Marc Lipsitch
@mlipsitch.bsky.social
Professor of Epidemiology Harvard Chan SPH, Director, @ccdd-hsph.bsky.social. Views my own.
cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/content/cisa... In my new role at @stanfordcisac.bsky.social, I'm recruiting for a postdoc to define how benefits of risky research should be evaluated. w Tony Mills of @notredame.bsky.social . #philsci #biosecurity #scipolicy
CISAC Fellowship Program
cisac.fsi.stanford.edu
October 5, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/content/cisa... In my new role at @stanfordcisac.bsky.social, I'm recruiting for a postdoc to define how benefits of risky research should be evaluated. w Tony Mills of @notredame.bsky.social . #philsci #biosecurity #scipolicy
New preprint reporting a large piece of work by Katherine Jia to define estimands and estimators for direct impact of vaccines with arbitrary rollout schedules arxiv.org/abs/2509.05508
with Alyssa Bilinski, @chrisboyer.bsky.social and me
with Alyssa Bilinski, @chrisboyer.bsky.social and me
Defining and Estimating Outcomes Directly Averted by a Vaccination Program when Rollout Occurs Over Time
During the COVID-19 pandemic, estimating the total deaths averted by vaccination has been of great public health interest. Instead of estimating total deaths averted by vaccination among both vaccinat...
arxiv.org
September 9, 2025 at 12:12 PM
New preprint reporting a large piece of work by Katherine Jia to define estimands and estimators for direct impact of vaccines with arbitrary rollout schedules arxiv.org/abs/2509.05508
with Alyssa Bilinski, @chrisboyer.bsky.social and me
with Alyssa Bilinski, @chrisboyer.bsky.social and me
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
New paper: we argue that a promising approach for studying mpox vaccine effectiveness in Central Africa to incorporate mpox vaccination + testing data into existing cohort studies, especially those for HIV/STIs.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
Clade I mpox vaccination: strategies for deployment and evaluation
Clade I mpox continues to spread in Central Africa with no sign of abating,1 however
very few doses of vaccine have been deployed. Mpox vaccination strategies using either
of the licenced vaccines, MV...
www.thelancet.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:50 PM
New paper: we argue that a promising approach for studying mpox vaccine effectiveness in Central Africa to incorporate mpox vaccination + testing data into existing cohort studies, especially those for HIV/STIs.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
Very pleased to share this newly published work with Aishani Aatresh, part of her exceptional Harvard undergrad thesis. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... .
What is the relationship between viral prospecting in animals and medical countermeasure development? | mBio
Sampling in animal populations to detect novel viruses before they infect humans has
been a major activity justified by several considerations, notably by the idea that
finding such viruses will stimu...
journals.asm.org
August 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Very pleased to share this newly published work with Aishani Aatresh, part of her exceptional Harvard undergrad thesis. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... .
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
Check out "Are We Prepared for the Next Pandemic?"- CCDD Director, @mlipsitch.bsky.social's conversation with Sam Harris, host of the Making Sense podcast. www.samharris.org/podcasts/mak...
Sam Harris | #425 - Are We Prepared for the Next Pandemic?
Sam Harris speaks with Marc Lipsitch about pandemic preparedness.
www.samharris.org
July 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Check out "Are We Prepared for the Next Pandemic?"- CCDD Director, @mlipsitch.bsky.social's conversation with Sam Harris, host of the Making Sense podcast. www.samharris.org/podcasts/mak...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
Republicans, before you vote to close 1 of 4 nursing homes, can you update us on where those people will go?
Maybe call a few seniors in your state and go over plans for where they go next?
Or call the son whose dad has dementia and tell him how he can be a full-time caregiver?
Maybe call a few seniors in your state and go over plans for where they go next?
Or call the son whose dad has dementia and tell him how he can be a full-time caregiver?
BREAKING: 1 in 4 nursing homes say they will be forced to close if Republicans pass Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.
No grandma should be kicked out of her nursing home so that Mark Zuckerberg can buy another Hawaiian island.
No grandma should be kicked out of her nursing home so that Mark Zuckerberg can buy another Hawaiian island.
June 29, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Republicans, before you vote to close 1 of 4 nursing homes, can you update us on where those people will go?
Maybe call a few seniors in your state and go over plans for where they go next?
Or call the son whose dad has dementia and tell him how he can be a full-time caregiver?
Maybe call a few seniors in your state and go over plans for where they go next?
Or call the son whose dad has dementia and tell him how he can be a full-time caregiver?
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
A new study by Julia Deichmann, @mlipsitch.bsky.social and collaborators at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel uses mathematical modeling to predict antibody kinetics and duration of protection against SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination using sparse serological data. Read it here at bit.ly/43XY9mK
Predicting antibody kinetics and duration of protection against SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination from sparse serological data
Author summary Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic to lower transmission rates and reduce the number of severe cases. This is due to a vaccine-induced ris...
bit.ly
June 24, 2025 at 2:10 PM
A new study by Julia Deichmann, @mlipsitch.bsky.social and collaborators at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel uses mathematical modeling to predict antibody kinetics and duration of protection against SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination using sparse serological data. Read it here at bit.ly/43XY9mK
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
New tool for pangenome analysis! CLARC refines bacterial gene clusters using functional annotation + linkage—not just sequence. New publication by @indragon.bsky.social & collaborators, advised by @mlipsitch.bsky.social & @billhanage.bsky.social. Read more at bit.ly/4ek0Y51
Linkage-based ortholog refinement in bacterial pangenomes with CLARC
Abstract. Bacterial genomes exhibit significant variation in gene content and sequence identity. Pangenome analyses explore this diversity by classifying g
bit.ly
June 25, 2025 at 4:06 PM
New tool for pangenome analysis! CLARC refines bacterial gene clusters using functional annotation + linkage—not just sequence. New publication by @indragon.bsky.social & collaborators, advised by @mlipsitch.bsky.social & @billhanage.bsky.social. Read more at bit.ly/4ek0Y51
Deeply affecting article by an @hsph.harvard.edu PhD student denied the opportunity to graduate due to blanket exclusion of Sierra Leone citizens by the US Government. A very particular example of pointless cruelty by the US Government. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
What it’s really like … to know I’m going to miss my Harvard graduation because of Trump’s travel ban
Like many other international students I have had my educational dreams suspended without reason – and learned plenty about racism and resilience
www.theguardian.com
June 20, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Deeply affecting article by an @hsph.harvard.edu PhD student denied the opportunity to graduate due to blanket exclusion of Sierra Leone citizens by the US Government. A very particular example of pointless cruelty by the US Government. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Remarkable open letter to the director from NIH staff on the health, financial,academic freedom, and other impacts of changes at the agency. www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
Bethesda Declaration — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
Support NIH Staff Now!
www.standupforscience.net
June 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Remarkable open letter to the director from NIH staff on the health, financial,academic freedom, and other impacts of changes at the agency. www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
The goal is plainly and literally to cut the number of people involved in basic science in the US by 70%
From over 300k to less than 100k. A picture of smaller, reduced science.
May 30, 2025 at 11:38 PM
The goal is plainly and literally to cut the number of people involved in basic science in the US by 70%
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
"The policy’s narrow-mindedness will make America small again.”
I am simply at a loss to express how stupid this is.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/b...
I am simply at a loss to express how stupid this is.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/b...
Denying Visas to Chinese Students Could Backfire on America
www.nytimes.com
May 31, 2025 at 1:22 AM
"The policy’s narrow-mindedness will make America small again.”
I am simply at a loss to express how stupid this is.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/b...
I am simply at a loss to express how stupid this is.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/b...
Great piece by @hsph.harvard.edu colleague Maitreyi Mazumdar about how NIH's evisceration of overseas research collaborations harm the US as well as the partner countries www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/29/o...
NIH cuts have doomed my research in Bangladesh — but US citizens will pay too - The Boston Globe
Global partnerships have led to major scientific breakthroughs and saved millions of lives. Now, those collaborations are in jeopardy.
www.bostonglobe.com
May 29, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Great piece by @hsph.harvard.edu colleague Maitreyi Mazumdar about how NIH's evisceration of overseas research collaborations harm the US as well as the partner countries www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/29/o...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
Worth noting: we previously projected that if pregnant individuals been vaccinated at the same rate as age- and state-matched women, we would have averted 20% of maternal COVID-19 deaths (i.e., 8% of ALL maternal deaths) from March-November 2021.
doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...
doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...
May 27, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Worth noting: we previously projected that if pregnant individuals been vaccinated at the same rate as age- and state-matched women, we would have averted 20% of maternal COVID-19 deaths (i.e., 8% of ALL maternal deaths) from March-November 2021.
doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...
doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...
The Department of Health and Human Services has a process for making and updating recommendations like this, using expert scientists and clinicians. RFK is deliberately putting Americans' health at risk and sidestepping good science for political reasons.
#Breaking: RFK Jr. rolls back Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children, pregnant people buff.ly/1jKJGHi
RFK Jr. rolls back Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children, pregnant people
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he has unilaterally struck the recommendation that healthy children and healthy pregnant people get Covid booster shots.
www.statnews.com
May 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The Department of Health and Human Services has a process for making and updating recommendations like this, using expert scientists and clinicians. RFK is deliberately putting Americans' health at risk and sidestepping good science for political reasons.
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program was central in improving the evidence base for health policies and interventions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central & Southern Asia - figure by @aasli.bsky.social.
Our preprint on the termination of the DHS Program: osf.io/preprints/so...
Our preprint on the termination of the DHS Program: osf.io/preprints/so...
May 26, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program was central in improving the evidence base for health policies and interventions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central & Southern Asia - figure by @aasli.bsky.social.
Our preprint on the termination of the DHS Program: osf.io/preprints/so...
Our preprint on the termination of the DHS Program: osf.io/preprints/so...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
I'm a current Harvard graduate student and I found out today that I had my NSF GRFP terminated without notification. I was awarded this individual research fellowship before even choosing Harvard as my graduate school
May 22, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I'm a current Harvard graduate student and I found out today that I had my NSF GRFP terminated without notification. I was awarded this individual research fellowship before even choosing Harvard as my graduate school
Please consider a comment today if you are in the US. See the advice (shared from an email I received) in the follow-up posts below this one. Tomorrow is the deadline. This is an important part of scientific freedom in this country.
Time Sensitive: Public comment on Schedule F (removing civil service protections for many federal employees INCLUDING THOSE WITH AUTHORITY OVER GRANTS) ends tomorrow. Notice is here: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/... . Comment here (green button) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... .
www.govinfo.gov
May 22, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Please consider a comment today if you are in the US. See the advice (shared from an email I received) in the follow-up posts below this one. Tomorrow is the deadline. This is an important part of scientific freedom in this country.
Time Sensitive: Public comment on Schedule F (removing civil service protections for many federal employees INCLUDING THOSE WITH AUTHORITY OVER GRANTS) ends tomorrow. Notice is here: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/... . Comment here (green button) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... .
www.govinfo.gov
May 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Time Sensitive: Public comment on Schedule F (removing civil service protections for many federal employees INCLUDING THOSE WITH AUTHORITY OVER GRANTS) ends tomorrow. Notice is here: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/... . Comment here (green button) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... .
An easily overlooked consequence of research funding cancellations: completed research these days requires hundreds to several thousand dollars to be published due to publication fees from journals. Without support for these fees many pieces of scientific work will be near invisible.
May 22, 2025 at 11:28 AM
An easily overlooked consequence of research funding cancellations: completed research these days requires hundreds to several thousand dollars to be published due to publication fees from journals. Without support for these fees many pieces of scientific work will be near invisible.
This is pure authoritarianism. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...
If Justice Dept. Can’t Prosecute Trump’s Foes, It Will ‘Shame’ Them, Official Says
www.nytimes.com
May 21, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This is pure authoritarianism. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
🎓 The GOP’s reconciliation bill is a direct hit on higher ed:
– $351B in cuts education & workforce programs
– eliminating subsidized student loans
– Taxes on scholarships & endowments
– & more.
ACE calls it a “full-out assault” on access to college. Read below ⬇️
www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pa...
– $351B in cuts education & workforce programs
– eliminating subsidized student loans
– Taxes on scholarships & endowments
– & more.
ACE calls it a “full-out assault” on access to college. Read below ⬇️
www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pa...
May 19, 2025 at 7:47 PM
🎓 The GOP’s reconciliation bill is a direct hit on higher ed:
– $351B in cuts education & workforce programs
– eliminating subsidized student loans
– Taxes on scholarships & endowments
– & more.
ACE calls it a “full-out assault” on access to college. Read below ⬇️
www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pa...
– $351B in cuts education & workforce programs
– eliminating subsidized student loans
– Taxes on scholarships & endowments
– & more.
ACE calls it a “full-out assault” on access to college. Read below ⬇️
www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pa...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
Important public service reporting from @statnews.com on how people are getting their NIH grants reinstated www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/r...
Scientists are pushing to get their grants reinstated — and some are winning
The grant termination letters say there are no appeals. Yet dozens of appeals have succeeded as biomedical researchers lobby and sue to restore funding.
www.statnews.com
May 20, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Important public service reporting from @statnews.com on how people are getting their NIH grants reinstated www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/r...
Reposted by Marc Lipsitch
Given that there are 435 voting members of Congress, I would have hoped for more than 25% of House members to support American innovation in science and technology. 112? That’s it? No one else wants answers?!?!
NEWS: I just led 112 of my colleagues in demanding answers from the Trump Administration on their funding freeze of the National Science Foundation.
Cutting off NSF funding threatens vital research, stalls innovation, and risks ceding global scientific leadership to China.
Cutting off NSF funding threatens vital research, stalls innovation, and risks ceding global scientific leadership to China.
May 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Given that there are 435 voting members of Congress, I would have hoped for more than 25% of House members to support American innovation in science and technology. 112? That’s it? No one else wants answers?!?!