Alisa Velonis
@alisajv.bsky.social
Public health academic. Gender-based violence researcher and advocate. Maternal child health. Childless cat-lady. Mad knitter.
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
RFK Jr. and his anti-vax ACIP are responsible for doing harm to generations of Americans living in the shadow of his anti-science leadership, and Hep. B is just the tip of the iceberg
It's time for Congress to impeach and remove RFK Jr. No ifs, no buts. Enough is enough. #ImpeachtheQuack
It's time for Congress to impeach and remove RFK Jr. No ifs, no buts. Enough is enough. #ImpeachtheQuack
ACIP votes to end universal HBV birth dose for newborns. The consequence? Prepare to see a reversal of our rates of chronic liver disease and liver cancer as more children are left unprotected.
The birth dose has an up to 90% efficacy rate of protecting newborns from Hep B, which is incurable.
The birth dose has an up to 90% efficacy rate of protecting newborns from Hep B, which is incurable.
ACIP votes to abandon universal hepatitis B vaccination for newborns
Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are meeting today on what could be a major change to the childhood vaccination schedule. Follow here for live updates.
www.cnn.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:54 PM
RFK Jr. and his anti-vax ACIP are responsible for doing harm to generations of Americans living in the shadow of his anti-science leadership, and Hep. B is just the tip of the iceberg
It's time for Congress to impeach and remove RFK Jr. No ifs, no buts. Enough is enough. #ImpeachtheQuack
It's time for Congress to impeach and remove RFK Jr. No ifs, no buts. Enough is enough. #ImpeachtheQuack
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
One (of so so many) things that made me angry today was Retsef Levi suggesting people "ask their friends" as a way to gauge HepB prevalence in the community*, when a reason it's currently low is *all the effort we've put into vaccination over several decades*. I miss actual experts on ACIP.
The effects of the ACIP poisoned recommendations may not be seen clearly at scale for years.
But every child that unnecessarily develops HepB-associated chronic liver disease and cancer is the fault of those on that committee, the HHS Secretary, and those that capitulated to put him in power.
But every child that unnecessarily develops HepB-associated chronic liver disease and cancer is the fault of those on that committee, the HHS Secretary, and those that capitulated to put him in power.
December 5, 2025 at 4:37 PM
One (of so so many) things that made me angry today was Retsef Levi suggesting people "ask their friends" as a way to gauge HepB prevalence in the community*, when a reason it's currently low is *all the effort we've put into vaccination over several decades*. I miss actual experts on ACIP.
My Equity Research Is Being Censored. I Knew This Day Was Coming. www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Opinion | My Equity Research Is Being Censored. I Knew This Day Was Coming.
Ending DEI in public health research and practice is harmful
www.medpagetoday.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:46 AM
My Equity Research Is Being Censored. I Knew This Day Was Coming. www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Vaccines remain one of our most powerful tools to protect public health and America’s future generations. Every child deserves the right to vaccines. #SaveCDC #ACIP #SavePublicHealth #VaccinesSaveLives
September 20, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Vaccines remain one of our most powerful tools to protect public health and America’s future generations. Every child deserves the right to vaccines. #SaveCDC #ACIP #SavePublicHealth #VaccinesSaveLives
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
🚨 Trigger warning 🚨
To 🧠🪱, various politicians, and reporters who are mis-reporting and minimizing the CDC shooting (some innocently, & others clearly not):
A shooting "near" CDC instead of *at* CDC is like
an abusive partner saying: “I didn’t hit you — I just punched the wall next to your head.”
To 🧠🪱, various politicians, and reporters who are mis-reporting and minimizing the CDC shooting (some innocently, & others clearly not):
A shooting "near" CDC instead of *at* CDC is like
an abusive partner saying: “I didn’t hit you — I just punched the wall next to your head.”
August 12, 2025 at 12:17 AM
🚨 Trigger warning 🚨
To 🧠🪱, various politicians, and reporters who are mis-reporting and minimizing the CDC shooting (some innocently, & others clearly not):
A shooting "near" CDC instead of *at* CDC is like
an abusive partner saying: “I didn’t hit you — I just punched the wall next to your head.”
To 🧠🪱, various politicians, and reporters who are mis-reporting and minimizing the CDC shooting (some innocently, & others clearly not):
A shooting "near" CDC instead of *at* CDC is like
an abusive partner saying: “I didn’t hit you — I just punched the wall next to your head.”
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
The 17 experts who were ousted from an HHS vaccine committee have published a commentary on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, saying that Robert Kennedy, Jr., and his self-picked panel are abandoning rigorous scientific review and open deliberation.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
July 31, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The 17 experts who were ousted from an HHS vaccine committee have published a commentary on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, saying that Robert Kennedy, Jr., and his self-picked panel are abandoning rigorous scientific review and open deliberation.
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Best read as a reasoned call to action, not a question. And we will need vivid terms for where we are going — oligarchy and fascism — as well as what we are seeking — freedom and equality.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...
Opinion | How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?
www.nytimes.com
May 25, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Best read as a reasoned call to action, not a question. And we will need vivid terms for where we are going — oligarchy and fascism — as well as what we are seeking — freedom and equality.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...
As upset as I am that RAINN caved (with seemingly public awareness), I’m livid that they were placed in this position in the first place. newrepublic.com/post/195327/...
Top Sexual Assault Hotline RAINN Caves to Trump in Chilling Move
RAINN has given in to Donald Trump’s war on DEI.
newrepublic.com
May 16, 2025 at 2:03 AM
As upset as I am that RAINN caved (with seemingly public awareness), I’m livid that they were placed in this position in the first place. newrepublic.com/post/195327/...
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Good morning 🌞 – some inspo to start your day:
It’s people like Dr. Brittany Charlton, a Harvard professor and public health researcher, who remind us that science, equity, and truth are worth fighting for. 💪🏽🌍
Her lawsuit is protecting LGBTQ+ health, science, and democracy. 🏳️🌈⚖️
It’s people like Dr. Brittany Charlton, a Harvard professor and public health researcher, who remind us that science, equity, and truth are worth fighting for. 💪🏽🌍
Her lawsuit is protecting LGBTQ+ health, science, and democracy. 🏳️🌈⚖️
Science is under attack. So I’m taking RFK Jr. to court
“After losing every one of my grants — and seeing the human cost to my team, patients, and society — I knew silence was not an option,” writes Brittany Charlton.
www.statnews.com
May 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Good morning 🌞 – some inspo to start your day:
It’s people like Dr. Brittany Charlton, a Harvard professor and public health researcher, who remind us that science, equity, and truth are worth fighting for. 💪🏽🌍
Her lawsuit is protecting LGBTQ+ health, science, and democracy. 🏳️🌈⚖️
It’s people like Dr. Brittany Charlton, a Harvard professor and public health researcher, who remind us that science, equity, and truth are worth fighting for. 💪🏽🌍
Her lawsuit is protecting LGBTQ+ health, science, and democracy. 🏳️🌈⚖️
May 14, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Please see below strong Statement from @apha.org Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD: "I ask my colleagues to join me and speak up. Secretary Robert Kennedy is a danger to the public’s health and should resign or be fired."
#PublicHealth #EpiSky #SocialEpi
www.apha.org/news-and-med...
#PublicHealth #EpiSky #SocialEpi
www.apha.org/news-and-med...
Secretary Kennedy and his policies are a danger to the public’s health
www.apha.org
April 9, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Please see below strong Statement from @apha.org Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD: "I ask my colleagues to join me and speak up. Secretary Robert Kennedy is a danger to the public’s health and should resign or be fired."
#PublicHealth #EpiSky #SocialEpi
www.apha.org/news-and-med...
#PublicHealth #EpiSky #SocialEpi
www.apha.org/news-and-med...
Go @nickmetheny.bsky.social and colleagues!
So proud to join colleagues in refusing to abandon our science and the communities we serve in the face of cruelty and chaos:
I'm pleased to join @abigailmhatcher.bsky.social @nickmetheny.bsky.social and @rebeccafieldingmiller.com in suggesting a few strategies for a collective rufusal to abandon HIV science, patients, and vulnerable communities in these chaotic times.
April 8, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Go @nickmetheny.bsky.social and colleagues!
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
is right. You can humiliate and fire us. But we will not stay down. Because we truly believe in our mission. We fight for people. We fight for kids. For the right to survive and the hope to thrive.
Goodnight friends. Get some rest.
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
is right. You can humiliate and fire us. But we will not stay down. Because we truly believe in our mission. We fight for people. We fight for kids. For the right to survive and the hope to thrive.
Goodnight friends. Get some rest.
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
Why we keep going
Today thousands of health workers at the CDC and FDA lost their jobs—effective immediately.
open.substack.com
April 2, 2025 at 3:21 AM
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
is right. You can humiliate and fire us. But we will not stay down. Because we truly believe in our mission. We fight for people. We fight for kids. For the right to survive and the hope to thrive.
Goodnight friends. Get some rest.
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
is right. You can humiliate and fire us. But we will not stay down. Because we truly believe in our mission. We fight for people. We fight for kids. For the right to survive and the hope to thrive.
Goodnight friends. Get some rest.
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
There is no other way to say this: Today is the day the CDC was essentially dissolved. What's left is a husk. People will die as a direct result.
www.wired.com/story/cdc-gu...
www.wired.com/story/cdc-gu...
The CDC Has Been Gutted
Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.
www.wired.com
April 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
There is no other way to say this: Today is the day the CDC was essentially dissolved. What's left is a husk. People will die as a direct result.
www.wired.com/story/cdc-gu...
www.wired.com/story/cdc-gu...
Today’s carnage has let me to change my professional goals from researching partner violence solutions to a) supporting younger, more talented researchers so they can do that work, and b) teaching public health students the skills and knowledge they will need to rebuild what we’ve just broken.
April 1, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Today’s carnage has let me to change my professional goals from researching partner violence solutions to a) supporting younger, more talented researchers so they can do that work, and b) teaching public health students the skills and knowledge they will need to rebuild what we’ve just broken.
Making America Healthy?!! www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump Admin Pulls Research Funding To Protect Pregnant Women From Domestic Violence
Homicide by an abusive partner is the leading cause of death for pregnant women in the U.S. – and researchers are gutted by the sudden cuts.
www.huffpost.com
March 28, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Making America Healthy?!! www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Tl;dr: PRAMS asks “DEI” questions
Lol these people aren’t pro-life
Lol these people aren’t pro-life
Why PRAMS Got Shuttered
Yesterday I broke the news that the CDC has indefinitely shuttered the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
February 23, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Tl;dr: PRAMS asks “DEI” questions
Lol these people aren’t pro-life
Lol these people aren’t pro-life
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Just wonderful writing on the 60 Minutes piece on President aMusk dismantling of USAID
"The world's richest man cut off aid for the world's poorest people."
Well done.
"The world's richest man cut off aid for the world's poorest people."
Well done.
February 17, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Just wonderful writing on the 60 Minutes piece on President aMusk dismantling of USAID
"The world's richest man cut off aid for the world's poorest people."
Well done.
"The world's richest man cut off aid for the world's poorest people."
Well done.
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
You know Kate Winslet in Contagion? Where she runs into a hot zone, risking her life, so Americans could be safer?
She was an EIS officer. That’s who was just fired at CDC today. EIS officers. And many, many more public servants fighting every day for your health.
She was an EIS officer. That’s who was just fired at CDC today. EIS officers. And many, many more public servants fighting every day for your health.
February 14, 2025 at 9:46 PM
You know Kate Winslet in Contagion? Where she runs into a hot zone, risking her life, so Americans could be safer?
She was an EIS officer. That’s who was just fired at CDC today. EIS officers. And many, many more public servants fighting every day for your health.
She was an EIS officer. That’s who was just fired at CDC today. EIS officers. And many, many more public servants fighting every day for your health.
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Statement from @joanalker1.bsky.social CCF's executive director on the #Medicaid cuts included in the House GOP's budget resolution: ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/02/12/s...
Statement by Joan Alker on Released Draft House Budget Resolution
The following is a statement by Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families, on the release of the House Budget Reso…
ccf.georgetown.edu
February 12, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Statement from @joanalker1.bsky.social CCF's executive director on the #Medicaid cuts included in the House GOP's budget resolution: ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/02/12/s...
Reposted by Alisa Velonis
Staff at the CDC are bracing for a significant reduction in the work force that appears to be targeting staff with the fewest worker protections.
Morale plummets at the CDC as staff fear job losses
Staff at the CDC are bracing for a significant reduction in the work force that appears to be targeting staff with the fewest worker protections.
www.npr.org
February 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Staff at the CDC are bracing for a significant reduction in the work force that appears to be targeting staff with the fewest worker protections.
