Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · May 9

Great to be back in Korea to attend my first International Vaccine Institute Board meeting. We met in Seoul & then traveled to Andong Province to visit SK Bioscience & K-Bio. Korea has progressed dramatically in their quest to become a regional biotech & vaccine center!

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 24

Great to see my dear friend Pak Budi, Minister of Health of Indonesia spontaneously while we both happened to be in Washington DC. He is doing so much to improve the health of Indonesians. Good to catch up on all of the challenges in Global Health.

The Cost of Defunding Harvard

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 21

Grt 2B at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington DC. Just finished speaking on two Biodefense panels: What are remaining bottlenecks holding us back from achieving the 100 day mission & International Pandemic funding. Good discussions in difficult times for pandemic prevention & health financing.

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 21

Excellent piece by my good friend @agawande.bsky.social on the massive costs of the defunding of Harvard for society and personally in @newyorker.com . Well done Atul but tragic that you have to write this!
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

If you or someone you love has cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or diabetes, you have likely benefitted from the university’s federally funded discoveries in care and tre...

www.newyorker.com

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 12

Science gave humanity a gift of 10,000 extra days of life; 27 yrs of loving, creating & experiencing we wouldn't have had. Disrupting science funding isn't just bureaucratic reshuffling—it's gambling w/ future miracles. Stable institutions create transformative breakthroughs.
shorturl.at/nlXyi

Opinion | What Is Actually the Point of Treating the N.I.H. Like This?

Efficiency is not being enhanced, nor is waste being eliminated at the N.I.H. Scientists are just left to wonder: Why?

Uganda launches largest malaria vaccine introduction to date

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 9

Great that Uganda’s MOH introduced the#MalariaVaccine into its childhood immunization programme! 1M+ children/year will gain access to added protection against this deadly disease. 19 countries are now offering malaria vaccine with more introductions soon
#VaccinesWork www.gavi.org/news/media-r...

Today, Uganda’s Ministry of Health, with support from Gavi and Alliance partners, UNICEF, the WHO, PATH and CHAI rolled out a malaria vaccination campaign in Apac District, northern Uganda.

www.gavi.org

Trump’s funding cuts will deprive 75 million kids of vaccines, lead to a less safe world: Dr Seth Berkley - The Times of India

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 7

I caught up with the Times of India on vaccine access, India as a vaccine manufacturer and the funding situation for @Gavi. Vaccine equity continues to be a global need despite the political climate.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-...

Professor at Brown University School of Public Health and former CEO of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, Dr Seth Berkley championed equitable access to vac.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

A Second Child Dies of Measles in Texas

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 6

Tragic to see another unnecessary measles death in Texas. To prevent measles, the most contagious infectious disease, high levels of vaccination coverage is required. Nothing else works. Tragic to see babies unprotected due to misinformation. #vaccineswork
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/h...

It is the second confirmed measles death in the U.S. in a decade. If the outbreak continues at the current pace, the nation may lose its “elimination” status.

Public Health On Call: 877 - Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 3

Very pleased to have done an interview on the @JohnsHopkinsSPH podcast @PublicHealthonCall with @stephaniedesmon on vaccines & @Gavi including why support for Gavi is so critical. johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com/877-gavi-the...

About this episode: For 25 years, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has been a global effort to purchase and distribute lifesaving vaccines to the poorest of countries and help them build up their health sys...

johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Apr 3

We need strong, science-driven policies to #DefeatMeningitis by 2030 especially in Africa. Great to join @SerumInstIndia at #IPNC2025 to spotlight progress on this front w. Drs Prasad Kulkarni (SII), Milagritos Tapia (@UMCVD) , and Abdulrazaq Habib (@WHO SAGE).

Top FDA Vaccine Official Resigns, Citing Kennedy’s ‘Misinformation and Lies’

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 29

Terrible to see another data-driven vaccine scientist have to leave the US Government. Peter, thank you for your service. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/h...

Dr. Peter Marks, a veteran of the agency, wrote that undermining confidence in vaccines is irresponsible and a danger to public health.

H.H.S. Scraps Studies of Vaccines and Treatments for Future Pandemics

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 29

Short sighted & NOT in America’s best interest. The C19 pandemic cost >$12T & killed >20M. The only reason we had COVID vax in 327d was we had already solved how to make them by researching other coronavirus species. New pathogens are a certainty; pandemics are not. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/h...

Federal officials cited the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in halting the research. But much of the work was focused on preventing outbreaks of other pathogens.

Why Cutting U.S. Vaccine Aid Would Be a Grave Threat

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 27

Cutting support for immunization and Gavi is not in the US best interest and certainly not good for the world My take in @Time time.com/7272078/trum...

The Gavi vaccine alliance has for decades protected Americans from health threats abroad, writes ex-CEO Seth Berkley.

time.com

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 26

Excellent piece by Paul Nuki @The Telegraph on why cutting funding for Global Immunizations is such a bad idea—for those living in developing countries but also for the rest of the world www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Gavi does more than save the lives of children – cutting it will impoverish us all

Trump is poised to stop funding vaccines for developing countries. It’s a huge mistake for MAGA from an economic and security point of view

www.telegraph.co.uk

RFK Jr.’s Prescription for Bird Flu on Farms: Let It Spread

Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 19

It is said that those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it… Are we back to “letting the virus rip” which early in COVID19 led to a large number of unnecessary deaths? Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza remains a risk & we need to treat it as such. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/h...

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.

Seth Berkley warns of an era of ‘polyepidemics’ as cooperation crumbles

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Reposted by Dr. Seth Berkley

Evan O’Connell @evanoconnell.bsky.social · Mar 19

I worked for @gavi.org on the global #COVAX vaccine pandemic response: at the time, then-CEO @drsethberkley.bsky.social warned COVID-19 was likely not the big one but rather the dress rehearsal. Now, five years after lockdowns began, we’re defunding global health & deciding to “let viruses rip”

Pandemic Action Network @panaction.bsky.social · Mar 18

Letting #H5N1 "rip" is a dangerous strategy that would let the virus replicate and potentially mutate - fueling pandemic risk.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Mar 18

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested allowing bird flu to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Veterinary scientists said that would be inhumane, dangerous and have enormous economic consequences.

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 17

I had a chance to catch up with Devex’s Sara Jerving in Rwanda. I emphasized the need for cooperation for pandemic preparedness & for cost-effective prevention interventions like Vaccines. Seth Berkley warns of an era of ‘polyepidemics’ as cooperation crumbles www.devex.com/news/seth-be...

Devex sat down with the former head of Gavi to discuss the difficult times ahead as the foreign aid landscape drastically changes; what this could mean for the health of the world's population, and wh...

www.devex.com

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 16

I was so sorry to hear this news Nita was such a great champion of global health, medical research and women’s issues. I had an opportunity to work closely with her including as chair of the appropriations committee. May she RIP. hudsonvalley.news12.com/nita-lowey-h...

Nita Lowey, Hudson Valley congresswoman for 32 years, has died

Lowey was first elected in 1989 and represented parts of Westchester and Rockland counties.

hudsonvalley.news12.com

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Dr. Seth Berkley @drsethberkley.bsky.social · Mar 12

Amazing to see my good friend @JaneRuth_Aceng, the Minister of Health of Uganda launch this program with @gavi help to vaccinate every infant for Malaria; the largest campaign to date. Uganda has the 3rd largest number of deaths from Malaria after Nigeria & DRC observer.ug/news/uganda-...

observer.ug