The John Snow Society

Prof Sir Nicholas White contributed significant advances to the treatment of #malaria, amongst other major achievements.
@thetimes.com has an excellent obituary (paywall)
www.thetimes.com/uk/obituarie...

We missed this post entirely but very glad you were able to make the pilgrimage @drjenndowd.bsky.social !
Next time feel free to email us via the details in our website; sometimes we may be able to arrange a formal tour with a member of the Society steering committee 📍🗺️

Despite increasing use of observational data in public health, researchers are still hesitant to use strong causal language (for fear of overpromising).

New paper and comment in @bmj.com sets out new guidance on appropriate use/misuse of causal language

www.bmj.com/content/392/...

Despite the 19th century discovery of the mode of transmission of cholera and the rapid evolution of its prevention and treatment, it still remains a problem today. More than 16,000 new cases recorded in early 2026, mostly in Africa.

www.who.int/publications...

Thomas Wakley, the original editor of @thelancet.com was indeed no friend of Dr John Snow.
In happier news, the journal published a 'corrected' obituary in 2013:
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

We're glad you had a refreshing visit to the John Snow pub @pwgtennant.bsky.social‬ 😊

Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.

Exclusive by @nature.com: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation

Graph of the Day📉:
Relationship between coffee intake and incident dementia, in new @jama.com paper by team at @hsph.harvard.edu
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Today, on International Day of Women and Girls in Science 🔍
We'd like to draw your attention to the most recent research articles in the ongoing series of women in #epidemiology research - and still accepting articles!👇
www.frontiersin.org/research-top...

@bmj.com 📣 Call for papers on the geopolitics of global health 👇
www.bmj.com/content/392/...

“I dreamt about doing research, not getting an award.” Meeting Nobel Prize laureate Katalin Karikó YouTube video by Nobel Prize

"Some people considered me unsuccessful. I was demoted from my position, then 10 years ago I was terminated".
#Nobel Laureate Katalin Kariko on the challenges of academia and the power of self-belief.
#WomenInScience #Academia

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=u0CixIx1SUo
@nobelprize.org

Cholera is surging in Africa. A new generation of vaccines could slow it Experts say the three jabs have the potential to make protection faster, more accessible, and more equitable than ever

Cholera is surging in Africa. A new generation of vaccines could slow it @telegraph.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

The Lancet Commission on improving population health post-COVID-19 An increasing number of national and international commitments have failed to reduce three intimately interconnected major global threats to population health: non-communicable diseases, outbreaks of ...

New @thelancet.com commission outlines the three major threats to global health in the post #covid era:
1. Non-communicable diseases,
2. Outbreaks of infectious diseases, and
3. Environmental degradation.

spkl.io/6018AoZ5s

Wishing you a very 🎄Merry Christmas from the John Snow Society

#Aboutlastweek: Some pictures from a fantastic lecture and celebration for Professor Paul Fine, co-founder of the John Snow Society.
🎙️Paul's talk "Serendipity and Transmissibility"
📸An original polaroid (?!) of the 5 Society founders
🥳The celebration

Incredible retirement talk by Prof. Paul Fine @lshtm.bsky.social Career dedicated to global health, critical enquiry & passion for training next generation in UK & esp Malawi where he left huge legacy. Privilege spend 10+yrs at same institution & humbling to know its not even 1/3 time hes been here.

A final reminder for today's event @LSHTM , celebrating Professor Paul Fine🎊, co-founder of the John Snow Society.
📅 9 December 2025
⏲️ 17.30
📍LSHTM | John Snow Lecture Theatre
👇
www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...

The picture shows Hanover Square in Central London - the original site of the LES (the LES is now incorporated into the Royal Scoeity of Medicine)

#OnThisDay is the 175th anniversary of the first full meeting of the London Epidemiological Society, one of the oldest known societies of its kind.

Its creation was prompted by an urgent desire to understand and prevent disease epidemics.

(and John Snow was a founding member)

Meta-analysis of students concludes handwritten note taking is superior to typing for studying and memory commitment - contributing to higher grades.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

When combinations of humans and AI are useful: A systematic review and meta-analysis - Nature Human Behaviour Vaccaro et al. present a systematic review and meta-analysis of the performance of human–AI combinations, finding that on average, human–AI combinations performed significantly worse than the best of…

When humans and AI work together to solve problems, sometimes outcomes are worse than AI or humans alone.

Paper in @nathumbehav.nature.com "When combinations of humans and AI are useful: A systematic review and meta-analysis"👇🏽

Dr Klauss Garcia 🇧🇷 took part in a prestigious overseas PhD placement in the UK - and wanted a marker of his positive London experience.

An erudite choice Klauss 👏🏽

#publichealth #epidemiology #sohomap

📡Major Announcement:

We will be celebrating Paul Fine, co-Founder of the John Snow Society and Professor of Communicable Disease Epidemiology at the @lshtm.bsky.social at his retirement lecture on the 9th December.

Open to all. See below link for details 👇

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...

📢New #PhD project! For 2026 to offer under the MRC @ukri.org Doctoral Training Studentship Scheme.

The project will investigate the links between heat and crime rates in youth in the UK.

Fully funded+living costs - open to anyone in the world 🌍

mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2026-27-proj...

The Hand of John Snow The Mode on Communication of Cholera is a scientific publication by John Snow, the doctor, physician, and, unbeknownst to him, early epidemiologist. It contains his findings on Cholera and how it w…

Lunchtime read:
The mystery of the handwritten note in an old copy of On the Mode of Transmission of Cholera - was it John Snow himself? by the Historier

Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health This 3-paper Series reviews the evidence about the increase in ultra-processed foods in diets globally and highlights the association with many non-communicable diseases. This rise in ultra-processed ...

New @thelancet.com series on ultra-processed foods documents their outsize threat to #publichealth

www.thelancet.com/series-do/ul...

One of our top recommendations for #thingstodo in #London next week is to see the John Snow MD musical (yes - you heard right) showing for *two nights only* at @OldOpTheatre 18-19th Nov 2025:

oldoperatingtheatre.com/event-posts/...

John Snow - Historical Giant in Epidemiology British physician John Snow (1813-1858) is considered by many as the "father of modern epidemiology" for his seminal investigations of cholera in London, long before the bacterial agent and its…

After a full year of intensive effort by emeritus Prof Ralph Frerichs, a shiny new @uclacollege.bsky.social Fielding School of Public Health John Snow MD site is up!
A fantastic resource, also cross-posted on the Society pages:

Techniques to reflect an additional small portion of sunlight back into space could help cool the planet if deployed globally, but they cannot address the full range of climate impacts or replace emission cuts, says our new briefing released this week: bit.ly/4oX7yCA

Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) The prominent role of circadian rhythm in cardiovascular and metabolic health and disease https://ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001388

The impacts of disrupted #circadianrhythms on #health

Did US #covid19 mask mandates work 🧐?
Using data from over 34,000 people in the weeks before and after mandates, authors use #interruptedtimeseries approaches and show that as a behaviour change mechanism, mandates might need some work...
#PublicHealth
academic.oup.com/aje/advance-...