Taken yesterday on the outskirts of Leeds, about five minutes before the rain started (again).

At St Pancras, the little dog in the Meeting-Place Statue has been worn bright from being patted by many people. These moments of connection matter. Work-wise, a couple of long-term projects are trundling along, and others are getting ready to go. Doors will close 30 seconds before departure!

Echoes of Malmö’s industrial past in Västra hamnområdet. On a Saturday morning, it was quiet and peaceful. Footpaths and waterways are threaded between old industrial buildings and modern housing blocks.

@nulliusinverba.bsky.social This prologue episode is absolutely fascinating. As scientists we have to be able to argue the case for new ideas, and at the same time, be able to judge them dispassionately. Psychologically, this isn’t easy, even for psychologists. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/n...

Lights over Leeds: high rise blocks, streetlights, aeroplane, full moon.

Late-Onset Spondylarthritis Presenting as Glucocorticoid-Resistant Polymyalgia Rheumatica: A hitherto underappreciated entity where TNF or IL-17 Blockade may have a Therapeutic Role https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40693392

Why does it seem like PMR patients get stuck in situations we would never tolerate for other patients? @drceowen.bsky.social and I call out many reasons. PMR is killing them softly, and will continue to do so if collectively we neglect it. now out @thelancetrheum.bsky.social: t.co/wMOy9ZEzw4

Great news for people living with giant cell arteritis (GCA)! The FDA has approved Upadacitinib (15 mg tablet, taken once daily) as a first-line treatment option — meaning it’s now a primary recommended way to manage GCA. Learn more: creakyjoints.org/education/gi... #GCA #VasculitisAwareness

Academic writing is, to me, like painting. First draft is the underpainting, putting in the main colour areas, then in redraft you paint over to sharpen detail. Writing clinic letters, on the other hand, is like rapid sketching - capturing the essence of a moment in time as accurately as possible.

Self-help books often cite population studies as evidence that you can change your life with one simple trick. X will improve your health. Y will make you more successful. But there's a crucial catch... 1/

*Please repost* @sjgreenwood.bsky.social and I just launched a new personalized feed (*please pin*) that we hope will become a "must use" for #academicsky. The feed shows posts about papers filtered by *your* follower network. It's become my default Bluesky experience bsky.app/profile/pape...

At @science.org today, an important new way we can make major headway into immunologic and infectious diseases. Sequencing the lymphocyte B and T cell receptors and A.I. to accurately make the diagnosis! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp2407 A seminal study by @anshulkundaje.bsky.social et al

Doing a talk on giant cell arteritis for general physicians next Tuesday, as part of a webinar on Updates in Rheumatology organised by the Royal College of Physicians. You can register for the webinar here: ow.ly/cLri50UXRCi

Yesterday, I heard a talk from a health psychologist presenting “shared decision making” as a collaborative, rational process, involving patients understanding health information and weighing up options, finally choosing the option that most aligns with their values and preferences. (1/3)

Sharp (h)edges.

Sheffield Cathedral with Christmas trees.

Which A. A. Milne poem talks about going on a quest for dragons? I asked ChatGPT. It gave me the wrong answer. When challenged on this, it admitted its error, but then combined the title of one poem with an extract of another. It still got it wrong. Correct answer in the replies!

Spent a happy afternoon at a watercolour class at The Bowery. Remembered a lot that I thought I’d forgotten. Also the coffee was very good. Recommended!

Oh I’m liking the scholargoggler tool! It even generates an alt-text to go with your personal word-cloud 👌

There are some fantastic national audits that deliver truly unique insights into patient care and outcomes, but I’m always staggered at how much we rely on clinician good will to collect these data - the report shows that we ALREADY collect most of these data, but we store them in the wrong place..

The greatest of all late antique Roman mosaics. The Capitoline She-Wolf and Romulus and Remus from Aldborough, North Yorkshire, 4th century. Today Leeds City Museum

A quick reminder on how to contribute to uksnowmap.com ahead of any possible #uksnow tomorrow 👀 Post with the hashtag #uksnow, the first-half of your postcode, and a snow rating x/10 and help draw a real-time map of where it is snowing in the UK.

Making a rheumatology starter pack. Please comment to be added #MedSky go.bsky.app/5yrCZcH

Been reading the #SudlowReview on the health data landscape from a research data sharing perspective. Here are some of the topics covered and my thoughts. Full Sudlow Review: www.hdruk.ac.uk/helping-with... Thread: 🧵

This is very accurate

Interests: rheumatology, aging, academia, clinical trials, causal inference, uses of health data, patient involvement, vascular physiology, philosophy, endocrinology, neuroscience, academic publishing, and the weather. I have found that only the weather is any good as a topic for small-talk.