Still a few hours left in Giving Tuesday 😏 Harm reductionists fill in the gaps- we saw it with our local community response to the fires in LA, amidst raids, and the every day acts that keep people on their feet (food, water, clothes, blankets, tarps, tents, pet supplies, etc.)

The UCFA/UCLAFA/AAUP victory is on the front page of today’s LA Times. (No leadership or administrators were harmed in actually standing up to the Feds. because they didn’t.)

Proud of Brooke & our small but mighty team of drug checkers at SLO Bangers, presenting @amersa.org So great to hang w my social science collab “phone an anthropologist“ BFF sister @drteresa-winst.bsky.social (presented w her student on polydrug use) & w our LA DC fam @caitlinmolina.medsky.social

Day 1 of @amersa.org in the books. Looking forward to Day 2! The Drug Checking LA team has a special guest at our workshop tomorrow (Rabiosa the FTIR).

Happy NFL Sunday to all who watch The Aaron Rodgers sack count is at 2 so far. Skol.

Latinsky is 150 people away from having 1k on the feed! Help #BuildTheBarrio and share this post so the Latine community on Bluesky knows that there’s a place for us here! If you’re Latine, reach out to be included in the feed! If you’re an ally, share the post so your Latine friends see it too!

This point isnt being made enough. Last week’s attack on the #CDC could have been a slaughter. www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/c...

Experts often talk as if there are distinct "types" of homelessness—chronic vs episodic, hidden vs visible—but they miss something crucial. Homelessness is a *spectrum of insecurity*: in a squalid motel today, on someone's couch tomorrow, in a tent next year. Sweeps do NOTHING to stop this cycle.

Spent a lot of time with my cousin's kid this past week. What a reminder at how open-minded and loving kids can be! We talked harm reduction, service dogs (why Huxley couldn't be at places where other dogs were), how to express feelings...and he understood everything. The kids are alright.

lolll this quote is a banger: “The best approach is putting drug dogs in the officer’s locker rooms, because that’s where it’s coming in.”

My latest, with @kellydoran.bsky.social: In 2 major USMLE Step 1 & 2 Qbanks, vignettes with patients experiencing homelessness overrepresented HIV, TB, & substance use, underrepresented top causes of death like CV disease & cancer, & often used stigmatizing language link.springer.com/article/10.1...

And then Drug Checking Los Angeles today: awesome project director @caitlinmolina.medsky.social and superstar collaborator @josephrfriedman.bsky.social had posters on the odd things we've been seeing in illicit drugs. Quetiapine (Seroquel) in heroin...Local anesthetics ('caines) in the fentanyl.

Who else is excited for ASAM?? I'm getting there early and will be on the hunt for the best coffee. Denver friends, drop your fave recs

Good morning runners, walkers, cyclists, and anyone else who likes to spend time outdoors. Don't forget to carry naloxone. You never know when you need it. I like to keep the injectable kind in my smaller bags.

Reason #2. "Of the 100 brand-name drugs, 32 were finished in the US, while 67 were finished in countries in the European Union, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, & the UK." #Tariffs will increase the cost of your medications. www.cidrap.umn.edu/report-detai...

Crushing people doesn't make people safe & that just one way that "clearing" homelessness encampments harms health. No one wants there to be homeless encampments. But treating human beings as if they were garbage to be disposed of isn't a solution. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/u...

This International Women's Day, I'm thinking about how it wasn't required for NIH-sponsored trials to include women until 1993.

Children’s Hospital LA is lifting its recent restrictions on hormonal treatment for transgender youth www.latimes.com/california/s...

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has a new online misinformation hub with lots of really good resources addressing health topics frequently targeted by misinformation such as abortion, contraception, vaccines, and menopause. Here’s the link!

More coverage this AM on the puzzling arrival of industrial chemical BTMPS in the illicit fentanyl supply And a timely reminder of the value of public health research With quotes from @chelsealshover.bsky.social @morgangodvin.bsky.social @nabarund.bsky.social 1/2 www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/h...

Kendrick Lamar deserves to win the very first Nobel Hate Prize

LA friends, there's a new Pasadena Community Fridge inside Neighbors & Friends Café. Open 9 AM- 3 PM. Make sure your loved ones affected by the Eaton fire know

We don’t expect you to read our 66-page report, so here’s a op-ed in @westword.com www.westword.com/news/colorad...

Over just a few months, a puzzling new adulterant popped up in the fentanyl supply. Today in @jama.com, our drug checking results show the sudden (and much-despised) appearance of BTMPS. Not a spoiler: It’s a great mystery of my career! ja.ma/4hsgRqW

Our story: www.latimes.com/california/s...

Trans rights are human rights. And we gotta take care of the kids. An aside- drove by this on my way to work last night. It was POURING all night.

CALIFORNIA. These are the committees our Senators are on. Schiff’s on Small Business. Get on his ass about this data breach by Big Balls at the SBA. Padilla’s on Budget. If he isn’t up in this OMB shit, tell him to get in it. IT’S LITERALLY THEIR JOB BEYOND JUST BEING ELECTED BY US.

My sis was watching The Pitt and I caught a bit of a scene where they gave a person Narcan & FTS at discharge (I assume she was in for an OD). I'm not sure I've ever seen that on TV but I appreciate normalizing these interventions

Got (most of) the lab together for annual health services symposium! @morgangodvin.bsky.social @caitlinmolina.medsky.social Best thing about being a PI is building a team. Bright moment in a dark week for US science.

It's been a long January, but such a relief! The work doesn't end here though. There's a lot of rebuilding that needs to happen.

There's a lot of overwhelming, bad things out there right now But this work deserves to be celebrated. Check out the rad #harmreduction work done by NYC drug checking www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Marco Rubio is suspending the passport applications of trans people. Marco Rubio was confirmed by the Senate unanimously. Every Democrat voted for him.

Rain has started in LA Hopefully it helps with the fires, but be ready for mudslides Check on your unhoused neighbors, esp those near hillsides. Hypothermia is a big risk too.

I just donated 5 vacation days to other staff who need them because of the catastrophic #LAfires. Being #kind feels good.

An amazing @cumedicalschool.bsky.social resident, Matt Westfall, wrote this thoughtful piece in @coloradosun.com on the teen homelessness crisis in Denver. (1/2) coloradosun.com/2025/01/23/o...

A handy list of people to call.

Hey #HoosierSky The NIH provides a TON of funding to Indiana Universities and companies Every $1 spent on NIH funding provides $2.46 of downstream benefit in the form of new discoveries, etc Pausing it even for a short time will have major detriments to science and scientists

Ventura County strawberry workers are harvesting in heavy smoke from the Hughes Fire. We remind workers their employers have to provide them with respirator masks if the AQI exceeds 150. Stay safe! #WeFeedYou

🧪Here's the script for your senators. If you're in WI, like I am, that's Johnson www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/office_locat... and Baldwin www.baldwin.senate.gov Data by state on NIH impact: www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

January 29th. Keep calling your Senators.

Got 5 minutes? Care about science & public health? Click the link in the original post to find how much the NIH affects jobs & funding in your state. Then call your senators.

Views from about noon a few miles from the Hughes fire. It's been spreading fast in the wind; it already tripled in size when I took my dog to the vet. The Castaic Animal Shelter & Pitchess Detention Center are both in the area

I know people are feeling big feels, but now is not the time to wait for the next time to vote. There's a lot of work to do- and a lot of *existing* work you should join. Mutual aid. Tenant organizing. Sweep defense. See what skills you have & what your community needs.

This death penalty executive order is WILD in so many ways. It isn't just the helping states get lethal injection drugs - it's the *requiring seeking death on certain capitals, ordering the 37 commuted prisoners still be in death row-like conditions & more: www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

On MLK Day, we reflect on racial inequities that persist. Black Californians make up 7% of the state’s population but over 26% of those experiencing homelessness. Systemic racism drives these inequities. Solutions rooted in equity can help address this crisis. Learn more:

I think today is another good day to share the Safe Spot Overdose Prevention Hotline 1-800-972-0590 cc: @stephenhrnrp.bsky.social

Having a dog & and reading before bed reminds me of being a kid reading books with a flashlight Huxley was sound asleep then decided to pop up and stare at me until I turned the light off

Alright LA, we're not through yet

We are living in perilous times. Our research lab @cudeptofmedicine.bsky.social is hiring. Looking for someone who wants to make a positive impact in the lives of ppl who are marginalized! Spread the word! cu.taleo.net/careersectio...

May be wishful thinking but can we do more to clean our air??