Emily Petherick
@drepetherick.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology & Biostatistics, SSEHS, Loughborough University
Reposted by Emily Petherick
I'm genuinely gobsmacked that the Home Office think this is a good idea. How do they envisage "training" technology to verify the age of a young person from (say) Darfur or Iraqi Kurdistan? They might as well get the calipers out and start doing phrenology
Given what we know about AI reproducing existing racial bias, and the inaccurate and racist results of facial recognition technology, this has to be there with the worst proposals the Home Office has ever made, and believe me, the bar is high
UK border officials to use AI to verify ages of child asylum seekers
Trial of technology comes as official report warns existing system has been failing for at least a decade
www.theguardian.com
July 22, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I'm genuinely gobsmacked that the Home Office think this is a good idea. How do they envisage "training" technology to verify the age of a young person from (say) Darfur or Iraqi Kurdistan? They might as well get the calipers out and start doing phrenology
Reposted by Emily Petherick
The only problem is that the citations go to papers that don't actually exist.
July 7, 2025 at 6:45 AM
The only problem is that the citations go to papers that don't actually exist.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
* New preprint led by Joao Matos & @gscollins.bsky.social
"Critical Appraisal of Fairness Metrics in Clinical Predictive AI"
- Important, rapidly growing area
- But confusion exists
- 62 fairness metrics identified so far
- Better standards & metrics needed for healthcare
arxiv.org/abs/2506.17035
"Critical Appraisal of Fairness Metrics in Clinical Predictive AI"
- Important, rapidly growing area
- But confusion exists
- 62 fairness metrics identified so far
- Better standards & metrics needed for healthcare
arxiv.org/abs/2506.17035
June 27, 2025 at 6:57 AM
* New preprint led by Joao Matos & @gscollins.bsky.social
"Critical Appraisal of Fairness Metrics in Clinical Predictive AI"
- Important, rapidly growing area
- But confusion exists
- 62 fairness metrics identified so far
- Better standards & metrics needed for healthcare
arxiv.org/abs/2506.17035
"Critical Appraisal of Fairness Metrics in Clinical Predictive AI"
- Important, rapidly growing area
- But confusion exists
- 62 fairness metrics identified so far
- Better standards & metrics needed for healthcare
arxiv.org/abs/2506.17035
Reposted by Emily Petherick
Plenty studies showing that your postcode is a better predictor of your health outcomes than your genome.
The BBC & Telegraph are trailing Wes Streeting’s technophile health plans, including genomic mapping at birth.
Is this really gonna transform the NHS into a prevention service within 10 yrs, as Wes claims? For v rare genetic conditions, praps. But for the real burden of disease?
Thoughts, #medsky?
Is this really gonna transform the NHS into a prevention service within 10 yrs, as Wes claims? For v rare genetic conditions, praps. But for the real burden of disease?
Thoughts, #medsky?
June 22, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Plenty studies showing that your postcode is a better predictor of your health outcomes than your genome.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
“[A] key irony of automation is that by mechanising routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of routine opportunities to practice judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.”
June 2, 2025 at 1:07 PM
“[A] key irony of automation is that by mechanising routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of routine opportunities to practice judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.”
Reposted by Emily Petherick
Do you work in UK health and care analytics using data to deliver better outcomes for patients?
Why not enter our Florence Nightingale Award supported by @healthfoundation.bsky.social
Enter by 30 April: rss.org.uk/training-eve...
Why not enter our Florence Nightingale Award supported by @healthfoundation.bsky.social
Enter by 30 April: rss.org.uk/training-eve...
April 14, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Do you work in UK health and care analytics using data to deliver better outcomes for patients?
Why not enter our Florence Nightingale Award supported by @healthfoundation.bsky.social
Enter by 30 April: rss.org.uk/training-eve...
Why not enter our Florence Nightingale Award supported by @healthfoundation.bsky.social
Enter by 30 April: rss.org.uk/training-eve...
Such a nice example of the potential pitfalls of drawing conclusions from research using routine data without understanding how the data are generated.
You’ve probably heard of blue zones—places where people are thought to live disproportionately longer and healthier lives.
Jerusalem Demsas talks with Dr. Saul Newman, who seeks to debunk the theory. Could the real secret to a long life be lying about your age?
Jerusalem Demsas talks with Dr. Saul Newman, who seeks to debunk the theory. Could the real secret to a long life be lying about your age?
Are Blue Zones a Mirage?
The age detectives are fighting.
www.theatlantic.com
April 1, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Such a nice example of the potential pitfalls of drawing conclusions from research using routine data without understanding how the data are generated.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
Big piece on how the UK is not getting the data it needs and how this is affecting policymaking. A key issue seems to be that the shift from surveys to admin data has not worked well as govt departments have not allowed the ONS access to the data it needs
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
How flawed data is leaving the UK in the dark
Trouble at the Office for National Statistics means policymakers cannot rely on key economic numbers, including on employment
on.ft.com
February 7, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Big piece on how the UK is not getting the data it needs and how this is affecting policymaking. A key issue seems to be that the shift from surveys to admin data has not worked well as govt departments have not allowed the ONS access to the data it needs
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
on.ft.com/3WSCN6h
Reposted by Emily Petherick
Please check the @ises-epi.bsky.social announcement for the 2025 Call for Awards to recognize the work of doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career researchers in social epidemiology. Deadline is April 30, 2025. #PublicHealth #EpiSky #SocialEpi #SDoH
March 26, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Please check the @ises-epi.bsky.social announcement for the 2025 Call for Awards to recognize the work of doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career researchers in social epidemiology. Deadline is April 30, 2025. #PublicHealth #EpiSky #SocialEpi #SDoH
Reposted by Emily Petherick
*Free/subsidised place opportunities for NHS and Local Authority colleagues to attend the 2025 Society for Social Medicine and Population Health Annual Conference in Bradford (10-12 Sept)*
10 to those in the Bradford district; 10 from elsewhere in the UK and Ireland.
Apply here: bit.ly/3FCh8JR
10 to those in the Bradford district; 10 from elsewhere in the UK and Ireland.
Apply here: bit.ly/3FCh8JR
March 26, 2025 at 11:05 AM
*Free/subsidised place opportunities for NHS and Local Authority colleagues to attend the 2025 Society for Social Medicine and Population Health Annual Conference in Bradford (10-12 Sept)*
10 to those in the Bradford district; 10 from elsewhere in the UK and Ireland.
Apply here: bit.ly/3FCh8JR
10 to those in the Bradford district; 10 from elsewhere in the UK and Ireland.
Apply here: bit.ly/3FCh8JR
Reposted by Emily Petherick
MIT offering travel advice (or rather do not travel advice) for international visitors and green card holders.
If folks at other institutions are receiving similar guidance, please consider sharing here.
Please be as safe as you can.
If folks at other institutions are receiving similar guidance, please consider sharing here.
Please be as safe as you can.
March 19, 2025 at 11:16 PM
MIT offering travel advice (or rather do not travel advice) for international visitors and green card holders.
If folks at other institutions are receiving similar guidance, please consider sharing here.
Please be as safe as you can.
If folks at other institutions are receiving similar guidance, please consider sharing here.
Please be as safe as you can.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
🚨 NEW: Only a fraction of medical students come from working class backgrounds, despite recent efforts to widen access.
Our new research finds persistent issues with access to careers in medicine, as working-class people remain hugely underrepresented in the profession 🧵⬇️
Our new research finds persistent issues with access to careers in medicine, as working-class people remain hugely underrepresented in the profession 🧵⬇️
February 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
🚨 NEW: Only a fraction of medical students come from working class backgrounds, despite recent efforts to widen access.
Our new research finds persistent issues with access to careers in medicine, as working-class people remain hugely underrepresented in the profession 🧵⬇️
Our new research finds persistent issues with access to careers in medicine, as working-class people remain hugely underrepresented in the profession 🧵⬇️
Reposted by Emily Petherick
📢 Are you or someone you know considering a career in the think tank sector?
We're hosting an online webinar for those interested in the sector, aimed particularly at those from under-represented groups.
Find out more and sign up here👇
https://buff.ly/3CYMwky
We're hosting an online webinar for those interested in the sector, aimed particularly at those from under-represented groups.
Find out more and sign up here👇
https://buff.ly/3CYMwky
February 20, 2025 at 8:51 AM
📢 Are you or someone you know considering a career in the think tank sector?
We're hosting an online webinar for those interested in the sector, aimed particularly at those from under-represented groups.
Find out more and sign up here👇
https://buff.ly/3CYMwky
We're hosting an online webinar for those interested in the sector, aimed particularly at those from under-represented groups.
Find out more and sign up here👇
https://buff.ly/3CYMwky
Reposted by Emily Petherick
The American College of OB/GYN’s website is now hosting the critical documents purged by the CDC
This is what every professional medical organization should be doing right now
#MedSky
www.acog.org/clinical/cli...
This is what every professional medical organization should be doing right now
#MedSky
www.acog.org/clinical/cli...
ACOG Endorsed
The following documents have ACOG’s endorsement and are listed in order of endorsed date.
www.acog.org
February 4, 2025 at 2:16 AM
The American College of OB/GYN’s website is now hosting the critical documents purged by the CDC
This is what every professional medical organization should be doing right now
#MedSky
www.acog.org/clinical/cli...
This is what every professional medical organization should be doing right now
#MedSky
www.acog.org/clinical/cli...
Reposted by Emily Petherick
An anonymous person at the CDC just archived all the public CDC datasets as of 1/28 and uploaded it to archive.org
Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine
archive.org
February 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM
An anonymous person at the CDC just archived all the public CDC datasets as of 1/28 and uploaded it to archive.org
Reposted by Emily Petherick
“People will get sick. And, especially in cases like congenital syphilis where you cannot lose a day to treat, babies will die.” The appalling human cost of this insane exercise in gender censorship mustn’t be forgotten.
www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-std...
www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-std...
CDC purges STD and vaccine recommendations after Trump gender order
Health experts say the website purge could result in deaths.
www.cbsnews.com
February 6, 2025 at 5:54 AM
“People will get sick. And, especially in cases like congenital syphilis where you cannot lose a day to treat, babies will die.” The appalling human cost of this insane exercise in gender censorship mustn’t be forgotten.
www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-std...
www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-std...
Reposted by Emily Petherick
If you post a paper on SocArXiv, and then your authoritarian employer demands that you change certain words, of course you can post a revised version - but the original version will be preserved and remain available. FYI.
February 3, 2025 at 2:44 PM
If you post a paper on SocArXiv, and then your authoritarian employer demands that you change certain words, of course you can post a revised version - but the original version will be preserved and remain available. FYI.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
Here's the research paper with @matthewjcull.bsky.social and @fionawoollard.bsky.social that takes applied philosophy of language to gender inclusion in pregnancy and birth and shows how it CAN be done well. You just need a toolbox of linguistic strategies!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Caring for Everyone: Effective and Inclusive Communication in Perinatal Care | Hypatia | Cambridge Core
Caring for Everyone: Effective and Inclusive Communication in Perinatal Care
www.cambridge.org
January 30, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Here's the research paper with @matthewjcull.bsky.social and @fionawoollard.bsky.social that takes applied philosophy of language to gender inclusion in pregnancy and birth and shows how it CAN be done well. You just need a toolbox of linguistic strategies!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Emily Petherick
"The Food Foundation found that 1,000 calories of healthy food such as fruit and veg costs £8.80, compared to £4.30 for the equivalent amount of less healthy food, such as ready meals and processed meats."
Your health is shaped by what you AFFORD to eat.
#PublicHealth
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Your health is shaped by what you AFFORD to eat.
#PublicHealth
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Healthy food costs more than double less healthy options, analysis says
Low-income families are being priced out of being able to afford to eat healthily, a charity warns.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2025 at 9:11 AM
"The Food Foundation found that 1,000 calories of healthy food such as fruit and veg costs £8.80, compared to £4.30 for the equivalent amount of less healthy food, such as ready meals and processed meats."
Your health is shaped by what you AFFORD to eat.
#PublicHealth
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Your health is shaped by what you AFFORD to eat.
#PublicHealth
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Emily Petherick
*Early Career Researchers*
Prof Alastair Leyland at the University of Glasgow has shared a workshop on the environmental impact of climate change in the Amazon and its effect on population health happening in June 2025 in Brazil.
More information and apply at lnkd.in/g4D8bk5a
Deadline 07/02/25
Prof Alastair Leyland at the University of Glasgow has shared a workshop on the environmental impact of climate change in the Amazon and its effect on population health happening in June 2025 in Brazil.
More information and apply at lnkd.in/g4D8bk5a
Deadline 07/02/25
January 29, 2025 at 8:36 AM
*Early Career Researchers*
Prof Alastair Leyland at the University of Glasgow has shared a workshop on the environmental impact of climate change in the Amazon and its effect on population health happening in June 2025 in Brazil.
More information and apply at lnkd.in/g4D8bk5a
Deadline 07/02/25
Prof Alastair Leyland at the University of Glasgow has shared a workshop on the environmental impact of climate change in the Amazon and its effect on population health happening in June 2025 in Brazil.
More information and apply at lnkd.in/g4D8bk5a
Deadline 07/02/25
Following online today, sounds like such a great resource with an impressive coverage of lower and middle income countries.
We’re at @wellcometrust.bsky.social for the launch of the Atlas of Longitudinal Datasets - a free online platform that maps longitudinal datasets around the world🌎 @larseneault.bsky.social @mqmentalhealth.bsky.social
🔗https://atlaslongitudinaldatasets.ac.uk/ #AtlasLongitudinalDatasets
🔗https://atlaslongitudinaldatasets.ac.uk/ #AtlasLongitudinalDatasets
January 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Following online today, sounds like such a great resource with an impressive coverage of lower and middle income countries.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
I love & appreciate all the academics doing the studies to confirm what feels instinctually obvious.
Want to get rid of Nigel Farage’s support & banish the far right across Europe?
People must be able to access quality public services.
It doesn’t feel like rocket science.
Want to get rid of Nigel Farage’s support & banish the far right across Europe?
People must be able to access quality public services.
It doesn’t feel like rocket science.
New paper published @ajpseditor.bsky.social
Showing that reduced access to public services fuelled far right support in 🇮🇹
Existing work on far right highlights globalization & migration grievances, what about people’s experiences with the state?
We use 🇮🇹 reform to find out
shorturl.at/zQ8bJ
Showing that reduced access to public services fuelled far right support in 🇮🇹
Existing work on far right highlights globalization & migration grievances, what about people’s experiences with the state?
We use 🇮🇹 reform to find out
shorturl.at/zQ8bJ
December 6, 2024 at 10:59 AM
I love & appreciate all the academics doing the studies to confirm what feels instinctually obvious.
Want to get rid of Nigel Farage’s support & banish the far right across Europe?
People must be able to access quality public services.
It doesn’t feel like rocket science.
Want to get rid of Nigel Farage’s support & banish the far right across Europe?
People must be able to access quality public services.
It doesn’t feel like rocket science.
Reposted by Emily Petherick
An AI system used by the DWP to detect welfare fraud is showing bias according to people’s age, disability, marital status & nationality
BUT we are not allowed to know yet what the bias is?
Be useful to know for advocacy/support, we do have equalities law also
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
BUT we are not allowed to know yet what the bias is?
Be useful to know for advocacy/support, we do have equalities law also
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Revealed: bias found in AI system used to detect UK benefits fraud
Exclusive: Age, disability, marital status and nationality influence decisions to investigate claims, prompting fears of ‘hurt first, fix later’ approach
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2024 at 8:22 AM
An AI system used by the DWP to detect welfare fraud is showing bias according to people’s age, disability, marital status & nationality
BUT we are not allowed to know yet what the bias is?
Be useful to know for advocacy/support, we do have equalities law also
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
BUT we are not allowed to know yet what the bias is?
Be useful to know for advocacy/support, we do have equalities law also
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
Reposted by Emily Petherick
How many children’s lives has the measles vaccine saved in 50 years?
Around 90 million.
Important to remind ourselves that vaccines save lives
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... @ourworldindata.org
Around 90 million.
Important to remind ourselves that vaccines save lives
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... @ourworldindata.org
December 2, 2024 at 6:41 PM
How many children’s lives has the measles vaccine saved in 50 years?
Around 90 million.
Important to remind ourselves that vaccines save lives
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... @ourworldindata.org
Around 90 million.
Important to remind ourselves that vaccines save lives
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... @ourworldindata.org