Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. C

#PublicHealthTransparency #ScientificPublishing #NEJM #PublicHealth

Spotlight: Prof. Eric Rubin’s recent interviews and media appearances  | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health n recent months, as medical journals and their editors have faced increased public and media scrutiny, Dr. Rubin has been engaged in a number of important discussions regarding the role of scientific ...

Research transparency and scientific publishing are in the spotlight.

Dr. Eric Rubin—TB researcher, infectious disease specialist at BWH, and Editor-in-Chief of NEJM—is contributing to the conversation.

🗂️ We've compiled his recent interviews and media appearances:
🔗 loom.ly/rZOzzrw

A random Friday in the lab

Flier: Applications are now open for the Global COACH Fellowship.

🌍 ​​Have you applied to the 2026 Global COACH? Apply in teams of 3 to this tuition-free 6-month program for #health professionals working at the climate-health intersection to gain organizing skills, mentorship & a certificate from the FXB Center. ➡️ fxb.harvard.edu/global-coach/

#ClimateHealth

COVID-19 is on the rise again.

Multiple data sources are showing that rates are rising gradually across the country. Some states, including Florida and Hawaii, are seeing significant activity.

See how the summer COVID wave is impacting your community: www.pophive.org/respiratory-...

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#ClimateEducation #Scholarship #Sustainability #EnvironmentalImpact #PublicHealth

IID’s Madeleine Kline Honored with 2025 Emerging Physician Leader Award | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health IID is proud to announce that Madeleine Kline has been named a 2025 recipient of the Health Care Without Harm Emerging Physician Leader Award. This

We are so proud of Maddy’s accomplishments in pushing for more sustainable health care, and we are excited to watch her project with Health Care Without Harm progress. Get caught up on this impactful award with our Grad Lab News post:

🔗 hsph.harvard.edu/grad-lab/new...

Maddy is an MD-PhD candidate in the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Chan School program, recognized for her commitment to sustainability and leadership in medical climate education. 🌎⚕️

Through this award, Maddy will develop a framework for comparing the environmental impact of different implementation strategies of public health programs, using an antibiotic mode of administration as a case study.

In April, we congratulated IID’s Madeleine Kline (“Maddy”) on achieving the Emerging Physician Leader Award and Scholarship from Health Care Without Harm. 👏Learn more about the award and this year’s inspiring recipients here:

🔗 us.noharm.org/initiatives/....

(@mckline98.bsky.social)

How is trust built—and sometimes broken—in science? What role do scientists play in that conversation?

#ScienceAndTrust #KizzmekiaCorbettHelaire #PublicEngagement #ScienceCommunication #IIDLive #LiveEvent

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire wearing a gray shirt and a pearl necklace.

HAPPENING NOW: “Science and Trust” with IID Prof. Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire.

Join us for a live event at 9:30 am ET featuring Dr. Corbett-Helaire, a leader in vaccine development and public engagement, as she explores the critical intersection of science, trust, and society.

👉 loom.ly/v8XEdQU

Illustration of a person sick, with a thermometer in their mouth, looking out of a window. Text reads: FEELING SICK This summer? This summer COVID wave isn’t unusual. Hot weather and travel create the perfect recipe for COVID’s peak in the summer. Here’s what you need to know:

Illustration of a plane in the clouds. Text reads: Why does COVID surge in the summer? Hot weather means spending more time indoors, where it’s easier for viruses to spread. Travel exposes us to more people, including from places where COVID activity is higher. People may also shrug off mild symptoms as “just jet lag,” when they are unknowingly contagious with COVID.

Illustration of a person wearing a mask washing their hands in a sink with soap and water. Text reads: Reduce your risk of getting sick: Practice good hygiene. Cover your coughs and sneezes, wash your hands often, and clean frequently touched surfaces. Take steps for cleaner air. Open windows to increase ventilation, use an air purifier, gather outside when possible. Wear a N95/KN94 mask. Masks protect you from inhaling germs. Consider wearing one in crowded places and when traveling to prevent illness.

Illustration of a COVID test. Text reads: Feeling sick? Stay home and get tested! If COVID is causing your symptoms, there are antiviral medications that are extremely effective in reducing the likelihood of your symptoms becoming severe. You can resume normal activities when, for at least 24 hours: Your symptoms are getting better. You have been fever-free without using fever-reducing medication. Over the next 5 days, take additional precautions around others. If your symptoms return, re-isolate and retest.

You might think COVID only spikes in the colder months, alongside other common respiratory viruses like flu and RSV. But COVID cases have also surged every summer, due to several factors.

Understanding why can help us better protect ourselves as well as our precious vacation plans.

Federal funding fuels key research at Harvard Chan School on lowering risk of cancer, heart disease, early death | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health In this installment of our series highlighting high-impact research, we describe how two long-term cohort studies based at Harvard Chan School have helped generate key findings.

“NIH funding for the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study is essential to our ability to investigate the relationship between oral health and gastrointestinal cancer, and to study how we may improve early detection and intervention,” says Harvard Chan's Mingyang Song.

🌍 Track the outbreak with Lookout: sl.sentinel.network/outbreak/

🔬 Learn more about Sentinel: www.sentinelpandemicprevention.org

As Dr. Sabeti and Dr. Happi warn: Sierra Leone can’t do this alone.

But resources are running low—especially after U.S. funding was cut—and the outbreak is already reaching other countries, including the U.S.

With tools like Lookout (part of the Sentinel pandemic prevention system), local teams have expanded testing, sequencing, and contact tracing to stay ahead of the virus.

In their TIME article, IID professors Dr. Happi and Dr. Sabeti stress the urgency of supporting Sierra Leone’s efforts to contain the ongoing mpox outbreak.

What Happens in Sierra Leone's Mpox Outbreak Affects Us All "Mpox, as a pandemic, could be brutal," write Pardis Sabeti and Christian Happi.

“We’ve seen how viral outbreaks unfold—this time, we can change the ending.” – Dr. Christian Happi & Dr. Pardis Sabeti in TIME. loom.ly/G_6r_Kc.

#Mpox #PublicHealth #PandemicPrevention #GlobalHealth #TIME

We’re proud to celebrate our IID alumni and their incredible accomplishments both during their time at Harvard Chan School and beyond.

Did you attend Alumni Day this year? Share your favorite moments with us!

YouTube video by Harvard Alumni Association Harvard Alumni Day 2026 - Save The Date

📩 And be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s Alumni Day: June 6, 2026. Save the date and start getting excited! loom.ly/nuUc2uo. 🗓️

Afternoon Programs Livestream Reconnect with Harvard and your classmates through our alumni directory, programs and events, stories, news, and more.

🗣️ You can rewatch select symposia sessions originally broadcast live from Harvard, linked below: loom.ly/Q8xKmhg.

Harvard Alumni Day 2025 YouTube video by Harvard University

Unable to make this year’s Alumni Day back in June? 📺 Catch up on the main event’s festivities, like the alumni parade, with the livestream recording. loom.ly/1nFgkFU.

#HarvardChanSchool #AlumniDay #HarvardAlumni #Alumni #HarvardAlumniDay

Flier: Applications are now open for the Global COACH Fellowship.

🌍 ​​2026 Global COACH applications are open! Apply in teams of 3 to this tuition-free 6-month program for #health professionals working at the climate-health intersection to gain organizing skills, mentorship & a certificate from the FXB Center. ➡️ fxb.harvard.edu/global-coach/

#ClimateHealth

YouTube video by Harvard University Harvard epidemiologist Jeff Imai-Eaton on the impact of HIV/AIDS funding uncertainty

Epidemiologist @jeff-imai-eaton.bsky.social warns funding cuts could reverse decades of gains in prevention, care. From the Harvard Gazette
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_x-...

How to prevent tickborne illnesses: When outdoors in tick-prone areas: Wear long pants, long sleeves, and closed-toe shoes. Tuck your pants into your socks. (it’s a look, we promise). Spray your clothes and gear with 0.5% permethrin (an insecticide that kills ticks). Wear a hat.

AFTER BEING OUTSIDE: Shake out your clothing outside or put your clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes on high heat. Bathe or shower within two hours. Do a full body check on yourself and your loved ones: Ticks prefer warm areas, like armpits, ears, and other folds, but they’ll latch on wherever they can. Have a companion check areas you can’t easily see, such as your back and scalp.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER... Ticks can be as tiny as a poppy seed, so check thoroughly and carefully regardless of how long you’ve spent outside. CANINE CONSIDERATION: If you have a dog, check them for ticks after spending time outside. Even if your dog is on a preventative treatment, ticks can hitch a ride on your pup and then crawl onto you!

American dog tick and Lonestar tick. Text reads: DON‘T FORGET ABOUT THESE GUYS... American dog tick: East of the Rocky Mountains, parts of the Pacific coast. Can transmit tularemia as well as Rocky Mountain spotted fever (deadly but rare in the U.S. and can be treated if caught early) Lonestar tick: Eastern, Southeastern, and South Central U.S. Known for its distinctive yellow marking. Can transmit various diseases, including alpha-gal syndrome, which causes a meat allergy.

Great information on tick safety as summer is in full swing! ☀️⬇️

Opinion | This system is critical to Americans’ health. We must defend it. Medical progress depends on independent journals to advance science without political interference.

Please to write this @washingtonpost.com Op-Ed with Eric Rubin about the importance of independent medical journals like ours @nejm.org & @jama.com

wapo.st/4kUqfV9