Matt Watson
@bioandbaseball.bsky.social
š¤ 2307
š„ 1511
š 180
#Biosecurity
,
#Biodefense
,
#Biotech
, Pandemic Preparedness
pinned post!
Iām pleased to share our latest commentary - Toward a safer and more secure US
#bioeconomy
- now out in
@naturebiotech.bsky.social
.
rdcu.be/d3IxR
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Toward a safer and more secure US bioeconomy
Nature Biotechnology - To enhance the safety and security of the US bioeconomy, a new publicāprivate partnership should be established to facilitate information sharing and threat analysis...
https://rdcu.be/d3IxR
over 1 year ago
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Matt Watson
Kai Kupferschmidt
11 days ago
One glimmer of hope in the Ebola response: Within hours of the outbreak in DRC being declared, researchers convened to prepare drug trials. A lot has changed on that front since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a decade ago. But huge challenges remain š§Ŗ My story in
@science.org
(š§µ to come)
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Can fast, nimble clinical trials deliver a drug to halt the new Ebola outbreak?
Past outbreaks spawned clever strategies for testing antivirals and antibodies, but researchers will still face major challenges on the ground
https://www.science.org/content/article/can-fast-nimble-clinical-trials-deliver-drug-halt-new-ebola-outbreak
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Matt Watson
Helen Branswell šØš¦
15 days ago
This is unsettling. The
#Ebola
confirmed and suspected case count is at 958 already in DRC, with 5 confirmed cases in Uganda. (Uganda doesnāt often disclose suspected case numbers.) This has all the makings of an ugly and protracted outbreak.
x.com/com_mediasrd...
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MinistĆØre de la Communication et MĆ©dias/RDC on X: "šØ #EbolaRDC | Rapport de situation au 22 mai 2026 LāĆ©pidĆ©mie dāEbola continue de faire lāobjet dāun suivi renforcĆ© par les autoritĆ©s sanitaires dans les provinces touchĆ©es. š 3 provinces concernĆ©es : Ituri, Nord-Kivu et Sud-Kivu š 83 cas confirmĆ©s et 746 cas suspects cumulĆ©s https://t.co/fbii8Kq36O" / X
šØ #EbolaRDC | Rapport de situation au 22 mai 2026 LāĆ©pidĆ©mie dāEbola continue de faire lāobjet dāun suivi renforcĆ© par les autoritĆ©s sanitaires dans les provinces touchĆ©es. š 3 provinces concernĆ©es : Ituri, Nord-Kivu et Sud-Kivu š 83 cas confirmĆ©s et 746 cas suspects cumulĆ©s https://t.co/fbii8Kq36O
https://x.com/com_mediasrdc/status/2058247626840064043?s=12
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Matt Watson
Helen Branswell šØš¦
17 days ago
Yet another top job in the
#HHS
universe appears to be vacant. Jeffery Taubenberger, who has been acting head of
#NIAID
, the infectious diseases institute of
#NIH
, reportedly stepped down ~2 weeks ago. But HHS will not answer questions about his departure.
www.statnews.com/2026/05/21/n...
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Acting head of NIHās infectious disease institute reported to have stepped down
Jeffery Taubenberger, the acting head of the NIAID, the NIHās infectious disease institute, is reported to have stepped down.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/05/21/nih-niaid-jeffrey-taubenberger-exit/
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Matt Watson
Helen Branswell šØš¦
18 days ago
This is such a moving piece. If your interested in
#Ebola
āĀ the damage it causes, the trauma families and communities and responders face during and after an outbreak ā please read it.
www.statnews.com/2026/05/20/e...
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I saw Ebola as both doctor and patient. I wish people cared more about the Africans I worked alongside
āAs another Ebola outbreak unfolds, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past,ā writes Krutika Kuppalli.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/05/20/ebola-patients-suffering-health-care-workers/
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Matt Watson
Kai Kupferschmidt
19 days ago
Update on Ebola outbreak from
@who.int
: "There is significant uncertainty about the number of infections and how far the virus has spread. As of 19 May, more than 500 suspected cases, including 130 suspected deaths, have been reported by the Ministry of Health."
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Matt Watson
BK. Titanji
19 days ago
Important to read the seminal paper on the discovery of the Bundibugyo virus. It is a different species from Zaire Ebola virus, differing in its genome by up to 32%. The vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for Zaire virus are unlikely to be effective here.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
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Newly Discovered Ebola Virus Associated with Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak in Uganda
Author Summary In this report we describe a newly discovered ebolavirus species which caused a large hemorrhagic fever outbreak in western Uganda. The virus is genetically distinct, differing by more ...
https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1000212
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Matt Watson
Helen Branswell šØš¦
20 days ago
The US government is working to extricate some Americans who had potentially problematic exposures to suspected
#Ebola
#Bundibugyo
in DRC. But it wonāt talk about it. When I and other journalists asked during a
#CDC
press conference, we got no answers.
www.statnews.com/2026/05/17/i...
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In Ebola outbreak, a number of Americans in the Congo believed to have had exposure to suspected cases
A number of Americans who are in the Congo are believed to have had exposure to suspected cases in the countryās latest Ebola outbreak, sources have told STAT.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/05/17/in-ebola-outbreak-a-number-of-americans-in-the-congo-believed-to-have-had-exposure-to-suspected-cases/
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Amesh Adalja
23 days ago
āAround 246 cases and 65 deaths have been reported, mainly in the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwamparaā
www.bbc.com/news/article...
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Ebola outbreak kills 65 in eastern DR Congo's Ituri province
Africa's top health agency says around 246 cases have been reported.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze2wpk7y76o
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Matt Watson
Amesh Adalja
24 days ago
āIf one were to design a public-health intervention from scratch, it would be hard to improve upon vaccination. Yet the world is losing sight of the overwhelming evidence that vaccines save livesā
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/c...
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The World Must Not Turn Its Back on Vaccination
David Miliband urges the international community to fund high-impact, low-cost immunization efforts in conflict zones.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/childhood-immunization-must-continue-in-conflict-zones-by-david-miliband-2026-05
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Matt Watson
Scott L Greer
26 days ago
ājust as we now understand the risks of chokepoints in semiconductors and oil, particularly during an era in which trade is being weaponised, the true costs of a US farm system that prioritises only short-term high yields in a handful of crops are becoming more obvious.ā
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American agriculture is broken
Fixing it will require much more than the new farm bill can deliver
https://www.ft.com/content/a4e41434-b047-485f-a5e1-0e88277f8aae?shareType=nongift
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Matt Watson
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) š¦ š¤§š§¬šš¦š§
27 days ago
Okay. This is today's version 2. Hopefully, the typos are corrected and additions made. I greatly appreciate the feedback - I put it out in a rush. Sorry about that. I moved some text to a sidebar to allow a little breathing room.
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J. Craig Venter Institute
about 1 month ago
It is with great sadness that we announce J. Craig Venter has died. š§Ŗš§¬
www.jcvi.org/media-center...
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J. Craig Venter, genomics pioneer and founder of JCVI and Diploid Genomics, Inc., dies at 79
La Jolla, CaliforniaāApril 29, 2026āThe J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) announced that J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., the Instituteās founder, board...
https://www.jcvi.org/media-center/j-craig-venter-genomics-pioneer-and-founder-jcvi-and-diploid-genomics-inc-dies-79
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āā¦the FBIās Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate (WMDD) is to be dissolved, rolled back into Counter Terrorism (CT),ā¦ā
cbrneworld.com/news/circle-...
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Circle of life?
We have it on good authority that the FBIās Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate (WMDD) is to be dissolved, rolled back into Counter Terrorism (CT), and the positions of assistant director (AD)ā¦
https://cbrneworld.com/news/circle-of-life
about 1 month ago
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Matt Watson
about 2 months ago
Check Out the Largest 3-D Map of the Universe
nautil.us/check-out-th...
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Check Out the Largest 3-D Map of the Universe
Check Out the Largest 3-D Map of the Universe: It spans over 11 billion years of cosmic history
https://nautil.us/check-out-the-largest-3-d-map-of-the-universe-1279951/
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Matt Watson
Sapana
about 2 months ago
SPLASHDOWN!!! Welcome home ArtemisII
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Matt Watson
Katie Mack
2 months ago
Oh this is great: thereās now an
#Artemis
II Lunar Flyby Gallery on the NASA images site:
www.nasa.gov/gallery/luna...
(thx
@dpmanchee.bsky.social
for pointing it out)
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Lunar Flyby - NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/lunar-flyby/
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Matt Watson
Katie Mack
2 months ago
"Humanity's next great voyage begins"
#Artemis
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Matt Watson
Rachel Hall-Clifford, PhD, MPH, MSc
2 months ago
Seems bad
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Matt Watson
Carl Zimmer
2 months ago
@vscooper.micropopbio.org
&
@isabelott.bsky.social
let me crash their high-school bacteria hunt while I was working on my book "Life's Edge." Their paper's now out, featuring lots of mutants (including my very own CZ1A).
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Matt Watson
Helen Branswell šØš¦
2 months ago
2 years ago now the world learned US dairy cows were being infected with
#H5N1
#birdflu
, raising concern the virus would find a new route to move from animals to humans. Cow infections seem to have slowed & many questions remain,
@cohenjon.bsky.social
reports.
www.science.org/content/arti...
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Two years after it emerged, ācow fluā is still circulatingāand baffling scientists
Researchers still arenāt sure how H5N1 influenza spreads between cows and from farm to farm
https://www.science.org/content/article/two-years-after-it-emerged-cow-flu-still-circulating-and-baffling-scientists?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=alert&utm_campaign=DailyLatestNews&et_rid=60658150&et_cid=5916524
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Matt Watson
Thelonevirologist
3 months ago
In Talking to Parents About Vaccines, Pediatricians Navigate a Sea of Misinformation
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/h...
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In Talking to Parents About Vaccines, Pediatricians Navigate a Sea of Misinformation
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/health/pediatricians-vaccines-cdc-kennedy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
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Matt Watson
Amesh Adalja
3 months ago
āused machine learning to sift thru the death certificates of infected patients who died in hospitals..used patterns observed in those records to evaluate death certificates of people who died outside hospitals..whose deaths were attributed to things like pneumonia..
www.statnews.com/2026/03/18/s...
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More than 150,000 uncounted Covid-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds
The Covid-19 pandemic's early death toll was much higher than the official U.S. count, according to a new study that spotlights dramatic disparities in the uncounted deaths.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/03/18/study-finds-150000-uncounted-covid-19-deaths-early-pandemic/
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Matt Watson
Helen Branswell šØš¦
3 months ago
If the White House doesn't nominate a person to serve as
#CDC
director by March 25, the administration will not be able to have someone serving in the role of acting CDC director. ā°ā°ā°ā°ā°ā°ā°ā°
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Matt Watson
Alexander Ghionis
3 months ago
šµOur new pre-print examines how
#AI
might intersect with
#bioweapons
across seven key acquisition stages, emphasising actors, utilities, and processes rather than technology alone. ā”ļøhttps://ssrn.com/abstract=6299518
#disarmament
#CBW
#biologicalweapons
#OPCW
#chemicalweapons
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Matt Watson
Stephen Turner
3 months ago
Bio-attribution Challenge
www.darpa.mil/research/cha...
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āThese growing cracks in the countryās public health armor will complicate efforts to protect Americans from future disease threatsāwhether an outbreak, a pandemic or a biological attack.ā šÆ
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3 months ago
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Matt Watson
Greg Folkers
3 months ago
Nature: China pledges billion-dollar spending boost for science by Xiaoying You
@nature.com
go.nature.com/4rqZQ4u
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The Limits of Sequence-Based
#Biosecurity
Screening Tools in the Age of AI-Assisted Protein Design.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.04.709671v1?ct=
3 months ago
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Evaluating AI-Assisted Customer Verification for Synthetic Nucleic Acid Screening.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.27.708645v1?ct=
3 months ago
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Matt Watson
Onisillos
3 months ago
"All I can say is that Iām beginning to regret having lived so long ā because weāre going downhill"
www.statnews.com/2026/03/02/s...
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A titan of vaccine development sees his fieldās achievements slip away
Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," is watching his fieldās achievements slip away.
https://www.statnews.com/2026/03/02/stanley-plotkin-profile-godfather-of-vaccines-worried/
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Matt Watson
NBC News
3 months ago
If measles vaccination rates continue to drop just 1% annually for the next five years, the cost to the U.S. could reach $1.5 billion a year, according to a new report from the Yale School of Public Health.
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Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted.
As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests.
https://nbcnews.to/403NIv6
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Defense Industrial Base: DOD Efforts to Develop Domestic Biomanufacturing.
www.gao.gov/products/gao...
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https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107797
3 months ago
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Matt Watson
Gigi Gronvall
3 months ago
On March 3 in DC, join us for the Johns Hopkins H5N1 Influenza Preparedness & Response Forum! H5N1 is already threatening livestock and poultry, but if it gains sustained human-to-human transmission, challenges will escalate quickly. We have to plan, now.
www.eventbrite.com/e/johns-hopk...
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Johns Hopkins H5N1 Influenza Preparedness & Response Forum
Join us at Johns Hopkins for a hands-on forum on tackling H5N1 flu outbreaks and response strategies!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/johns-hopkins-h5n1-influenza-preparedness-response-forum-tickets-1980470717228?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl
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Matt Watson
Nature
3 months ago
After nearly 3.5 years of deliberations, researchers concluded their independent assessment of the origin of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
go.nature.com/4qUxijx
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COVIDās origins: what we do and donāt know
Researchers summarize key insights from the worldās first comprehensive investigation into how a pandemic started.
https://go.nature.com/4qUxijx
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Matt Watson
Gregory Koblentz
4 months ago
WTF?
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Useful, as always.
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4 months ago
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āThese latest findings once again underline the need to hold Russia accountable for its repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and, in this instance, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.ā
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4 months ago
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Matt Watson
Gregory Koblentz
4 months ago
Joint Statement by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands on Alexei Navalny's death
www.gov.uk/government/n...
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Joint Statement by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands on Alexei Navalny's death
Joint Statement by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands on Alexei Navalny's death.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-by-the-uk-sweden-france-germany-and-the-netherlands-on-alexei-navalnys-death
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Matt Watson
The Guardian
4 months ago
Russia killed Alexei Navalny with frog toxin, UK and allies say
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Russia killed Alexei Navalny with frog toxin, UK and allies say
Former opposition leaderās death while in Arctic jail at age of 47 result of mixture of diseases, according to Moscow The Foreign Office has blamed the Russian state for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which it said was the result of poisoning from a dart containing frog toxin. The frog poison ā called epibatidine ā is said to have been used when Navalny, 47, died suddenly on 16 February 2024. Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/14/alexei-navalny-poisoning-death-russia-frog-toxin?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu
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Matt Watson
Liz Szabo
4 months ago
Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ābiodefenseā from the agencyās website.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation
Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ābiodefenseā from the agencyās website.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00468-1#author-0
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Matt Watson
Thelonevirologist
4 months ago
The TAK-003 story: key decisions that shaped development of a tetravalent dengue vaccine
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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The TAK-003 story: key decisions that shaped development of a tetravalent dengue vaccine - npj Vaccines
npj Vaccines - The TAK-003 story: key decisions that shaped development of a tetravalent dengue vaccine
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-025-01366-9
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Matt Watson
Alexandra Phelan
4 months ago
Moderna are being very careful in their responses about next steps here but given the likely arbitrariness and unreasonableness of an outright refusal to file (let alone the economic impacts), I expect they will appeal, with a range of options available:
trendspotting.sidley.com/trends/fda
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Matt Watson
Melody Schreiber
4 months ago
NEW: The FDA just shot down Moderna's new flu shot. From me:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
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FDA declines to review Moderna application for new flu vaccine
Moderna requests meeting to discuss refusal as decision could have implications for all new and updated vaccines
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/10/fda-moderna-flu-vaccine?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
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Matt Watson
Rob Carlson
4 months ago
A chance to learn from the best in the business.
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Matt Watson
Gwen C. Katz
4 months ago
Macbeth: SHIT
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FT: An oral history of the Fedās Covid-19 crisis
www.ft.com/content/cb9a...
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An oral history of the Fedās Covid-19 crisis
We read a bajillion pages of transcripts so you donāt have to (unless you really want to, of course)
https://www.ft.com/content/cb9a5177-3933-4fe8-9fa0-dbcb6f1fa274?shareType=nongift
4 months ago
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Matt Watson
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
4 months ago
We commend Senators Tom Cotton & Amy Klobuchar for intro legislation to est. a fed biosecurity framework. "This bill sets the U.S. on a path to continue its global leadership in biotech innovation, while enhancing our national resilience to emerging biological risks" said
@t-inglesby.bsky.social
.
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Matt Watson
Lawrence Freedman
4 months ago
Once had privilege of listening to Ian McKellen perform at Oxford. Seemed timely then - even more so now.
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Matt Watson
Apoorva Mandavilli
5 months ago
BREAKING: Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...
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Kennedy Scales Back the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/health/children-vaccines-cdc-kennedy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CFA.tLLJ.ciEjn7LrV1Wp&smid=url-share
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Matt Watson
Greg Folkers
5 months ago
JID: A BEACON for novel disease threats: Leveraging AI for informal event-based outbreak surveillance Nahid Bhadelia et al
bit.ly/4joYsNd
@bhadeliamd.bsky.social
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