Ursula Hofer
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hoferu.bsky.social
Ursula Hofer
@hoferu.bsky.social
1.1K followers 430 following 610 posts
Desk-chair virologist, EiC of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, previously at different Nature journals, MD PhD. She/her/expert. Opinions my own.
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hoferu.bsky.social
Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · Feb 28
This month's editorial:

Should science be political?

In my mind, there's only one response to this question...

And the more pressing question is, how can politics be more scientific?

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Should science be political?
At this point in time, with US President Trump's administration attacking institutions such as the US CDC, NIH, USAID, WHO, and their people and functions, whether science should be political seems li...
www.thelancet.com
hoferu.bsky.social
Office visitor enjoying the hot water bottle under my jumper
Fluffy tabby cat sitting on a purple jumper, desk in the background
January 23, 2026 at 4:08 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
Loved this podcast, simultaneously horrifying and hilarious 🤖
evrat.bsky.social Evan Ratliff @evrat.bsky.social · 4d
The full 8-part season 2 of Shell Game is out! The tale of HurumoAI, the world’s first AI agent-cofounded and led startup, ready to binge:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
open.spotify.com/show/7IddLas...

"Evan Ratliff is a total weirdo." —Vulture, best narrative podcasts of 2025
Shell Game
Technology Podcast · Weekly Series · A podcast about things that are not what they seem, hosted by journalist Evan Ratliff. Season 2 tells the story of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the AI age. O...
podcasts.apple.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
magdalenaskipper.bsky.social
Guinea-Bissau suspends a US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives.

“African scientists say that the Guinea-Bissau study shows how political pressure, funding interests & fragmented oversight can push local health priorities aside.”
🧪 #MedSky

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Guinea-Bissau suspends a US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives
Officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services, which funded the controversial study, say that it will proceed as planned.
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
thelancetinfdis.bsky.social
New Research

Safety and efficacy of CRS3123 in adults with a primary episode or first recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection: a phase 2, randomised, double-blind, multicentre, vancomycin-controlled study

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Safety and efficacy of CRS3123 in adults with a primary episode or first recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection: a phase 2, randomised, double-blind, multicentre, vancomycin-controlled study
Both doses of CRS3123 were deemed safe and well tolerated and showed efficacy similar to vancomycin at the TOC visit, with lower rates of recurrence. Together, these data support further development o...
www.thelancet.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:17 AM
hoferu.bsky.social
Just read about the new-to-me social media craze of parasite cleanses. What the...?

PS Also, the one time they could legitimately hawk ivermectin and don't.
January 21, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
lancetmicrobe.bsky.social
Our January issue is now online:

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Our journal is #OpenAccess, so you are free to explore all of our content. But these hashtags offer a flavour: #influenza #H5N1 #AMR #Bordetella #pertussis #Yaws #Treponema #MDA #Hpylori #SARS-CoV-2

#IDSky #ClinMicro #OA
January cover of The Lancet Microbe
January 20, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
onisillos.bsky.social
"Measles is the canary in the coalmine"

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
The return of measles: how a once-vanquished disease is spreading again
A year after the Texas outbreak began, new US cases reveal gaps in vaccination and rising risk for children
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:25 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
Organised my travel for #ESCMIDGlobal and I'm very excited!
January 21, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
eckerleisabella.bsky.social
Professor position in Global Health at the University of Geneva, Institute of Global Health!

This is really an exciting opportunity with lots of possibilities for collaborations, e.g. with our Centre, in the field of infectious diseases, international Geneva, WHO...

jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
Professeur-e ordinaire, professeur-e associé-e à l’Institut de santé globale (6726)
et affilié au Département de santé et médecine communautaires / Full professor or Associate professor at the Institute of Global Health and affiliated to the Department of Community Health and Medicin...
jobs.unige.ch
January 18, 2026 at 9:59 AM
hoferu.bsky.social
My question is, what would AI be better at, replacing doctors or tech CEOs? [Rhetorical, I don't need an answer, thanks.]
statnews.com STAT @statnews.com · 11d
Will AI replace doctors? At our STAT@JPM event, Robert Nelsen told the audience, "Yes." #JPM26
January 15, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
zalaly.bsky.social
Please help us spread the word.

We are hiring postdoctoral fellows in Clinical Epidemiology and Pharmacoepidemiology.

Details and application via Indeed.
Postdoctoral Fellow - St. Louis, MO 63106 - Indeed.com
Veterans Research and Education Foundation of St. Louis
www.indeed.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:55 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
~80 protection against hospitalisation -- RSV prevention really has made leaps in the last couple years, exciting to see.
nejm.org NEJM.org @nejm.org · 13d
In the phase 4 DAN-RSV trial, the RSV vaccine reduced the incidence of hospitalization for RSV-related respiratory tract disease as compared with no vaccine among adults 60 years of age or older. Full trial results and Research Summary: nej.md/4oT6ksQ

#MedSky #IDSky
The New England Journal of Medicine RSV Prefusion F Vaccine to Prevent Hospitalization in Older Adults A Research Summary based on Lassen MCH et al. | 10.1056/NEJMoa2509810 | Published on August 30, 2025 Visual representations of the patients in the trial and the treatments they were assigned. Read the full Research Summary at NEJM.org.
January 14, 2026 at 2:11 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
"From publish or perish to publish and vanish". Interesting thought piece from a totally different field than mine, lots resonates though.
seva.bsky.social Seva @seva.bsky.social · 13d
I just finished a three-year term as an editor at an international relations journal. I began at the start of the LLM era but ended right in the middle of it. Our volume of submissions tripled and our desk reject rate rose to 75%. I have some thoughts.
open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...
The Age of Academic Slop is Upon Us
what happens when AI automates "normal science"?
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:16 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
Good news, benefits of nirsevimab extending to second season.
January 13, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
cmicomms.bsky.social
🎙️ Just published Communicable E44: Top clinical microbiology papers in 2025

Hosted by Annie Joseph & Josh Nosanchuk w/ invited guests Robin Patel & Fidelma Fitzpatrick

Listen on #Communicable: https://share.transistor.fm/s/6e5c26ae

#IDSky #clinmicro
January 11, 2026 at 11:00 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
Very interesting!
January 7, 2026 at 7:45 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
I don't miss a lot of Swiss food stuff (you can get a lot of the same things here in the UK) but king cake is at the top of the list, so I usually make one. This year's version was a tad burnt, still delicious. I had to abdicate my reign to my hubby though, who got the king.
Swiss king cake, traditional yeasted bread rolls with almonds and sugar and a king figurine hidden in one of them
January 6, 2026 at 7:22 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
What compels someone to submit a very bad paper on new year's eve? All hypothetical, of course, I'm not talking about your paper.
January 5, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
gavinyamey.bsky.social
No health without peace
EDITORIAL, The Lancet No health without peace What will be the most pressing health challenge of 2026? Climate change? Artificial intelligence? Pandemics? Non-communicable diseases? These issues will continue to shape health and medicine. Yet across much of the world, conflict is a fundamental determinant of people's health and of the functioning of health systems. The burden of armed conflict and violence worldwide is unusually high, and its effects extend far beyond battlefields, with harm in war zones and in civilian settings increasingly normalised. Conflict is too often treated as an externality of health; in reality, it cuts across every major health agenda, shaping risks, responses, and the feasibility of progress.
January 3, 2026 at 11:14 AM
hoferu.bsky.social
Moonrise over the Thames
Moon rising in dark blue sky over the Thames estuary. Dark houses in the foreground, cranes and lights of the harbour in the distance.
January 3, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
jama.com
💬 Viewpoint: Mass abstract submissions in #MedEd have led to inflated metrics, less meaningful research, and misaligned incentives for trainees and institutions.

ja.ma/3MYsmvO
JAMA viewpoint article titled "Abstract Factory—Research Culture Harming Medical Education" by Samer Al Hadidi et al., published online December 18, 2025. The article discusses the impact of mass abstract submissions on medical education.
January 1, 2026 at 4:00 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
Good morning and happy 2026 🔆
Photo of sun rising, bright red sky, blue and purple clouds, houses in the dark
January 1, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
boghuma.bsky.social
The @natureportfolio.nature.com published a really good spotlight on #influenza two weeks ago. I have not read all the articles yet (but I will). The ones I have read are great, learned a lot. Highly recommend checking them out. #IDSky
www.nature.com/collections/...
Influenza
Every year, there are about one billion cases of influenza globally, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths.
www.nature.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Ursula Hofer
idstewardship.bsky.social
🎖️📄Top infectious disease journal articles from 2025 is out! May be good for a quick review to see if you missed anything or if you need to pick a journal club article. #pharmacist #infectiousdiseases #pharmacyschool #FYP #IDstewardship @absteward.bsky.social

www.idstewardship.com/year-in-revi...
December 29, 2025 at 5:25 PM
hoferu.bsky.social
My copy is at my parents but my academic (sorta) origin would be this. Apt in so many ways. Also love On Writing by Stephen King.
Cover of The Stand by Stephen King
December 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM