Abraham D. Flaxman
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healthyalgo.bsky.social
Abraham D. Flaxman
@healthyalgo.bsky.social
570 followers 900 following 140 posts
Exploring the intersection of global health metrics, epidemiology, and data science. Bridging the gap between methods and practice to better measure and improve population health worldwide.
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Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
guyoron.net
With nearly all votes counted, progressive challenger Katie Wilson has won the election to be Seattle's next mayor. She is ahead of incumbent Bruce Harrell by a margin of 1,976 votes or 0.7%. There will be no automatic recount.
November 13, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
goldy.horsesass.org
Katie Wilson won 61.2% of today's ballot drop to take a commanding 1,346 vote lead over incumbent Bruce Harrell in Seattle's mayor's race. This is over.
November 12, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
donmoyn.bsky.social
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
bretthamil.bsky.social
When Bruce Harrell pulled a gun on a pregnant woman over a parking spot he was 37 years old, which is about the same age Katie Wilson was when she helped write and pass Seattle's Jumpstart tax, which brings in $300-400 million a year
October 23, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
alexis4seattle.bsky.social
My guy Girmay doesn’t only take the bus, he wants to work with me to make them faster and more reliable! Grateful for his partnership on this to deliver on better transit service!
October 29, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
aaup.org
And now there are SEVEN.

UofA president Suresh Garimella announced today that the school will reject Trump’s loyalty compact.

“Principles like academic freedom, merit-based research funding & institutional independence…must be preserved."

Vanderbilt, TX: all eyes on you. 👀

#DefendHigherEd
UofA rejects Trump higher ed plan as ASU invited to join compact
The University of Arizona rejected a Trump proposal linking funding to political priorities.
www.axios.com
October 20, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
aaup.org
The snake is growing.

✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼

Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.

The world is watching.

The resistance is here.

#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd
JOIN OR DIE cartoon snake now featuring segments for MIT, PENN, UVA, Brown, Dartmouth and USC. Not colored in because they have not said no to Trump‘s loyalty oath (yet): AZ, Texas, Vanderbilt.
October 18, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
lizneeley.bsky.social
And now UVA!! www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

MIT, Brown, Penn, USC and now UVA have all rejected the loyalty oath “compact” for “excellence” in higher ed. Five of nine!

(I wonder if this decision was final before today’s planned meeting www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...)
U.Va. rejects Trump administration Compact for Academic Excellence
The University has rejected the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which he received from the White House and Department of Education Oct. 1, according to a community statement rel...
www.cavalierdaily.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:05 PM
healthyalgo.bsky.social
With no takers yet, White House sets meeting with colleges still weighing an agreement with Trump
apnews.com/article/trum...
October 17, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
aaup.org
Four down.

Five to go.

Let’s go.

Join our National Teach-In on Trump’s Loyalty Oaths.

Register Here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#DefendHigherEd
A take on Benjamin Franklin’s Join, or Die political cartoon originally published by The Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754. Franklin’s cartoon was based on a superstition that if a snake was cut in pieces and the pieces were put together before sunset, the snake would return to life. The original cartoon is a woodcut showing a snake cut into eighths, with each segment labeled with the initials of one of the American colonies. This version replaces the colonies with universities targeted by the Trump administration for a ‘loyalty oath’ compact to ensure federal funding. The schools are M.I.T., Penn, Brown, UVA, Dartmouth, USC, Vanderbilt, University of Arizona, and the University of Texas. So far, M.I.T, Brown, Penn, and USC have all rejected the offer.
October 17, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
acleddata.bsky.social
The first No Kings protests were massive — will Saturday’s No Kings II reach the same scale?

June protests mobilized the most demonstrations in any single day in ACLED's US dataset, with over 1,600 recorded across all 50 states. 🔎 Explore: acleddata.com/expert-comme...
October 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
ryanmarino.bsky.social
NHANES identified pediatric lead exposure in the ‘70s, considered one of the most significant health interventions ever.

NHANES also gave us pediatric growth charts and nutritional fortification to prevent harmful deficiencies like iodine & folate, to name a few.

h/t @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
ryanmarino.bsky.social
NHANES runs mobile clinics that travel the country measuring height, weight, & blood pressure while collecting blood and urine samples. These samples are our only national source for tracking everything from blood sugar to hormones, heavy metals, and more.

The entire operation has been eliminated.
kcklatt.bsky.social Kevin C Klatt, PhD, RD @kcklatt.bsky.social · 29d
Everyone across biomedicine should be very loud about this so this team's RIF status gets reversed. Nhanes has been key for tracking obesity & diabetes rates, identifying high blood lead levels in kids in the 70s, tracking progress on cholesterol lowering, guiding nutrient fortification programs etc
October 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
kcklatt.bsky.social
If you're on IG, plz share this deck that me and a few other creators made last night breaking the story

www.instagram.com/p/DPxRPGADP3...
unbiasedscipod on Instagram: "The entire team that oversees NHANES mobile examination operations was RIFed. NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Sur…"
The entire team that oversees NHANES mobile examination operations was RIFed. NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) is our national program that sends mobile clinics across America to collect blood, urine, and health data from thousands of Americans each year. Unlike some other CDC cuts that have been reversed, this one hasn't - at least not yet. And there's no alternative plan in place.Without this team, the NHANES survey is unlikely to be able to continue. They don't just do planning for the next cycle (which their name might suggest) - they primarily conduct the day-to-day operations that keep the mobile units running.Why does this matter? NHANES is our only nationally representative source for:➡️Dietary intake data➡️Biomarkers of environmental toxins (pesticides, heavy metals, PFAS in blood/urine)➡️Population-level cardiovascular risk factors measured through actual blood work➡️Nutritional biomarkers (not self-reported)The data from NHANES is key for monitoring, surveillance, and discovery. It's how we know about diet quality & nutritional status, rates of obesity, and trends in blood glucose and cholesterol control. It's also how we monitor the prevalence of established and emerging toxins - everything from lead to PFAS. Continual collection of data is essential for tracking progress on public health goals, where we are falling short, and identifying the next link between exposures and health. Experts have readily called for an INVESTMENT in NHANES - so that we can sample broader populations, measure novel biomarkers & capture more environmental exposures. These cuts threaten the continuity of this key engine of public health, and we should all be concerned, regardless of party or politics.
www.instagram.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
kcklatt.bsky.social
NHANES has been facing funding challenges and needs an infusion of cash to be modernized, not cut. These samples are a key dataset for the field of medicine, nutrition, metabolism, endocrinology, aging, etc.
So much innovation that could be brought to Nhanes!
ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S000...
Workshop summary: building an NHANES for the future
The American Society for Nutrition’s (ASN) Committee on Advocacy and Science Policy (CASP) organized a workshop, “Building a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the Future,” ...
ajcn.nutrition.org
October 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
kcklatt.bsky.social
Everyone across biomedicine should be very loud about this so this team's RIF status gets reversed. Nhanes has been key for tracking obesity & diabetes rates, identifying high blood lead levels in kids in the 70s, tracking progress on cholesterol lowering, guiding nutrient fortification programs etc
October 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
kcklatt.bsky.social
MMWR stole the show in the first round of headlines about CDC cuts but in the chaos, many missed that the NHANES mobile team remains RIF'd. This is the backbone of this key survey that contains some of the only representative anthropometric, biochemical, clinical and dietary data on the country.
statnews.com STAT @statnews.com · 29d
Protecting the nation’s public health demands data, whether it be new measles cases, a surge in ER visits, or shifting patterns in obesity. The most recent job cuts at the CDC threaten the mostly unseen foundation of that research enterprise.
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/c...
CDC team running top survey on health and nutrition is laid off
NHANES has collected data on eating patterns, diabetes and other common diseases for decades. The CDC team that runs it has been fired.
www.statnews.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
hakeemjefferson.bsky.social
Agree 100% @stanfordaaup.bsky.social!

“When it inevitably comes time for Stanford to choose, we must remember that we owe our loyalty not to any executive branch official but to our own foundational principles. We must be ready, when it’s our turn, to walk away.”

stanforddaily.com/2025/10/12/f...
From the Community | We must refuse the 'Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education'
Associate professor Greg Martin writes on behalf of the Stanford's AAUP chapter to condemn the White House's compact on higher education.
stanforddaily.com
October 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
tedmccormick.bsky.social
Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans
Image: A variation on Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” engraving, originally published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Each segment of the snake has the name of a university sent Trump’s “compact”: Texas, AZ, Vanderbilt, USC, Dartmouth, UVA, Brown, Penn, MIT.
October 12, 2025 at 4:04 PM
healthyalgo.bsky.social
A unique database complied by @acleddata.bsky.social allowed them to put together this deep dive into the extent of war-related violence
acleddata.com/report/two-y...
Two years since 7 October: Israel’s forever wars across the Middle East
Two years after the 7 October 2023 attacks, Israel’s war with Hamas has spilled beyond Gaza. Scroll through this report to learn about the conflict in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and I...
acleddata.com
October 11, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
chanda.blacksky.app
MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”
Dear Madam Secretary, I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters. I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education. As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples: • MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions. • MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%. • We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree. These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law. The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone. In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education. As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation. Sincerely, Sally Kornbluth CC Ms. May Mailman Mr. Vincent Haley
October 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
proftwolf.bsky.social
I am proud to say that MIT has rejected Trump's poison compact. MIT President Sally Kornbluth: "Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education."
@aaup.org @aft.org @higheredlabor.bsky.social @uaw.org
links.mit.edu/nl3/N5Jy2cKq...
Regarding the Compact
links.mit.edu
October 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
healthyalgo.bsky.social
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-...
October 10, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Reposted by Abraham D. Flaxman
aaup.org
"We can make a difference if we unite together, organize, and fight together."

— Sang Hea Kil

Dr. Kil is a tenured professor in the Justice Department at San Jose State University. She explains that she was suspended for her support of students organizing encampments and exercising free speech.
October 9, 2025 at 2:33 PM