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Reposted by Jared Boyce

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 14d

A statue depicting President Trump and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein briefly appeared Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with the title, “Best Friends Forever,” and included lines from Trump’s birthday message to Epstein. nyti.ms/4nPZW4d

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · 14d

Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven’t Always Called It Autism. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

Opinion | Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven’t Always Called It Autism.

www.nytimes.com

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · 19d

How many children must die for people to understand that vaccines save lives? Or are the lives of children that trivial?
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/h...

Kennedy’s Advisory Panel Votes to Limit M.M.R.V. Vaccine for Children Under 4

www.nytimes.com

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · 23d

If you are available, please consider attending the Prevent Child Abuse America Associate Board's cocktail party!

When: Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Time: 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Where: Twenty Six Chicago

give.preventchildabuse.org/event/blue-s...

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · Sep 3

The overall takeaway from the Epstein survivors’ press conference is that they are united and are no longer going to allow rich and powerful men to victimize, silence and intimidate them.

Including the ones in Congress and the perp in the Oval Office.

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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · Sep 3

Florida is a center of international tourism and has one of the top 3 populations of retirees.

Ending childhood vaccine requirements for school entry there is so dangerous I don’t even know where to start.

Ground zero for massive unchecked outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease.

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JB Pritzker @jbpritzker.bsky.social · Sep 3

And I would never want to get between Ted and a trip to Cancun when there’s an emergency in Texas

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Sep 3

Ted Cruz: "I don't want to get between JB Pritzker and the Dominos Pizza line, but I'll tell you what I am willing to get between -- him and his open doors for every human trafficker ... "

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Sep 3

Harvard Secures a Court Victory in Its Fight With Trump www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...

Harvard Secures a Court Victory in Its Fight With Trump

www.nytimes.com

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 30

Doctors Find Early Success With Partial Heart Transplants www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...

Doctors Find Early Success With Partial Heart Transplants

www.nytimes.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Aug 28

Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."

My resignation letter from CDC.

Dear Dr. Houry,

I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested.

This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough.

While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.

The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.

It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.

Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc.

I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information.

The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.

For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision.

Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically.

Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 28

It’s amazing how little this country cares about preventing its own children from being gunned down.

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Aug 24

"This could be the difference whether your child gets cancer. Are you willing for them to die because the therapy for them is delayed?"

Powerful video with voices from top US scientists on the very real and devastating impacts of the funding cuts.

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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · Aug 25

Amidst all the daily bad news, here is some good news to lift up your week!

Botswana eliminates paediatric HIV

www.nature.com/articles/d44...

How Botswana eliminated paediatric HIV

Political will, free maternity care and digital health tools helped Botswana achieve high standards for ending mother-to-child transmission.

www.nature.com

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · Aug 22

Illinois is launching a first-of-its-kind legal hotline for LGBTQ+ individuals — Illinois Pride Connect.

As the only state in the nation that will provide free legal advice to protect the LGBTQ+ community, we'll help fight ignorance with information and cruelty with compassion.

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 22

NPR @npr.org · Aug 21

The state Assembly and Senate on Thursday approved a redraw of the state’s congressional lines to favor Democrats, and placed the issue before California voters in a special election. via @kqednews.kqed.org

California Lawmakers Pass Redistricting Plan. Now It Heads to Voters | KQED

The state Assembly and Senate on Thursday approved a redraw of the state’s congressional lines to favor Democrats, and placed the issue before California voters in a special election.

www.kqed.org

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 22

Study saying monthly cash won’t help children’s health is highly misleading — even irresponsible www.statnews.com/2025/08/19/b... via @statnews.com #medsky

Study saying monthly cash won’t help children’s health is highly misleading — even irresponsible

“The lack of findings thus far in the Baby’s First Years study should not be used to justify actions that will further hurt children’s developmental health,” two experts write.

www.statnews.com

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It's ME(Jaime) @exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social · Aug 21

A grim but important read.

In those who die ages 25-44, 62% of those deaths are BECAUSE we're Americans, in ways that both are and aren't related to #COVID.

Rather, our shoddy HC infrastructure means a young person's first adverse health event can be their last.

slate.com/technology/2...

There’s Something Very Dark Happening to Millennials and Gen Z Adults

America is not a good place to be an early adult.

slate.com

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 21

www.statnews.com/2025/08/21/i... #medsky

The trauma of illness can last long after the body has healed

“The body can heal while the self remains disconnected”: a psychologist on the overlooked trauma of illness.

www.statnews.com

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Aug 13

Update on NIH funding through July (August 1 budget start dates)

Non-competitive renewal awards by month for fiscal year 2025

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$A bar graph of the fraction of NIH non-competitive renewal awards received by month showing that fewer awards that expected to being given.$

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Aug 13

Antivaxxers love accusing scientists of censorship but in reality they are the ones trying censor science.

RFK just tried bullying a scientific journal into retracting a major study of 1.2 M kids that found that aluminum in vaccines do not increase the risk of autism or asthma. The journal refused.

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 13

Excited to share this American Academy of Pediatrics blog post I co-wrote with Nick Wilson and @loganicole.bsky.social about childhood food insecurity! www.aap.org/en/news-room...

Feeding Health: How Pediatricians Can Address Childhood Hunger

Childhood food insecurity can take on many forms but all result from a lack of accessible, nutritious food. Whether this is due to a lack of adequate grocery stores where they live, lack of reliable a...

www.aap.org

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Jared Boyce @jared-boyce.bsky.social · Aug 13

www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/a...

Inside the American Medical Association's sudden strategy shift in Washington

The AMA has shifted from a behind-the-scenes lobbying strategy to more forceful public advocacy against President Trump's health care policies.

www.statnews.com

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Damien Fair @drdamienfair.bsky.social · Aug 10

I still get chills

Meet Mike
*30+ years severe depression
*first hospitalized @ 13y
*20 meds
*3 rounds of ECT
*2 near-fatal suicide attempts

Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE

see videos, read paper, follow thread
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

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Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · Aug 11

This study was published in Annals of Internal Medicine; the journal is NOT retracting it just because of political pressure from the world's most extreme & dangerous anti-vaxx activist

The lead author, Anders Peter Hviid, says "I have not been targeted by a political figurehead in this way before"

Derek Beres @derekberes.bsky.social · Aug 11

A large-scale, government-funded study tracking 1.2M children over two decades found something Kennedy doesn't like, so he wants it retracted.

www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Exclusive: Medical journal rejects Kennedy's call for retraction of vaccine study

An influential U.S. medical journal is rejecting a call from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to retract a large Danish study that found that aluminum ingredients in vaccines do not increase health risks for children, the journal's editor told Reuters.

www.reuters.com

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Nico Dosenbach @ndosenbach.bsky.social · Aug 12

Precision Functional Mapping (PFM). 8 yrs ago some told us it wasn't interesting. Now it's helping cure depression as part of PACE (Personalized Adaptive Cortical Electro-stimulation), ... commercialized by @turingmedical.bsky.social.

osf.io/preprints/ps...
www.cell.com/neuron/comme...

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