This year I finished my MD/PhD and started residency, but the thing I am proudest of is having brought this little human into this beautiful world. Her name is Lyra Louisa and she is the light of our lives.

New episode of Bio(un)ethical is out now, with @jbcarmody.bsky.social! Bryan Carmody: Are doctor shortages real? We discuss: - Why people think there aren't enough doctors - Why many access problems reflect misallocation (vs shortages) - What models projecting shortages miss - AI (the 🐘 in the 🏥)

The WHO guidance on the ethics of health research priority setting is out today! It was a privilege to be a part of the expert writing group (led by Joe Millum) over the past two years. I think the guidance is practical and important, especially now. Short thread + link below!

Friends of Cornwall

Proud to have graduated from Harvard’s MD/PhD program, and to join the physicians and researchers committed to building a brighter future.

"It is high time that the default question shift from 'is this payment too much?' to 'is this enough?' in clinical trials." A new call to bring sense to IRB approaches to paying research participants. @1daysooner.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The US government recently flagged my scientific grant in its "woke DEI database". Many people have asked me what I will do. My answer today in Nature. We will not be cowed. We will keep using AI to build a fairer, healthier world. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Pausing" scientific research is like "pausing" a car in the middle of the highway—it's liable to have catastrophic, long-term effects that restarting it won't fix.

Every episode of Season 2 is now available wherever you get your podcasts! We're taking a short break before making further episodes, so now is a great time to submit feedback or requests (e.g., guests or topics) at biounethical.com. Also, we heard you: transcripts are coming!

Hi Bluesky! We're Bio(un)ethical, the podcast questioning existing norms in medicine, science, and public health via long-form interviews with philosophers, policymakers, physicians, and other experts. Seasons 1 + 2 are available on all platforms and our website: www.biounethical.com

Have been dreaming about this day for 7 years!!! #Match2025

The final episode of Biounethical season 2 is out now! Rachel Fraser: How your social world shapes what you know We discuss whether experiences of oppression give people special insight, whether this insight can be shared, and what policy implications this might have. Links ⬇️

The final episode of Biounethical season 2 is out now! Rachel Fraser: How your social world shapes what you know We discuss whether experiences of oppression give people special insight, whether this insight can be shared, and what policy implications this might have. Links ⬇️

The two most recent episodes of #BioUnethical with David Thorstad, Emily Largent, and @govindpersad.bsky.social were very (very!) good. Hosts @leahpierson.bsky.social and Sophie Gibert may be doing reflective discussion better than anyone — outstanding stage setting, questioning, improvising, etc.

New blog post! The $500,000 Gap Year In honor of #Match2025, I wrote about whether the fourth year of medical school needs to exist. www.leahpierson.com/blog/the-500... If you have feedback, I'm eager to hear it, and good luck to everyone matching next week!

Our new episode of Biounethical Podcast is out today! Emily Largent and Govind Persad: Is Bioethics Okay? (Writing questions for this was frankly a blast.) Available wherever you get your podcasts. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4Veq... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

‘I would like to see bioethics as a field be more oriented around fixing things rather than problematizing potential solutions.’

I was interviewed about Bio(un)ethical for the @hsph.harvard.edu website! hsph.harvard.edu/news/student...

We interviewed David Thorstad on Bio(un)ethical about epistemic issues related to longtermism and existential risk. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0dXR... Our website: www.biounethical.com/episodes/epi...

We interviewed former CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Bio(un)ethical about US public health infrastructure, lessons learned from COVID, and how prepared we are for the next pandemic. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0oDt... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1... biounethical.com

It’d be cool if there was a Center for Progress-Oriented Bioethics, an institution that treated scientific and medical progress as an ethical imperative, and aimed to study ethico-regulatory barriers and reform excessive ones.

New Bio(un)ethical episode is out! Quayshawn Spencer: What is race? We discuss the philosophy of race, why he’s a radical racial pluralist, and the implications of his views for scientific research and medicine. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1EBb... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

New piece in Nature: @leahpierson.bsky.social and I argue that philanthropic funders should shield science from cuts the Trump administration may make to climate science, infectious disease, etc. Free access link: rdcu.be/d6aul Longer version on my website: shorturl.at/muwts

We recently wrote an article responding to commentaries on our Views in Bioethics Survey (VIBeS). Next month, four of us will have a conversation on Bio(un)ethical about the state of bioethics, and how to address its challenges. (You can submit questions!) x.com/leah_pierson...

New column out today in @bostonglobe.com's "Ideas" section! Prof. Joshua Greene and I make the case for applying a balanced approach to charitable giving, backed by recent research: www.bostonglobe.com/2024/12/18/o...

Our new episode of Bio(un)ethical is out today! Jeff McMahan: On the ethics of choosing our children's genes Some things we discuss: - whether/when/how we should control the genetic outcomes of our children - treatment vs enhancement - reproductive technologies and injustice Links below ⬇️

My cat, Lulu, participated in a cookie contest (submission: Lulu Lemons)

Episode 14 of Bio(un)ethical is out now! James Diao: When should race be used in medical algorithms? Some things we discuss: - Criteria for the inclusion/exclusion of race in clinical algorithms - The implications of removing race from two algorithms - Common themes + failure modes (Links below)

I just got the kids down for naptime so I wanted to take a second to point out two key problems (and a few areas of agreement) I see with this morning’s @emmagoldberg.bsky.social @nytimes.com article about effective altruism: 🧵 bsky.app/profile/nyt...

I feel like “hyper-rational” often just means “you thought about this logically but made a decision that I personally don’t like.”

My sense is that two main things drive disparities in specialty choice: 1) salary and 2) perceived quality of work life within a specialty. These are hard to disentangle—lucrative specialties can provide doctors with more support (e.g., scribes). But I don't think salary is the whole story here.

Much of education focuses on teaching people how to fill in gaps (eg, horse:gallop as goose:X) One thing I appreciate about medical education is that the focus is often instead on finding/characterizing gaps (X could be fly, swim, or walk; here are arguments for each + how we can figure this out).

The bioethics/applied health ethics/public health ethics starter pack is full (150 people!). Rather than removing less active folks or gatekeeping I'll start another one - so keep letting me know if you're interested in being listed or see anyone who should be added. go.bsky.app/ERXDCeB

She loves podcast editing because the laptop overheats

If you find it feels more stressful than rewarding to donate to charity, I recommend setting up a recurring donation this Giving Tuesday. You can do this for most charities, and for me it's taken most of the stress out of donating while also allowing me to donate more—a win-win.

It's Giving Tuesday - the most important day of the year for charitable giving. If you a) have a charity that means a lot to you and b) are open to learning about top-rated charities, I hope you'll take a few minutes to check us out @givingmultiplier.bsky.social. 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲: givingmultiplier.org

All I want for Christmas is for philosophers to donate lifesaving mosquito nets to save children's lives dailynous.com/2024/12/02/p...

My niche-est academic critique: University center websites often have a page called "People" that lists hundreds of people whose affiliations range from "I founded this place 48 years ago" to "I sent an email asking to be listed on this page." This makes it hard to assess how active a center is.

Similarities between the declines of Twitter + Facebook: People you follow post less; these posts are replaced with low-quality content from accounts you don't follow; vicious cycle ensues. Differences: FB didn't change much, but people left for greener pastures (Instagram); Twitter got worse.

planning a trip with doctors be like

One thing that makes it hard to change the culture of medicine is that by the time you understand a norm or practice, you no longer have a strong emotional reaction to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!! If you're wondering whether to defer to your relatives on moral matters today, check out the new episode of Bio(un)ethical. www.biounethical.com/episodes/epi...

New Bio(un)ethical episode is out now! Sarah McGrath: Are there moral experts? We discuss how moral expertise is similar to/different from empirical expertise, why moral deference is controversial, and whether bioethicists are moral experts. open.spotify.com/episode/6R43...

I think I may stick around here, so just to introduce myself: I am a final year MD/PhD student at Harvard. I made a diagram summarizing what I mostly work on/post about. (It does not include cats, but they will be featured too.)

At our annual MD/PhD retreat, graduating students give "Pearls of Wisdom" talks. Here's a summary of my talk, on lessons I've learned during graduate and medical school. 1/5

A thing that worries me about Master of Bioethics (MBE) programs: 1) it’s (at best) unclear what it would mean to have bioethics expertise 2) MBE programs don’t generally seem to take a stance on this 3) and yet they confer degrees that imply mastery of bioethics

One week left to submit an abstract to our special issue of Bioethics, "Critical perspectives on democratic deliberation in health and science policy." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/as... Feel free to reach out with questions!

A weird glimpse into how hard it is to publicly advocate for animal welfare

Medical culture in the US often optimizes for safety (rather than, e.g., wellbeing). Two theories about why this could be: 1) People worry about getting sued 2) It's more straightforward to optimize for safety So I'm wondering: how specific is this to the US (which would perhaps suggest 1 > 2)?

An underrated bad thing about institutions that function like "Old Boys Clubs" is that—as a result of basing hiring/promotion decisions on nepotism, rather than merit—they tend to be badly run (inefficient, disorganized, misguided priorities, etc).