The fallout over Anthropic and the Trump administration isn’t just a national security story It highlights a massive and looming public health risk I recently wrote for @theatlantic.com about what happens when health data is pushed through an ideologic filter www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

"The lesson here is pretty straightforward: When people lose agency over decisions about their own bodies, they don’t just lose trust in a specific policy. They lose trust in the system’s right to decide for them at all."

“Trust” is everywhere right now. Or more exactly, the lack of trust and how public health lost it—is the subject of countless conferences and panels. But we’ve actually lost trust twice—first globally, now here at home. I explain why in my free Substack ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

Essential and exceptional reporting by @jeremyfaust.bsky.social on the Hep B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau that should've never been funded (and is apparently now cancelled) open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

We have the CDC-funded Hepatitis Vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau protocol. It’s worse than you thought. Check it out, first in Inside Medicine… with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others. insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...

New Episode! In the Belly of the Anti-Vax Beast. @craigspencer.bsky.social joins me to discuss his trip to the nation’s largest anti-vaccine conference and what he learned about the people there and the organized forces threatening our public health. Links: tinyurl.com/5bxd78db

Our Center Affiliate @craigspencer.bsky.social warns @bostonglobe.com that the frustrations driving the MAHA movement can’t simply be dismissed. “I see a lot of my community almost unwilling to cede any ground” he says, in a call for honest engagement before misinformation fills the vacuum. More ⤵️

Dr. @craigspencer.bsky.social doesn’t think the US medical establishment can go back to the pre-RFK Jr. way of things. “There’s not a world where I see, three years from now...we put all these things back,” he says. “I want us to say, 'we’re willing to engage in how to do things differently.'”

The health of Americans is at risk as those in power abandon evidence and process, and elevate anecdote and rhetoric in their place. Excellent article (if sad to read) www.statnews.com/2025/12/03/a...

LISTEN🎧 What can you learn at an anti-vax conference? Quite a lot, Dr. @craigspencer.bsky.social tells Dean @ashishkjha.bsky.social on the latest episode of A Moment in Health.

Remember Andrew Wakefield? Here he is with his friend RFK Jr. in 2020. Wakefield is the guy behind the fraudulent, retracted MMR–autism study. He lost his medical license for subjecting autistic children to unnecessary invasive procedures. Now, with Kennedy in power, he’s getting a second act.

Sharing my latest article, published today in @statnews.com First Opinion My co-author and I both lost our jobs and health insurance with #USAID this summer. Navigating the ACA marketplace taught us what millions face, & why behavioral & emotional science matters in healthcare access. #HealthPolicy

Grateful to @gabbystern.bsky.social for joining us today to share insights about communication as a key infrastructure to support global health in a conversation moderated by @craigspencer.bsky.social

📣 Attention Brown University Community! Join us on tomorrow @12PM for our Public Health in Practice Seminar. @craigspencer.bsky.social will host @gabbystern.bsky.social for a conversation on health communication as essential infrastructure for global health More: events.brown.edu/event/public...

Professor @craigspencer.bsky.social attended the Children’s Health Defense conference last weekend in Austin, Texas. Follow the link to read his sobering report on a movement he says is "exceptionally organized, disciplined, and determined."⤵️

This write-up of the CHD conference by @craigspencer.bsky.social really lands for me. As someone who has spent some time in these same spaces, I think he's done a good job explaining what's going on: www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

I'm a very pro-vaccine physician. Last weekend, I went to the biggest gathering of anti-vaxxers. More of my public health colleagues should've been there. I explain why for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

Thoughtful piece here, in which @craigspencer.bsky.social shows he is not afraid to share a room with people with whom he disagrees. www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

I was at the Children's Health Defense conference last weekend. While there I sat down with Bret Weinstein, Pierre Kory, and @drmarkreports.bsky.social for a wide-ranging and respectful conversation. We didn't agree on everything. But we need more of this. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

🎙️ Public Health Needs to Get Off the Mat—Why It’s Time to Step Into the Political Fight I joined the Why Should I Trust You? podcast for an 🇺🇸🗳️ Election Day special to talk about something we in public health often shy away from: politics. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4Wvw...

Proud to coauthor this with my amazing friend and colleague, Dr. Tsion Firew. All over Africa, quick fixes can save lives, but real progress in emergency care needs full systems—training, diagnostics, and sustainable funding. Available at @jamanetworkopen.com. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

If you’ve read the book recently, you’d know that the topic of conversation at last night’s White House ‘Gatsby Party’ was probably very similar to what Fitzgerald wrote in 1925.

I wrote about the long-standing tension between medicine and public health, and how history shows that for public health to be impactful, it must be MORE political, not less. Imagine a lot of folks will disagree with this. Would love to hear your thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

A thoughtful response to presidential malpractice. Revisiting following Trump’s recent reiteration.

In this wonderful new piece @amitchandramd.bsky.social & Luke Shors dive into how eager-to-please models and hidden bias are eroding trust in health research and care. If you’re worried about how AI, medicine and accountability intersect — this one’s essential! arstechnica.com/health/2025/...

The history of the FDA is fascinating and frightening. I wrote a post on what we covered today in my Historical Determinants of Public Health class. Read it if you’re interested in why Coca Cola exists, how we used to give kids cocaine and morphine, and the like. open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

An eminent ER doctor says Trump’s shutdown talk mirrors “eugenics.”

@craigspencer.bsky.social #medsky

I teach a class on the history of public health. After every class, I write a summary of what we discuss. Thought I'd start sharing some of those reflections. Here's the first on the long history of quarantine, confinement, and travel restrictions. craigaspencer.substack.com/p/from-quara...

I'm delighted to host @craigspencer.bsky.social at the University of Connecticut next week for a conversation about "Eugenics, Statistics, and AI: From Past to Present." October 7th, 12:30pm. Join us if you're in northeastern CT! events.uconn.edu/human-rights...

“.. The President even said his recommendations were ‘based on what I feel.’ It was reckless guidance from a man with no medical training, delivered from the nation’s most powerful podium.” @craigspencer.bsky.social time.com/7319680/crai...

After yesterday’s rambling press conference on acetaminophen and autism, I wrote for TIME about the disastrous medical guidance offered by the president and why this was even worse than the ‘inject bleach’ press conference during Covid OpEd and accompanying video interview👇 time.com/7319680/crai...

“This is the worst ‘health’ press conference I maybe have ever seen. And I watched every one during Covid.” — @craigspencer.bsky.social After RFK Jr & Trump claimed #Tylenol in pregnancy and #vaccines raise autism risk without evidence, doctors warn the MAHA agenda is eroding public health. More ⤵️

Doctor @craigspencer.bsky.social‬ argues that the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan amounts to one of its most consequential health policies, with an approach to data and research that risks hardwiring bias into American medicine. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

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."

Center Affiliate @craigspencer.bsky.social has an op-ed in @theatlantic.com on the White House AI Action Plan. Health care has long struggled with bias across patient groups. #AI risks amplifying those gaps in the data we feed it, turning inequities into hard-to-fix standards of care. More here ⤵️

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 ⬇️

By gatekeeping health data, the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan risks hardwiring bias into the future of American medicine, Craig Spencer argues.

Enough is enough. The health of the country is in danger. Read our resignation letters: insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...

We should all worry about the chaos at the CDC But there’s an even larger and longer-term health threat quietly unfolding For @theatlantic.com I wrote about how the Trump admin’s ‘AI Action Plan’ risks hardwiring bias and inequity into medicine for decades. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

Wondering whose White House job it is to protect Americans from bio threats - and why that matters? As of this week, it is *nobody's* full-time job. Here is what that means for all of us. Thanks to Jon Finer & @spsaki.bsky.social who lay it out with me here: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

“Politicians may slash budgets and dismantle institutions, but they cannot erase the principle that built them: that caring for others is a moral obligation, not a partisan position,” writes Dr. Craig Spencer.

"Empathy is not idealism; it articulates a pragmatic vision of our shared fate. In a world defined by worsening pandemics, climate instability and global interdependence, empathy is a necessity" @craigspencer.bsky.social is spot on! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/o...

Incredibly moving piece from an incredible human. I’m proud to know you @craigspencer.bsky.social. Thanks for inspiring us.

@craigspencer.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/o...

If we allow the Trump administration’s assault on empathy to define our global health agenda, or ourselves, we won’t just be turning away from the world — we’ll be turning away from who we are. My latest for @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/o...

Yesterday, RFK Jr announced the U.S. wouldn't continue to support Gavi, the leading international vaccine organization. I had a lot of thoughts, so I put them in my first ever Substack. tl;dr—this is RFK Jr taking his anti-vaccine crusade global. Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/craigasp...

From #ABC: RFK Jr meets w/ his new vaccine panel this week to plan #flu season protocols, raising concern due to their anti-vax history. @craigspencer.bsky.social warned that Kennedy “has an unbelievable ability to drastically change the access and availability of vaccines in this country”. More ⤵️