Cole Brookson
@colebrookson.bsky.social
Computational biologist thinking about diseases, ecology, climate, and the limits of predictability | Yale sph.yale.edu | viralemergence.org | check out my stuff: github.com/colebrookson
Come work with us!! Great group and super cool work 😎
We may have a one-year postdoctoral position opening! We're looking for someone with experience in attribution science OR very strong skills in climate epidemiology to come help us launch a Global Burden of Climate Change Study. Remote possible for the right person; aim to raise $ for a second year.
August 19, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Come work with us!! Great group and super cool work 😎
Reposted by Cole Brookson
🚨 Very, very big news. Today, a global coalition - including members of the IPCC, IPBES, and WHO expert advisors, as well as independent virologists, epidemiologists, and lawyers - started the process of creating an "IPCC for Pandemics."
🔓 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
🧵 Five things to know 👉
🔓 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
🧵 Five things to know 👉
July 17, 2025 at 1:28 PM
🚨 Very, very big news. Today, a global coalition - including members of the IPCC, IPBES, and WHO expert advisors, as well as independent virologists, epidemiologists, and lawyers - started the process of creating an "IPCC for Pandemics."
🔓 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
🧵 Five things to know 👉
🔓 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
🧵 Five things to know 👉
It's hard to overstate how devastating these cuts will be for our incredible group of people working on these important questions.
An update from the team on the uncertain future of our program and the impact of NSF budget cuts. Please share and reach out 🦠
June 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
It's hard to overstate how devastating these cuts will be for our incredible group of people working on these important questions.
Reposted by Cole Brookson
An update from the team on the uncertain future of our program and the impact of NSF budget cuts. Please share and reach out 🦠
June 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM
An update from the team on the uncertain future of our program and the impact of NSF budget cuts. Please share and reach out 🦠
Do you write code? Do you wonder why we don't review code like we review writing? Well, we should :) Led by @jpeters7.bsky.social, we wrote some guidelines and resources for reviewing code, check it out! ecoforecast.org/resources-fo...
Resources for Reviewing Code | Ecological Forecasting Initiative
ecoforecast.org
March 11, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Do you write code? Do you wonder why we don't review code like we review writing? Well, we should :) Led by @jpeters7.bsky.social, we wrote some guidelines and resources for reviewing code, check it out! ecoforecast.org/resources-fo...
Reposted by Cole Brookson
Little known, recently discovered fact:
Measles wipes out immune protections OTHER diseases: many who recover actually face big future risk.
Earlier measles may be implicated in HALF OF ALL LATER CHILDHOOD DEATHS from ALL infectious diseases before vaccines.
Gift🔗👉
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...
Measles wipes out immune protections OTHER diseases: many who recover actually face big future risk.
Earlier measles may be implicated in HALF OF ALL LATER CHILDHOOD DEATHS from ALL infectious diseases before vaccines.
Gift🔗👉
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...
February 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Little known, recently discovered fact:
Measles wipes out immune protections OTHER diseases: many who recover actually face big future risk.
Earlier measles may be implicated in HALF OF ALL LATER CHILDHOOD DEATHS from ALL infectious diseases before vaccines.
Gift🔗👉
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...
Measles wipes out immune protections OTHER diseases: many who recover actually face big future risk.
Earlier measles may be implicated in HALF OF ALL LATER CHILDHOOD DEATHS from ALL infectious diseases before vaccines.
Gift🔗👉
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...
Reposted by Cole Brookson
FWIW, the reason "academia had it coming" is usually some thinly veiled version of (1) my colleagues keep making fun of my shitty race science, (2) people called me an asshole for saying false things about COVID, or (3) mommy says I'm a very clever boy but my professors didn't appreciate my genius.
February 24, 2025 at 5:28 AM
FWIW, the reason "academia had it coming" is usually some thinly veiled version of (1) my colleagues keep making fun of my shitty race science, (2) people called me an asshole for saying false things about COVID, or (3) mommy says I'm a very clever boy but my professors didn't appreciate my genius.
Reposted by Cole Brookson
This a summary of last part o my Ph.D. We investigated how temperature can affect the outcome of dengue infection.
The study covers a 10y period in all five regions of Brasil and all sub-climates of the country
We conclude that higher temperature makes risk of hospitalizations due dengue bigger!
The study covers a 10y period in all five regions of Brasil and all sub-climates of the country
We conclude that higher temperature makes risk of hospitalizations due dengue bigger!
Does heat have a short effect on Dengue, increasing risk for severe cases?
We know meteorological factors affect dengue incidence, with lag effects on weeks/months.
Here, led by @rafalpx.bsky.social, we found also a short effect of heat for Dengue Hospitalisation
journals.lww.com/environepide...
We know meteorological factors affect dengue incidence, with lag effects on weeks/months.
Here, led by @rafalpx.bsky.social, we found also a short effect of heat for Dengue Hospitalisation
journals.lww.com/environepide...
February 11, 2025 at 3:49 PM
This a summary of last part o my Ph.D. We investigated how temperature can affect the outcome of dengue infection.
The study covers a 10y period in all five regions of Brasil and all sub-climates of the country
We conclude that higher temperature makes risk of hospitalizations due dengue bigger!
The study covers a 10y period in all five regions of Brasil and all sub-climates of the country
We conclude that higher temperature makes risk of hospitalizations due dengue bigger!
Reposted by Cole Brookson
The Data Life Cycle is a useful narrative device to understand how data flow within a project. But understanding how it fits with complex model pipelines has been awkward. So we wrote a thing! It's called the Model Life Cycle, and it's now out in PLOS Comp Biol: 🧪
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Ten quick tips to build a Model Life Cycle
journals.plos.org
February 4, 2025 at 6:36 PM
The Data Life Cycle is a useful narrative device to understand how data flow within a project. But understanding how it fits with complex model pipelines has been awkward. So we wrote a thing! It's called the Model Life Cycle, and it's now out in PLOS Comp Biol: 🧪
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Reposted by Cole Brookson
NEW: Census Bureau working papers on poverty measurement--research the public paid for and has a right to access--have been removed.
Example analysis of "Alternative School Lunch Valuation in the 2022 Supplemental Poverty Measure" is missing
www.census.gov/content/dam/...
Example analysis of "Alternative School Lunch Valuation in the 2022 Supplemental Poverty Measure" is missing
www.census.gov/content/dam/...
www.census.gov
February 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
NEW: Census Bureau working papers on poverty measurement--research the public paid for and has a right to access--have been removed.
Example analysis of "Alternative School Lunch Valuation in the 2022 Supplemental Poverty Measure" is missing
www.census.gov/content/dam/...
Example analysis of "Alternative School Lunch Valuation in the 2022 Supplemental Poverty Measure" is missing
www.census.gov/content/dam/...
Reposted by Cole Brookson
Just got a story approved to run on Monday on the crisis happening at the NSF.
If you are an NSF-funded scientist and have been personally impacted by the funding pause this week, I'd love to hear from you.
Reach me securely on Signal: 3162958947
If you are an NSF-funded scientist and have been personally impacted by the funding pause this week, I'd love to hear from you.
Reach me securely on Signal: 3162958947
I'm begging a major news org to cover the fact NSF is defying the courts to enact Trump's unconstitutional executive order
January 31, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Just got a story approved to run on Monday on the crisis happening at the NSF.
If you are an NSF-funded scientist and have been personally impacted by the funding pause this week, I'd love to hear from you.
Reach me securely on Signal: 3162958947
If you are an NSF-funded scientist and have been personally impacted by the funding pause this week, I'd love to hear from you.
Reach me securely on Signal: 3162958947
Reposted by Cole Brookson
Agree! The NIH and academic institutions are rushing to implement changes and freezes in response to executive orders that could be illegal or rescinded in days. Maybe we should push back a little, yeah?🧪
It would be fantastic if major federal institutions would acknowledge that the executive branch cannot legally unilaterally cancel or redistribute congressionally appropriated funding on ideological grounds and thus they have no legal obligation to comply with such directives
Trump funding freeze a blatant violation of Constitution, federal law: Legal experts
The Constitution, federal law and court decisions make it clear: President Donald Trump's order to pause federal funding is against the law, legal experts tell ABC News.
abcnews.go.com
January 31, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Agree! The NIH and academic institutions are rushing to implement changes and freezes in response to executive orders that could be illegal or rescinded in days. Maybe we should push back a little, yeah?🧪
Reposted by Cole Brookson
If you're a non-UK scientist who wants to come to the UK for a postdoc, this year's Newton Fellowships are now open. You'll need a lab to host you (which could be me, but truly, could be any PI, so get in touch with someone you'd like to work with!)
royalsociety.org/grants/newto...
royalsociety.org/grants/newto...
Newton International Fellowships | Royal Society
This fellowship is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.
royalsociety.org
January 29, 2025 at 5:27 PM
If you're a non-UK scientist who wants to come to the UK for a postdoc, this year's Newton Fellowships are now open. You'll need a lab to host you (which could be me, but truly, could be any PI, so get in touch with someone you'd like to work with!)
royalsociety.org/grants/newto...
royalsociety.org/grants/newto...
Chat, is science political now?
January 28, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Chat, is science political now?
Reposted by Cole Brookson
Who is Russell Vought?
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains....We want to put them in trauma.”
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains....We want to put them in trauma.”
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
January 28, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Who is Russell Vought?
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains....We want to put them in trauma.”
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains....We want to put them in trauma.”
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Reposted by Cole Brookson
NSF PRFB POSTDOCS:
Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs.
If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite
Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs.
If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite
January 28, 2025 at 5:36 PM
NSF PRFB POSTDOCS:
Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs.
If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite
Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs.
If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite
Reposted by Cole Brookson
If you are an environmental researcher and have been negatively affected by the pause / suspension of federal funds (for research or programs) — please LET ME KNOW.
I am writing a story about this ASAP for The New Lede / The Guardian.
I am writing a story about this ASAP for The New Lede / The Guardian.
And just like that, my new award from the @StateDept to help Pakistan grapple with air pollution and climate change is no more, thanks to this new administration
January 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
If you are an environmental researcher and have been negatively affected by the pause / suspension of federal funds (for research or programs) — please LET ME KNOW.
I am writing a story about this ASAP for The New Lede / The Guardian.
I am writing a story about this ASAP for The New Lede / The Guardian.
Reposted by Cole Brookson
"where are all the protests?"
read our series showing the legacy of both the Trump and Biden admins—from BLM in the 2010s, to Standing Rock, to George Floyd, to the Palestine encampments—as protest suppression and criminalization. politicians want to call blocking traffic and masking "terrorism."
read our series showing the legacy of both the Trump and Biden admins—from BLM in the 2010s, to Standing Rock, to George Floyd, to the Palestine encampments—as protest suppression and criminalization. politicians want to call blocking traffic and masking "terrorism."
Welcome to the United States of Suppression
Our new series documents the recent crackdown on dissent and protests in the U.S.
www.teenvogue.com
January 28, 2025 at 4:01 PM
"where are all the protests?"
read our series showing the legacy of both the Trump and Biden admins—from BLM in the 2010s, to Standing Rock, to George Floyd, to the Palestine encampments—as protest suppression and criminalization. politicians want to call blocking traffic and masking "terrorism."
read our series showing the legacy of both the Trump and Biden admins—from BLM in the 2010s, to Standing Rock, to George Floyd, to the Palestine encampments—as protest suppression and criminalization. politicians want to call blocking traffic and masking "terrorism."
While all this insane grant freezing is going on, Kansas currently has the largest TB outbreak in US *history* going on right now. www.cidrap.umn.edu/tuberculosis...
Kansas tuberculosis outbreak now largest in US
Sixty-seven active TB cases and 79 latent TB cases have been reported in 2 Kansas counties since the beginning of 2024.
www.cidrap.umn.edu
January 28, 2025 at 2:53 PM
While all this insane grant freezing is going on, Kansas currently has the largest TB outbreak in US *history* going on right now. www.cidrap.umn.edu/tuberculosis...
This is truly insane to see happening. Not all that surprising, but definitely insane — cannot imagine how folks are supposed to deal with this
Here's a short piece with a bit more on the apparent purchasing freeze/hostage situation at NIH
The Trump Administration Appears to Be Holding the NIH Hostage
Splinter is your home for news and opinions that challenge power in our political and economic system that's becoming more unhinged each and every day.
www.splinter.com
January 24, 2025 at 6:53 PM
This is truly insane to see happening. Not all that surprising, but definitely insane — cannot imagine how folks are supposed to deal with this
Reposted by Cole Brookson
The world has been through anti-science cycles before, to disastrous results
On a detour on my lit review, a mosey through the history of our familiar friend, the standard onion (Allium cepa) brought me right to one of botany's greatest cautionary tales of what happens when ideology overrides data
On a detour on my lit review, a mosey through the history of our familiar friend, the standard onion (Allium cepa) brought me right to one of botany's greatest cautionary tales of what happens when ideology overrides data
January 23, 2025 at 9:50 PM
The world has been through anti-science cycles before, to disastrous results
On a detour on my lit review, a mosey through the history of our familiar friend, the standard onion (Allium cepa) brought me right to one of botany's greatest cautionary tales of what happens when ideology overrides data
On a detour on my lit review, a mosey through the history of our familiar friend, the standard onion (Allium cepa) brought me right to one of botany's greatest cautionary tales of what happens when ideology overrides data