Interested in using data to tackle health inequalities? Join a 1-day, online hackathon for undergrad & grad students w/ at least 1 coding or stats class. Learn about epidemiology and how quantitative methods can answer urgent public health questions. Feb 28. Info: bit.ly/3MtiJFq #EpiSky #DataSciSky
New interview with @busph.bsky.social Department of Epidemiology Excellence Fellow, like Ieza Arshad.
BU Epi aims to deliver outstanding education to committed and talented future epidemiologists and public health leaders.
Link to UDN: undiagnosed.hms.harvard.edu
They are working on exposome working group, considering prenatal exposures, metabolomics, zebrafish models, and integration of newer multilevel data into rare disease diagnostic pathway.
UDN's work so far (first 10 yrs) has identified 89 new diseases.
Super talk re Undiagnosed Disease Network - neurologic symptoms most common for both kids and adults. But 60% of patients still not diagnosed after comprehensive genetic workup- suggests non-genetic sources.
At NINDS' neural exposome workshop. bit.ly/4b3c277 #publichealth #datascience #exposome.
I hope some of you #NIA researchers present and attend. @bryandjames.bsky.social , @sdukehan.bsky.social , @leadcoalition.bsky.social , @mariaglymour.bsky.social , @cgster.bsky.social , and anyone else interested? #geronsky
#episky #MPH #gradSchool #DataSciSky
Table describing top 5 software mentions in job listings for epi jobs, by industry. Top is R for academia and pharma (SAS is #2 for Academia and Python is #2 for pharma); top is SAS for hospital, government, and insurance (R is #2 for all of these).
Wondering what software to learn for master's level epidemiology jobs? I summarized a new paper from @bostonu.bsky.social Epi faculty here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/offeri...
The session felt like a watershed though I lost the debate. @sfackley.bsky.social gave an amazing discussion of how the "garden of forking paths" - a gazillion tiny decisions we all make in an analysis - creates serious reproducibility issue in health research.
#episky #datascisky #reproducibility
Public Health education must be rigorous & demanding to prepare students for the uphill battle for public health progress. Faculty need to deliver that training while supporting students to succeed.
Are we delivering?
About BU Dept of Epi Excellence Fellows: bit.ly/49OBf4n #EpiSky #MPH #GradSchool
With a link that works for those not at BU!: bit.ly/43lEIn2
Statistical software skills for master’s-level jobs in epidemiology: an analysis of 15 years of job posting data url: academic-oup-com.ezproxy.bu.edu/aje/article-...
Great work led by @busph.bsky.social Dr. Emily Goldmann! Keeping the curriculum up to date.
#episky #datascisky #MPH #publichealth
The "biggest baddest" bias in aging research: A spirited GSA debate.
For those of you attending #GSA2025 in Boston, consider this panel of #NIH awardees, Drs. Alden Gross, @mariaglymour.bsky.social , @sfackley.bsky.social , and @bryandjames.bsky.social. Please remember to tag #geronsky and @geronsociety.bsky.social in your posts.
If you're interested in research on hearing and cognitive aging, check out The Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD)LASI-DAD hearing assessment and audiometry data webinar this morning. Register here: usc.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Looks like a great methods primer paper from Emma Nichols and Eleanor Hayes-Larson. @timead.bsky.social @g2aging.bsky.social
"Common methodological issues in observational epidemiological studies of older adults" bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/...
🔔 #TRCI Special Issue 🔔
Marking the 10th anniversary of AD Drug Development Pipeline articles led by Dr. Jeffrey Cummings!
Submit your research highlighting advances in ADRD clinical trials and drug development!
⏰Oct. 31, 2026
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
I’m really interested in how early financial decision making deteriorations are detectable.
Because dementia may *typically* have multiple etiologies, and the biological processes culminating in "disease" slowly accumulate damage from almost nothing to devastating, choosing a criterion for a "yes/no" categorization is fundamentally challenging.
Bottom line it's somewhat shocking that such a major public health challenge is frequently redefined by a group of people with financial incentives for a particular type of definition and without careful consideration of how to resolve problems induced by prior definitions.
I also thought (& I'd love others opinions) that the McKhan criteria used 1984-2007 led to bias in AD dx b/c people with a history of stroke were excluded (classed as multi-infact) and I suspect major risk factors for stroke were considered evidence against AD and for multi-infarct. #EpiSky
I used to think "Alzheimer's Disease" was clearly defined. But the definitions have changed repeatedly, with <3 years between revisions since 2007. Really thoughtful paper from van der Molen et al: doi.org/10.1002/alz....
Advantages of updates are unclear, with numerous industry co-authors. #EndAlz
Thank you -I'm still getting the hang of these interwebs.
Paid Family Leave Can Be a Lifeline url:https://progressive.org/op-eds/paid-family-leave-can-be-a-lifeline-wells-20251022/
Fantastic essay from UCSF PhD student Whitney Wellls
#EpiSky #DataSky #PublicHealth
I will add that at the end of September, the Tulsa World had a major layoff enforced by the parent company. The editor in chief Jason Collington apparently quit rather than presiding over the layoffs. It seems like a huge loss for a city and state that deserves outstanding community news.
@tulsaworld.com published my essay re health research funding. The situation has changed since I wrote this (before the shutdown) but research funding is just as threatened. Please join me in speaking out.
Link (from 9/28): bit.ly/496kEIV
Without a paywall: bit.ly/47nvTLP
Recording: bit.ly/3KKtKRJ
Ooh, Jennifer Weuve asks about promise/perils of microRNA. A: it's really an epigenetic thing - it modifies protein expression, often of multiple proteins.
Great q from Emma Nichols: given rapid changes in biomarkers, what should studies be collecting? A: try storing tissue samples, so you can go back and look later as the tools evolve.
Wow, photo on her final slide suggests that everyone at their ADRC gets a cowboy hat. Puts a new emphasis on "partner"ships. Very cute. (reminds me of this time my grandpa wore a bolo tie to dinner with one of my friends from NYC and she asked him if he was being ironic. he was not.)
