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Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

1.5K followers 380 following 100 posts

Asst. prof of epidemiology at UNC Chapel Hill
| training at HSPH, UiO, UMass Med, BUSPH | interests in rxepi, repro-perinatal epi, methods | she/her/dr

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Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Weekly Ruport: bad news cycle means more emotional support pillows

A picture of a chocolate labrador curled up on a pile of throw pillows and looking sleepily at the camera

September 23, 2025 at 9:24 AM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

It’s hard to know whether talking about these things is helpful or just gives them more oxygen, but the current acetaminophen fire is already roaring so here we go. Most importantly: ACOG affirms their position that acetaminophen is safe in pregnancy bsky.app/profile/acog...

"In more than 2 decades of research on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children." -ACOG President Steven J. Fleischman, MD, MBA, FACOG

September 23, 2025 at 9:16 AM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

I don't know how many of my ISPE friends (and enemies...?) are on here, but (a) the ISPE Peer Mentoring program is currently taking applications and (b) it's GREAT, you should probably sign up. Link: www.pharmacoepi.org/get-involved...

September 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Interested in selection of an index date for studies using external comparators? Free upcoming seminar on July 25 hosted by UNC Pharmacoepi, FDA Oncology CoE, and the Triangle CERSI (link to register: lu.ma/yilev7pp).

You are invited to attend our upcoming Collaborative Summit “Index Date Selection for External Comparators”. Hosted by UNC Pharmacoepidemiology and Triangle CERSI in partnership with the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), this virtual meeting will convene regulators, thought leaders and industry experts to discuss one of the major challenges in designing externally controlled studies: the selection of time zero for comparators. We will hear from FDA OCE and invited speakers from academia, industry and research organizations who will share insights regarding the successes and challenges around this critical decision for externally controlled studies. We welcome you to join the discussion. Registration is free; please register by July 24.

July 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Provincetown Harbor at sunset

A photo looking out over the water. The sky is pink and blue, reflected in the water. A gray shingled building protrudes from the shore into the water.

June 24, 2025 at 12:30 AM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

This image includes a list of "banned words" from NSF and CDC, including:  activism  activists  advocacy  advocate  advocates  barrier  barriers  biased  biased toward  biases  biases towards  bipoc  black and latinx  community diversity  community equity  cultural differences  cultural heritage  culturally responsive  disabilities  disability  discriminated  discrimination  discriminatory  diverse backgrounds  diverse communities  diverse group  diversified  diversify  diversifying  diversity and inclusion  enhance the diversity  enhancing diversity  equal opportunity  equality  equity  ethnicity  excluded  female  females  fostering inclusivity  gender  gender diversity  genders  hate speech  hispanic  minority  historically  implicit bias  implicit biases  inclusion  inclusive  inclusiveness  inclusivity  increase diversity  indigenous community  inequalities  inequality  inequitable  inequities  institutional  lgbt  marginalize  marginalized  minorities  multicultural  polarization  political  prejudice  privileges  promoting diversity  race and ethnicity  racial  racial diversity  racial inequality  racial justice  racially  racism  sense of belonging  sexual preferences  social justice  sociocultural  socioeconomic status  stereotypes  systemic  trauma  underappreciated  underrepresented  underserved  undervalued  victim  women  women and underrepresented  gender  transgender  pregnant person  pregnant people  transsexual  non-binary  assigned male at birth  assigned female at birth  biologically male  biologically female  diversity  entitlement  evidence-based  fetus  science-based  vulnerable 

The letters s-c-i-e-n-c-e are in rainbow colored font, and the top of the image reads "science is in all of us."

February 4, 2025 at 10:15 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Well, this isn't good.

A screenshot of eRACommons showing an Internal Error message.

February 3, 2025 at 8:07 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Prepping for a big writing day

A brown labrador and a human wearing blue jeans and a red sweatshirt lie on their backs next to each other on a leather couch.

January 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

“Don’t worry, Lady. That third aim will start making sense any minute now.”

January 11, 2025 at 11:38 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

A little snow day baking: sourdough discard scones with dried blueberries

January 11, 2025 at 4:33 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Weekly Ruport: appetite for destruction edition

A dark brown Labrador guards the green winter glove he stole. He fears neither death nor pain.

December 26, 2024 at 6:33 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

For jul dinner, I made choux au craquelin with the idea that they’d look like mushrooms and… I somehow completely ignored size and scale? Anyway they were still delicious

A picture of a Yule log cake with cranberry filling and an enthusiastic if not entirely successful attempt at birch bark covering, surrounded by enormous choux buns. The cake sits on a green plate on a wooden table, with a window in the background.

December 25, 2024 at 5:22 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Thought about getting my husband generic linear regression for Christmas, but decided to go for name brand instead

An ANOVA sous vide set up with immersion heater and vacuum sealer, on a messy kitchen countertop.

December 25, 2024 at 5:13 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Okay, I’ll bite: what are we trying to catch?

A photo of a “live bait” sign in front of about 12 Christmas trees for sale.

December 1, 2024 at 5:18 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

New AI policy for my syllabus just dropped

Poem by Joseph Fasano
Title: for a student who used AI to write a paper
Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now.
I know your days are precious
on this earth.
But what are you trying
to be free of?
The living? The miraculous
task of it?
Love is for the ones who love the work.

November 28, 2024 at 5:07 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Got my emotional support spicy almonds. Am I the only person whose writing improves when their mouth hurts? …just me then?

A bag of Trader Joe’s Thai lime and chili almonds sitting on a desk near a keyboard

November 20, 2024 at 10:48 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

The weekly Ruport: grant budgets are exhausting.

A very large chocolate Labrador sleeping on his back, on a leather couch, in a nest of throw pillows. He is a good boy.

November 19, 2024 at 6:58 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Last year I updated my course readings to include any SERious EPI-sodes that overlapped with ME4 readings. Not sure yet if students appreciated it, but it made me happy.

Current as of March 24.

The 716 readings are structured as follows:
1. Core readings should be read prior to the Monday lecture and are required.
2. Foundational readings are included for learners who may benefit from additional background to get the most out of the core readings. They are an excellent place to start if the core readings are too advanced, but they are not required.
3. Advanced material is provided for students who want to delve more deeply into material introduced in the core readings. These readings are intended to support engagement with Stretch Questions and expose students to more challenging content.
4. Supplemental content is any additional material that may enhance learning.
5. Background readings are intended to acquaint you with the NC Birth Certificate data, including details on how variables are coded, recorded, and reported. This material should be familiar from previous classes or from the SAS competency exam.
6. Scientific writing resources are intended to teach you juggling and basic acrobatics.

Textbook abbreviations:
ME4: Lash, VanderWeele, Haneuse, and Rothman (2021), Modern Epidemiology, 4th edition.
RE2: K Rothman (2012), Epidemiology: An Introduction 2nd Edition (“Baby Rothman”)

Lab 1
1. Core (required)
 ME4 Chapter 4: Measures of Occurrence. Pages 53-77
 Neophytou, Kioumourtzoglou, Goin, Darwin, and Casey. Educational note: addressing special cases of bias that frequently occur in perinatal epidemiology. International Journal of Epidemiology 2021; 50: 337-345
2. Foundational
 Purisch and Gyamfi-Bannerman. Epidemiology of preterm birth. Seminars in Perinatology 2017;387-391
3. Advanced
 Suarez et al. Bias from restricting to live births when estimating effects of prescription drug use on pregnancy complications: A simulation. Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety 2018;27:307–314
4. Supplemental
 SERious Epi Podcast
o Season 2 Episode 5: “The great open vs closed population debate”
o Season 2 Episode 6: “The building blocks of epi with Dr. Liz Stuart”
5. Background
 Jones-Vessey KA. Revisions to the North Carolina Birth Certificate and Their Impact on Tracking Maternal and Infant Health Data. Statistical Primer No. 19 2012.
 NC Certificate of Live Birth Data Dictionary (all elements)
 Vinikoor et al, Reliability of variables on the North Carolina birth certificate: a comparison with directly queried values from a cohort study. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol, 24: 102-12, 2010
 Flanagin A, Frey T, Christiansen SL, AMA Manual of Style Committee. Updated guidance on the reporting of race and ethnicity in medical and science journals. JAMA 2021 Aug 17;326(7):621-627.
 Likis FE. Inclusive Language Promotes Equity: The Power of Words. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health 2021 January/February;66(1): 7-9
 Von Elm et al., The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. PLoS Med 2007 Oct 16;4(10):e296. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040296.
6. Scientific writing
 Mensh B and Kording K. Ten simple rules for structuring papers. PLoS Comput Biol 2017 Sep 28;13(9):e1005619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005619. eCollection 2017 Sep.

November 18, 2024 at 2:59 PM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #376,172!

September 18, 2024 at 7:41 AM

Mollie Wood

@anecdatally.bsky.social

I’m so conflicted. On the one hand: the dangers of drawing a straight line through messy data. On the other: I arrived in Oslo 10 days ago, obviously this is causal.