Felicity Nelson

How ‘skull drains’ keep the brain safe from damage and pathogens Veins in the skull can rearrange their borders to accommodate patrolling immune cells, a strange behaviour called ruffling.

How fluid exits the brain is far from a passive process... My latest for Nature: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AMA Calls for Government-Enforced Digital Interoperability Software providers that won’t share data are creating unnecessary friction within the healthcare system and should be penalized, argues the Australian Medical Association.

Shhh this hasn't hit the mainstream news yet but... the federal government is planning on forcing doctors to upload data to My Health Record or forfeit Medicare benefits. (Pathology and imaging providers are being compelled to do this from July.)
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

Expression of Interest (Speakers)

📣 Pint of Science Australia is now looking for speakers for its May festival. If you are a researcher or know any researchers who might be interested, feel free to share this link to your socials or newsletters! - pintofscience.com.au/about/speake... 📣

Medical Weight-Loss Promotion Under Scrutiny in Australia Businesses aggressively advertising prescription drugs for weight loss have caught the eye of dietitians, policy experts, and regulators.

Hi there - I'm a science journalist based in Australia. Here's a recent piece: www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

Simple solution ... don't take any photos between now and Dec 31. :P

The Sun’s fiery surface, a tattooed tardigrade, rare red lightning and more - these are the best science images from 2025, chosen by Nature's Photo Team

Check them out: go.nature.com/3MANqs5

Rise of anti-science rhetoric has fundamentally changed the relationship between doctors and patients “The rise of anti-science and anti-vaccine rhetoric has fundamentally changed the relationship between clinicians and patients.”

I wrote in @statnews.com about the emotional toll anti-vaccine rhetoric is taking on clinicians — and how it’s straining our relationships with patients.

This isn’t abstract; it’s happening every day in exam rooms across the country.

🔗 www.statnews.com/2025/12/10/a...

#Vaccines #PublicHealth

To everyone directly and indirectly affected by the Bondi Beach atrocity, I'm thinking of you today. ♥️ I'll support any actions we can take to make sure this never happens again.

Reporting a traumatic community event - resources for media workers

For #journalists reporting the terror attack on Bondi beach, here's an important and good resource from the Global Centre for Trauma and Journalism on how to report ethically and safely: gcjt.org/resources/re...

♥️ Unfathomable. Heart breaking.

Coogee photo shoot 2025

Coogee photo shoot 2025

Coogee photo shoot 2025

The social media ban may be a more seismic shift than we realise There aren’t many cases like this where the divide between experts and the people is so stark. But the implications go far beyond the issue of youth mental health.

The social media ban for under 16s is a largely evidence-free policy but I agree with Waleed Aly that it could prove historic. It officially puts social media in the same basket as smoking or pokies for the first time.

www.smh.com.au/national/the...

Vaccinations Decline, Infectious Diseases Rise in Australia A backlash against pandemic-era restrictions, online misinformation, and a lack of resources for healthcare have contributed to Australia’s falling vaccination rates.

We used to pay GPs to coordinate vaccinations and (surprise, surprise) immunisation rates rose from 52% in 1995 to 95% in 2020. Those incentives were gradually scrapped. And now vaccinations have fallen off a cliff. My latest for Medscape... www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

Long-COVID research just got a big funding boost: will it find new treatments? The German government has committed half a billion euros for research on long COVID and other post-infection syndromes.

The German government has committed half a billion euros for research on long COVID and other post-infection syndromes

go.nature.com/48qFiTA

Excited to read The Stronger Sex by Starre Vartan! It's all about how women are physically stronger than men in so many ways that aren't often measured.

Renewables produced more electricity than coal for the first time this year. ☀️✨👏👏😎🤞🌞 The cost of solar energy has dropped 90% in 15 years and we would only need 0.3% of the planet's land to supply the world's energy needs using solar. #reasonsforhope

www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

Microsoft, I would PAY to REMOVE copilot! I just want to word process without the AI vomiting all over the page. But, sure, the old price is fine...

🌠 The partnerships team at Pint of Science AU (which I'm now managing!) has just published its Impact Report & Partnership Guide 2026. 🥳 🎉 Get in touch if you're looking for ways to share your science with the public! partnerships@pintofscience.com.au

pintofscience.com.au/festival/par...

Halloween fairy 🧚🦋✨

Critically important journalism

What we're already getting:

1. The first ever ME/CFS clinical guidelines are on their way, due 2028

2. The GP colleges now has a special interest group dedicated to ME/CFS and Long COVID

3. $14.5 million was invested in ME/CFS research by the federal gov in 2024

What people with #longcovid and #mecfs want (based on today's Emerge Australia's meeting with federal parliament):

1. Telehealth and NDIS without an in-person requirement
2. More funding for doctor education and research
3. Less stigma, more science!!

Thank you - that means a lot to hear. Sending you & your wife my best wishes.

I think this rampant use of AI just points out how much of the work we do is an unimportant waste of time as it can be replaced by passable garbage and no one notices. 🤷

🥹🥹 That means a lot. Thank you!

I'm so glad this piece on #longcovid is being recognised. This is not just our story, it's the story of millions of people around the world. The depths of hell we've been to over the past three years can only really be described by reference to Greek mythology.

thesicktimes.org/2024/06/25/m...

Healing in Chaos: Australian Physicians in Regions of Crisis After working in conflict zones, physicians return to Australia with renewed gratitude for their country’s stability and high-quality healthcare.

As bombs rained down on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Dr Lisa Searle was working and living underground in the city’s metro station, which had become a network of refugee camps and bomb shelters for around 10,000 people.

My latest for Medscape...

www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

My week so far... 🐢🐕 #dogsitting #freelancelife #melbourne