Jeffrey Townsend
@jeffreytownsend.bsky.social
Elihu Professor of Biostatistics @yalesph.bsky.social--Cancer, Infectious disease, Evolutionary biology, Fungi, sometimes running
Pinned
Just out in Lung Cancer:
KRAS G12C-associated immunotherapy benefit in NSCLC
is substantially mediated by tobacco-induced tumor mutation burden—not allele-specific effects.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1ls3ocYZOi...
KRAS G12C-associated immunotherapy benefit in NSCLC
is substantially mediated by tobacco-induced tumor mutation burden—not allele-specific effects.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1ls3ocYZOi...
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
My producer and I recently got over a common cold. A colleague is working from home with flu. Seemed like a good time to do a story on winter respiratory viruses.
December 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
My producer and I recently got over a common cold. A colleague is working from home with flu. Seemed like a good time to do a story on winter respiratory viruses.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
Although this year’s vaccine match is suboptimal, it is better protection against severe influenza disease than going without #vaccines
🎁 article 👉 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/n... #IDSky
🎁 article 👉 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/n... #IDSky
Flu Cases Climb to Highest Levels in New York State in Two Decades
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Although this year’s vaccine match is suboptimal, it is better protection against severe influenza disease than going without #vaccines
🎁 article 👉 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/n... #IDSky
🎁 article 👉 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/n... #IDSky
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
The report estimates that mRNA vaccines could avert over $75 billion in economic costs annually.
2/3
2/3
December 22, 2025 at 8:53 PM
The report estimates that mRNA vaccines could avert over $75 billion in economic costs annually.
2/3
2/3
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.
New report sounds alarm on health fallout from mRNA vaccine funding cuts
A new report from the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have
ysph.yale.edu
December 22, 2025 at 8:43 PM
A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
Beyond the financial toll, the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers.
3/3
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December 22, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Beyond the financial toll, the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers.
3/3
3/3
🧪 wrote a public review of "Mechanisms of Selection on Cancer-Causing Mutations" @qeios
www.qeios.com/read/LRRYCD
www.qeios.com/read/LRRYCD
Review of: "Mechanisms of Selection on Cancer-Causing Mutations"
“Mechanisms of Selection on Cancer-Causing Mutations” by Shinde et al. [1] advances an ambitious and thoughtful framework for understanding somatic evolution in cancer through the lens of context-depe...
www.qeios.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:08 PM
🧪 wrote a public review of "Mechanisms of Selection on Cancer-Causing Mutations" @qeios
www.qeios.com/read/LRRYCD
www.qeios.com/read/LRRYCD
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
On the first day of Christmas (in about 2014), @duckswabber.bsky.social gave to me - a partridge in a pear tree.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Happy Christmas everyone!
December 25, 2025 at 8:03 AM
On the first day of Christmas (in about 2014), @duckswabber.bsky.social gave to me - a partridge in a pear tree.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Happy Christmas everyone!
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
I was also pleased to be able to explore the idea of "pandemic fatigue" to mark the five-year anniversary of COVID shutdowns. Today is March 2125th, 2020.
COVID Pandemic Fatigue Has Left the U.S. Vulnerable to New Threats
The “quarantine fatigue” of 2020 became an ongoing “pandemic fatigue,” a complex set of emotions that continues to affect the nation
www.scientificamerican.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I was also pleased to be able to explore the idea of "pandemic fatigue" to mark the five-year anniversary of COVID shutdowns. Today is March 2125th, 2020.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
I just uploaded @jasonparis.bsky.social 's recording of the segment CBS News pulled from "60 Minutes" to YouTube:
WATCH: Segment CBS News Pulled From "60 Minutes"
YouTube video by Phil Lewis
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I just uploaded @jasonparis.bsky.social 's recording of the segment CBS News pulled from "60 Minutes" to YouTube:
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna plan to draft articles of impeachment against AG Pam Bondi over the DOJ’s failure to release all Epstein files as required by law.
December 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna plan to draft articles of impeachment against AG Pam Bondi over the DOJ’s failure to release all Epstein files as required by law.
What brings us hope in public health?
YouTube video by Yale School of Public Health
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
We recently added a public track hub of "cancer effect size" across 20 TCGA cancer cohorts. Thank you to @jeffreytownsend.bsky.social and his lab at Yale University for providing the data. View it on the Genome Browser here: https://bit.ly/496Cx92.
December 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
We recently added a public track hub of "cancer effect size" across 20 TCGA cancer cohorts. Thank you to @jeffreytownsend.bsky.social and his lab at Yale University for providing the data. View it on the Genome Browser here: https://bit.ly/496Cx92.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
December 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Focus on indoor air quality in our nation's schools. There are so many reasons.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Focus on indoor air quality in our nation's schools. There are so many reasons.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
Th consequences are so serious. Let’s hope this grows legs
November 29, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Th consequences are so serious. Let’s hope this grows legs
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
Cartoon by Michael de Adder
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Cartoon by Michael de Adder
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
Scientists used #CRISPR to turn a simple #fungus into a fast-growing, meatlike #protein with a much smaller #climate & #environment footprint that outperforms (even) #chicken farming in #landuse & water impact: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #plantbreeding #geneediting #fungi #meat
This engineered fungus cuts emissions and tastes like meat
Scientists used CRISPR to boost the efficiency and digestibility of a fungus already known for its meatlike qualities. The modified strain grows protein far more quickly and with much less sugar while...
www.sciencedaily.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Scientists used #CRISPR to turn a simple #fungus into a fast-growing, meatlike #protein with a much smaller #climate & #environment footprint that outperforms (even) #chicken farming in #landuse & water impact: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #plantbreeding #geneediting #fungi #meat
Our recent paper, "Optimal Annual COVID-19 Vaccine Boosting Dates Following Previous Booster Vaccination or Breakthrough Infection", is amongst the most-read recent articles in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Maybe because everyone can benefit from reading it?
academic.oup.com/cid/article-...
Maybe because everyone can benefit from reading it?
academic.oup.com/cid/article-...
Optimal Annual COVID-19 Vaccine Boosting Dates Following Previous Booster Vaccination or Breakthrough Infection
Optimal timing for COVID-19 boosters improves their efficacy. There is an optimal delay of boosters after breakthrough infection. Our analysis enables bene
academic.oup.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Our recent paper, "Optimal Annual COVID-19 Vaccine Boosting Dates Following Previous Booster Vaccination or Breakthrough Infection", is amongst the most-read recent articles in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Maybe because everyone can benefit from reading it?
academic.oup.com/cid/article-...
Maybe because everyone can benefit from reading it?
academic.oup.com/cid/article-...
For a most familiar instance, if you take the existence (which here means the conceptual ability to revisit the spacetimeline to observe the event happening) of "quantum events" out of the "Schroedinger's Cat Paradox", you are left with ... no paradox.
Events do not exist: they happen.
Events do not exist: they happen.
Events do not exist: they happen.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
Does space-time really exist?
That idea has shaped physics for over a century. But when you look closely, it doesn’t hold together.
This article explains what goes wrong.
Read here: cosmicave.org/links/
That idea has shaped physics for over a century. But when you look closely, it doesn’t hold together.
This article explains what goes wrong.
Read here: cosmicave.org/links/
November 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
For a most familiar instance, if you take the existence (which here means the conceptual ability to revisit the spacetimeline to observe the event happening) of "quantum events" out of the "Schroedinger's Cat Paradox", you are left with ... no paradox.
Events do not exist: they happen.
Events do not exist: they happen.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
100%
Actually, I’ll put it back to you differently:
I don’t think there’s any chance we can “quantize gravity” without first resolving the basic ontological confusion surrounding existence, time, events and space-time.
Eg space-time as an emergent quantum structure is structurally incoherent.
Actually, I’ll put it back to you differently:
I don’t think there’s any chance we can “quantize gravity” without first resolving the basic ontological confusion surrounding existence, time, events and space-time.
Eg space-time as an emergent quantum structure is structurally incoherent.
November 27, 2025 at 12:56 PM
100%
Actually, I’ll put it back to you differently:
I don’t think there’s any chance we can “quantize gravity” without first resolving the basic ontological confusion surrounding existence, time, events and space-time.
Eg space-time as an emergent quantum structure is structurally incoherent.
Actually, I’ll put it back to you differently:
I don’t think there’s any chance we can “quantize gravity” without first resolving the basic ontological confusion surrounding existence, time, events and space-time.
Eg space-time as an emergent quantum structure is structurally incoherent.
Reposted by Jeffrey Townsend
For those who’ve read the article
Is the standard conceptual architecture (eg @quantamagazine.bsky.social) structurally coherent if:
-Emergence requires a substrate
-Quantization presupposes an ontology
-Spacetime cannot be both
-Not without conflating representational levels
🧪 ⚛️ #philsci #philsky
Is the standard conceptual architecture (eg @quantamagazine.bsky.social) structurally coherent if:
-Emergence requires a substrate
-Quantization presupposes an ontology
-Spacetime cannot be both
-Not without conflating representational levels
🧪 ⚛️ #philsci #philsky
Events do not exist: they happen.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
Does space-time really exist?
That idea has shaped physics for over a century. But when you look closely, it doesn’t hold together.
This article explains what goes wrong.
Read here: cosmicave.org/links/
That idea has shaped physics for over a century. But when you look closely, it doesn’t hold together.
This article explains what goes wrong.
Read here: cosmicave.org/links/
November 27, 2025 at 3:02 PM
For those who’ve read the article
Is the standard conceptual architecture (eg @quantamagazine.bsky.social) structurally coherent if:
-Emergence requires a substrate
-Quantization presupposes an ontology
-Spacetime cannot be both
-Not without conflating representational levels
🧪 ⚛️ #philsci #philsky
Is the standard conceptual architecture (eg @quantamagazine.bsky.social) structurally coherent if:
-Emergence requires a substrate
-Quantization presupposes an ontology
-Spacetime cannot be both
-Not without conflating representational levels
🧪 ⚛️ #philsci #philsky
Events do not exist: they happen.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
Does space-time really exist?
That idea has shaped physics for over a century. But when you look closely, it doesn’t hold together.
This article explains what goes wrong.
Read here: cosmicave.org/links/
That idea has shaped physics for over a century. But when you look closely, it doesn’t hold together.
This article explains what goes wrong.
Read here: cosmicave.org/links/
November 26, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Events do not exist: they happen.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.
My inexpert coda: not only does the human-centered desire for events to exist commonly cause confusion in the interpretation of relativity, it is the primary cause of ontological confusion in quantum mechanics as well.