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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Sep 9

For the record: Memoli believes in old vaccine tech.

That he awarded himself a ton of money to continue studying earlier this year (see a previous post of mine for deets) despite the rest of NIAID not being able to spend $$.

He’s never supported mRNA tech because it competes w/ his research.

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Jun 12

It was honestly such a treat, and I’m not even saying that because I organized it. Eric, Laura, and Kerollos absolutely killed it.

a man is riding a statue of a dog in a room

ALT: a man is riding a statue of a dog in a room

media.tenor.com

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Jun 12

We got to talk about how we still do the best #epidemiology we can, even when life gets in the way of making perfect datasets (or even somewhat clean ones…) This is the hard stuff no one ever wants to discuss out loud.

Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Jun 12

Thank you to the INCREDIBLE speakers in my Assumption Dysfunction symposium at #SER2025. The talks were fantastic and the meme game was strong. @faustobustos.bsky.social @germsandnumbers.bsky.social Laura Balzer and Kerollos Wanis!!!

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 6

Admit nothing. Deny everything. Make counter accusations.

Exactly what we love to see in federal leadership. 👌

Jon Cohen @cohenjon.bsky.social · May 6

“I’m really uncomfortable with this conversation, because you’re like, actually spreading rumors that you don’t know anything about." Shortly before announcing policy change he said was a "rumor." @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social interview.

www.science.org/content/arti...

‘It’s been a tough period’: NIH’s new director speaks with Science

Jay Bhattacharya discusses staff morale, grant cuts, and “rumors”

www.science.org

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Reposted by Emily Ricotta, PhD

V is for very, very spooky @alana-m-vincent.net · May 5

FOR A STUDENT WHO USED AI TO WRITE A PAPER

Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now.
I know your days are precious
on this earth.
But what are you trying
to be free of?
The living? The miraculous
task of it?
Love is for the ones who love the work.

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

My worry is that even if we do get that far, what's the damage already done and how irreparable is it to the entire scientific enterprise? It's unfathomable.

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

IMO it makes more sense to spend money targeting new pathogens for whom we don't have effective prevention than going back & spending money on remaking vaccines that we know work really really well and are incredibly safe.

Hope that helps!!

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

Also, it takes a lot of time & effort to make vax using these older platforms. So if a vax isn't effective, it doesn't make sense to continue using that platform. That's why we should be trying new tech for pan-flu & other novel pathogens - for whom we don't already have effective vaccines.

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

There are several reasons why we'd choose a certain type (more below). The important thing is vax for MMR, polio, etc are HIGHLY effective. This is NOT the case for flu vaccines + flu mutates rapidly, while MMR/polio don't. www.hhs.gov/immunization...

www.hhs.gov

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

Great question! Older vaxs typically use either: killed pathogen ("inactivated" vaccines) or weakened live pathogen ("live attenuated"). MMR & oral polio use LA; injectable polio is inactivated. LA provide better protection but can cause strong reactions &/or mild infection (which can be contagious)

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

a woman in a red jacket is sitting on a couch and says how much time you got

ALT: a woman in a red jacket is sitting on a couch and says how much time you got

media.tenor.com

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 5

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 4

Yep, honestly the majority of the time it works. There are layers of oversight that make sure money is going toward institute priorities.

But sometimes you get this *intense mediocrity* that won’t go away & sucks up the resources for newer/different ideas.

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Reposted by Emily Ricotta, PhD

Jordan Zakarin @jordanz.bsky.social · May 3

The entirety of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was wiped out last night in a form letter sent by RFK Jr.

NIOSH is an agency in the CDC that investigates workplace hazards and finds solutions. It protects workers, so it’s gone. Even firefighters.

A screenshot from the CDC website showing that the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer is closed

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 4

I miss Dr. Fauci at the helm of NIAID, and public health in general.

Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · May 2

Dr. Anthony Fauci urges Americans not to accept "Normalization of Untruths".

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 4

BSC committees are composed of external experts from around the globe. But again, rarely do those ever result in closure of an ongoing study.

And Memoli is protected by the Old Guard at NIH, so he’s always been untouchable, even when leadership has been informed about his poor performance.

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 4

Once a protocol is approved, it’s basically off to the races. Very rarely are study approvals revoked at the SRCs I attended over 7 years as a former NIH employee. Every 4 years each investigator must submit to Board of Scientific Counselors review (akin to tenure committee review)…

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 4

This one specifically? No. Typically, intramural researchers have annual funding allocations derived from Congress that trickle down through the Institutes > Divisions > Labs > Sections/Units. There are internal scientific review committees that review/approve new protocols & conduct annual revs.

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · May 4

This is 0% surprising to those of us who know Matt Memoli personally. He’s a bad scientist (and a lot of other things too). He’s absolutely unqualified to be anywhere near NIH leadership.

www.statnews.com/2025/05/03/n...

Scientists question NIH project’s use of 20th century technology to make a universal flu vaccine

$500 million NIH program to make vaccines against pathogens that can trigger pandemics uses approach pioneered in last century

www.statnews.com

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Apr 30

Cooool. This is... great. Just great.

Saskia Popescu @saskiapopescu.bsky.social · Apr 30

This work is critical to us responding to Ebola outbreaks and strengthening medical countermeasures - “RFK Jr.'s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research”

RFK Jr.'s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research

NIAID's Integrated Research Facility is one of the few federal facilities charged with studying Ebola. Tuesday afternoon, all of its work was put on indefinite pause by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s departm...

www.wired.com

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Apr 17

I don't know if I'd call it public health, more state of science in general, but everyone should read this one: bookshop.org/p/books/doct...

Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's

Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's

bookshop.org

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Apr 13

Not for that year of data, unfortunately. 😕

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Emily Ricotta, PhD @emilyricotta.bsky.social · Apr 13

Hello! I know @johnkubale.bsky.social has been hunting down some of the earlier years. I only have phase 8.

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Reposted by Emily Ricotta, PhD

Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · Mar 10

NIH science is still making it into the world. Really enjoyed the conversations behind this paper - lots of big-picture questions about what makes research ethical and beneficial to the people involved, especially in a time of crisis, when "don't do the research" is sometimes the (difficult) answer

The Carlson Lab @ Yale @carlsonlab.bsky.social · Mar 10

🚨 How do you conduct responsible research in an epidemic? New guidance paper from an NIH/NIAID workshop led by @emilyricotta.bsky.social out now in @bmj.com Global Health: "Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform." 🔓😷🧪 gh.bmj.com/content/bmjg...

Figure 1 Sources of clinical evidence. (A) Traditional ‘hierarchy of evidence pyramid’ with evidence quality increasing from
lowest at the bottom (background information/expert opinion) to highest (critical appraisal methods). (B) In this representation
of evidence, observational studies (OBS) ‘unlock’ their own information, but they also are needed to ‘unlock’ evidence from
randomised controlled trials (RCT).

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