Katy Stephenson

Help Camp Starlight reach for the stars on Mightycause More than ever, we need your help!

My friend has run a camp for kids affected by HIV/AIDS for 28 years and they’ve expanded to include children impacted by stigma against the LGBTQIA+ community. Please donate!
www.mightycause.com/story/rock2026

This week's cover @thelancet.com

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

I can’t get over the ethics of putting that many people at risk in a trial for apparently absolutely no reason, it’s a complete affront to basic principles. Not even to look at the data? To claim the study was poorly designed after it went through an IND? It’s such unbelievable malpractice

F.D.A. Refuses to Review Moderna Flu Vaccine

The thing about this that is so enraging to me is that the FDA blessed running this study and 41,000 volunteers (heroes!) put their bodies on the line so we can benefit and that data is thrown away for nothing. (Btw I have no stock in Moderna or any other pharma)

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...

Correspondence “When our patients go without medical care, the harm is not theoretical. It is measurable. Fear doesn’t just keep people away from clinics and EDs, it pushes patients into crisis.” “We Do Care” by Bernard E. Trappey, M.D., for Minnesota Physician Voices

Physicians throughout Minnesota bear witness to the devastation that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is wreaking. They implore physicians everywhere to raise their voices.

Read “We Do Care” by Bernard E. Trappey, MD, for Minnesota Physician Voices: nej.md/4akke1G

I cannot imagine the devastation this family is experiencing today. This statement is powerful and must be read.

A video of Alex Pretti reading out the final salute of an unnamed veteran he cared for until the end of his life in the ICU, posted to Facebook by his son.

That’s nuts. It’d be great if academics could obtain these sequences themselves outside of public health pathways, but I can see the challenges

“Reporters were told the CDC scientist could not be identified by name as a condition of participating in the briefing.”

Is there a super secret society of genomic epidemiologists I don’t know about??
@kgandersen.bsky.social @billhanage.bsky.social @helenbranswell.bsky.social

Snowy Boston picture

Snowy Boston from work today

So sweet!

We cannot go back: Act now to save HIV funding Urge your members of Congress to fully fund federal HIV programs as they negotiate final funding levels for the FY 2026 LHHS spending bill.

The House is proposing nearly $2 billion cuts in federal HIV funding, wiping out CDC’s HIV prevention program, core Ryan White services, and the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.

Contact your representatives and senators to urge them to fully fund federal HIV programs: bit.ly/4rG38lz

It’s not too late in the season to be vaccinated and children can get the vaccine down to 6 months old. The vaccine is not great this year but it’s better than nothing!

IDSA is the association of all the infectious diseases doctors in America

Blue background with text that reads, "January 5, 2026. Statement in Response to Federal Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes: Childhood vaccines are safe, effective and save lives. In the last 30 years, routine childhood vaccinations have prevented 32 million hospitalizations and 1.1 million deaths in the US. The federal decision to reduce the number of recommended vaccinations for infants and children place our children at significant risk and contradict decades of evidence-based science. In Boston, we believe in science. There is no scientific evidence to support this decision. Bisola Ojikutu MD MPH FIDSA, Commissioner of Public Health, City of Boston. 1 of 2". The Boston Public Health Commission logo is at the bottom.

Blue background with text that reads, "January 5, 2026. Statement in Response to Federal Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes: Here in our state, we will continue to recommend the full childhood vaccine schedule, as per the American Academy of Pediatrics. All recommended childhood vaccinations will continue to be covered by insurance. Keeping our children healthy is a key part of making Boston a city where all children and families can thrive. If you have questions about vaccines, talk to your health care provider and visit boston.gov/vaccines. Bisola Ojikutu MD MPH FIDSA, Commissioner of Public Health, City of Boston. 2 of 2". The Boston Public Health Commission logo is at the bottom.

We continue to follow evidence-based science that protects the health of children across Boston.

If you have questions about vaccines, talk to your health care provider and visit boston.gov/vaccines.

I got this email too for a paper of mine! It made me depressed. Like life is hard enough

Vaccines Are Helping Older People More Than We Knew

#VaccinesWork (to do a lot of things)

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/h...

Can’t finish it either

Magic Johnson was the grand marshal of the Rose Parade today, and as someone who remembers his November 1991 HIV announcement: if you had told anybody that day that he would be alive and healthy 34+ years later, I don't think they would have believed you. Medicine and research—they work.

JAMA study: "The Role of Vaccination in Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Associated With COVID-19 in Pregnancy." Figure 1 shows monthly cases from April 2021-December 2022, tracking hospitalization and critical care rates, with a Delta and Omicron phase. Graph shows hospitalization rates decreasing after Dec 2021.

#COVID19 vaccination before or during pregnancy was associated with lower risks of hospitalization, ICU admission, and preterm birth among those infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Canada.

ja.ma/45gaS4e

Blue background on top with the Boston Public Health Commission logo and text that reads, "Flu season in Boston is starting early. It's not too late to vaccinate. Flu cases increased 114% in the past week.* This increase comes earlier this year compared to last year. The rate of infection is almost three times higher among children." Below is a line graph showing the increase in flu cases in 2025-2026 compared to flu cases in 2024-2025. Below the graphic is a footnote that reads, "* Data provided through December 14, 2025. Data may change as more information becomes available. Data Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

With flu cases increasing, it’s not too late to get vaccinated. Find vaccines near you at VaccineFinder.org.

Protect yourself and your loved ones by washing your hands thoroughly, increasing ventilation indoors, and staying home if you feel sick.

Learn more at boston.gov/respiratory-protection.

New report sounds alarm on health fallout from mRNA vaccine funding cuts A new report from the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have

A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.

How Unethical Research Seeds Medical Mistrust The absence of equipoise can turn research into harm

The planned hepatitis B birth-dose trial in Guinea-Bissau raises serious ethical concerns. Withholding a proven, life-saving vaccine from newborns to answer speculative questions is an absence of equipoise with real downstream harms for trust in vaccines.
bktitanji.substack.com/p/how-unethi...

Figure showing highest rate of HIV in girls is in South Africa

Whenever you read that the Trump Administration is withholding an HIV intervention from South Africa, replace “South Africa” with “adolescent girls and young women” because that’s the group most disproportionately affected.

Covid Vaccines Reduced Children’s Likelihood of E.R. and Urgent Care Visits, the C.D.C. Reported

Covid vaccines released last fall sharply decreased the risk of ER and urgent care visits in children, according to new data released by the CDC — providing a striking counterpoint to Trump administration rhetoric about the shots

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/h...

And not just vaccines - sowing doubt about any source of knowledge from civil society itself. Academics, scientists, professional societies. Only the voice of the administration can count as true.

Spotted: Curtis Sliwa legit patrolling the 72nd street subway platform

The IDSA is my professional organization and represents the infectious diseases doctors of america.