Jeffrey Townsend

Boycott the State of the Union Trump doesn’t deserve our attention

#BoycottSOTU

Your senators and representatives in Congress should boycott it, too. You might call their offices to suggest this. (Some Democrats are already planning to skip it, opting instead for [...] “The People’s State of the Union.” Good!)
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

Laughing at journalists who say if Bluesky was nicer to them there’d be more journalists here like…you don’t know your audience AT ALL.

Trying to shame Bluesky into behaving the way you personally want is like trying to keep a cat off a counter.

That cat is gonna be on the counter EVEN MORE now.

Infection by SARS‐CoV‐2 with alternate frequencies of mRNA vaccine boosting One of the most consequential unknowns of the COVID-19 pandemic is the frequency at which vaccine boosting provides sufficient protection from infection. We quantified the statistical likelihood of b....

If you're over 65 or older, take advantage of biannual boosting for even better protection from infection and severe disease.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Optimal Annual COVID-19 Vaccine Boosting Dates Following Previous Booster Vaccination or Breakthrough Infection Optimal timing for COVID-19 boosters improves their efficacy. There is an optimal delay of boosters after breakthrough infection. Our analysis enables bene

Current science supports annul COVID-19 vaccination with boosters that offset waning immunity and protect against seasonal surges. Optimal protection depends on timing—often fall (shortly after they become available, but location-specific). Optimize your benefit.

academic.oup.com/cid/article/...

I feel like this is a great time to remind everyone that it's not even technically wrong to say that logistic regression is machine learning

We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT

@yalesph.bsky.social is innovating where science meets society. From scalable digital-health solutions to translational impact, I'm proud to see efforts like @multitarga.com using data science and biomolecular design to advance sequencing and health research. 🧪🛟

news.yale.edu/2026/02/04/y...

Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R

Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology url: academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...

We have less than a week to go before the deadline for abstract submission and award applications for SMBE 2026 in Copenhagen.

Check the conference website for details on the programme, symposia, and awards: smbe2026.org

#SMBE2026

Downfall Bovino Edition. You're welcome.

bsky.app/profile/yale...

Meeting Malaria Where It Lives Yale epidemiologist Dr. Amy Bei is betting on a radical idea to stop malaria from ravaging populations: a new vaccine that stops mosquitoes from transmitting

@thebeilab.bsky.social meets malaria where it lives—with an altruistic transmission-blocking vaccine!

ysph.yale.edu/news-article...

🌐🧪🌍

Opinion | The New Dietary Guidelines Serve Up a Muddled Mix of Ideology and Science The U.S. is now a global outlier in evidence-based dietary recommendations

The New Dietary Guidelines serve up a muddled mix of ideology and science www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...

Medicaid restrictions may lead to a million missed cancer screenings over two years: study New Medicaid eligibility rules may cause more than a million missed cancer screenings, and more than 100 preventable deaths, new study says.

New Medicaid eligibility rules could block access to lifesaving cancer screenings for over 1 million people and result in 150+ preventable deaths within two years—and even more in years to come.

www.statnews.com/2026/01/08/m...

A new milestone in the cancer fight: 7 in 10 patients now survive five-plus years Better treatment options have improved survival rates in the U.S., according to a report from the American Cancer Society.

A new American Cancer Society report shows that the US reached a historic milestone in cancer survivorship. 70% patients now live for 5 yrs after diagnosis. A notable advance is targeted immunotherapy for cancer treatment.

Thank sustained #NIH funding.

🧪 www.nbcnews.com/health/cance...

Im filled with memories then. Specially since Jan 1st, we're making soooo many memories 🤪

How Exercise Slows Tumor Growth In her latest study, Rachel Perry, PhD, of Yale School of Medicine, reveals one of the clearest mechanisms to date behind a question patients often ask: Why

Movement matters in the fight against cancer.

Muscles actually outcompete tumors for glucose, starving them of the fuel they need to grow. Even modest activity — like regular walks — reshapes metabolism in ways that may slow tumor progression.

🧪

m.yale.edu/dd8j

Sending jack-booted thugs to invade American cities.

Unilaterally launching wars and plundering foreign nations.

Suspending funding for states that voted against him.

Trump is the "big government" nightmare Republicans have always warned us about.

And yet they're silent.

NEW: Statement of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Trump’s criminal investigation into him. He says they are seeking an indictment over his Congressional testimony, but calls it pretext to pressure him into lowering interest rates.

Mutational landscape of normal breast tissues adjacent to invasive breast cancer Suwalska et al. show that cancer-adjacent normal breast tissues share genomic alterations with cancer, and many changes in cancer-relevant genes arise from specific combinations of germline polymorphi...

Just published—a detailed look at the mutational landscape of histologically normal breast tissue adjacent to tumors, examining how cancer-associated evolutionary processes extend beyond the tumor itself, with implications for early carcinogenesis and risk assessment.

www.cell.com/cell-reports...

The CDC's new childhood immunization schedule represents one of the most dramatic changes in childhood disease prevention policy in decades.

Keep reading for what parents should know ⬇️

1/5

Given current changes to early vaccine recommendations in the US, I though it worth emphasizing again that “Vaccines work… and do not cause autism”

#VaccinesWork #ImmunoSky #ViroSky #MicroSky

🧪

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

This post falls short of its objectives. Key assumptions are insufficiently justified, the analysis lacks rigor, and the conclusions extend beyond what the data support. Its contribution is limited, and substantial revision would be required before it could be considered reliable or persuasive.

Scientists Are No Closer to Finding a Cure For the Common Cold — Here’s Why Learn more about the common cold, the viruses that cause it, and why it’s so difficult to find a vaccine for it.

The “common cold” isn’t one virus—it’s dozens. Rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses, and more all cause cold symptoms, each evolving differently. That diversity is a big reason a single cure remains elusive.

www.discovermagazine.com/scientists-a...

According to Yale study, stress can be good for us and helps us form memories "This response evolved to help us cope with new challenges and can help us form stronger memories in order to deal with these situations better in the future,” Elizabeth Goldfarb said.

According to Yale study, stress can be good for us and helps us form memories www.ctinsider.com/living/artic...

Excerpt from Jack Smith deposition: For nearly three decades I have been a career prosecutor. I have served during both Republican and Democratic administrations and I've been guided by those principles in every role I've held. I continued to honor those principles when I was appointed to serve as special counsel in November of 2022. The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power. Our investigation also developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom. He then repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents. I remain grateful for the counsel, judgment, and advice of my team as I executed my responsibilities. I am both saddened and angered that President Trump has sought revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents, and support staff simply for doing their jobs and for having worked on those cases.

On Jack Smith deposition, now released:

100% obvious why GOP refused to allow this as open testimony, aired live. It's damning.

Testimony from John Dean or Alex ("wiretaps") Butterfield in Watergate days would have 1/10th the impact if just in print.

What Smith says is far more incriminating.

One of the most lopsided results you'll ever see in a poll, from our weekend Washington Post poll www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

We can all be as healthy as a known racist corpse

Screen shot of a tweet from HHS. We will Make America Healthy Again. There is an image of hulk hogan ripping off his shirt with the caption "AMERICA AFTER BECOMING HEALTHY AGAIN"

This guy here is dead 👇

Connecticut's flu season is bad and getting worse, with 'no end in sight,' doctors say The flu season is being driven by a variant called subclade K.

Connecticut's flu season is bad and getting worse, with 'no end in sight,' doctors say www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/...