Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
@rahallclifford.bsky.social
Global health, medical anthropology, co-design for health equity. @Emory U, working in Guatemala and beyond. Loves sightings of the absurd and compassion.
Pinned
The Spanish edition of my book El Punto Débil launched with a wonderful discussion in Guatemala! (Free ebook links below)
🎶Playlist for reading🎶
open.spotify.com/playlist/0Nl...
Several colleagues have reported being asked to do this. On the one hand, important work must continue. On the other, science shouldn't obfuscate.
New stories out about Official NIH Policy about "remediating" NIH applications so that they can be considered for funding.
First, a story in STAT...
www.statnews.com/2025/12/15/n...
1/9
First, a story in STAT...
www.statnews.com/2025/12/15/n...
1/9
NIH specifies how grant reviewers should ensure alignment with Trump priorities
In a memo obtained by STAT, the NIH gives specific steps on how grant reviewers can check for alignment with administration priorities.
www.statnews.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Several colleagues have reported being asked to do this. On the one hand, important work must continue. On the other, science shouldn't obfuscate.
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
"Publicly, the administration tried to temper international backlash by promising to keep or restore critical lifesaving programs."
But "...political appointees & DOGE operatives cut programs in ways that guaranteed widespread harm & death in some of the world’s most desperate situations."
But "...political appointees & DOGE operatives cut programs in ways that guaranteed widespread harm & death in some of the world’s most desperate situations."
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
www.propublica.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:09 PM
"Publicly, the administration tried to temper international backlash by promising to keep or restore critical lifesaving programs."
But "...political appointees & DOGE operatives cut programs in ways that guaranteed widespread harm & death in some of the world’s most desperate situations."
But "...political appointees & DOGE operatives cut programs in ways that guaranteed widespread harm & death in some of the world’s most desperate situations."
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
In an opinion piece, News Team member Yiying Zhang argues for journalists to humanize patients going through addiction instead of portraying them with negative stereotypes.
Health Journalism and Addiction
In an opinion piece, News Team member Yiying Zhang argues for journalists to humanize patients going through addiction instead of portraying them with negative stereotypes.
exploringhealth.org
December 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
In an opinion piece, News Team member Yiying Zhang argues for journalists to humanize patients going through addiction instead of portraying them with negative stereotypes.
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
Gun violence is the number-one cause of death for children. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Distracting the public’: group of health professionals call for RFK Jr to be removed
Ahead of the second Maha report, grassroots Defend Public Health warns that everything HHS is doing is ‘horrifying’
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Gun violence is the number-one cause of death for children. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Really lovely to spend the afternoon listening to Immunity by Joshua Roman, based on his experiences with long covid, and participating on a panel.
We need more voices speaking up for long covid, and it was so powerful to join together www.joshuaroman.com
We need more voices speaking up for long covid, and it was so powerful to join together www.joshuaroman.com
December 13, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Really lovely to spend the afternoon listening to Immunity by Joshua Roman, based on his experiences with long covid, and participating on a panel.
We need more voices speaking up for long covid, and it was so powerful to join together www.joshuaroman.com
We need more voices speaking up for long covid, and it was so powerful to join together www.joshuaroman.com
Accountability post, I've had too much caffeine
a fat man in a suit and tie is sitting at a table talking to another man in a restaurant .
Alt: a man in a suit and tie is sitting at a table talking to another man in a restaurant .
media.tenor.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Accountability post, I've had too much caffeine
Love when my long covid provider just sighs and recommends tumeric. The wellness supplement zeitgeist is out of control.
(Tumeric absolutely has active antiinflammatory properties, but I think we gotta admit it's not going to fix chronic covid.)
(Tumeric absolutely has active antiinflammatory properties, but I think we gotta admit it's not going to fix chronic covid.)
a man in a batman costume sits in front of a vitamins sign
Alt: a man in a batman costume sits in front of a vitamins sign
media.tenor.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Love when my long covid provider just sighs and recommends tumeric. The wellness supplement zeitgeist is out of control.
(Tumeric absolutely has active antiinflammatory properties, but I think we gotta admit it's not going to fix chronic covid.)
(Tumeric absolutely has active antiinflammatory properties, but I think we gotta admit it's not going to fix chronic covid.)
A dark day for human rights on Human Rights Day
Dr. Mary T. Bassett is one of the bravest people I have met in my lifetime - her moral compass and commitment to justice are unmatched. Shame, shame, shame on Harvard. Her ouster is shocking yet unsurprising and on brand for the University.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Dismisses Director of FXB Center for Health and Human Rights | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard forced out the director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights — another shakeup at a center whose programming on the Israel-Palestine conflict has been a flashpoint...
www.thecrimson.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
A dark day for human rights on Human Rights Day
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
🚨 Today, I formally introduced articles of impeachment against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
RFK Jr. has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people. Michiganders cannot take another day of his chaos.
RFK Jr. has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people. Michiganders cannot take another day of his chaos.
December 10, 2025 at 1:10 PM
🚨 Today, I formally introduced articles of impeachment against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
RFK Jr. has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people. Michiganders cannot take another day of his chaos.
RFK Jr. has turned his back on science and the safety of the American people. Michiganders cannot take another day of his chaos.
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
You might have heard the CDC's vaccine advisers bring up immigration as a disease threat. Actually, outbreaks often start when unvaccinated Americans bring back diseases. My latest:
The Racist Worldview Behind the New Vaccine Recommendations
ACIP’s recent decision to scrap hepatitis B vaccine recommendations for infants is inextricable from its advisers’ apparent belief that immigrants bring disease.
newrepublic.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:10 PM
You might have heard the CDC's vaccine advisers bring up immigration as a disease threat. Actually, outbreaks often start when unvaccinated Americans bring back diseases. My latest:
I just had to use my husband's wikipedia page to fill in a form idk, I can't keep track of everything, that's where I'm at fa-la-la-la-la, sad trombone
December 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I just had to use my husband's wikipedia page to fill in a form idk, I can't keep track of everything, that's where I'm at fa-la-la-la-la, sad trombone
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
The destruction of the enterprise of US academic science has been one of the most confounding aspects of a hugely confounding year. My @statnews.com colleagues are writing about the consequences for individuals & the country.
You want to read this series.
www.statnews.com/american-sci...
You want to read this series.
www.statnews.com/american-sci...
American Science, Shattered
An eight-decade partnership between universities and the federal government made U.S. science preeminent. It took Trump less than a year to shred that
www.statnews.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The destruction of the enterprise of US academic science has been one of the most confounding aspects of a hugely confounding year. My @statnews.com colleagues are writing about the consequences for individuals & the country.
You want to read this series.
www.statnews.com/american-sci...
You want to read this series.
www.statnews.com/american-sci...
Genuinely, who is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra holiday music for, are people looking for Christmas classics to make them anxious? I feel like I'm disarming a bomb to Carol of the Bells
December 8, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Genuinely, who is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra holiday music for, are people looking for Christmas classics to make them anxious? I feel like I'm disarming a bomb to Carol of the Bells
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
🎯 A 25-year-old scientific paper claiming that Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide posed little risk to human health has finally been retracted — revealing serious concerns about scientific integrity, corporate influence, and delayed accountability.
✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁
✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁
Paper Exonerating Herbicide Is Retracted; Bayer Gets Trump's Help To Avoid Claims From Cancer Patients - Health Policy Watch
A scientific paper written 25 years ago, claiming that the herbicide glyphosate posed little risk to people, has finally been withdrawn after it was found
healthpolicy-watch.news
December 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM
🎯 A 25-year-old scientific paper claiming that Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide posed little risk to human health has finally been retracted — revealing serious concerns about scientific integrity, corporate influence, and delayed accountability.
✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁
✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
I've just purchased a garment dubbed "workleisure," and I'm questioning everything.
December 8, 2025 at 2:27 AM
I've just purchased a garment dubbed "workleisure," and I'm questioning everything.
The madness is spreading.
I immigrated to the UK and became a citizen. I'm not a high earner.
But also this is clearly a thinly veiled proxy for rank racism.
I immigrated to the UK and became a citizen. I'm not a high earner.
But also this is clearly a thinly veiled proxy for rank racism.
December 7, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The madness is spreading.
I immigrated to the UK and became a citizen. I'm not a high earner.
But also this is clearly a thinly veiled proxy for rank racism.
I immigrated to the UK and became a citizen. I'm not a high earner.
But also this is clearly a thinly veiled proxy for rank racism.
The US has always been deeply imperfect, but this Amnesty International report is sickening
Amnesty International released findings from its investigation into the Everglades Concentration Camp (Alligator Alcatraz), which was built by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
They found evidence of torture, among other human rights violations.
www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
They found evidence of torture, among other human rights violations.
www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
December 7, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The US has always been deeply imperfect, but this Amnesty International report is sickening
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
Financial cuts to #EndMalaria are disrupting health systems, weakening surveillance, and delaying malaria interventions.
Sustained and predictable funding, including a fully replenished Global Fund is crucial to getting us back on track and maintaining our progress.
Learn more 🔗bit.ly/4pETX34
Sustained and predictable funding, including a fully replenished Global Fund is crucial to getting us back on track and maintaining our progress.
Learn more 🔗bit.ly/4pETX34
December 6, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Financial cuts to #EndMalaria are disrupting health systems, weakening surveillance, and delaying malaria interventions.
Sustained and predictable funding, including a fully replenished Global Fund is crucial to getting us back on track and maintaining our progress.
Learn more 🔗bit.ly/4pETX34
Sustained and predictable funding, including a fully replenished Global Fund is crucial to getting us back on track and maintaining our progress.
Learn more 🔗bit.ly/4pETX34
Man, I slept on my email for like an hour, and school holiday party sign-ups went out. All the good stuff like napkins was gone, so now I gotta make a hot chocolate bar 😭
December 6, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Man, I slept on my email for like an hour, and school holiday party sign-ups went out. All the good stuff like napkins was gone, so now I gotta make a hot chocolate bar 😭
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
“You can’t compare the US because many women here don’t have adequate health access,” @bhadeliamd.bsky.social on why vaccine schedules in countries w/ universal healthcare may not work in the US where only 35% of women who test pos for Hep B receive follow-up care
spr.ly/633237f9Zh
spr.ly/633237f9Zh
December 5, 2025 at 9:05 PM
“You can’t compare the US because many women here don’t have adequate health access,” @bhadeliamd.bsky.social on why vaccine schedules in countries w/ universal healthcare may not work in the US where only 35% of women who test pos for Hep B receive follow-up care
spr.ly/633237f9Zh
spr.ly/633237f9Zh
Life in the upside-down continues to deteriorate
ACIP vote 2: 6-yes, 4-no, 1 abstain. Motion passes. The serology recommendation will be made to CDC.
December 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Life in the upside-down continues to deteriorate
ACIP turns into a crime scene www.defendpublichealth.org/press-releas...
ACIP Meeting Turns into “Epidemiological Crime Scene” | Defend Public Health
Health experts with Defend Public Health expressed shock at the flood of antivaxxer disinformation that dominated the first day of the December meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practi...
www.defendpublichealth.org
December 4, 2025 at 8:04 PM
ACIP turns into a crime scene www.defendpublichealth.org/press-releas...
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
Once, as a doctor in South Sudan, the Maternal-HIV Specialist had siphoned diesel from a drum into a generator by sucking on a small tube. At the Agency, she spent hour after hour, day after day, pressing CONTROL-F through documents, replacing gender with sex. She CONTROLLED-F as she ate oatmeal...,
Doughnuts and Bullets: The Absurdity of Working for RFK Jr.
What happens when your new boss thinks you’re a child killer?
nymag.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Once, as a doctor in South Sudan, the Maternal-HIV Specialist had siphoned diesel from a drum into a generator by sucking on a small tube. At the Agency, she spent hour after hour, day after day, pressing CONTROL-F through documents, replacing gender with sex. She CONTROLLED-F as she ate oatmeal...,
Reposted by Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
Today and tomorrow, the ACIP committee is meeting to discuss the Hep B vaccine for newborns. Follow along here and watch the meeting live! youtube.com/live/LpthhPBFAgI?feature=share&themeRefresh=1
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) - December 4, 2025 - Day 1 of 2
YouTube video by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Today and tomorrow, the ACIP committee is meeting to discuss the Hep B vaccine for newborns. Follow along here and watch the meeting live! youtube.com/live/LpthhPBFAgI?feature=share&themeRefresh=1