Professor @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social, director of Brown's @pandemiccenter.bsky.social, and other experts weigh in on Friday's meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).⤵️⤵️⤵️

"If you’re like most Americans, you want clear and simple guidelines on how to stay healthy, and want your important personal health decisions to be free of politics." Read Professors Amy Nunn and Philip Chan's new opinion in the @bostonglobe.com. ⤵️

Happy #postdocappreciationweek!🎉 Meet Sreeram Anantharaman PhD, a @uconn.bsky.social alum & @brownbiostatistics.bsky.social postdoc working to improve clinical decision support systems for Kenyan HIV care and infectious disease surveillance, right here in RI. #NPAW2025 sph.brown.edu/research/pos...

Commentary by Dr. Philip Chan and Dr. Amy Nunn: Despite the national debate, the best way to protect yourself and stay healthy is to get the shot.

Congratulations to the inaugural cohort of Biosecurity Game Changers Fellows! Over the last year, 8 fellows worked across the globe partnered with leading organizations to advance global #biosecurity. More via @brownpublichealth.bsky.social ⤵️

In our divided vaccine-information landscape, physicians are receiving advice from medical societies that is already at odds with CDC recommendations. “It’s going to create real conflict for them about what they should do,” Dean @ashishkjha.bsky.social tells @theatlantic.com

At the 5th annual State of the School, Dean Ashish Jha welcomed faculty, staff, students & alumni and highlighted Brown’s impact in education, research and policy. Despite the unprecedented moment we face, “our school is strong,” he said. Read more⤵️ https://sph.brown.edu/news/2025-09-17/state-school

Happy #postdocappreciationweek!🎉 Kenya Andrews, Ph.D. focuses on machine learning, just decision-making and human-robot interaction. She's excited to expand her training working with multi-factor data at #BrownBiostatistics. #NPAW2025 #BrownSPH https://sph.brown.edu/research/postdoctoral-training

Happy #NationalRecoveryMonth! Team members from the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University were happy to attend Providence's 22nd #Rally4Recovery last weekend for connection, celebration & community! Thanks to @ricares.bsky.social#NationalRecoveryMonth#Rally4Recoveryor organizing such a fun event! #RecoveryMonth

"There will be consequences for children in Florida if you get rid of chickenpox vaccines, if you get rid of hepatitis and strep. These are effective vaccines that have an excellent safety profile. There’s no scientific rationale for this.” More from former FL surgeon general Dr. Scott Rivkees ⤵️

Happy #postdocappreciationweek! Meet Hyesung (Hace) Oh, PhD '24! Hace studies healthcare consolidation and says he's blessed "to work with some of the top faculty in health services research and economics" at #BrownUniversity. #NPAW2025 https://sph.brown.edu/research/postdoctoral-training

“The public is overwhelmingly supportive of children being vaccinated... even President Trump and Senator Scott said things that were contrary [to Florida’s position]" says Dr. Scott Rivkees @brownpublichealth.bsky.social, as Florida's vaccine rollback stalls: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

"The number one cause of death for kids in America is gun violence, a fact that the MAHA report makes no mention of," Dean @ashishkjha.bsky.social writes in a @bostonglobe.com opinion. It gets some things right, he says, but "offers no real path to a healthier America."

Private equity firms have acquired over two-thirds of the US opioid treatment market without improving treatment access, a new study finds. "I think it raises concerns about what purpose, and whose interests, these investments are actually serving,” Professor Professor Yashaswini Singh, PhD says.

Employer health benefit plans are expected to soar in cost in 2026, with employees predicted to see a 6.5% increase in costs on average, according to a new report. "For many households," Professor Christopher Whaley says, "it will be hard to absorb these costs without cutting back elsewhere."⤵️

"Americans are on their own, pushed to web-based information to make decisions without the ability to discern fact from falsehood." Professor Scott Rivkees writes in an opinion in @thehill.com that attacks on public health put "children and adults in harm’s way."

The weekly @pandemiccenter.bsky.social Tracking Report is being used by state officials, cut off from CDC and WHO disease control expertise, to help maintain disease surveillance, @sciam.bsky.social reports.

Has private equity investment in opioid treatment programs led to expanded access or reductions in overdose deaths? "We found none of that,” says Professor @yashaswini.bsky.social. www.brown.edu/news/2025-09...

RI now has specialized medical & forensic care for sexual assault victims. The RI Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner program (SAFE) provides "24/7 coordinated care that ensures sexual assault victims have immediate access to trauma-informed medical & forensic care,” says Prof. Elizabeth Burke Bryant.

Are there songs that give you time travel? It turns out that that power—of music to recall vivid memories—can be harnessed to ease dementia symptoms. 🎧 On this month's Humans in Public Health, Professor Ellen McCreedy: https://humans-in-public-health.captivate.fm/episode/the-power-to-transport

In order to access benefits meant for rural communities, hundreds of urban hospitals have obtained “Medicare administratively rural” status. But don't blame the hospitals, researchers say. https://www.forbes.com/sites/gebai/2025/09/08/are-rural-hospitals-truly-rural-only-when-being-rural-pays/

Former Florida surgeon general, Dr. Scott Rivkees, warns in the @tampabaytimes.bsky.social that eliminating childhood vaccines will "have an impact in the broader population." https://www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2025/09/06/i-ran-florida-department-health-dr-ladapo-is-endangering-our-children-column/

Providence is loud. As loud as Boston or New York in places, according to research by Professor Erica Walker, MSc, ScD, founder and director of Brown's Community Noise Lab.

@notus.org: #RFKJr is promoting a Biothreat Radar that doesn’t exist, outside of a proposal for an AI system. @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social warns this could lead to discriminatory policies and undermine international cooperation, who see it as a national security, not a health initiative. More ⤵️

The #CDC “no longer has any credibility as a public-health entity,” Dean @ashishkjha.bsky.social says. “States have to do it themselves.”

Former FL Surgeon General and professor @brownpublichealth.bsky.social Dr. Scott Rivkees on vaccine mandates: "having children get vaccinated protects children." He highlights that the push to remove them is a step backward for public health. Read here ⤵️

Former Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott A Rivkees, M.D. reacts to the state's current Surgeon General’s push to end vaccine mandates. https://www.wfla.com/news/this-is-a-sad-day-ladapos-predecessor-against-vaccine-mandate-elimination/

From @bostonglobe.com: As Massachusetts and other states splinter on vaccine policy, experts warn access is at risk. “My top worry is the people who are still at high risk of severe illness, who are going to have a hard time getting the boosters they want,” — @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social Read here ⬇️

New this week, part III of Dr Nasike's conversation with Dr Alex Kyabarongo & Sandra Matinyi, as they continue their discussion of the Biological Weapons Convention exploring its challenges and future for global biosecurity. Listen now! biosecurity-changing-the-game.captivate.fm/episode/part...

“My top worry is the people who are still at high risk of severe illness, who are going to have a hard time getting the boosters they want,” said Professor @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social, director of the @pandemiccenter.bsky.social.

Announcing the Statistics Seminar & Marshall Woods Lectureship Foundation of Fine Arts Series Fall 2025 lineup! Join us for an exciting roster of speakers and discussions on Mondays at noon in room 245! For more info: biostatistics.sph.brown.edu/statistics-s...

An #Ebola outbreak in the DRC has already taken 15 lives, including 4 healthcare workers. @bethcameron-dc.bsky.social warns in @theatlantic.com: The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness sits empty, the CDC is weakened, and global cooperation has been cut off. Read here ⤵️

🎙️ Listen now to Professor Brendan Saloner's discussion on the #healthpodyssey podcast of his new paper "Scaling Up Treatment and Harm Reduction Programs to Reach More People Who Would Benefit."⤵️

On @npr.org, @craigspencer.bsky.social warns new rules don't just affect #COVID vaccines. The danger is a future where all shots become more difficult, confusing, and costly to get. “...more confusion, more chaos, more uncertainty and I think, unfortunately, a lot more sickness” 🎧 Listen here ⬇️

From #TheNationalNewsDesk: Trump pressures drugmakers to “justify” #COVID shots, while federal agencies add barriers that make them harder to get. “To me, this is taking away people's freedoms...shifting strains to the health care system.” — @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social More here ⤵️

ICYMI: @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social chatted with @kimbrunhuber.bsky.social of @cnn.com over the weekend discussing the firing of the #CDC head and resignation of several officials. "We are entering an era in which you may not be able to get the vaccines that your family needs." Watch here ⬇️

Professor Irene Papanicolas and colleagues argue in a new JAMA Viewpoint that it's not the prescription drug prices paid by other high-income countries that the US should replicate, but the process those countries go through to arrive at those lower prices.

@jennifernuzzo.bsky.social in @thebulletin.org on RFK Jr.’s endless anti-vax campaign: Kennedy ended $500M in #mRNA research which isn't just a policy tweak, but a gamble with our lives & security. This ends US leadership in innovation, weakens defenses, & fuels lies about proven science. More ⤵️

LISTEN: Professor @craigspencer.bsky.social joined @npr.org to discuss the recent upheaval at the CDC.⤵️ "Right now, whether you're Democrats, Republicans, left, right, whatever it is, we have an agency where it's really hard to trust the recommendations that are coming out."

As three top CDC officials resigned last week, Professor @craigspencer.bsky.social says there is no compensating for the vast experience lost: “We are dramatically less able to respond."

Professor @craigspencer.bsky.social warns in @theatlantic.com that the Trump administration's actions today "will guide medical decision making for decades to come. The accumulation of technical choices that follows...will cement the particular biases of this moment in time into medicine’s future."

Welcome to Brown University to all 232 new #BrownSPH graduate students!!🐻 We had a great time introducing you to the School of Public Health at Orientation 2025! There are challenges ahead, but you make us confidant in the future. #WelcomeBrown https://sph.brown.edu/news/2025-08-29/orientation-2025

"This amounts to a very dark moment for public health. . . The department needs leadership that respects evidence and allows CDC to operate free from political interference. Without that, it is hard to see how the agency can recover." Read more from Dean @ashishkjha.bsky.social in @statnews.com⤵️

"The firing of Susan Monarez represents a very dangerous turn for American health.," Professor Professor @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social tells @cnn.com.

Mass departure of senior CDC officials. Politically motivated firing of FEMA personnel. HHS determined to lie about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. We have entered a dangerous period for American health and security. The United States has never been more vulnerable to a biological attack.

“We have entered a truly dangerous time for US health and security.” – @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social From @cnn.com: The firing of #CDC Director Susan Monarez & mass resignations leave America vulnerable. When science is sidelined for politics, everyone’s health is at risk. More here ⤵️

A new commentary on private equity control of critical health care infrastructure by Brown MPH/MPA student Anzhela Kalsynova warns that without public accountability, "there’s no clear line between investment that heals and investment that harms."

The West Texas #measles outbreak, which has been declared over, sparked others across the US and in Mexico that continue spreading today. More outbreaks are inevitable, Professor ‪@jennifernuzzo.bsky.social‬ says.

It’s time to rethink the air we breathe in nursing centers Our Senior Fellow Georgia Lagoudas co-wrote this piece on steps toward cleaner #IndoorAir and the big difference it makes for residents in nursing facilities. ✍️: Rosa R. Baier and Ann Reddy with @brownpublichealth.bsky.social More here ⤵️

"Again and again, the evidence is clear: indoor air quality matters more than we think." READ MORE on rethinking the air we breathe in nursing homes.⤵️⤵️⤵️