Gigi Gronvall
@ggronvall.bsky.social
Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Center for Health Security
1st Hopkins prof to be a Marching Raven!
1st Hopkins prof to be a Marching Raven!
Pinned
Gigi Gronvall
@ggronvall.bsky.social
· Dec 12
Cfr mtg NIH director
YouTube video by Gigi Gronvall
youtu.be
I had the opportunity to ask NIH Dir. Jay Bhattacharya about his comments re: mRNA vaccines, that they had "failed to earn the public's trust" so the NIH should not invest. His answer demonstrates that science and pandemic preparedness are taking a backseat to ideology.
youtu.be/S0rsz3Ph7XE?...
youtu.be/S0rsz3Ph7XE?...
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
Great piece on Dr Bhattacharya, “widely & rightly regarded as a disaster for NIH & for US public health”
Under Jay, “NIH has suffered mass lay-offs, dismissals of previous heads of staff, & resignations” of those who refuse to stomach his capitulation to RFK Jr
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
Under Jay, “NIH has suffered mass lay-offs, dismissals of previous heads of staff, & resignations” of those who refuse to stomach his capitulation to RFK Jr
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
The slow death of American science
Trump’s public health appointees are spreading such dangerous disinformation that it’s killing Americans. The world of science has to take a stand
www.thenewworld.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Great piece on Dr Bhattacharya, “widely & rightly regarded as a disaster for NIH & for US public health”
Under Jay, “NIH has suffered mass lay-offs, dismissals of previous heads of staff, & resignations” of those who refuse to stomach his capitulation to RFK Jr
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
Under Jay, “NIH has suffered mass lay-offs, dismissals of previous heads of staff, & resignations” of those who refuse to stomach his capitulation to RFK Jr
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
Measles was eliminated in 2000. Now? Back in 43 states. Not because science failed, but because leaders chose lies over public health. Vaccines work. Misinformation kills. A preventable disease is returning, and accountability matters.
Stay informed. Follow @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for more.
Stay informed. Follow @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for more.
February 4, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Measles was eliminated in 2000. Now? Back in 43 states. Not because science failed, but because leaders chose lies over public health. Vaccines work. Misinformation kills. A preventable disease is returning, and accountability matters.
Stay informed. Follow @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for more.
Stay informed. Follow @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for more.
This is the argument the antivaxxers are using to remake the US guidelines which will leave children vulnerable — he should not get credit for being accurate on this.
“Any single vaccine” is the key phrasing here.
And it’s deliberate. See, Bhattacharya cannot acknowledge the truth that vaccines do not cause autism—indeed the idea that they do is based on fraudulent research—without alienating his anti-vax friends with whom he made a devil’s bargain for power.
And it’s deliberate. See, Bhattacharya cannot acknowledge the truth that vaccines do not cause autism—indeed the idea that they do is based on fraudulent research—without alienating his anti-vax friends with whom he made a devil’s bargain for power.
BERNIE SANDERS: Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism
SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism
BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism
SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism
February 4, 2026 at 11:18 AM
This is the argument the antivaxxers are using to remake the US guidelines which will leave children vulnerable — he should not get credit for being accurate on this.
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
"China is going to surpass the West as the world’s pharmaceutical leader....In 2024, China surpassed the U.S. in the number of clinical trials underway, and that was before the Trump administration started playing games with university research budgets." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Moderna’s chilling announcement is a symptom of a deeper sickness
China is on track to become the world’s pharmaceutical leader if the U.S. keeps blowing its edge.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 3, 2026 at 3:14 PM
"China is going to surpass the West as the world’s pharmaceutical leader....In 2024, China surpassed the U.S. in the number of clinical trials underway, and that was before the Trump administration started playing games with university research budgets." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
Morning!
In a recent editorial in the nasty right wing rag The Spectator, the NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, a true MAGA hero & a Trump loyalist, celebrated how he had “cured” the NIH of diversity, of equity, and of inclusion
Guess what’s in Project 2025 (page 462)?
Go on, you’ll never guess!
In a recent editorial in the nasty right wing rag The Spectator, the NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, a true MAGA hero & a Trump loyalist, celebrated how he had “cured” the NIH of diversity, of equity, and of inclusion
Guess what’s in Project 2025 (page 462)?
Go on, you’ll never guess!
January 31, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Morning!
In a recent editorial in the nasty right wing rag The Spectator, the NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, a true MAGA hero & a Trump loyalist, celebrated how he had “cured” the NIH of diversity, of equity, and of inclusion
Guess what’s in Project 2025 (page 462)?
Go on, you’ll never guess!
In a recent editorial in the nasty right wing rag The Spectator, the NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, a true MAGA hero & a Trump loyalist, celebrated how he had “cured” the NIH of diversity, of equity, and of inclusion
Guess what’s in Project 2025 (page 462)?
Go on, you’ll never guess!
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
Another day, another panel RFK Jr stacks with anti-science kooks😢
1 kook is tied with RFK Jr’s anti-vaxx activist group Children's Health Defense, 1 is from Independent Medical Alliance (it pushes ivermectin for Covid), 1 is from Jeff Tucker’s Brownstone Institute (www.politico.com/news/2025/10...)
1 kook is tied with RFK Jr’s anti-vaxx activist group Children's Health Defense, 1 is from Independent Medical Alliance (it pushes ivermectin for Covid), 1 is from Jeff Tucker’s Brownstone Institute (www.politico.com/news/2025/10...)
Kennedy resets US autism panel with new line-up of 21 members reut.rs/4tlWyBQ
Kennedy resets US autism panel with new line-up of 21 members
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday remade a federal panel that guides national autism policy, naming a new slate of 21 members that includes some with ties to groups promoting unproven claims that link vaccines to autism.
reut.rs
January 29, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Another day, another panel RFK Jr stacks with anti-science kooks😢
1 kook is tied with RFK Jr’s anti-vaxx activist group Children's Health Defense, 1 is from Independent Medical Alliance (it pushes ivermectin for Covid), 1 is from Jeff Tucker’s Brownstone Institute (www.politico.com/news/2025/10...)
1 kook is tied with RFK Jr’s anti-vaxx activist group Children's Health Defense, 1 is from Independent Medical Alliance (it pushes ivermectin for Covid), 1 is from Jeff Tucker’s Brownstone Institute (www.politico.com/news/2025/10...)
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
In 2022, an unvaccinated man living in Rockland County, NY--miles from where I grew up--was hospitalized with permanent PARALYSIS from a polio infection. We vaccinate kids to prevent such tragedies. www.aol.com/rockland-hit...
January 22, 2026 at 6:46 PM
In 2022, an unvaccinated man living in Rockland County, NY--miles from where I grew up--was hospitalized with permanent PARALYSIS from a polio infection. We vaccinate kids to prevent such tragedies. www.aol.com/rockland-hit...
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
And so it is done - the United States has left the World Health Organization. Leaving behind hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid dues.
If the plan - truly - was to make America healthy again, this will guarantee the opposite will happen.
If the plan - truly - was to make America healthy again, this will guarantee the opposite will happen.
The US withdrawal from #WHO became official today, leaving the world less prepared for dangerous disease outbreaks. “When that will bite us in the ass, it’s impossible to predict. But there is a 100% certainty that it will bite us in the ass,” one expert told me. www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/u...
U.S. makes exit from the WHO complete
The U.S. withdrawal from the WHO became official Thursday, formalizing a fissure between the Trump administration and the Geneva-based global health agency.
www.statnews.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:11 PM
And so it is done - the United States has left the World Health Organization. Leaving behind hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid dues.
If the plan - truly - was to make America healthy again, this will guarantee the opposite will happen.
If the plan - truly - was to make America healthy again, this will guarantee the opposite will happen.
Most things are bad, but this was not—Congrats to IU!
January 20, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Most things are bad, but this was not—Congrats to IU!
Good news that an unethical study was canceled— thread about why it was a bad idea on multiple levels.
A few updates on the deeply unethical study to probe "non-specific" effects of the birth dose HepB vaccine in Guinea-Bissau by Danish investigators.
1️⃣ The study was canceled as per AfricaCDC - HHS disputes this.
2️⃣ Full protocol was leaked and it's bad.
Quick 🧵
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
1️⃣ The study was canceled as per AfricaCDC - HHS disputes this.
2️⃣ Full protocol was leaked and it's bad.
Quick 🧵
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Good news that an unethical study was canceled— thread about why it was a bad idea on multiple levels.
Gene synthesis is increasingly faster, cheaper, and global-- which is great for science. But it can be misused, and governance and risk awareness is uneven. Our paper looks at a practical way to close that gap. TL;DR: bottom-up, institutional approaches matter. www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Increasing Gene Synthesis Security Risk Awareness Through Global Engagement and Collaborative Exercise Development | Health Security
Gene synthesis technologies are broadly useful and increasingly ubiquitous tools for life sciences research and development of medical countermeasures. The growth of the global commercial nucleic acid synthesis market has raised concerns that these technologies might undermine measures intended to reduce biological risks, including by preventing the theft, diversion, or misuse of high-consequence pathogens. Although the members of the International Gene Synthesis Consortium have voluntarily adopted sequence and customer screening for commercial gene synthesis orders, national frameworks and institutional capacities to assess and mitigate the potential risks of misuse of gene synthesis vary widely. In this case study, we describe the use of collaborative development of simulation exercises as an approach to raise awareness among key stakeholders of potential biosecurity risks associated with use of gene synthesis, while identifying context-specific, multilayered approaches to biosecurity that can be implemented at the national and institutional level. Experts from India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the Philippines worked in mentored, virtual breakout sessions to develop simulation exercises based on first-hand knowledge of local context to inform appropriate, sustainable approaches to measures to enhance oversight of nucleic acid synthesis procurement at the institutional level or to promote adoption of national frameworks. This project reinforced the proof-of-principle that collaborative exercises can be used to address a broad variety of research governance gaps to enhance national and institutional biosecurity.
www.liebertpub.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Gene synthesis is increasingly faster, cheaper, and global-- which is great for science. But it can be misused, and governance and risk awareness is uneven. Our paper looks at a practical way to close that gap. TL;DR: bottom-up, institutional approaches matter. www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1177/...
From back when Indiana didn’t win games 56-22. Go IU!
January 10, 2026 at 4:16 AM
From back when Indiana didn’t win games 56-22. Go IU!
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
the annual chances of a pandemic are still relatively low, but if there is one under rfk jr. and trump—say, with a infection fatality rate of 2 or 3%—things are going to get pretty hairy, well beyond anything we saw with covid
What is one trend nobody is discussing but will have a big effect on the next year or decade? It could be good or bad.
January 7, 2026 at 3:55 PM
the annual chances of a pandemic are still relatively low, but if there is one under rfk jr. and trump—say, with a infection fatality rate of 2 or 3%—things are going to get pretty hairy, well beyond anything we saw with covid
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
I re-read @gavinyamey.bsky.social and @jonshaffer.bsky.social's piece in BMJ again. One thing left unsaid is the way powerful doctors-outside of the administration-are propping up this regime, with excuses, outright defense of them and no one, no one has called them out. www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Trump and RFK Jr are dismantling public health—aided and abetted by powerful doctors
High profile physicians should be using their positions of power to resist Trump and RFK Jr’s damaging policies, not collaborating with them, say Gavin Yamey and Jonathan Shaffer
President Donald Tr...
www.bmj.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:42 AM
I re-read @gavinyamey.bsky.social and @jonshaffer.bsky.social's piece in BMJ again. One thing left unsaid is the way powerful doctors-outside of the administration-are propping up this regime, with excuses, outright defense of them and no one, no one has called them out. www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
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.
🧵
It remains a terrible tragedy that an antivaxxer was put in charge of the American public’s health, and that there are so many (especially physicians) who hold powerful roles that work against their professional ethics. Babies are going to die because of this stupidity.
RFK Jr's HHS had a press call to announce they were — based on no new data — overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule. Senior officials at HHS answered questions but refused to go on the record, saying we could only attribute the quotes to "officials." www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
U.S. overhauls childhood vaccine schedule, recommends fewer shots
The U.S. no longer broadly recommends vaccines for flu, hepatitis A and B, and RSV. Health officials say the guidance aligns with that of peer countries.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:07 PM
It remains a terrible tragedy that an antivaxxer was put in charge of the American public’s health, and that there are so many (especially physicians) who hold powerful roles that work against their professional ethics. Babies are going to die because of this stupidity.
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
A mobile SCIF so secure they left the damn curtain open. 🤦♂️
Trump is posting some photos from last night / this morning, including this one. Very weird to see this in a non-situation room setting with black curtains
January 3, 2026 at 6:15 PM
A mobile SCIF so secure they left the damn curtain open. 🤦♂️
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
In Science, Seth Berkley criticizes Jay Bhattacharya for "magical thinking" (Podcast Jay says there's no need for pandemic preparedness🤯)
🚨Turns out in 2020 @ggronvall.bsky.social & Rachel West ALSO accused Jay & team of magical thinking for their kooky GBD 'plan'! www.statnews.com/2020/10/16/w...
🚨Turns out in 2020 @ggronvall.bsky.social & Rachel West ALSO accused Jay & team of magical thinking for their kooky GBD 'plan'! www.statnews.com/2020/10/16/w...
January 3, 2026 at 3:13 PM
In Science, Seth Berkley criticizes Jay Bhattacharya for "magical thinking" (Podcast Jay says there's no need for pandemic preparedness🤯)
🚨Turns out in 2020 @ggronvall.bsky.social & Rachel West ALSO accused Jay & team of magical thinking for their kooky GBD 'plan'! www.statnews.com/2020/10/16/w...
🚨Turns out in 2020 @ggronvall.bsky.social & Rachel West ALSO accused Jay & team of magical thinking for their kooky GBD 'plan'! www.statnews.com/2020/10/16/w...
In a weird historical note, not only did 1918 flu start from a zoonotic event (likely in Kansas and def not in a lab), the flu also killed Friedrich Trump, DJT’s grandfather, who unlike most people had insurance, the payouts of which went into real estate investments in NYC.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 28, 2025 at 7:06 PM
In a weird historical note, not only did 1918 flu start from a zoonotic event (likely in Kansas and def not in a lab), the flu also killed Friedrich Trump, DJT’s grandfather, who unlike most people had insurance, the payouts of which went into real estate investments in NYC.
What happens when you sideline science writers? You get “let’s pretend” ideologically motivated pseudoscience.
On #DavidRemnick. The @newyorker.com has some great science writers. But there is an affinity high-up for COVID contrarianism: Jessica Winter's piece on school closures, Dan Immerwahr's ode to "In COVID's Wake," & the best of 2025 for that book. 1/
December 27, 2025 at 7:45 PM
What happens when you sideline science writers? You get “let’s pretend” ideologically motivated pseudoscience.
I heard the Covid’s Wake authors speak at Johns Hopkins, and was genuinely amazed at how much of an alternate reality they were living in and what a poor grasp of scientific concepts they had (yes I am giving them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn’t totally disingenuous from start to finish.)
This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.
Congratulations to Stephen Macedo & Frances Lee, whose book In Covid's Wake has been recognized as:
⭐ A @newyorker.com Best Book of the Year
⭐ An @economist.com Book of the Year
⭐ A @wsj.com Best Book of the Year
Learn more about this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
⭐ A @newyorker.com Best Book of the Year
⭐ An @economist.com Book of the Year
⭐ A @wsj.com Best Book of the Year
Learn more about this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
December 26, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I heard the Covid’s Wake authors speak at Johns Hopkins, and was genuinely amazed at how much of an alternate reality they were living in and what a poor grasp of scientific concepts they had (yes I am giving them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn’t totally disingenuous from start to finish.)
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
It is utterly catastrophic that RFK Jr. plans to end CDC recommendations for most childhood vaccines.
It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.
And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.
And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
December 20, 2025 at 12:50 AM
It is utterly catastrophic that RFK Jr. plans to end CDC recommendations for most childhood vaccines.
It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.
And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.
And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
Reposted by Gigi Gronvall
This is an important article by @katherinejwu.com on the destruction of infectious disease research - and the man behind it.
As someone in the ID field reliant on US federal funding for our research, know that once the next pandemic happens, we won't be around.
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
As someone in the ID field reliant on US federal funding for our research, know that once the next pandemic happens, we won't be around.
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
The Most Feared Person at the NIH Is a Vaccine Researcher Plucked From Obscurity
While NIH director Jay Bhattacharya focuses on podcasting, his second in command is dramatically remaking the agency.
www.theatlantic.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:46 PM
This is an important article by @katherinejwu.com on the destruction of infectious disease research - and the man behind it.
As someone in the ID field reliant on US federal funding for our research, know that once the next pandemic happens, we won't be around.
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
As someone in the ID field reliant on US federal funding for our research, know that once the next pandemic happens, we won't be around.
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
Well, he stepped onto the stage w the statistically problematic/wrong but politically useful Santa Clara serosurvey, followed it up w the unethical, medically impossible but politically useful Great Barrington declaration— I don’t think actual working was ever in the cards.
Hegseth. Patel. Bongino. And now Bhattacharya ("too busy podcasting").
When you hire people based on their social media profiles, you get.... content creators.
But we need DOD, the FBI, and the NIH to *work*.
When you hire people based on their social media profiles, you get.... content creators.
But we need DOD, the FBI, and the NIH to *work*.
And this will drive him *crazy*.
December 18, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Well, he stepped onto the stage w the statistically problematic/wrong but politically useful Santa Clara serosurvey, followed it up w the unethical, medically impossible but politically useful Great Barrington declaration— I don’t think actual working was ever in the cards.
I had the opportunity to ask NIH Dir. Jay Bhattacharya about his comments re: mRNA vaccines, that they had "failed to earn the public's trust" so the NIH should not invest. His answer demonstrates that science and pandemic preparedness are taking a backseat to ideology.
youtu.be/S0rsz3Ph7XE?...
youtu.be/S0rsz3Ph7XE?...
Cfr mtg NIH director
YouTube video by Gigi Gronvall
youtu.be
December 12, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I had the opportunity to ask NIH Dir. Jay Bhattacharya about his comments re: mRNA vaccines, that they had "failed to earn the public's trust" so the NIH should not invest. His answer demonstrates that science and pandemic preparedness are taking a backseat to ideology.
youtu.be/S0rsz3Ph7XE?...
youtu.be/S0rsz3Ph7XE?...