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Indeed.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
CDC 1946-2025: R.I.P.
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
CDC 1946-2025: R.I.P.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has now weaponized the CDC website to promote his anti-vaccine views
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:57 PM
CDC 1946-2025: R.I.P.
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
This is bad. How can any university hire people, build facilities, make any plans, if the funding can be arbitrarily removed on a whim from an agency? This goes far beyond currently disfavored topics.
Update on a significant development NIH grant terms.
On 10/1, a change to grant making regs went into effect that gives NIH more power to terminate grants for policy reasons.
But to use this power, new grant terms must include specific language. See @aniloza.bsky.social w/ the story from July.
1/
On 10/1, a change to grant making regs went into effect that gives NIH more power to terminate grants for policy reasons.
But to use this power, new grant terms must include specific language. See @aniloza.bsky.social w/ the story from July.
1/
HHS devises legal playbook for future grant terminations, internal memo shows
Exclusive: HHS devises a legal playbook for future research grant terminations, an internal memo shows.
www.statnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
This is bad. How can any university hire people, build facilities, make any plans, if the funding can be arbitrarily removed on a whim from an agency? This goes far beyond currently disfavored topics.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 2:26 AM
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
While we wait for the Nvidia earnings, Gemini 3 just beat the models at the benchmarks, BUT, most importantly, it was trained using TPUs and not GPUs.
That should be a market shot - like DeepSeek.
garymarcus.substack.com/p/hot-take-o...
(and, no, G3 is no AGI - LLMs won't get us there. Come on).
That should be a market shot - like DeepSeek.
garymarcus.substack.com/p/hot-take-o...
(and, no, G3 is no AGI - LLMs won't get us there. Come on).
Hot take on Google’s Gemini 3
Still no AGI, but it may nonetheless represent serious threats both to OpenAI and Nvidia
garymarcus.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM
While we wait for the Nvidia earnings, Gemini 3 just beat the models at the benchmarks, BUT, most importantly, it was trained using TPUs and not GPUs.
That should be a market shot - like DeepSeek.
garymarcus.substack.com/p/hot-take-o...
(and, no, G3 is no AGI - LLMs won't get us there. Come on).
That should be a market shot - like DeepSeek.
garymarcus.substack.com/p/hot-take-o...
(and, no, G3 is no AGI - LLMs won't get us there. Come on).
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
The Principled Investigator: Deeper Dive - Destruction of Merit-Based Funding /How the current administration is systematically destroying the U.S. scientific enterprise from the inside
▶️ bit.ly/3LFFtl0
▶️ bit.ly/3LFFtl0
November 19, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The Principled Investigator: Deeper Dive - Destruction of Merit-Based Funding /How the current administration is systematically destroying the U.S. scientific enterprise from the inside
▶️ bit.ly/3LFFtl0
▶️ bit.ly/3LFFtl0
Thrilled to see this finally announced - and glad to see good things still happening to good people!
Congratulations to Pardis, Christian, and the rest of the Sentinel team! 👏🥳
www.macfound.org/press/press-...
Congratulations to Pardis, Christian, and the rest of the Sentinel team! 👏🥳
www.macfound.org/press/press-...
Sentinel Awarded $100 Million to Prevent Pandemics
www.macfound.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Thrilled to see this finally announced - and glad to see good things still happening to good people!
Congratulations to Pardis, Christian, and the rest of the Sentinel team! 👏🥳
www.macfound.org/press/press-...
Congratulations to Pardis, Christian, and the rest of the Sentinel team! 👏🥳
www.macfound.org/press/press-...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
I've got a bad feeling about the upcoming flu season, given the fact that there are a bunch of subtypes at this party with the potential to wreak varying amounts of havoc. So I broke it all down here.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
The Real Subtypes of the 2025 Flu Season
Have you ever been to a party where you sensed the messiness before it happened?
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I've got a bad feeling about the upcoming flu season, given the fact that there are a bunch of subtypes at this party with the potential to wreak varying amounts of havoc. So I broke it all down here.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
This is an interesting case of a patient from Chad infected with a novel arenavirus species/variant/strain, presenting with meningoencephalitis.
IMO, could be classified as a highly divergent Lassa virus strain in a new country (similar to what Togo has observed).
www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...
IMO, could be classified as a highly divergent Lassa virus strain in a new country (similar to what Togo has observed).
www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...
A Mammarenavirus Close to Lassa Virus in a Patient with Meningoencephalitis | NEJM
A 37-year-old man in Chad presented with a fever and a headache. An extensive evaluation
identified a mammarenavirus, close to Lassa virus, in samples of cerebrospinal fluid.
www.nejm.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This is an interesting case of a patient from Chad infected with a novel arenavirus species/variant/strain, presenting with meningoencephalitis.
IMO, could be classified as a highly divergent Lassa virus strain in a new country (similar to what Togo has observed).
www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...
IMO, could be classified as a highly divergent Lassa virus strain in a new country (similar to what Togo has observed).
www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Our recent study on BA.3.2 is now available. Thanks to Markus Hoffmann, Lu Zhang and Georg Behrens for the great collaboration. Here’s a brief summary of our findings:
November 17, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Our recent study on BA.3.2 is now available. Thanks to Markus Hoffmann, Lu Zhang and Georg Behrens for the great collaboration. Here’s a brief summary of our findings:
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
I really did not enjoy Jay Bhattacharya & Matthew Memoli’s screed against pandemic & virology research for the flagship blog of a “free-market think tank." Instead of getting mad, I accepted @jeremyfaust.bsky.social's kind invitation to take a factual & scientific blowtorch to it.
We've got a MASSIVE DEEP-DIVE rebuttal to the NIH leadership’s recent essay. They're arguing for a head-in-the-sand approach to pandemic preparedness.
The great @angierasmussen.bsky.social joins me in an extraordinarily detailed, line-by-line fact check.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/a-rebuttal...
The great @angierasmussen.bsky.social joins me in an extraordinarily detailed, line-by-line fact check.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/a-rebuttal...
A rebuttal to NIH leadership's screed against pandemic preparedness.
Dr. Angela Rasmussen joins Inside Medicine for a tag-team response to a poorly reasoned essay by NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and his deputy, Dr. Matthew Memoli.
insidemedicine.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I really did not enjoy Jay Bhattacharya & Matthew Memoli’s screed against pandemic & virology research for the flagship blog of a “free-market think tank." Instead of getting mad, I accepted @jeremyfaust.bsky.social's kind invitation to take a factual & scientific blowtorch to it.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Also one more article praising Sweden, which killed an unnecessarily big share of its population at the start of the pandemic by not taking the same common-sense measures other countries took.
November 14, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Also one more article praising Sweden, which killed an unnecessarily big share of its population at the start of the pandemic by not taking the same common-sense measures other countries took.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
The outbreak in Ethiopia is #Marburg virus, the first such outbreak for this country. 9 cases so far, including some health workers. x.com/drtedros/sta...
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X: "#Ethiopia has confirmed the outbreak that has infected at least 9 people in the south of the country is of #Marburg virus disease. I commend Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth for its rapid and transparent response to the outbreak, and the work of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and" / X
#Ethiopia has confirmed the outbreak that has infected at least 9 people in the south of the country is of #Marburg virus disease. I commend Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth for its rapid and transparent response to the outbreak, and the work of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and
x.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM
The outbreak in Ethiopia is #Marburg virus, the first such outbreak for this country. 9 cases so far, including some health workers. x.com/drtedros/sta...
A new approach to pandemic preparedness:
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
NIH Directors: The World Needs a New Pandemic Playbook
The old one failed to cope with Covid and may even have caused it.
www.city-journal.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
A new approach to pandemic preparedness:
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Two axioms:
1) talent/smarts/grit are pretty evenly distributed (across race, country, gender, etc).
2) good things happen if you can collect critical masses of such people in one place.
1) talent/smarts/grit are pretty evenly distributed (across race, country, gender, etc).
2) good things happen if you can collect critical masses of such people in one place.
November 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Two axioms:
1) talent/smarts/grit are pretty evenly distributed (across race, country, gender, etc).
2) good things happen if you can collect critical masses of such people in one place.
1) talent/smarts/grit are pretty evenly distributed (across race, country, gender, etc).
2) good things happen if you can collect critical masses of such people in one place.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
🚨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...
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
November 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
🚨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...
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...