Craig Spencer MD MPH

The Trump Administration Will Automate Health Inequities By gatekeeping health data, the AI Action Plan risks hardwiring bias into the future of American medicine.

The fallout over Anthropic and the Trump administration isn’t just a national security story

It highlights a massive and looming public health risk

I recently wrote for @theatlantic.com about what happens when health data is pushed through an ideologic filter

www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

"The lesson here is pretty straightforward: When people lose agency over decisions about their own bodies, they don’t just lose trust in a specific policy. They lose trust in the system’s right to decide for them at all."

The Trust We Lost Twice What global health's broken promises can tell us about why Americans are losing faith in institutions and expertise

“Trust” is everywhere right now. Or more exactly, the lack of trust and how public health lost it—is the subject of countless conferences and panels.

But we’ve actually lost trust twice—first globally, now here at home.

I explain why in my free Substack ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

Thank you for reading Troy!

And want to share that I LOVED your book!

Scoop: The leaked protocol of the CDC-funded Hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau. “This is another Tuskegee.” The protocol reveals that the trial will withhold the Hepatitis B birth dose from thousands—without placebos, without universal maternal screening, and with endpoints critics call indefensible.

Essential and exceptional reporting by @jeremyfaust.bsky.social on the Hep B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau that should've never been funded (and is apparently now cancelled)
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

Scoop: The leaked protocol of the CDC-funded Hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau. “This is another Tuskegee.” The protocol reveals that the trial will withhold the Hepatitis B birth dose from thousands—without placebos, without universal maternal screening, and with endpoints critics call indefensible.

We have the CDC-funded Hepatitis Vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau protocol.

It’s worse than you thought.

Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…

with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.

insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...

Conference setting

Dr. Craig Spencer, ER physician and public health enthusiast

The lineup for the conference

New Episode!

In the Belly of the Anti-Vax Beast.

@craigspencer.bsky.social joins me to discuss his trip to the nation’s largest anti-vaccine conference and what he learned about the people there and the organized forces threatening our public health.

Links: tinyurl.com/5bxd78db

For the first time, skeptics of mainstream medicine are running the country. What comes next? - The Boston Globe Experts see two ways forward: a freefall, or the medical establishment correcting itself.

Our Center Affiliate @craigspencer.bsky.social warns @bostonglobe.com that the frustrations driving the MAHA movement can’t simply be dismissed.

“I see a lot of my community almost unwilling to cede any ground” he says, in a call for honest engagement before misinformation fills the vacuum.

More ⤵️

For the first time, skeptics of mainstream medicine are running the country. What comes next? - The Boston Globe Experts see two ways forward: a freefall, or the medical establishment correcting itself.

Dr. @craigspencer.bsky.social doesn’t think the US medical establishment can go back to the pre-RFK Jr. way of things. “There’s not a world where I see, three years from now...we put all these things back,” he says. “I want us to say, 'we’re willing to engage in how to do things differently.'”

CDC’s vaccine advisory panel faces a crisis of its own making “ACIP has drifted toward inflating speculative risks while downplaying well-established vaccine benefits,” write former CDC officials Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan, and Debra Houry.

The health of Americans is at risk as those in power abandon evidence and process, and elevate anecdote and rhetoric in their place. Excellent article (if sad to read) www.statnews.com/2025/12/03/a...

What Should We Learn from an Anti-Vaccine Conference? Dr. Craig Spencer joins me on A Moment in Health to discuss his recent experiences at the Children's Health Defense conference in Austin and how we can best engage with this group of Americans.

LISTEN🎧 What can you learn at an anti-vax conference?

Quite a lot, Dr. @craigspencer.bsky.social tells Dean @ashishkjha.bsky.social on the latest episode of A Moment in Health.

Remember Andrew Wakefield?
Here he is with his friend RFK Jr. in 2020.

Wakefield is the guy behind the fraudulent, retracted MMR–autism study. He lost his medical license for subjecting autistic children to unnecessary invasive procedures.

Now, with Kennedy in power, he’s getting a second act.

How emotions affect health care coverage decisions Where logic and reason fail us, emotion takes over — including in choosing health care coverage.

Sharing my latest article, published today in @statnews.com First Opinion

My co-author and I both lost our jobs and health insurance with #USAID this summer. Navigating the ACA marketplace taught us what millions face, & why behavioral & emotional science matters in healthcare access.
#HealthPolicy

Grateful to @gabbystern.bsky.social for joining us today to share insights about communication as a key infrastructure to support global health in a conversation moderated by @craigspencer.bsky.social

📣 Attention Brown University Community!

Join us on tomorrow @12PM for our Public Health in Practice Seminar.

@craigspencer.bsky.social will host @gabbystern.bsky.social for a conversation on health communication as essential infrastructure for global health

More: events.brown.edu/event/public...

I'm a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement's biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too A pro-vaccine physician went to the anti-vaccine movement's biggest gathering. He warns that public health must learn what it's up against.

Professor @craigspencer.bsky.social attended the Children’s Health Defense conference last weekend in Austin, Texas. Follow the link to read his sobering report on a movement he says is "exceptionally organized, disciplined, and determined."⤵️

Thank you for reading and sharing Geoff

I’m a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too A pro-vaccine physician went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. He warns that public health must learn what it’s up against.

This write-up of the CHD conference by @craigspencer.bsky.social really lands for me. As someone who has spent some time in these same spaces, I think he's done a good job explaining what's going on:

www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

I’m a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too A pro-vaccine physician went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. He warns that public health must learn what it’s up against.

I'm a very pro-vaccine physician.

Last weekend, I went to the biggest gathering of anti-vaxxers.

More of my public health colleagues should've been there.

I explain why for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

I’m a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too A pro-vaccine physician went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. He warns that public health must learn what it’s up against.

Thoughtful piece here, in which @craigspencer.bsky.social shows he is not afraid to share a room with people with whom he disagrees.

www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

Joe Rogan Experience #2408 - Bret Weinstein YouTube video by PowerfulJRE

And yes THAT Children's Health Defense

Also, to preempt the inevitable 'you shouldn't platform these people!' hand-waving, Bret Weinstein was on Rogan the same day he spoke with us

You may disagree with them (I certainly do!) but these folks already have a MASSIVE platform
youtu.be/gXbsq5nVmT0?...

Live from Children's Health Defense Part 1 of 3: A Conversation w Dr. Bret Weinstein, Dr. Pierre Kory and Dr. Craig Spencer Podcast Episode · Why Should I Trust You? · 11/09/2025 · 1h 16m

I was at the Children's Health Defense conference last weekend.

While there I sat down with Bret Weinstein, Pierre Kory, and @drmarkreports.bsky.social for a wide-ranging and respectful conversation.

We didn't agree on everything. But we need more of this.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

Election Day Special: Public Health Needs to Get Off the Mat & Join the Political Fight. A Conversation w Dr. Craig Spencer

🎙️ Public Health Needs to Get Off the Mat—Why It’s Time to Step Into the Political Fight

I joined the Why Should I Trust You? podcast for an 🇺🇸🗳️ Election Day special to talk about something we in public health often shy away from: politics.

Listen here:
open.spotify.com/episode/4Wvw...

Raising the Standard for Emergency Medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa Emergency conditions are responsible for half of all deaths globally, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries,1 where emergency medical systems remain severely underresourced. De...

Proud to coauthor this with my amazing friend and colleague, Dr. Tsion Firew.

All over Africa, quick fixes can save lives, but real progress in emergency care needs full systems—training, diagnostics, and sustainable funding.

Available at @jamanetworkopen.com.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

If you’ve read the book recently, you’d know that the topic of conversation at last night’s White House ‘Gatsby Party’ was probably very similar to what Fitzgerald wrote in 1925.

When Public Health Forgot How to Fight History shows that public health has never advanced by standing above politics—it’s advanced by wading into it.

I wrote about the long-standing tension between medicine and public health, and how history shows that for public health to be impactful, it must be MORE political, not less.

Imagine a lot of folks will disagree with this. Would love to hear your thoughts.

open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

A thoughtful response to presidential malpractice. Revisiting following Trump’s recent reiteration.

When sycophancy and bias meet medicine Biased, eager-to-please models threaten health research replicability and trust.

In this wonderful new piece @amitchandramd.bsky.social & Luke Shors dive into how eager-to-please models and hidden bias are eroding trust in health research and care.

If you’re worried about how AI, medicine and accountability intersect — this one’s essential!

arstechnica.com/health/2025/...

The FDA Was Built in Outrage This is the story of Wiley’s Poison Squad, Sinclair’s Jungle, and the scandals that forced reform—and why we don't want to return to the bad old days.

The history of the FDA is fascinating and frightening.

I wrote a post on what we covered today in my Historical Determinants of Public Health class.

Read it if you’re interested in why Coca Cola exists, how we used to give kids cocaine and morphine, and the like.
open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

Public Health Professor Warns Trump’s ‘Eugenics’ Policy Echoes Nazism Eminent ER doctor says Trump’s shutdown push defies the law.

An eminent ER doctor says Trump’s shutdown talk mirrors “eugenics.”