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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Jun 16

MPs have personal beliefs, but also solemn duties: that’s why they must reject the assisted dying bill this week | Gordon Brown www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

MPs have personal beliefs, but also solemn duties: that’s why they must reject the assisted dying bill this week | Gordon Brown

Our obligations to each other are ill served if laws focus unduly on those who want assisted dying. The priority should be the best palliative care, says former prime minister Gordon Brown

www.theguardian.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · May 30

There’s power and hope in the stories that must be told …

Dr Kate Womersley @katewomersley.com · May 30

Late to this, reading on the bus to work, arriving at the hospital with mascara like it’s Halloween. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The boy who came back: the near-death, and changed life, of my son Max

It was, we were told, a case of sudden infant death syndrome interrupted. What followed would transform my understanding of parenting, disability and the breadth of what makes a meaningful life

www.theguardian.com

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · May 10

If universities do go down, we will need:
*Urban renewal fund to plug the gap
*Proper Special Administrative Regime in law
*Plan to reapportion students between unis
*Research council policy on moving grant money
*PhD training centre and partnership moves (1/3)

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Reposted by James P Boardman

Professor Alice Sullivan @profalices.bsky.social · May 4

🚨ACTION🚨

We plan to send this open letter asking ministers and UKRI to rethink their plans for REF2029 imminently.

Any UK academic can sign.

The REF is important because it allocates £2 billion a year in research funding.

Current proposals pose serious risks 🧵

lucaf.org/viewdocument...

Open letter on Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029

lucaf.org

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Apr 30

Important learning from US experience of looking after 22 weekers 2014-23: many more receiving active treatment, and survival increased from 25.7% to 41%.

JAMA @jama.com · Apr 30

In infants born prematurely between 2014 and 2023, the increase in active treatment and survival was most notable at 22 weeks.

https://ja.ma/433uG9k
#PAS2025

Figure. Frequency of Active Treatment and Survival Among Actively Treated Infants by Maternal Race and Ethnicity, 2014-2023

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Apr 28

Implications of the Sullivan review for medicine described in this BMJ editorial here.

Direct relevance to maternity comprehensively described in: www.frontiersin.org/journals/glo...

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Apr 23

Ridiculous narcissists and solipsists, thinking that the church is all about a modern liberal-to-conservative axis. Maybe it's been around a bit longer than that eh. Maybe that isn't the be-all and end-all. www.ft.com/content/8f3e...

The Maga Catholics trying to take back control of the church

[FREE TO READ] A growing number of Americans hope that Pope Francis’s death will mark a decisive conservative shift for the papacy

www.ft.com

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Reposted by James P Boardman

Samson Nivins @samsonnivins.bsky.social · Apr 14

# publication alert
Children born <34 weeks had lower cognitive performance at age 9–10 vs. full-term (≥39 wks), even after adjusting for genetics, SES, and perinatal risks. Late preterm & early term performed similarly to full-term.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Gestational Age and Cognitive Development in Childhood

This cross-sectional study assesses whether preterm and early-term births are associated with lower cognitive scores in children aged 9 to 10 years compared with full-term peers.

jamanetwork.com

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Reposted by James P Boardman

Shaun Lintern @shaunlintern.bsky.social · Apr 13

The genesis of this scandal was in the aftermath of last big NHS reconfiguration & Public Health England made a decision to axe quality peer review checks on test centres. Concerns by experts were ignored in 2013...a warning from history as the next big change is on the horizon.

Shaun Lintern @shaunlintern.bsky.social · Apr 13

🚨 EXC: @wesstreeting orders inquiry into how hundreds of children were misdiagnosed by NHS hearing tests. He tells The Sunday Times inaction by senior NHS leaders was "unforgiveable"

Full story: www.thetimes.com/article/1e20...

Wes Streeting orders inquiry into ‘unforgivable’ hearing test scandal

The health secretary fears lifelong damage for hundreds of children who were wrongly diagnosed as deaf or denied the help they needed

www.thetimes.com

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Reposted by James P Boardman

Mike Greicius @mikegreicius.bsky.social · Mar 27

🧪The Trump administration's anti-science crusade has US scientists, particularly graduate students and postdocs, eyeing the exits. 🧠drain.
#neuroskyence
#neurology
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving

More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

www.nature.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Mar 27

The COLLABORATE trial getting underway in the UK will settle this question once and for all. It's a big one for parents of babies <29 weeks and their clinicians when a supplement to maternal milk is needed.

Interested NNUs can sign up:

www.imperial.ac.uk/neonatal-dat...

The fifty billion dollar question: does formula cause necrotizing enterocolitis? - Journal of Perinatology

Journal of Perinatology - The fifty billion dollar question: does formula cause necrotizing enterocolitis?

www.nature.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Feb 24

Time to put the brake on TH for infants <36 weeks with moderate to severe encephalopathy
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Whole-Body Hypothermia for Neonatal Encephalopathy

This randomized clinical trial investigates if hypothermia initiated at less than 6 hours after birth reduces the probability of death or disability at 18 to 22 months’ corrected age in infants 33 to ...

jamanetwork.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Feb 19

In 24,919 child-mother pairs (est. conception May'20- Sep'21), there were no adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy on neurodevelopmental outcomes at 13-15 months.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Early childhood developmental concerns following SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy: a Scottish population-level retrospective cohort study

Understanding the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy can help inform clinical guidance and tackle vaccine hesit…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Catherine Pope @cjpope.bsky.social · Jan 26

Then they came for the research funding bodies and there was no science and no evidence ... www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel

In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.

www.nature.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 31

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay!

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · Dec 30

A lot of rich parents are very upset at the government for charging VAT on private school fees. Maybe they should instead ask why private schools have put up fees so far above inflation over the past 15 years. www.ft.com/content/852b...

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Neena Modi @neenamodi1.bsky.social · Dec 19

Perinatal Science International is a novel forum to discuss & develop high-impact research with a multidisciplinary group in a tranquil setting. Numbers limited to 80; registration open! Join us in Venice April 10-12, 2025 @99nicu.bsky.social @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social @neonatal.bsky.social

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 17

Randomisation 1 will determine if pasteurised human donor milk or preterm formula affect NEC and other outcomes if a supplement for own mother’s milk is required.

Randomisation 2 will determine if routine macronutrient fortification of human milk is beneficial.

2/2

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 17

New RCT coming to the UK in 2025!

COLLABORATE will determine clinical efficacy, effect size, and safety of widely used enteral feeds in reducing surgical NEC, mortality, and cognitive impairment in extremely preterm babies.

2 randomisations:

1/2

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 17

Agree: manipulating the preterm gut microbiome may not be an inert treatment vis-à-vis brain development.

Our study group was not exposed to probiotics.

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 16

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Conditional and Unconditional Social Transfers, Early-Life Nutrition, and Child Growth

This randomized clinical trial assesses the effectiveness of conditional and unconditional social transfers on exclusive breastfeeding rates and child growth.

jamanetwork.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 16

ComBat offers new opps for scale-up ➡️ new horizons for biomarker discovery and validation, understanding (a)typical brain development, and Ix neuroprotective therapies.

#TEBC and devHCP data.

Led by Alex Bonthrone. Collab @edinunineuro.bsky.social and @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 16

🔈New paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti....

ComBat was used to harmonise multisite neonatal dMRI in white matter.

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Harmonizing multisite neonatal diffusion-weighted brain MRI data for developmental neuroscience

Large diffusion-weighted brain MRI (dMRI) studies in neonates are crucial for developmental neuroscience. Our aim was to investigate the utility of Co…

www.sciencedirect.com

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James P Boardman @jamespboardman.bsky.social · Dec 11

The trilogy

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Erin Dunn, ScD, MPH @drerindunn.bsky.social · Dec 4

Excited to share our @natureportfolio.bsky.social Mental Health cover story!

Led by @alussier.bsky.social, we found that childhood adversity rewires DNA methylation. The twist? Early stress was linked to both depression risk AND resilience mechanisms 🧬

Paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

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