Public news is an essential public good The threats are substantial — it has been sad & serious to see cuts to NPR & PBS in the US May leaders in the UK & around the world speak up for the BBC

I am a f*ing health economist and I approve this message.

I have a f*ing M.B.A. and I’m still so confused about how to pick a health insurance plan. Open enrollment should not be this hard!

I have a f*ing doctorate in epidemiology and I’m still so confused about how to pick a health insurance plan. Open enrollment should not be this hard!

Everything is awful but I’ve started taking ballet classes again for the first time since college and wow it is amazing how much joy being this bad at something can bring me!

We’ve lived with microbes for millions of years. They built our immune systems, rewired our DNA, and killed billions along the way. I tried to tally their bill: Humanity’s Deadliest Companions. #EpiSky #MedSky #History #Anthropology #Archaeology #IDSky open.substack.com/pub/theedgeo...

What was life really like before vaccines? The story of what happened to 8-year old George Williams in August 1852 gives us a glimpse. open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

What was life really like before vaccines? The story of what happened to 8-year old George Williams in August 1852 gives us a glimpse. open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

A short history of children's hospitals in case anyone you know thinks like Rob Schneider: open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Having a bad pain day today & nerve weakness made me drop and smash my favorite coffee mug😭😭 send gifs plz

I need more people to know about this nonsense happening in my comments… Me: here’s a detailed review of this study. Them: My AI says it’s trending towards significance, tho

Dr. Ellie Murray (THE @epiellie.bsky.social!) is our featured guest at The Pom today, cutting through the chaos for answers to some of our most pressing public health and parenting questions. Don't miss this free piece, nor the opportunity to ask your own questions! www.the-pom.com/p/kids-and-p...

So excited to have my sister @epiellie.bsky.social on The Pom today, talking about how to discern good public health information so we can make the right choices for our kids www.the-pom.com/p/kids-and-p...

Want to read something from a public figure who *actually* wants to help children and parents with research, evidence-based practices, and intelligent consideration of risks and benefits? Go follow @epiellie.bsky.social. Not RFK Jr.

I’ve followed @epiellie.bsky.social since 2020 for her plain spoken, evidence based advice on keeping our family healthy. I am THRILLED to have her team up with @sarahradz.bsky.social at @thepom.bsky.social today! (Bonus toddler pics of Sarah included)

Check out my new article: vitalstatistics.kareemcarr.com/p/a-simple-e...

I took a whole week to read and write about this paper because I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t just rubber-stamping some results I liked. And now I can confidently say, this paper is very well-done and very well-written. And I believe their results. open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Not to pick on Per, but I’ve never understood the snark about “self citation”. If, as an academic, you aren’t creating an inter-related body of work that builds towards some larger understanding of a problem, what even is the point?

Some of these people have now been fired and rehired TWICE since January. The current state of dysfunction is mind boggling.

“Workers continued to see elevated health-related absences linked to COVID-19… [which] has likely raised the value to workers of paid-leave policies & existing social safety net programs. Measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission in the workplace may also mitigate these new exposure risks”

This is a massive deal. But it’s not a done deal. Workers have been barred from their offices, but there is still time to protect their jobs. Only your Reps can do it though. Don’t let up!

RIFs at CDC. Destroying the Epidemic Intelligence Service, NCIRD, NCIPC & a dozen other areas/divisions/branches will cause enormous harm and suffering to America, and indeed to the whole world. Call your Reps about it. Then call them again.

make. the. proof. cool cool cool

If Sunday's summary left you hungry for more, today I've posted the full 20 minute read of all my thoughts about this paper. epiellie.substack.com/p/all-the-go...

My review of the third autism-Tylenol study RFK Jr mentioned is out now. If you weighed in on "what proportion of kids have neurodevelopmental disorders" yesterday, this paper is why I asked the question. Most of you will be very surprised by their answer! open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Quick question: if you had to guess, what would you expect the prevalence of “any neurodevelopmental disorder” to be in a random sample of young people?

If you like data, birds, and making cool stuff, Jer is your guy! 👇🏼

Guess who cracked the top 100 science newsletters in substack! Thanks to everyone who has subscribed! And if you havent, and dont want FOMO here’s the link: epiellie.substack.com

Imagine being a general and having to listen to this nonsense. Hegseth really is breaking new ground here. Never before seen levels of mansplaining. Truly astronomical. Wow. “no more rules of engagement”

I was so tempted to write a click-baity tweet like “what I found will shock you” but honestly? I’m not sure anyone would be even shocked by this level of incompetence from RFK Jr anymore 🤷🏼‍♀️

Today I review the second study RFK Jr cited in his autism & Tylenol press conference: acetaminophen in pregnancy from the Nurses' Health Study. You're gonna wanna read this for yourself. open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Which one should I do next? The big Swedish study that RFK & his buddies pretend doesn’t exist? Or one of the other 2 studies he mentioned at the press conference? Vote by commenting!

Something I didnt put in my review but that I keep thinking about with this paper is how little time it seems to have taken. They searched for articles in Feb 2025. They had what appears to be 3 rounds of peer-review. And still it got published in August 2025. That is so fast! And fast isn’t good.

If you’ve been following the RFK Jr autism news, then you’ve probably heard that there’s a systematic review “proving” Tylenol causes autism. Here’s my review of that paper👇🏼 open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Autism has gone up by a factor of five since 2000 but acetominophen use during pregnancy has been going down. Sorry but the math just ain’t mathing.

Well, idk about you, but tbh that press conference was even worse than I was expecting. open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Whether they're blaming vaccines and Tylenol, or selling dubious "remedies," what they're really doing is promoting the perception that families (and especially mothers) can prevent and treat Autism. And thus also the perception that people with Autism and their families don't need social support.

We were promised a report. I wanted to see methods and analyses and all that good stuff!

Snake oil salesman RFK Jr is set to announce the 'cause' of and 'cure' for autism at 4pm today. Here's what we know about what he's going to say: open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

You: want to do a target trial emulation or other observational study design but don’t know where to start. Me: available to consult.

Finally, I received my copy of this classic intro text on epidemiology! We used to call it 'Baby Rothman' back in the day, when I did my epi PhD training at Berkeley 20 years ago Delighted to see the inspiring @epiellie.bsky.social as a co-author! Bravo, Ellie! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

All September, I'm explaining common research biases. Today is detection bias. Which is so simple even Trump understands it! Read here: open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Question for @raulpachecovega.bsky.social or others with similar expertise: I just finished reading Catherine McNeur’s book Taming Manhattan (love it!) and it made me realize how little I know about what happens to all the various waste products generated by our modern cities. Any reading recs?

Today's post is all about how a badly designed study can make it look like people live forever. And how, if you only apply this to one group, you can essentially guarantee any study result you want. 😬 open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

RFK Jr loves to say that there was no autism when he was a kid. And technically he's right. But he's also making a classic error! open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

Today's E is for Epi reveals the one weird trick that prevents all illness! Check it out here👇 open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

RFK Jr has promised to release a report on the causes of autism in September. To prepare, it's a good idea to make sure we know what the common types of observational research biases are. First up: confounding by indication. Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...

It's an honor to be a guest author on E is for Epi today! Give us a read and let me know what you think.

Some of y’all forget the reason we have food safety regulations is because companies used to do things like adding chalk to spoiled milk so it looked normal. Regulations don’t exist because governments enjoy them. They exist because pure unadulterated capitalism would kill us.

Public health is under attack. It’s not enough to fight back, we need to make our field better for everyone. Today’s E is for Epi guest post by @jessieish.bsky.social & Nadia Abuelezam asks “what would a solidarity-based epidemiology look like?” Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...