David

Sinn Féin has lost contact with senator Chris Andrews, who was aboard the Spectre as part of the Sumud Flotilla aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, some of vessels of which have seemingly been boarded by Israel tonight.

@virginmedianews.bsky.social

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

A colourful poster with a University of Galway Logo. The heading on the poster says, "Interested in gay/bi men's healthcare?". The poster text says: We want to speak to gay, bi, and other men (including trans men) who have sex with men about your thoughts on PrEP in Ireland. No experience of using PrEP required! Take part in an interview (online or in person) and be compensated with a €20 One4All voucher. To learn more or take part: 1. Go to bit.ly/ChatAboutPrEP; OR 2. scan the QR code; OR 3. contact David Comer via email (d.comer3@universityofgalway.ie)

Still looking for people to talk to about their thoughts on HIV PrEP in Ireland for my PhD! You don’t need to have ever used PrEP to take part. For more information, you can reach out to me!
If you’re interested, fill in the short form at this link: bit.ly/ChatAboutPrEP

Critically appraising the cass report: methodological flaws and unsupported claims - BMC Medical Research Methodology Background The Cass Review aimed to provide recommendations for the delivery of services for gender diverse children and young people in England. The final product of this project, the Cass report, re...

Our article (led by @chris-noone.bsky.social) covering (some of) the failings of the Cass report is now available. We identified all included reviews as having a high ROB and highlight major methodological flaws, ultimately suggesting Cass' findings should not guide policy.

l1nq.com/CriticallyAp...

Poster for the research with QR code

Hey guys we’re doing some research about DoxyPEP in Ireland and have a survey for Gay and Bi men and Trans people in Ireland

It’s anonymous, should take about 10-15 mins and will go on to help the design of interventions and services

eu.surveymonkey.com/r/doxypep

Transgender people turning to DIY-healthcare due to lack of trust in National Gender Service The Journal Investigates heard from transgender people pushed into accessing healthcare outside the official channels

Some GPs have been advised by the National Gender Service that they do not recommend blood tests for transgender who are using DIY HRT.

Because of this, transgender people told us they struggle to find a GP willing to help.

jrnl.ie/6691757

‘It left me traumatised’: The barriers to accessing transgender healthcare in Ireland The HSE has admitted that transgender healthcare is ‘limited’ and is ‘not meeting people’s full range of needs’.

Transgender people have been asked about pornography and their sex lives when accessing healthcare from the National Gender Service.

They said this experience was traumatic and upsetting.

Experts said questions like these are “completely inappropriate”.

jrnl.ie/6690859

In silico trials and digital twins are emerging as transformative medical technologies as they offer a unique way to design medical innovations, optimize their application, and evaluate their utility. Their utility spans from individual care – appropriating the technology for personalized decision, to population care – presenting an alternative to design, supplement, or replace clinical trials. They effectually offer a new way to efficiently qualify, quantify, and personalize healthcare innovations in advance or in conjunction with their clinical application. While much progress is underway to advance these technologies across diverse developments, realizing their full potential requires a cohesive goal to unify separate activities towards a common objective. Such a cohesive goal – a moonshot – can be defined as forming and fostering a digital twin of every single human person, owned by the individual, progressively updated with new data, and used to deliver optimized care, technology assessment, and real-world evidence. This vision builds upon a growing body of work in computational modeling, regulatory science, and digital healthcare, underscoring its feasibility. Bringing this vision to reality requires ownership and active engagement of all stakeholders to contribute diverse expertise and resources for transforming medicine and medical appropriation towards a more accurate, efficient, and quantitative future.

These people are dangerous, and I mean that.

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ad...

"Mothers Against Genocide members were subjected to disproportionate & outdated practices by Gardi yesterday.

They used unnecessary force & a complaint will be made to GSOC."

~ Mothers Against Genocide

“Luke Combs twice” is my worst nightmare

Someone needs to stop me from buying new jackets

Join us at the 14th Conference of the International Society for Critical Health Psychology at the University of Galway this summer!

This conference will be of interest to anyone interested in the intersection of health and social justice. Rarely has this been of more importance!

www.ischp2025.ie

We want to hear your thoughts on HIV PrEP in Ireland! You don’t need to have ever used PrEP to take part. For more information, you can watch the video below or reach out to me!
To let us know you’re interested, you can fill in the short form at this link: bit.ly/TalkAboutPrEP

What is the ‘28 Days for SWAI’ Challenge? SWAI’s team and allies are joining forces to take part in ‘28 Days for SWAI’, a fundraiser for SWAI which will take place over the month of February. As a team, we are aiming to raise €10,000 altogether to fund SWAI’s vital work. SWAI does not have a fundraising team and we are going to run out of money by April of this year. So we’ve put together the following information to help you take on your own challenge and lead your fundraising campaign. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ME? To take part, you will need to • Complete a Challenge everyday from 1st – 28th February • Share your daily updates about your challenge online with your friends, family, and network • This can be over social media, through SWAI, Whatsapp, email or wherever! • SWAI would also love to share your posts on our social media pages with your consent Make sure it’s a challenge for you but also achievable, for example • Are you a good runner? Run 5K a day • Never done yoga? Do yoga once a day • Love dancing? Learn a new dance everyday • Have a bike? Cycle 10km every day • Are you an artist? Draw something once a day • Have a sweet tooth? Bake something daily WHAT CAN SWAI DO TO SUPPORT? • Promote your fundraising efforts to help you get donations • Give you information about SWAI and where the money will go that will help you explain why you’ve decided to join 28 Days for SWAI TAKING DONATIONS • The best way to receive donations is via CauseVox • Encourage people where possible to donate to this page. This is the most accountable and effective way for SWAI to receive donations • Alternatively you can donate through our PayPal HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR FUNDRAISING • Share your story: why are you choosing to fundraise for SWAI? • Tag SWAI on social media or email us your story with your CauseVox page to info@swai.eu or in and we will share it on our platforms

Can you use the shortest month of the year to exercise, learn or improve on a skill and raise money for SWAI?
We're asking allies of sx workers to pledge to do one activity a day for Feb to raise €10,000 to fund our vital work #28DaysForSWAI

What’s wrong with the Cass Review? A round-up of commentary and evidence [last updated 23/01/25] Wednesday 10 April 2024 saw the long-awaited publication of the final report of the Cass Review. This report was commissioned by NHS England, and provides a review of eviden…

Last week I updated my mega-post "What's wrong with the Cass Review?" with new links to analysis and evidence.

I have no illusions about the current political landscape. It will likely take years to undo Cass' act of sabotage. But I am in this fight for the long haul and hope you are too.

We want to hear your thoughts on HIV PrEP in Ireland! You don’t need to have ever used PrEP to take part. For more information, you can watch the video below or reach out to me!
To let us know you’re interested, you can fill in the short form at this link: bit.ly/TalkAboutPrEP

28 Days for SWAI Can you take the '28 Days for SWAI' Fundraising Challenge Written in colourful writing on a green background

We’re going to say it to you straight. We want to be transparent. SWAI is going to run out of money by April of this year. Can you help SWAI continue our vital work?

We’re asking our allies to participate in the 28 Days for SWAI challenge, a fundraiser for SWAI that will take place in February.

I ran @USAID health programs for the last 3 years. Trump’s 90 day Stop Work Order on foreign assistance does serious damage to the world and the US. Examples:🧵

You're invited to the International Society for Critical Health Psychology Conference 2025 at the University of Galway in the beautiful West of Ireland!

Will be of interest to all concerned with social justice & health.

Registration & abstract submission is open at ischp2025.ie

On twitter I used to occasionally post excerpts from ridiculous papers on HIV/sexual health; Bluesky's first entrant:

The orc from Return of the King saying “The age of men is over. Now the Jingle Hop has begun.” He is wearing a Santa hat

- Playing a role in dragging out the opioid epidemic

- Bribery accusations in South Africa

- Ignoring corruption warnings

- Working with infamously corrupt companies like Enron

The list of black marks against McKinsey is long

Last month the protocol for my first PhD study passed peer review! We're looking to: (a) unpick how scientific literature describes PrEP programmes and queer men who use these programmes; (b) explain how this influences how those programmes are implemented.
hrbopenresearch.org/articles/7-12

Not enough music, she’d be there if she released 40 songs a year like Taylor

Why should the music stop just because I’m asleep

Some of us don’t like to be alone with our thoughts

I fear I’ve been cooked by the algorithm for Taylor Swift to be top of this

🫶❤️

Personally I'm frustrated by the naivety/temerity, of those obsessed with analysis of election manifestos or tools to assess a politician’s answers in election mode, which are presented as guides to help us decide, or to influence our votes,particularly when not sanity checked against track-records.