Journal invitations to peer review over the last 2 weeks of the year: Hi! Wanna do some free work? My out of office:

I have never understood the (over)confidence some profs put in the reliability & validity of their exams. Many exams are not particularly well crafted, few are ever validated scientifically, some don’t even seem to align well w overall course learning objectives.

Make a Bond movie academic Tenure is Forever

Yet another study finds vaccination associated w lower odds of persistent post-Covid conditions (PCC), even after mild Covid. New Thai study looked at impact of mRNA vaccination on PCC after mild cases; found vaccination is protective & 3 doses were better than 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...

The real pizzagate is the doxing of those perceived to oppose Trump along the way.

Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".

Google Gemini Pro: please generate a map of the western united states showing cities of over 250K population

“‘My most daring idea is to refuse,’ she said to applause.”

New piece from @celinegounder.com about how antivax disinformation tactics are making their way to the CDC via the McCullough foundation.

I’ve said it before & will again: wasting editor & reviewer time by submitting egregiously plagiaristic uses of genAI w/o even fact-checking should be grounds for being barred from submitting articles to that journal for a period of time (1-2y for first offense?)

Reports show how mpox clade 1b spreads through non-sexual contact in DR Congo, Ireland Large family sizes and crowded living conditions may play a role in transmission. www.cidrap.umn.edu/m... Photo: World Bank / Vincent Tremeau

Given the context-specificity of vaccination schedule recommendations, I hope he’ll also be recommending the Danish universal welfare system, including high minimum wage, gender equality, paid parental leave, subsidized childcare, state retirement pension, no-user-charge universal healthcare, etc.

“In many bills that ban gender-affirming care for trans ppl, there is what’s called an “intersex exception,” a clause that suggests it protects care for intersex people. Instead, these clauses permit nonconsensual surgeries to “normalize” the sex characteristics of intersex babies and children”…

Nooooo

The gutting of peer scientific review, more broadly, is about the deconstruction of expertise and traditional scientific metrics of credibility. Trying to lower the curtain on the era of evidence-based practice.

Unbelievable. So basically any population health grants.

Rock star researchers currently outside Canada, our government wants to help fund your career transition to one of our universities! www.canada.ca/en/impact-pl...

Hey #Vancouver - feeling the giving spirit? The DEWC needs more gifts for the 200 holiday hampers. They made it easy - you can order online and ship directly to them. Bring a little joy to someone @cbcstephenquinn.bsky.social (maybe share?) www.listful.com/dewc/list/de...

I don't even care for soda, but appreciate the way this demonstrates how even randomized, controlled nutrition studies can be used in totally goofy ways.

Hm, well, apparently I can't use Bsky phone app anymore now that birthdates are required by the app, but I am not allowed to enter one on the phone app and apparently it doesn't carry over from my update via browser. This should cut down on my social media time!

With the news that the US wants to have five years of your social media history allow me to remind you of the tool I built to scrub your skeets

On my soapbox here to yell at the research community: Librarians/Information Scientists are *slept on* when it comes to research staff, but they are INCREDIBLE.

NEW: A new congressional investigation prompted by ProPublica reporting has found that, contrary to the Trump administration’s claims, immigration agents have frequently detained and mistreated U.S. citizens. By @nicolefoy.bsky.social

So grateful to be somewhere that is gradually transitioning toward Indigenous language place names. Whether it’s šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm street or the new stal̕əw̓asəm bridge, I get to become more famiar with the languages of this region in which I live.

Today I had to give my birthdate to log into Bsky here in Canada. Why?

This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.

Someday I will automatically type gonorrhea correctly and not have to go back and correct it multiple times in each document. Today is not that day. Gonh; gonohh; gonorh; oy.

This seems ripe for one of those "tag yourself" games. Hmm..today perhaps I am "BEDROOM 2" with all cabinetry and no bed. So many possibilities, though, between "MASTER ROISN" (tub, toilet, 2 doors, no sink), "JACK & JIL FUll Bath #2" (3 sinks, nothing else), & "GOURMET KITCHEN" with...nothing.

UBC seeks a CRC Tier 2 Chair in cognitive resilience for dementia prevention within Psychiatry and DMCBH supporting research teaching and inclusive leadership. www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/job/assistan...

Dec 1 will always be World AIDS Day to me. I am of the US/CAN microgeneration that grew up alongside the unfolding pandemic. We came of age with "safe sex is hot sex". www.catie.ca/world-aids-day

I have been studying (lack of) public confidence in vaccination for over a decade now. This is the first time I have really felt scared for public health writ large. The damage the current US administration is likely doing to children’s health & safety, domestically & internationally, is horrifying.

It’s infuriating to me that I need to evaluate media to determine whether it’s AI generated now. The great “time saver” technology wastes incalculable time and energy for people who want to retain their grasp on reality

Here’s my story about Kitimat’s new motto of “it’s not for everyone”, which originally was going to be a ranking of all 161 municipal slogans in British Columbia until my bosses were like “justin this video is 14 minutes long” and “did you just make of slogans for half of these”

Fellow academics who work in schools where you sponsor/commit to supervision of PhD or Master's applicants: how many cold enquiries a week do you receive and what country are you in? Is this year typical or different from past years for you?

Here are a few negative impacts of GenAI and misinformation on immigrants and settlement services, along with mitigation strategies for building resilience.

Who likes to talk methodology, pedagogy, and mixed methods research design? I want some buddies in this area to bat ideas around with. #MixedMethods #ResearchMethods #CommunityOfPractice

Let's keep sharing these amazing stories about how vaccines have transformed our lives

💔

Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...

X rolled out a new feature that accidentally exposed a massive covert foreign influence operation — more than one, actually — that is currently live on the platform. It’s a huge story and I wrote about it — and what it means for America — here: open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...

This is what a genuine threat to academic freedom looks like

evergreen

If we ignore Canada’s mental health crisis, AI companies will exploit it canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/11/22/i... @spichaksimon.bsky.social

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength"

Lots to like in this #pharmacare report (it's feisty!) tho I still worry its approach to WHO #EssentialMedicines lets fall through the cracks the many drugs on the WHO EML💊📜, from #albendazole to #tuberculosis drugs, that aren't actually sold in Canada despite being the recognized standard of care.

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY. There was also a 71% drop in air pollution. Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

Heading to Montréal for CBRC Summit! If you are too, I’d love to connect about queering pandemic preparedness, gender health misinformation, public health surveillance ethics, and related topics.