David Cassatt, PhD
@cassattdr.bsky.social
Professional Geek • Immunology • Radiation Biology • Toxicology • Buffalo • Cornell • Kentucky Wildcats • Public Health • PCUSA • Grandfather • Views are my own
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
We salute these VA workers for honoring #AlexPretti.
As they say, "We are healthcare workers for veterans. We know what heroes look like."
youtube.com/shorts/bgCcE...
As they say, "We are healthcare workers for veterans. We know what heroes look like."
youtube.com/shorts/bgCcE...
Honoring Alex Pretti
YouTube video by Unite 4 Veterans
youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:35 PM
We salute these VA workers for honoring #AlexPretti.
As they say, "We are healthcare workers for veterans. We know what heroes look like."
youtube.com/shorts/bgCcE...
As they say, "We are healthcare workers for veterans. We know what heroes look like."
youtube.com/shorts/bgCcE...
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
The Strib has identified him. Alex Pretti. Another 37-year-old executed for standing up for our immigrant neighbors. For shame.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
January 24, 2026 at 6:49 PM
The Strib has identified him. Alex Pretti. Another 37-year-old executed for standing up for our immigrant neighbors. For shame.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
If one were to decide to eliminate vaccines in the US, the first place to start would be to attack the flu and Covid vaccines, talking up the “scary” mRNA vaccines. Next, question the need and schedules of early childhood vaccines. This latest move goes after a disease we have forgotten. 1/2
🧵 Why even suggesting that polio vaccination should be optional is dangerous.
www.contagionlive.com/view/acip-ch...
www.contagionlive.com/view/acip-ch...
ACIP Chair Says Polio Vaccine Should be Optional | Contagion Live
Kirk Milhoan, MD, PhD, said vaccine choice is the most important element to the public even with the possibility of people contracting this disease or others when given the right to opt out of vaccina...
www.contagionlive.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:16 PM
If one were to decide to eliminate vaccines in the US, the first place to start would be to attack the flu and Covid vaccines, talking up the “scary” mRNA vaccines. Next, question the need and schedules of early childhood vaccines. This latest move goes after a disease we have forgotten. 1/2
Important thread. I would just add that liability protection for vaccine manufacturers is in danger.
All in a year’s work. RFK Jr.’s relentless assault on vaccines has been wildly successful for the anti-vaccine agenda and detrimental to us all. A rundown of what he has managed to accomplish in such a short time should terrify everyone. A 🧵
January 23, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Important thread. I would just add that liability protection for vaccine manufacturers is in danger.
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
I've watched thousands of videos from the Jan. 6 riot as part of NPR's reporting and archive project on that day.
Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.
🧵
Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.
🧵
January 6, 2026 at 1:23 PM
I've watched thousands of videos from the Jan. 6 riot as part of NPR's reporting and archive project on that day.
Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.
🧵
Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.
🧵
This is what they call in the business, a “tell.” One of the tools of the fossil fuel industry has used to prevent action to prevent climate change due to the release of CO2 is to sow doubt, and one of their methods is to complain that the media do not present their side of the argument.
Director Bhattacharya received an award from the Brownstone Institute.
He devoted some of his time to criticize the press, including about "taking sides" on global warming.
1/10
He devoted some of his time to criticize the press, including about "taking sides" on global warming.
1/10
January 14, 2026 at 10:13 AM
This is what they call in the business, a “tell.” One of the tools of the fossil fuel industry has used to prevent action to prevent climate change due to the release of CO2 is to sow doubt, and one of their methods is to complain that the media do not present their side of the argument.
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
I’m sorry. I can’t let this Miller bullshit pass.
After WWII “the West,” sometimes relatively quickly, sometimes not until the ‘70s, realized that the writing was on the wall: that they could spend vast sums in blood and treasure trying to defeat anti-colonial movements, and still lose.
After WWII “the West,” sometimes relatively quickly, sometimes not until the ‘70s, realized that the writing was on the wall: that they could spend vast sums in blood and treasure trying to defeat anti-colonial movements, and still lose.
Eyes wide open, folks. They're revealing the supervillain plot.
January 5, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I’m sorry. I can’t let this Miller bullshit pass.
After WWII “the West,” sometimes relatively quickly, sometimes not until the ‘70s, realized that the writing was on the wall: that they could spend vast sums in blood and treasure trying to defeat anti-colonial movements, and still lose.
After WWII “the West,” sometimes relatively quickly, sometimes not until the ‘70s, realized that the writing was on the wall: that they could spend vast sums in blood and treasure trying to defeat anti-colonial movements, and still lose.
Over 40 years ago, when I was starting to study immunology in grad school, I read where Lewis Thomas called vaccines high-tech medicine because a simple shot could tune the immune system to fight that one illness. This attack on vaccinations will not be the last one by this crew.
Children will die with RFK Jr.'s new vaccine recommendations. We're NOT doing the "experts disagree" game. The US vaccine schedule was painstakingly constructed through a deep & thorough process by experts with unquestionable expertise. This is policy by fiat. It is pre-meditated murder. 1/
January 5, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Over 40 years ago, when I was starting to study immunology in grad school, I read where Lewis Thomas called vaccines high-tech medicine because a simple shot could tune the immune system to fight that one illness. This attack on vaccinations will not be the last one by this crew.
Happy New Year from Frederick, MD!
January 1, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Happy New Year from Frederick, MD!
The whole thread is worth reading. Science is important. But representation is also important.
So here’s to making 2026 a better year. For science. For our country. For the American people.
We have the momentum. The resistance is growing. Let’s make 2026 the year we turned the tide.
We have the momentum. The resistance is growing. Let’s make 2026 the year we turned the tide.
January 1, 2026 at 12:25 PM
The whole thread is worth reading. Science is important. But representation is also important.
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
December 29, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
1/ Last week, you probably heard about RFK Jr.'s sudden plan to move the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to Denmark’s. He was supposed to have a press conference on Friday, but it was canceled for legal and political concerns. For now, that move is off the table, but this idea isn’t going away...👇
December 23, 2025 at 9:20 PM
1/ Last week, you probably heard about RFK Jr.'s sudden plan to move the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to Denmark’s. He was supposed to have a press conference on Friday, but it was canceled for legal and political concerns. For now, that move is off the table, but this idea isn’t going away...👇
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
1/ ACIP’s meeting last week was disgraceful, unprepared, & chaotic. They voted to roll back the universal #HepB birth dose despite no evidence of harm, and pushed an antibody test that doesn’t reliably guide decisions. This shift will have real consequences—with babies and families paying the price.
December 8, 2025 at 6:43 PM
1/ ACIP’s meeting last week was disgraceful, unprepared, & chaotic. They voted to roll back the universal #HepB birth dose despite no evidence of harm, and pushed an antibody test that doesn’t reliably guide decisions. This shift will have real consequences—with babies and families paying the price.
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
Justice Jackson to Solicitor General Sauer (just now, in Trump v. Slaughter arguments):
December 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Justice Jackson to Solicitor General Sauer (just now, in Trump v. Slaughter arguments):
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
9/ The vaccine schedule is only one item on ACIP’s agenda this week. This breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/2025-dec-acip-prebunk
Love,
@drhigginsmd.bsky.social
Annicka Evans, PhD
@sciencewhizliz.bsky.social
@unbiasedscipod.bsky.social
@enirenberg.bsky.social
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
Love,
@drhigginsmd.bsky.social
Annicka Evans, PhD
@sciencewhizliz.bsky.social
@unbiasedscipod.bsky.social
@enirenberg.bsky.social
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
RSVP 4 — The Evidence Collective
evicollective.org
December 4, 2025 at 9:25 PM
9/ The vaccine schedule is only one item on ACIP’s agenda this week. This breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/2025-dec-acip-prebunk
Love,
@drhigginsmd.bsky.social
Annicka Evans, PhD
@sciencewhizliz.bsky.social
@unbiasedscipod.bsky.social
@enirenberg.bsky.social
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
Love,
@drhigginsmd.bsky.social
Annicka Evans, PhD
@sciencewhizliz.bsky.social
@unbiasedscipod.bsky.social
@enirenberg.bsky.social
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
🦠What happens when you say you will only protect babies of infected moms, but you are bad at detecting infected moms❓
🚫You miss a lot of babies who needed protection.
This is exactly why in 1991 we went from only vaccinating babies of Hepatitis B positive moms to vaccinating all babies.
🚫You miss a lot of babies who needed protection.
This is exactly why in 1991 we went from only vaccinating babies of Hepatitis B positive moms to vaccinating all babies.
December 4, 2025 at 11:54 PM
🦠What happens when you say you will only protect babies of infected moms, but you are bad at detecting infected moms❓
🚫You miss a lot of babies who needed protection.
This is exactly why in 1991 we went from only vaccinating babies of Hepatitis B positive moms to vaccinating all babies.
🚫You miss a lot of babies who needed protection.
This is exactly why in 1991 we went from only vaccinating babies of Hepatitis B positive moms to vaccinating all babies.
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
To be very clear, Kennedy's team is messing with a vaccine which has led to a 99 percent drop in the incidence of hepatitis B, which kills, early and painfully, 25 percent of the people who get it as children. lnk.thebulwark.com/3Xt957M
RFK’s Anti-Vax Team Readies Its Next Moves
“Their game is, let’s really destabilize trust in the vaccine, and make people really anxious about it.”
lnk.thebulwark.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:00 AM
To be very clear, Kennedy's team is messing with a vaccine which has led to a 99 percent drop in the incidence of hepatitis B, which kills, early and painfully, 25 percent of the people who get it as children. lnk.thebulwark.com/3Xt957M
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
Look, I know that optimism isn't popular right now, but one way or another, by Trump breaking this system... he will strengthen it.
There's a long road of reform ahead of us & the collaborators who enabled him to break democracy must be expelled for that reform to occur.
But a reckoning IS coming.
There's a long road of reform ahead of us & the collaborators who enabled him to break democracy must be expelled for that reform to occur.
But a reckoning IS coming.
April 16, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Look, I know that optimism isn't popular right now, but one way or another, by Trump breaking this system... he will strengthen it.
There's a long road of reform ahead of us & the collaborators who enabled him to break democracy must be expelled for that reform to occur.
But a reckoning IS coming.
There's a long road of reform ahead of us & the collaborators who enabled him to break democracy must be expelled for that reform to occur.
But a reckoning IS coming.
Indeed!
Among the things I am thankful for is the courage and patriotism of all the federal workers who blew the whistle on agency policies that harm Americans, and those who support us. #CourageIsContagious Art by @drrabbithole.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Indeed!
November 26, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
we have PrEP because of these monkey studies. animal welfare in medical research is extremely strictly limited and regulated to ensure ethical use. there is no replacement for these animal models in biomedical research.
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org
Exclusive: CDC to end all monkey research
Studies related to HIV and other infectious diseases will be phased out, sources say; fate of the agency's animals remains unclear
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:48 PM
we have PrEP because of these monkey studies. animal welfare in medical research is extremely strictly limited and regulated to ensure ethical use. there is no replacement for these animal models in biomedical research.
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
Thanks for all the supportive comments from folks in the chat - it means a lot.
I want to address the comment from the anonymous HHS official.
Is it “radically leftist” to believe NIH policies should not harm research participants?
1/2
I want to address the comment from the anonymous HHS official.
Is it “radically leftist” to believe NIH policies should not harm research participants?
1/2
November 14, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Thanks for all the supportive comments from folks in the chat - it means a lot.
I want to address the comment from the anonymous HHS official.
Is it “radically leftist” to believe NIH policies should not harm research participants?
1/2
I want to address the comment from the anonymous HHS official.
Is it “radically leftist” to believe NIH policies should not harm research participants?
1/2
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
🚨🚨 @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social is a force. Her voice carries power, truth, and courage—threats to the regime.
The only thing authoritarians fear more than a voice they cannot control is a chorus. So let’s give them one: speak up, speak loudly, and don’t stop. Stand with Jenna. ✊🇺🇸
The only thing authoritarians fear more than a voice they cannot control is a chorus. So let’s give them one: speak up, speak loudly, and don’t stop. Stand with Jenna. ✊🇺🇸
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.
TikTok video by Jenna
www.tiktok.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
🚨🚨 @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social is a force. Her voice carries power, truth, and courage—threats to the regime.
The only thing authoritarians fear more than a voice they cannot control is a chorus. So let’s give them one: speak up, speak loudly, and don’t stop. Stand with Jenna. ✊🇺🇸
The only thing authoritarians fear more than a voice they cannot control is a chorus. So let’s give them one: speak up, speak loudly, and don’t stop. Stand with Jenna. ✊🇺🇸
Reposted by David Cassatt, PhD
As they should.
In an encrypted group chat, National Guard members question Trump deployments
As President Trump's call for National Guard deployments rings out across the U.S., a small contingent of Ohio guard members is quietly expressing concern in an encrypted group chat.
www.npr.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:11 AM
As they should.