Thrilled for the Weldy lab, great news for @stanforddeptmed.bsky.social and now is the time to join!

I am thrilled to say that I have accepted a position as Assistant Prof at @stanforduniversity.bsky.social CV Medicine and am launching the Weldy Lab at Stanford!

My work integrates genetics, epigenetics, RNA biology, and cardiovascular disease.

Check it out: weldylab.org

Recruiting!

That's right....and so dreadfully wrong
www.washingtonpost.com/science/2026...

Line graph titled "ICE mortality rate" shows mortality rate per 100,000 person-years from 2004 to 2026. The rate generally declines from 2004 to 2019, spikes in 2020, then fluctuates at a lower level, rising slightly in 2026. JAMA, Published online April 16, 2026

Analysis of publicly reported data identified 272 deaths in #ICEDetention from fiscal year 2004 through January 2026, with mortality rates declining early in the period and increasing again in recent fiscal years.

ja.ma/42cHNVo

SCOOP: The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delayed publication of a CDC report showing covid-19 vaccine cut the likelihood of ED visits + hospitalizations for healthy adults last winter by about half. My latest.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

Since I'm getting a questions about the new data - a few _preliminary_ comments:

1️⃣ Are the outbreaks in the US connected?
👉 Very likely.

2️⃣ Does this mean US will lose elimination status?
👉 Yes, but that's been clear for a while.

Data: nextstrain.org/measles/geno...

A few details + caveats 🧵👇

The New England Journal of Medicine Dengue Virus Suppression by Wolbachia-Infected Mosquitoes A Research Summary based on Lim JT et al. | 10.1056/NEJMoa2503304 | Published on February 11, 2026 Visual representations of the patients in the trial and the treatments they were assigned. Read the full Research Summary at NEJM.org.

In a report from Singapore, the release of wolbachia-infected, irradiated male 𝘈𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘦𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘪 mosquitoes resulted in a reduction in the vector population and in the risk of dengue infection. Full trial results and Research Summary: nej.md/4atd2iN

Remembering public health pioneer Barry Bloom: a scientist, a mentor, a mensch Marc Lipsitch and Yonatan Grad pay tribute to their former colleague and mentor Barry R. Bloom.

Barry Bloom, former dean of @hsph.harvard.edu & a leading immunologist, recently died at the age of 88. Two colleagues, @mlipsitch.bsky.social & @yhgrad.bsky.social, have written a lovely tribute of the man and his work. www.statnews.com/2026/03/30/b...

The Horrors That Could Lie Ahead if Vaccines Vanish Researchers at Stanford University modeled how many people could die or be disabled in 25 years if vaccines for polio, measles, rubella or diphtheria were no longer available.

NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been transforming a government that long championed vaccines into one that questions their safety.

This is what could happen over the next 25 years if shots are unavailable even to the people who want them.

Video: Opinion | Trump’s $1.3 Million-a-Minute War The war with Iran is costing America. That money, the Opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof argues, could be better spent ending childhood malnutrition, screening for cancer or providing free college tui...

If they can spend $1.3 million every minute on war, imagine what else that kind of money could buy?

@nickkristof.bsky.social breaks it down

www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...

Match Day 2026 is here! 🎉

Meet the newest class of interns joining us for their residency at Stanford Department of Medicine:

✔️ 41 categorical internal medicine interns
✔️ 19 anesthesia & neurology interns

Welcome to the #StanDOM Family! ❤️

#Match2026

Great article!

Judge Strikes Down Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies

We wrote an amicus w @doritreiss.bsky.social and @weparmet.bsky.social in this case. A small victory today. Viva @defendpublichealth.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/h...

Federal judge stalls health secretary RFK Jr.’s overhaul of vaccine policy Breaking: A federal judge on Monday stalled major parts of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to remake vaccine policy in the U.S.

A big — if preliminary — win for #AAP and pro- #vaccine policy today. A court has ruled Robert Kennedy's reconstitution of #ACIP and his department's rewriting of the childhood vaccination schedule are likely illegal.
Developing story.
www.statnews.com/2026/03/16/k...

🚨 My lab is hiring! @ucirvine.bsky.social Seeking full-time data scientists & machine learning engineers.

We apply LLMs and AI tools to clinical data, rapidly scaling up epidemiological analyses and models of sepsis, hospital-acquired infections, and more. tpaklab.org #MedSky #IDsky 🧪 1/x

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.

What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.

Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

Now published: our work using phylodynamics from surveillance data to quantify and experimentally validate the fitness impact of antibiotic resistance determinants & how this changes with patterns of antibiotic use: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

As measles cases climb, these 9 diseases threaten comebacks When it comes to infectious diseases, measles is “the canary in the coal mine,” one expert said.

New @washingtonpost.com article reviewing the risk for re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, with my comments based on our recent research:

Community health project in Kenya and Uganda dramatically cuts new HIV infections Large-scale study finds that simplifying delivery of prevention medication and improving connections to clinics is key

Wow - such important and impressive work to reduce HIV infections. Read below.

Line graph shows US newborn Hepatitis B virus vaccination rates, forecasting ratio of HBV vaccinations to live births. Actual, ARIMA forecast, and training data from 2017-2026 are displayed, with a magnified inset focusing on the forecasted timeframe.

#HepatitisB virus newborn vaccination rates in the US peaked at 83% in early 2023 but dropped to 73% by August 2025, coinciding with increased public discourse regarding childhood vaccination.

ja.ma/4qMf1Vv

A potential late sequelae of measles after normal recovery.
Occurs in ~ 2/10,000. Fatal.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... @nejm.org today

Screenshot from an NIH website reading: "Table 1 shows the number of principal investigators (PIs) applying for or receiving an R01-equivalent grant in FYs 2021 to 2025, disaggregated by career stage. NIH supported 1,423 and 1,144 ESIs in FYs 2024 and 2025, respectively. The decrease seen in FY 2025 may likely be due in part to NIH implementing a requirement to use 50% of its remaining competing Research Project Grant (RPG) funds (starting in June 2025) for full-year funded competing RPGs, which was expected to lead to fewer awards and support fewer researchers overall."

Check this out straight from the NIH website, acknowledging that multiyear funding was likely responsible for a 20% decrease in early stage investigators.

And that it was expected.

A strange approach for someone so committed to the next generation of scientists.

grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

U.S. closes in on 1,000 measles cases in first two months of 2026 The nation is struggling to control the spread of the wildly contagious virus as vaccination rates continue to fall.

U.S. closes in on 1,000 measles cases in first two months of 2026. Measles kills 1-2 people out of every 1000 who catch it.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Measles is raging worldwide: are you at risk? Cases in fully vaccinated people are rare and usually mild, but are likely to become more common as exposure to the virus rises.

Check out this @nature.com News explainer article on measles, with my comments about our prior work, and featuring an upcoming article led by Drs @malar0ne.bsky.social and @joshuasweitz.bsky.social: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

We are thrilled to welcome three new Associate Division Chiefs to the Infectious Diseases Division! Dr. Brian Blackburn will be leading Education and Trainees, Dr. Prasanna Jagannathan will be heading Research, and Dr. Mindy Sampson will be taking on Hospital and Clinics.

At least 2 measles cases confirmed inside Texas detention center

DHS said all movement within the facility has stopped.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/l...

What South Carolina’s soaring measles outbreak means for the rest of the U.S. More than 840 measles infections have been reported in South Carolina, surpassing the tally in Texas last year. Public health experts say it shows the risks when vaccination coverage falls.

NEW: South Carolina’s measles outbreak is country’s largest in more than 25 years. But its falling vaccination coverage + rising religious exemptions from school requirements don’t make it an outlier. My story. Gift link. 1/3
wapo.st/4rttZRg

Wow that’s too kind! Hope you’re doing well, you are missed here!

Postdoc (Stanford, USA)
Modeling neglected tropical diseases (particularly schistosomiasis) and public health control strategies
with Nathan Lo
at Stanford University
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2464

(1/2) MMWR: Measles Outbreak Linked to Air Travel — Colorado, 2025

An unvaccinated traveler exposed others during an international flight and at Denver International Airport, leading to:
• 9 secondary & 1 tertiary case in Colorado
• 7 more cases in other states
• 4 hospitalizations, mostly unvaxxed