Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · 5d

No matter your views on #immigration or your politics, we should all agree that a federal campaign that aims to terrorize children is unacceptable. And to name it after a #Disney movie is horrific @filmandseries.bsky.social

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Kip Kosek @kipkosek.bsky.social · 8d

Very astute essay by @jenniferreich.bsky.social explaining vaccine hesitancy as part of a broader individualistic approach to health
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/o...

Opinion | What Really Drives Vaccine Hesitancy

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 23d

I wanted to remind everyone about the "Save AIDS Research" livestream that will go live on YouTube this Tuesday (9/16) at 11:00am EDT. We have an amazing program of 70+ speakers who will be sharing their latest research. Get all the details at www.saveaidsresearch.org.

24 Hours to Save AIDS Research

www.saveaidsresearch.org

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · 22d

I am excited to join so many amazing scholars around the world to speak out about the importance of research. Join us.

saveaidsresearch.bsky.social @saveaidsresearch.bsky.social · 23d

The federal government’s unparalleled assault on science and research is having a devastating impact on HIV. Join 24 Hours to Save AIDS Research to demand continued federal investments! Register bit.ly/45U1keO and join us on YouTube bit.ly/45Qftts. #saveAIDSresearch #HIV #HIVresearch

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · 22d

A no-bid research contract is unheard of and this one is opposed by more than 250 autism scientists.
www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/au...

CDC's No-Bid Contract on Vaccine-Autism Study Raises Alarm

Award to Rensselaer to investigate link is 'unprecedented,' says expert

www.medpagetoday.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Sep 4

When I say these nominees are entirely unqualified for #acip, I can offer that the one I know personally told his wife to pray for a spontaneous vasectomy reversal instead of surgery. That’s the level of scientific expertise we are talking about. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Kennedy picks seven new members for US CDC vaccine panel, document shows

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen seven new members for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's panel of vaccine experts, an internal CDC document showed on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Aug 31

We tell high school and college students to remember before they post that the internet is everywhere and forever. Perhaps they should discuss this in med school too? Or in the executive branch?

Dr. Richard Pan @drpanmd.bsky.social · Aug 31

Actual #censorship by a government official. @joho.bsky.social #1stAmendment
“Top #FDA official demands removal of YouTube videos of himself that criticized #Covid vaccines” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Top FDA official demands removal of YouTube videos of himself that criticized Covid vaccines

Doctor who created now-defunct channel says he wanted to ‘preserve’ what Trump health officials said during Covid

www.theguardian.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Aug 31

Maybe football can be what unites us toward a shared belief that young people dying unnecessarily is bad?

Infectious Diseases @infectiousdz.bsky.social · Aug 31

Football used to be deadly before we had vaccines.
Here's the story of 29 players died from tetanus—a bacteria found everywhere—before vaccines.

There is no immunity to tetanus except through vaccines. Even tetanus survivors -saved by antitoxin, antibiotics & critical care - don’t gain protection

The forgotten story of … Di Jones and the footballers who died of tetanus

The infection was a serious threat to British players in the years before a vaccination was introduced, claiming several lives, including that of the Manchester City full-back in 1902

www.theguardian.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Aug 31

But gosh. The view from the hill where you can see all those roads meet up.

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Aug 14

Six amazing books in the @nyupress.bsky.social series, Health, Society, and Inequality are out! And more are coming soon. So proud to be a part of this work. @ralmeling.bsky.social @katemasonsociology.bsky.social @andreabeckerphd.bsky.social
@ilenekalish.bsky.social

nyupress.org/series/healt...

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Aug 1

I am excited to share that vol 51 of the Annual Review of Sociology is now open access. It includes my article on the politics of healthcare and so many great reviews.
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

The Cultural, Definitional, and Institutional Politics of Healthcare | Annual Reviews

This review article examines how politics shape healthcare. In addition to formal law and policy, the politics of healthcare include the larger cultural frameworks that politicize health and illness, ...

www.annualreviews.org

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jul 27

So maybe hating pedophiles and the hiding of them is the thing that unites the country? A low bar but I’ll take it.

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Tara C. Smith @aetiology.bsky.social · Jul 16

Where is all that "health freedom" these guys promised? Cause all I've seen is decreasing choices for my family and myself when it comes to vaccination.

Endpoints News @endpts.com · Jul 15

FDA staff were overruled again by Vinay Prasad, who limited Moderna’s Covid vaccine to high-risk children under 12, arguing that healthy kids wouldn’t see sufficient clinical benefit.

Prasad again overrode FDA vaccine reviewers, this time on Moderna’s Covid shot for young kids

CBER chief Prasad overrides reviewers, approves Moderna's Covid shot only for at-risk kids 6mo-11yrs, marking his third override of review team recommendations.

endpoints.news

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jul 16

Remember how we were promised transparency? New idea. Let's Make America Qualified and Ethical Again. (I admit, the acronym needs work.) www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/k...

HHS backtracks on pledge to disclose new vaccine advisers’ conflicts of interest

RFK Jr. has pledged radical transparency, but his vaccine advisers' financial disclosures aren't public.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Lesley Abravanel🥂🪩 @lesleyabravanel.bsky.social · Jul 16

Thanks to a federal judge appointed by Trump, medical debt can now go back on your credit report. We great yet?

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jul 16

When the cruelty is the point.

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · Jul 16

For my mental health, I try not to look at too much news, but sometimes it's inescapable

The cruelty & lack of humanity shown by RFK Jr & his MAHA minions, Drs Bhattacharya, Makary, Oz, & Prasad, is striking & sickening

They're *gleefully* dismantling the welfare state
www.wxyz.com/politics/imm...

HHS moves to restrict undocumented immigrants' health care, Head Start access

A new HHS directive reverses decades-old interpretation of a 1996 law, restricting undocumented immigrants' health care services.

www.wxyz.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jun 29

I really thought not selling federal lands off might be the thing that united us. I mean, right after not letting children die.

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Jeff Duchin @docjeffd.bsky.social · Jun 28

“Immunization policy decisions must be guided by science. The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) is gravely concerned with the flawed process that occurred during the recent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting on June 25-26, 2025.”
www.nfid.org/statement-on...

Statement on June 2025 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Meeting

NFID strongly supports the use of evidence-based guidance reviewed by qualified experts, within CDC and externally, to inform public health policy, and will work to protect the health of people across...

www.nfid.org

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jun 26

I have been studying vaccine policy and politics for 20 years. This moment is so much worse than I ever imagined. And I am pretty imaginative.

Edward Nirenberg @enirenberg.bsky.social · Jun 26

Some people think this is an exaggeration but I will say that if I were HHS Secretary and my goal were to kill as many children as possible, it would be difficult to distinguish the actions I would take from those that Kennedy has taken.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jun 26

Mass murderer.

(gift link)

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Edward Nirenberg @enirenberg.bsky.social · Jun 26

No one on Kennedy's vaccine advisory committee is an expert in immunology and BOY does it show

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Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · Jun 26

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jun 21

Destroying healthcare systems and lives brick by brick.
The Trump administration projects as many as 1.8 million people, including many DACA recipients, could lose coverage.

RFK Jr. is making it more difficult to enroll in Obamacare

The Trump administration projects as many as 1.8 million people, including many DACA recipients, could lose coverage.

www.politico.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jun 15

This is clearly not how to increase trust. Imagine any other industry where people with no training or qualification get to tell experts how to do their job or tell families how to protect themselves and their children. Informed consent requires informed decisions.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · Jun 15

RFK Jr. says his new vaccine panel has a GW University professor. The school says he doesn't work there

www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/r...

RFK Jr. says his new vaccine panel has a GW University professor. The school says he doesn't work there

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said one of his picks for a crucial vaccine advisory panel is a professor at George Washington University. But News4 found the doctor hasn’t w...

www.nbcwashington.com

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Jennifer Reich @jenniferreich.bsky.social · Jun 12

Well. At the rate we are going, every learned society will have to drop American from their names.

Reposted by Jennifer Reich

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · Jun 12

If you’re thinking, “wait a second, they have completely politicized this process and done so with zero transparency—how is that supposed to increase trust in vaccines?” You are correct. This is absurd. We are through the looking glass. This would be farcical if lives weren’t at stake.

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · Jun 12

“Kennedy's picks circumvented the usual CDC process for selecting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP. In previous administrations, career agency officials — not political leaders — vetted potential experts before forwarding them to the department”

RFK Jr. taps allies and COVID vaccine critics among picks for CDC advisory panel. Here's who's on the list.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the previous roster of the CDC's vaccine advisers on Monday.

www.cbsnews.com

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