Julie Leask AO
julieleask.bsky.social
Julie Leask AO
@julieleask.bsky.social

Professor of Public Health | Social scientist | Vaccination | Risk communication. School of Public Health, University of Sydney https://sabii.sydney.edu.au/

Julie Leask is an Australian social scientist and professor in the School of Public Health and Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is a leading researcher on social and behavioural aspects of vaccination and infectious disease prevention. Leask's research focuses on vaccine uptake, communication, trust, strengthening vaccination programs and policy. Her flagship project is Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation (SKAI), a vaccination communication package designed to improve vaccination conversations between parents and health care workers. Additionally, Leask is an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) on vaccine acceptance and demand issues and was the chair of the WHO Measuring Behavioural and Social Drivers of Vaccination working group (2018–2022). .. more

Public Health 47%
Medicine 17%
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“The Trump administration had adopted policies condemning a sizable group of its core MAGA supporters — miners, firemen, manufacturing workers — to slow deaths from diseases that cut off their ability to breath,” Thomas B. Edsall writes.
Opinion | Trump’s War on Public Health Is a Battle to the Death
The war on public health is a battle to the death.
nyti.ms

This is what hepatitis B vaccination is about.
When I was a medical student 45 years ago, I clerked in a 13 year old girl with deep jaundice and an abdominal mass. She was Hepatitis B positive. That had led to a primary liver tumour. In a 13-year-old. She was dead within the month. Avoidable with vaccination.
The CDC has endorsed ACIP’s decision of revoking universal access in USA to hepatitis B vaccines at birth. The policy had been in place for 34y and was changed despite no new evidence emerging of any risk of vaccination. #HealthPolicy 🧵
When I was a medical student 45 years ago, I clerked in a 13 year old girl with deep jaundice and an abdominal mass. She was Hepatitis B positive. That had led to a primary liver tumour. In a 13-year-old. She was dead within the month. Avoidable with vaccination.
The CDC has endorsed ACIP’s decision of revoking universal access in USA to hepatitis B vaccines at birth. The policy had been in place for 34y and was changed despite no new evidence emerging of any risk of vaccination. #HealthPolicy 🧵
CDC accepts ACIP’s hepatitis B vaccine recommendations for babies
The CDC also said if a baby is not receiving a birth dose of vaccine, the initial dose should be administered no earlier than 2 months of age.
www.cidrap.umn.edu

If you’re into the Dunedin music scene of the ‘80s or just like rock docos, go see this one screening in Sydney over next three nights. #StraitjacketFits www.lifeinonechordfilm.com/blank-1-1?in...

Reposted by Julie Leask

Comments by President Trump, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and some panelists suggest the committee is likely to delay hepatitis B shots and discuss revising the use of other vaccines.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/h...
Vaccine Committee May Make Significant Changes to Childhood Schedule
www.nytimes.com
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.

Reposted by Julie Leask, Smith

We are supposed to believe that FDA paused and removed the J&J vaccine immediately after 6 cases of clotting, but they hid 10 kids dying from the mRNA vaccines until Prasad and Hoeg, who were always antivaxx, revealed the truth.

Checks out.

Reposted by Julie Leask

Reposted by Julie Leask

When correcting health misinformation 💉 💊 , it is a truism that one should do that in an empathetic way 🫶. But why should that help? What are the psychological mechanisms? Do we have evidence for its' effectiveness? What are potential backfire effects 🙈? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Debunking Health Misinformation with Empathy
Debunking is an effective means to mitigate the impact of health misinformation. However, even after receiving a corrective message, misinformation of…
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Julie Leask

Reposted by Julie Leask

Humanitarian and foreign-affairs professionals agree that what is happening in Darfur now is on a scale unlike anything seen in the conflict so far. Why is so little being done? https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-fall-of-el-fasher
Rebels Post Videos of Mass Killings in Darfur as the World Watches
After the fall of El Fasher to the R.S.F., observers fear for the next target in the war.
www.newyorker.com
Engagement-based #algorithms amplify intergroup hostility + moral-emotional content, leading it to be overrepresented in your feed

This leads us to falsely perceive that people want to see this kind of content and share more of it.

This technology fuels false polarization: osf.io/preprints/os...

How does research drive real change?

Our new Lancet- @elsfoundation.bsky.social Evidence to Impact Award is open for proposals!

If your project champions implementation science, health equity, and community engagement, apply now: tinyurl.com/j5dty567

Reposted by Melissa Sweet

Reposted by Julie Leask

RFK Jr to urge Americans to eat more saturated fats, alarming health experts

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
RFK Jr to urge Americans to eat more saturated fats, alarming health experts
Guidance from health and human services secretary contradicts decades of dietary recommendations
www.theguardian.com

From Life in Prison to the Eras Tour. Joe Garcia’s account of many years in prison and how being a Swiftie helped him with the different feelings and stages www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...
From Life in Prison to the Eras Tour
While serving time for murder, Joe Garcia heard Taylor Swift’s music and thought of the woman he loved. Last year, they were reunited.
www.newyorker.com

Australia must ‘step up to prevent catastrophic and preventable loss of life’ amid Trump cuts, former CDC boss says www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Australia must ‘step up to prevent catastrophic and preventable loss of life’ amid Trump cuts, former CDC boss says
Dr Tom Frieden served as director of the US health body under Barack Obama until 2017 and warns about cuts under Donald Trump
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Julie Leask

Reposted by Erik Brynjolfsson

#MythBustingMonday
“Vaccines contain dangerous and toxic ingredients.”
This one never dies, so let’s tackle it properly. Yes, vaccines contain multiple components but context, chemistry, and dose matter. Vaccine ingredients have been studied for decades, across trials and billions of doses. A 🧵

Reposted by Julie Leask

So, the President is worthy of preventive health screenings and immunizations, but the people are not??

Reposted by Julie Leask

Reposted by Julie Leask