DaveSue

Tumblr post by aylwyyn228: "My PhD research was focused on grief in the 19th century. I can tell you exactly how much they would have wanted modern medicine. I've read so many accounts of people writing about how they would have done anything to save their children, their spouses, their siblings. Mothers and fathers who sat up all night praying that their baby would see the morning. People giving huge sums of money to quack doctors in the hope that they could save their wives. Mothers writing about how they would do anything to not leave their children alone. One father after the loss of his fifth child in a month retelling how he had wanted to go outside and scream, but that he was too tired, so he lay down on the dining room floor instead. After I read all that it feels like an insult that anyone in the modern world would turn down vaccines, when for thousands of years countless people would have given everything they had for the opportunity to save their loved ones."

Postdoc in Molecular Microbiology Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, invites applications for a position as postdoc in Molecular Microbiology from April 1st, 2026, or as

I am recruiting for a 3-year Post-doctoral position in molecular microbiology. The project is about antimicrobial heteroresistance (HR)— an emerging and challenging form of antibiotic resistance found in clinical isolates.
Please share post😀
See details here: candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

WIRED: AI of a Thousand Faces WIRED published a special issue with 17 readings from the furthest reaches of the AI age

WIRED recently published an AI special issue. I collected all the links in one place to save you the clicks through the little Tarot cards blog.stephenturner.us/p/wired-ai-o...

Jobs at Defend Public Health www.defendpublichealth.org/jobs-defend-...

Vaccine-Preventable Disease: A Global Tracker | Think Global Health This map is updated weekly and visualizes outbreaks of nine childhood diseases in collaboration with the International Society for Infectious Diseases

I'd love to say lots of nice things about this invaluable preventable disease tracker from @monscience.bsky.social and team at Think Global Health. It's an incredible resource.

But I can't get over my anger & sadness that this resource is even needed.
www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/vacc...

Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when

When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.

Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Outbreak Outlook: Week 4 of DIY Surveillance Unusually quiet autumn for respiratory infections

For the 4th week in a row, we went state-by-state to check on flu, Covid-19 and RSV. All quiet, for now. caitlinrivers.substack.com/p/outbreak-o...

This ‘minor’ bird flu strain has potential to spark human pandemic Experiments suggests H9N2 has adapted to human cells but cases of person-to-person transmission haven’t been reported yet.

This bird flu virus has become better adapted to infect humans

go.nature.com/3WTOZ6e

I am genuinely impressed by large language models - they can absorb disparate components of text into some consolidated view, they can produce extremely good language and - with the right model - translate pretty well between languages and they are an excellent text based UI for humans to use. But..

Open position at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics:
We are looking for a Director of the Center of Pathogen Bioinformatics
apply.refline.ch/499599/0346/...
I am in the Center's steering board together with fantastic colleagues (Emma Hodcroft @firefoxx66.bsky.social, Richard Neher @neher.io, and

At the #STATSummit, Daniel Jernigan recounts what it was like at the CDC after a gunman had opened fire on the building.

#microsky #mevosky The UNC Chapel Hill Biology Department is hiring 2 Teaching Assistant/Associate Professors with expertise from any area of biology. Individuals with expertise in microbiology are particularly encouraged to apply. Read more and apply at unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

AI’s Invasive Species The slop is winning.

Hi. I wrote an essay about AI slop: How it feels like an invasive species for the internet. How its boosters describe building a future that’s devoid of craft. How frictionlessness can be nihilistic & how this stuff seems to leach part of our shared humanity out of the world. I hope you'll read it.

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n

Faculty Professor Associate - Full-Time | Vaughn Cooper We are recruiting Faculty microbiologists in three (3) different, complementary, and collaborative areas at the University of Pittsburgh associated with the School of Medicine. 1) Fundamental researc...

🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...

And there the use of the microscope would have had to stop for the scientific study of histology and the later sciences of cytology and bacteriology, had it not been for a wine-merchant, J. J. Lister ( I 7 86-I 86g). He was the father of Lord Lister, the famous surgeon, and he was also the father of microscopical theory. In I 826, he had made for himself an instrument which had a far better high-magnification performance than any preceding it, based on experimental investigation of existing lenses. He published in I 82 7 with the physician Thomas Hodgkin (I 798-I 866) a paper that marks the beginning of modem histology, because it described the structure of tissues accurately as being composed of fibres and the like, rather than of 'globules'. By I 83o, Lister had worked out the principle of aplanatic foci, 2 and provided opticians at last with the means to design objectives of good scientific perf ormance. This was the breakthrough which would enable the microscope to be applied to medical training, diagnosis, and research on a grand scale. By I 83o, then, the instrument was waiting in the wings. At that time, most accepted that living matter arose spontaneously from non-living; it was not known that cells had nuclei nor how they reproduced; the normal structure of cells was a mystery and the abnormal not even contemplated; and the various causes of disease were merely conjectural. The microscope would alter all this.

TIL the father of Joseph Lister (famous pioneer of antiseptic surgical techniques), J. J. Lister, developed far superior microscope lenses than were available at the time in his spare time while he was a wine merchant, and essentially kickstarted modern histology, along with Thomas Hodgkin.

Something Is Very Wrong Online Our political conversations take place in very same spaces that incubate and perpetuate unthinkable violence.

Wrote about the week. How the shooter's ID didn't appear to matter to ppl. How the discourse takes place in very same spaces that incubate/perpetuate hate & violence. How shooters now know that their acts will be flattened, analyzed, argued over & amplified. How all of this feels so dark & poisonous

Are bad incentives to blame for AI hallucinations? | TechCrunch How can a chatbot be so wrong — and sound so confident in its wrongness?

OpenAI "acknowledges that despite improvements, hallucinations “remain a fundamental challenge for all large language models” — one that will never be completely eliminated." techcrunch.com/2025/09/07/a...

The global return-on-investment of COVID-19 vaccines in the first year of the vaccination programme COVID-19 vaccines played a critical role in reducing global health burden during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their rapid development required extraordinary effort. This study aims to evaluate their glo...

London researchers estimate COVID-19 vaccines cost $79B in 2020–21 but returned $4.8–$37.8T in health and economic benefits.

That is $60–$475 gained for every $1 invested, making them one of the best global investments ever.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

9 former CDC leaders across Republican and Democratic administrations since 1977 are raising their voices together about the peril of public health and CDC @richbesser.bsky.social @drtomfrieden.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.

More foundations should do this:

"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"

www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...

I am delighted to announce that the UW Department of Biochemistry has opened searches for TWO tenure-track positions.

Descriptions and links in the following two posts.

Genome Informatics Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.

📢🚨📢🚨 Genome Informatics deadline extended to September 8! meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp....
Please spread the word. If you are like me and had at least one abstract that wasn't quite ready by last week's deadline, you get another swing. See you there!

Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting Before the shooting, social media companies relaxed their protocols around misinformation.

Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting. “On X, for example, verified accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers openly claimed in recent weeks that Covid vaccines act like ‘chemical lobotomies,’ which is false.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Health Care Expenditures With Semaglutide This cohort study evaluates changes in cardiovascular risk factors and health care expenditures after initiation of semaglutide.

Interesting paper - semaglutide increases healthcare costs despite lowering incidence of some high-cost outcomes. Preventative technologies often don't produce the cashable savings that they're marketed on, but this usually isn't a barrier to investment.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

DeKalb County, Georgia Department of Communications www.dekalbcountyga.gov MEDIA CONTACTS Dionna Smith, Chief Communications Officer; dasmith@dekalbcountyga.gov, 470-889-7360 (c) Sloan Turner, Communications Manager; sturner@dekalbcountyga.gov, 470-393-8348 (c) Quinn Hudson, Senior Communications Consultant; wqhudson@dekalbcountyga.gov, 470-522-8923 (c) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 15, 2025 DeKalb County Announces Public Memorial Service for Officer David Rose DECATUR, Ga. – DeKalb County will host a public memorial service honoring Officer David Rose on Friday, August 22, at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church Atlanta, 4400 North Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30338 (Dunwoody). The memorial service is open to the public. The Rose family will hold a private funeral and burial at a separate time. “Officer Rose dedicated his life to serving and protecting our community,” said DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson. “We welcome residents to join us on August 22 to honor his service, reflect on his legacy, and stand with his family and our law enforcement community.” Event Details Date/Time: Friday, August 22, 11:00 a.m. Location: First Baptist Church Atlanta, 4400 North Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30338 (Dunwoody) Public Access: Open to the public; seating available on a first-come, first-served basis Arrival: Guests are encouraged to arrive early to allow time for seating and security screening Parking: On-site parking available; follow posted signage and staff directions

For those of you in the ATL area:

There will be a public memorial service on August 22nd for Officer David Rose who gave his life to protect us and all those at Emory Point that day.

We are unplugging for the weekend. Please try to get some rest. Do something that brings comfort.

Goodnight 💚

really need folks to understand how close CDC came to a mass casualty event. i saw all the news photos and was still shocked when i saw the dozens of bullet holes across the windows of HQ offices—including some of senior agency leadership. it is truly a miracle more people weren’t hurt

Gunman in Deadly C.D.C. Shooting Fixated on Covid Vaccine, Officials Say

The shooting at the CDC in Atlanta, which killed a police officer, followed the spread of false information around Covid vaccines and animosity directed at the agency, public health workers say.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...

*first day of learning German*

So Calvin Klein means small Calvin? That seems like a weird name for an underwear brand

For those interested in Masters in lab and field based research in infectious disease we have 3 fantastic programmes to choose from MSc Immunology, medical parasitology and entomology and medical microbiology. They benefit from very flexible module choices and summer projects in UK and abroad!