Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Brown University School of Public Health @brownpublichealth.bsky.social · 14d

Want advice from a physician who cares for pregnant women and a researcher who studies medication risks for pregnant women (instead of from politicians)? Here's the latest from Professor Alyssa Bilinski and Dr. Katherine McDaniel in @statnews.com. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Our best evidence says acetaminophen is safe during pregnancy. Better evidence could lay the issue to rest

“Discerning the safety of medications during pregnancy shouldn't require patients to have a Ph.D.,” a physician and a professor write.

www.statnews.com

3 10

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · 24d

This was indeed tongue-in-cheek!

1 1

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · 26d

To be fair, this is probably true by volume (i.e., they produce a lot), just not quality (i.e., often unusable.).

2 1

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · 28d

Amazed that this is still written in NYT in 2025.

With RCTs, we would have better evidence on acetaminophen in pregnancy with fewer individuals exposed. Why are we forcing everyone to experiment and not learning from it?

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/h...

2 3

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

I Post Animal Vids... 😊 @realjfairclough.bsky.social · Sep 2

Having a bad day?? Here's a pick me up... 😊

#bluesky #nature #animals

330 2K 14K

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Patrick Vallely @pjvphotography.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?"

Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.

Tighter crop of the same pika, focusing on its head.

An even tighter crop, focusing more on the pika's eye.

An extremely tight crop of the pika's eye, emphasizing their reflection of an early morning mountain scene.

640 11K 43K

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · Aug 18

Back from travels to share some Highland cows and our write-up about pregnancy research in Stat!

www.statnews.com/2025/08/12/p...

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · Jun 18

Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.

250 4.4K 7.9K

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · Jun 16

BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.

100 3.6K 14K

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Adrianna McIntyre @adrianna.bsky.social · Jun 3

In a new memo, @pennldi.bsky.social and @yalesph.bsky.social researchers project that, based on available evidence, the rollback of coverage in the House-passed reconciliation bill will lead to 42,500 additional deaths per year.

d197nivf0nbma8.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025...

4 27 33

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · Jun 2

*Every time* we present on pregnant inclusion in clinical trials, one or two women come up afterward and say, "This happened to me too" -- with depression, anxiety, asthma, epilepsy, hypertension, nausea, glaucoma.

Natalia Emanuel, Andrea Ciaranello, and I took at stab at counting these harms.

Brown University School of Public Health @brownpublichealth.bsky.social · Jun 2

“A common concern is that we shouldn’t ‘experiment’ on pregnant people—but the reality is that we already are,” Professor Alyssa Bilinski says. “Every time a pregnant person takes an untested medication it’s an uncontrolled experiment.” sph.brown.edu/news/2025-05...

Excluding pregnant and nursing people from clinical trials causes more harm than it prevents, study finds

Professor Alyssa Bilinski has found that systematically including pregnant participants in trials would speed up the detection of adverse effects and increase uptake of beneficial medications.

sph.brown.edu

2

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Brown University School of Public Health @brownpublichealth.bsky.social · Jun 2

“A common concern is that we shouldn’t ‘experiment’ on pregnant people—but the reality is that we already are,” Professor Alyssa Bilinski says. “Every time a pregnant person takes an untested medication it’s an uncontrolled experiment.” sph.brown.edu/news/2025-05...

Excluding pregnant and nursing people from clinical trials causes more harm than it prevents, study finds

Professor Alyssa Bilinski has found that systematically including pregnant participants in trials would speed up the detection of adverse effects and increase uptake of beneficial medications.

sph.brown.edu

1 3

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · May 30

Did I just cite this in an R01 proposal about responsible LLM use? Perhaps.

4

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Amanda Kreider @amandakreider.bsky.social · May 30

How do you devastate an already-fragile system? Target its workers AND its funding.

In our @statnews.com op-ed, @rachelwerner.bsky.social and I explore how immigration enforcement & Medicaid cuts will impact millions who depend on long-term care—and what we can do.

www.statnews.com/2025/05/30/l...

Long-term care in the U.S. faces two existential threats: an immigration crackdown and Medicaid cuts

The combined impacts of an immigration crackdown and slashing Medicaid budgets could create an exodus of long-term care workers.

www.statnews.com

24 30

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Aaron Schwartz @aschwartz.bsky.social · May 29

For anyone else who needs grant deadline music. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7C8...

Eugen Cicero - Solfeggio in C minor (1965)

YouTube video by 222zink

www.youtube.com

1 3

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Adrianna McIntyre @adrianna.bsky.social · May 29

"[T]he impact is larger than any single lab or the University itself — it is a dismantling of the national research enterprise and the loss of a generation of scientists."

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

After a Semester of Catastrophic Federal Cuts, Researchers at Harvard Are in a ‘Survival State’ | News | The Harvard Crimson

Across Harvard’s schools, researchers described a wave of destruction following sweeping terminations of federally funded grants. More than $2.7 billion in cuts have come as part of the Trump administ...

www.thecrimson.com

1 7 13

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · May 28

BREAKING: In a serious blow to US pandemic flu preparedness, HHS has cancelled a contract with Moderna to test and license prototype vaccines for #H5N1 #birdflu and other potential pandemic viruses.
In a pandemic, mRNA is the fastest way to vaccine doses. www.statnews.com/2025/05/28/m...

HHS cancels nearly $600 million Moderna contract on vaccines for flu pandemics

HHS has notified Moderna that it is canceling a nearly $600 million contract for vaccines for flu strains that could trigger future pandemics.

www.statnews.com

120 930 1.5K

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · May 28

Frighteningly, it was articulate, subtle, and sophisticated -- and yet incredibly misleading!

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · May 28

I recently experimented to see whether ChatGPT could be used to generate misleading anti-vaccine information, particularly about autism.

I was not heartened by the results...

1 1

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · May 28

bsky.app/profile/ambi...

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · May 27

Worth noting: we previously projected that if pregnant individuals been vaccinated at the same rate as age- and state-matched women, we would have averted 20% of maternal COVID-19 deaths (i.e., 8% of ALL maternal deaths) from March-November 2021.

doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · May 27

Worth noting: we previously projected that if pregnant individuals been vaccinated at the same rate as age- and state-matched women, we would have averted 20% of maternal COVID-19 deaths (i.e., 8% of ALL maternal deaths) from March-November 2021.

doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...

24 66

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Brown University School of Public Health @brownpublichealth.bsky.social · Apr 30

“We wanted to understand the trends in maternal, fetal and infant deaths in the U.S., but that turned out to be tricky," Professor Alyssa Bilinski says. Learn how she and colleagues disentangled 20 years of health data to arrive at their concerning findings. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/29/m...

Maternal deaths doubled in the US during the height of COVID, new Brown University study finds - The Boston Globe

Increases were reported “across nearly every age and racial group” during the health crisis in 2021, according to researchers.

www.bostonglobe.com

1 3

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Brown University School of Public Health @brownpublichealth.bsky.social · Apr 29

A new study finds that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, US maternal deaths nearly doubled, reaching 18.9 deaths for every 100,000 live births. The findings highlight the importance of accurately tracking maternal health data, Professor Alyssa Bilinski says. www.brown.edu/news/2025-04...

U.S. maternal deaths doubled during COVID-19 pandemic, among other findings in new study

Public health researchers untangle two decades of maternal mortality data and find that while early increases were driven by reporting changes, real increases followed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

www.brown.edu

2 6

Reposted by ambilinski.bsky.social

Bruno Ferman @brunoferman.bsky.social · Apr 29

🧵New survey paper: "Inference with Few Treated Units"
Luis Alvarez, Bruno Ferman and Kaspar Wüthrich

Tired of referees saying your standard errors are wrong?

This survey will help you understand if you really have a problem — and, if so, how to fix it!

1 15 58

ambilinski.bsky.social @ambilinski.bsky.social · Apr 29

Published in @jama.com Peds today: doi.org/10.1001/jama...

Trends in Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality in the US, 2000-2023

This cross-sectional study investigates the trends in maternal, fetal, and infant mortality in the US from 2000 to 2023.

doi.org

1