Alexa Pragman, MD, PhD

A lot of people gathered tonight outside the Department of Veterans Affairs in D.C. for a vigil memorializing Alex Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.

This--and other stories like it--encapsulate the neighborhood response to ICE in the Twin Cities right now. I'd hope Lang learned something from this, but I'm not holding my breath...

Florida Passes Law Granting Viruses Personhood

Florida Passes Law Granting Viruses Personhood https://theonion.com/florida-passes-law-granting-viruses-personhood/

"Now that I've told you about the Halloween Blizzard of '91, sit back, the Federal Occupation of '26 is next."

As the world burns, let's get one thing straight. A video podcast is just a TV show.

VA plans to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs Strains on the Veterans Affairs system could grow with the elimination of as many as 35,000 mostly unfilled health care positions, including doctors and nurses.

The thing is, VA care is equal in quality and half the cost. And when we close VA wards and clinics, it’s not like small rural community hospitals can make up the difference. We need to end the scarcity mindset around healthcare wapo.st/4q4Lx58

Maybe if we’d funded the social sciences and the humanities, science funding wouldn’t be in such a crisis situation.

do you ever stare at the ceiling and think about how the worldwide scientific establishment did the impossible and created a COVID vaccine in under a year and the response of the general public has been to go on an unstoppable rampage to destroy science and scientists

You may have missed this with all the other news going on.

But if you are a veteran or care about our veterans, I hope you pay attention. 🧵👇🏻

CDC ACIP presentation tomorrow on thimerosal.
www.cdc.gov/acip/downloa...
Does Page 20 have a fake citation?

Agree. And since he said this himself, he should stop giving health advice and stop interfering with the work of important medical advisory boards and committees.

RFK Jr.'s mixed message about the measles outbreaks draws criticism from health officials Kennedy's inconsistent and unclear message on the measles vaccines has also made the outbreaks difficult to contain, experts say.

“Imagine if the captain of the Titanic had told you that you need to be careful about lifeboats and think about other opportunities,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, president of the Infectious Disease Society of America. #medsky #measles
www.boston.com/news/health/...

Last day for early bird registration for ATS 2025 and our lung microbiome course!

Photos of Alexa Pragman, Leo Segal, Bob Dickson, Michael Cox, Elodie Ghedin, Georgios Kitsios, Jennifer Baker, Chaz Langelier, Sanjay Chotirmall, and Jayanth Narayana

Course content and faculty listings

Happy to again co-chair the American Thoracic Society Conference Post-Grad Course "A Hands-On Introduction to Studying the Lung Microbiome" with Bob Dickson and Leo Segal in San Francisco on May 16! Register here: tinyurl.com/Lung-microbi...

@ats-pitb.bsky.social

Most on this site know that federal workers are good people who work hard.

But it's striking to see the data.

Federal workers put in more hours a week than anyone except military and self-employed.

Federal workers take fewer days off than almost any others
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

It is extremely hard to keep community care coordinators because the job is very stressful and demanding. So there is a lot of probational employees. All of them were fired at the VA in Toma Wisconsin today. Who will do the scheduling now so that Service members get the healthcare they need.

It is really hard to watch people willfully tear down an infrastructure that allowed us to double lifespans, drastically reduce poverty, and become one of the richest countries in the world.

Ensuring the “event” in preventable happens.

"VA researchers whose contracts are about to expire . . . will not be renewed, even when funding [through extramural grants is] in place to pay them. Should the VA continue this policy . . . over the months to come, the entire VA research workforce could be decimated."

Dear Manager:

1) I changed that stupid lock
2) I made you leave your key
3) I knew for just one email
4) You'd be back to bother me
5) I will survive!

Gene editing technology began by people studying salt marshes. Ozempic began by folks studying the venom of Gila Monsters. Support for basic science has empowered us to understand our world. Tethering it to applications health has transformed and saved countless lives.

Government isn't a business. The goal isn't to save money. Success isn't measured by budget surplus.

The goal is to spend money, investing in society. Every dollar spent on education, healthcare, and science is an investment in our collective wellbeing.

The unintended consequences will be disastrous. My grants and papers on the microbiome discuss "community diversity" often, but with a very different meaning.

Our system of academic freedom & peer review is meant to fund quality work of any type, even if one powerful person doesn't like it.

New pub on immunocompromised host pneumonia and inborn errors of immunity! A great chance to work with Rachel Husmann, Alice Lehman, and Ryan Nelson.

Thanks to editors Bashar Staitieh, Scott Evans, Julio A. Ramirez, and Guang-Shing Cheng for the opportunity!

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kB7wzzkx-...