Chris Raker
@chrsrkr.bsky.social
Applied Epidemiology & Biostatistics.
ID/OBGYN/Nephrology/Surgery/&more
New England USA.
Reposted by Chris Raker
“With the ending of USAID support in February 2025, ICF has secured interim funding for continuing selected, but not all, Demographic and Health Survey Program services. Several donors and host countries are funding the completion of selected surveys”
www.dhsprogram.com/Who-we-are/N...
www.dhsprogram.com/Who-we-are/N...
The DHS Program - News about the DHS Program
www.dhsprogram.com
August 13, 2025 at 7:34 PM
“With the ending of USAID support in February 2025, ICF has secured interim funding for continuing selected, but not all, Demographic and Health Survey Program services. Several donors and host countries are funding the completion of selected surveys”
www.dhsprogram.com/Who-we-are/N...
www.dhsprogram.com/Who-we-are/N...
Reposted by Chris Raker
This man is destroying vaccination as a public health intervention in the US. Top to bottom. It has nothing to do with science. He is a fanatic, know-nothing ideologue.
RFK Jr. is upset that a recent large Danish study in Annals of Internal Medicine, conducted over 20 yrs in 1 M kids, found no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines & 50 different health conditions.
His request for the retraction was rejected.
🧪 www.reuters.com/business/hea...
His request for the retraction was rejected.
🧪 www.reuters.com/business/hea...
August 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
This man is destroying vaccination as a public health intervention in the US. Top to bottom. It has nothing to do with science. He is a fanatic, know-nothing ideologue.
Reposted by Chris Raker
took the Chevy [my grant proposal] to the levee but the levee [NIH funding] was dry 🫠
And they were singing
Bye bye to American Sci
Bye bye to American Sci
August 7, 2025 at 11:27 PM
took the Chevy [my grant proposal] to the levee but the levee [NIH funding] was dry 🫠
Reposted by Chris Raker
the libels against NIH funded research and researchers are infuriating
grant review and award are rigorous, fair, and extremely competitive
can’t say the same about the vast sums this Administration is spending with little transparency
99% of FDA approved drugs & 100+ Nobel Prizes don’t lie
grant review and award are rigorous, fair, and extremely competitive
can’t say the same about the vast sums this Administration is spending with little transparency
99% of FDA approved drugs & 100+ Nobel Prizes don’t lie
And they were singing
Bye bye to American Sci
Bye bye to American Sci
August 7, 2025 at 10:29 PM
the libels against NIH funded research and researchers are infuriating
grant review and award are rigorous, fair, and extremely competitive
can’t say the same about the vast sums this Administration is spending with little transparency
99% of FDA approved drugs & 100+ Nobel Prizes don’t lie
grant review and award are rigorous, fair, and extremely competitive
can’t say the same about the vast sums this Administration is spending with little transparency
99% of FDA approved drugs & 100+ Nobel Prizes don’t lie
Reposted by Chris Raker
Over the next 25 years, if proposed cuts in NIH funding are made real, “In a population of more than 340 million, this reflects **82 million** fewer years of life.”
In the US alone.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
In the US alone.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Cutting the NIH—The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe
This JAMA Forum discusses the recent budget cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the effects of these cuts on scientific research and health of individuals in the US, and the prospects for cha...
jamanetwork.com
June 15, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Over the next 25 years, if proposed cuts in NIH funding are made real, “In a population of more than 340 million, this reflects **82 million** fewer years of life.”
In the US alone.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
In the US alone.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reposted by Chris Raker
When planning for drop outs: If you need n patients and expect some proportion x to drop out, you don't inflate n by 1.x but rather divide by 1-x.
Example: n = 200 and expected 20% drop out
200 * 1.20 = 240 (incorrect, as 80% of 240 = 192)
200 / 0.8 = 250 (correct, as 80% of 250 = 200)
Example: n = 200 and expected 20% drop out
200 * 1.20 = 240 (incorrect, as 80% of 240 = 192)
200 / 0.8 = 250 (correct, as 80% of 250 = 200)
June 9, 2025 at 8:50 AM
When planning for drop outs: If you need n patients and expect some proportion x to drop out, you don't inflate n by 1.x but rather divide by 1-x.
Example: n = 200 and expected 20% drop out
200 * 1.20 = 240 (incorrect, as 80% of 240 = 192)
200 / 0.8 = 250 (correct, as 80% of 250 = 200)
Example: n = 200 and expected 20% drop out
200 * 1.20 = 240 (incorrect, as 80% of 240 = 192)
200 / 0.8 = 250 (correct, as 80% of 250 = 200)
Reposted by Chris Raker
🚨 The end of an era for global health data — and a defining crossroads.
In Jan 2025, the DHS Program—the backbone of health & demographic data in 90+ countries—was terminated after US aid cuts of up to 84%.
Our researchers & global collaborators reflect on it in a recent pre-print🧵
In Jan 2025, the DHS Program—the backbone of health & demographic data in 90+ countries—was terminated after US aid cuts of up to 84%.
Our researchers & global collaborators reflect on it in a recent pre-print🧵
May 30, 2025 at 2:49 PM
🚨 The end of an era for global health data — and a defining crossroads.
In Jan 2025, the DHS Program—the backbone of health & demographic data in 90+ countries—was terminated after US aid cuts of up to 84%.
Our researchers & global collaborators reflect on it in a recent pre-print🧵
In Jan 2025, the DHS Program—the backbone of health & demographic data in 90+ countries—was terminated after US aid cuts of up to 84%.
Our researchers & global collaborators reflect on it in a recent pre-print🧵
Reposted by Chris Raker
In Boston, @celinegounder.com is giving a fiery convocation address at Harvard School of Public Health talking about #misinfo in public health:
“The current administration is waging a war on science, and that can be seen most clearly on the issue of vaccines.”
#IDsky 🧪
“The current administration is waging a war on science, and that can be seen most clearly on the issue of vaccines.”
#IDsky 🧪
May 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
In Boston, @celinegounder.com is giving a fiery convocation address at Harvard School of Public Health talking about #misinfo in public health:
“The current administration is waging a war on science, and that can be seen most clearly on the issue of vaccines.”
#IDsky 🧪
“The current administration is waging a war on science, and that can be seen most clearly on the issue of vaccines.”
#IDsky 🧪
Reposted by Chris Raker
This is absolutely terrible news.
With the shifting regulatory climate (i.e., antivax ratfuckery), Moderna has withdrawn their application for their eagerly anticipated COVID-flu combo vaccine. This vaccine offered better protection than getting each shot separately.
h/t @merz.bsky.social
With the shifting regulatory climate (i.e., antivax ratfuckery), Moderna has withdrawn their application for their eagerly anticipated COVID-flu combo vaccine. This vaccine offered better protection than getting each shot separately.
h/t @merz.bsky.social
Moderna withdraws application for COVID-flu combination vaccine
Moderna said on Wednesday it has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and COVID combination vaccine candidate after discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
www.reuters.com
May 22, 2025 at 6:46 AM
This is absolutely terrible news.
With the shifting regulatory climate (i.e., antivax ratfuckery), Moderna has withdrawn their application for their eagerly anticipated COVID-flu combo vaccine. This vaccine offered better protection than getting each shot separately.
h/t @merz.bsky.social
With the shifting regulatory climate (i.e., antivax ratfuckery), Moderna has withdrawn their application for their eagerly anticipated COVID-flu combo vaccine. This vaccine offered better protection than getting each shot separately.
h/t @merz.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Raker
I am so proud to work at this place, and prouder still of my friends and colleagues featured in this peace. We are “ground zero” for the assault on science and objective reality now underway. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...
Federal Cuts Become ‘All Consuming’ at Harvard’s Public Health School
www.nytimes.com
May 21, 2025 at 11:46 PM
I am so proud to work at this place, and prouder still of my friends and colleagues featured in this peace. We are “ground zero” for the assault on science and objective reality now underway. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...
Reposted by Chris Raker
The US doesn’t have universal health insurance for all citizens like every other country. Let’s do that before cutting access to life-saving vaccines. If you don’t have insurance you might have undiagnosed diabetes or hypertension, and so won’t be eligible when you should be eligible for vaccine
This is a straw man and not in fact how the policy has been justified. People are fully capable of understanding age- and risk-based recommendations. However, accessibility to care and health disparities are a much more serious problem in the US than in other higher income countries.
May 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
The US doesn’t have universal health insurance for all citizens like every other country. Let’s do that before cutting access to life-saving vaccines. If you don’t have insurance you might have undiagnosed diabetes or hypertension, and so won’t be eligible when you should be eligible for vaccine
Reposted by Chris Raker
Here at @yalesph.bsky.social we are keeping an eye on growing #measles cases in El Paso TX - which is at the center of some major highways through the SW US. 🧪😷🩺
For the full slide deck: www.slideshare.net/slideshow/ys...
For the full slide deck: www.slideshare.net/slideshow/ys...
May 9, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Here at @yalesph.bsky.social we are keeping an eye on growing #measles cases in El Paso TX - which is at the center of some major highways through the SW US. 🧪😷🩺
For the full slide deck: www.slideshare.net/slideshow/ys...
For the full slide deck: www.slideshare.net/slideshow/ys...
Reposted by Chris Raker
North America is losing the plot on measles, in 2025
May 8, 2025 at 10:52 AM
North America is losing the plot on measles, in 2025
Reposted by Chris Raker
This is a piece that I wished @shashikalb.bsky.social , Nhial Deng, and I did not have to write
The Global North is increasingly unsafe for global health meetings
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... via @thelancet.bsky.social
The Global North is increasingly unsafe for global health meetings
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... via @thelancet.bsky.social
The Global North is increasingly unsafe for global health meetings
American civil rights activist Maya Angelou once wrote, “prejudice is a burden that
confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible”.1 At
a time of unprecedented national...
www.thelancet.com
May 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM
This is a piece that I wished @shashikalb.bsky.social , Nhial Deng, and I did not have to write
The Global North is increasingly unsafe for global health meetings
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... via @thelancet.bsky.social
The Global North is increasingly unsafe for global health meetings
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... via @thelancet.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Raker
People who design & study vaccines are wondering why the #NIH is sinking half a billion dollars into trying to develop a platform for universal flu & covid vaccines using a decades-old production approach. “There is incredible work going on. This is not it." www.statnews.com/2025/05/03/n...
Scientists question NIH project’s use of 20th century technology to make a universal flu vaccine
$500 million NIH program to make vaccines against pathogens that can trigger pandemics uses approach pioneered in last century
www.statnews.com
May 3, 2025 at 8:23 PM
People who design & study vaccines are wondering why the #NIH is sinking half a billion dollars into trying to develop a platform for universal flu & covid vaccines using a decades-old production approach. “There is incredible work going on. This is not it." www.statnews.com/2025/05/03/n...
Reposted by Chris Raker
It keeps getting worse. I
BREAKING: NSF has frozen all grant funding, as of yesterday. It's unclear when they will resume funding awards, or why the pause has been put in place. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
www.nature.com
May 3, 2025 at 3:14 AM
It keeps getting worse. I
Reposted by Chris Raker
I can no longer do my job as a global health researcher, which requires close collaboration with colleagues outside the US 💔
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘This is insane:’ New NIH policy on funding foreign scientists stirs outrage
Agency will make researchers outside United States seek grants of their own rather than “subawards” from U.S. scientists
www.science.org
May 3, 2025 at 3:30 AM
I can no longer do my job as a global health researcher, which requires close collaboration with colleagues outside the US 💔
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Chris Raker
Most pediatric flu deaths in 15 years, in part because of low vaccine acceptance. This will get worse given the current administration’s war on all things good for kids.
www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/c...
CDC reports 216 child deaths this flu season, the most in 15 years
More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report.
www.statnews.com
May 2, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Most pediatric flu deaths in 15 years, in part because of low vaccine acceptance. This will get worse given the current administration’s war on all things good for kids.
www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/c...
Reposted by Chris Raker
I don't get how anyone can possibly be okay with ending the WHI. This study has accrued decades of data from 42000 women and it is still going. It helps to address critical research gaps that have been allowed to go unfilled because of durable misogyny and provides invaluable insight into aging.
NIH cancels its first and largest study centered on women
The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings
www.science.org
April 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I don't get how anyone can possibly be okay with ending the WHI. This study has accrued decades of data from 42000 women and it is still going. It helps to address critical research gaps that have been allowed to go unfilled because of durable misogyny and provides invaluable insight into aging.
Reposted by Chris Raker
Emerging viruses generally emerge from their natural animal reservoirs, like these hantaviruses. Hantas are prevalent in rodents & as ecosystems continue to be disrupted, we will see more spillover to humans. Shutting down research is the worst thing we could do to counter these emerging threats.
As DOGE/HHS continues the total destruction of public health and infectious disease surveillance and research, here is another reminder of the many viruses lying in wait, some of which *will* cause the next major epidemic.
"Hantavirus kills 3 in Mammoth Lakes"
www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/ar...
"Hantavirus kills 3 in Mammoth Lakes"
www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/ar...
Virus that killed Betsy Arakawa, wife of Gene Hackman, kills 3 in Mammoth
Officials confirmed three hantavirus deaths in Mammoth Lakes this year, prompting public health concerns.
www.sfgate.com
April 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Emerging viruses generally emerge from their natural animal reservoirs, like these hantaviruses. Hantas are prevalent in rodents & as ecosystems continue to be disrupted, we will see more spillover to humans. Shutting down research is the worst thing we could do to counter these emerging threats.
Reposted by Chris Raker
“There is just this implicit bias that violence against women is not an important public health area or a significant area of study," the researcher told Mother Jones.
www.jezebel.com/researcher-s...
www.jezebel.com/researcher-s...
Researcher Studying Domestic Violence & Maternal Mortality Loses Funding Over RFK Jr.’s MAHA Agenda
“There is just this implicit bias that violence against women is not an important public health area or a significant area of study," the researcher told Mother Jones.
www.jezebel.com
March 25, 2025 at 10:57 PM
“There is just this implicit bias that violence against women is not an important public health area or a significant area of study," the researcher told Mother Jones.
www.jezebel.com/researcher-s...
www.jezebel.com/researcher-s...
Reposted by Chris Raker
I was interviewed this week for a major US news show. My interviewer asked me why so few of my colleagues are willing to talk.
It’s not just fear of losing funding, but of being singled out by a regime that wants to purge scientists from society.
That’s why I do speak out. I wish more people would
It’s not just fear of losing funding, but of being singled out by a regime that wants to purge scientists from society.
That’s why I do speak out. I wish more people would
In 15 yrs of reporting, I've never had so many health & biomed researchers & outreach orgs tell me they're afraid to talk w/press or barred from speaking bc of new comms policies.
I understand the fear of losing funds. I don't know if silence does more harm than good. If you can speak up, pls do.
I understand the fear of losing funds. I don't know if silence does more harm than good. If you can speak up, pls do.
March 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I was interviewed this week for a major US news show. My interviewer asked me why so few of my colleagues are willing to talk.
It’s not just fear of losing funding, but of being singled out by a regime that wants to purge scientists from society.
That’s why I do speak out. I wish more people would
It’s not just fear of losing funding, but of being singled out by a regime that wants to purge scientists from society.
That’s why I do speak out. I wish more people would
Reposted by Chris Raker
The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
Cancelled NIH grant information submission form
Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NIH grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025.
Data from this form will be used to update the Rescinded NIH...
forms.gle
March 21, 2025 at 3:32 AM
The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
Reposted by Chris Raker
7. My colleagues are afraid. Our work is scrutinized for forbidden works like "gender" and "climate". The pipeline of talent has been cut off. We can no longer train graduate students and postdocs. These are individual dreams crushed, causing collective damage that will take generations to undo.
March 19, 2025 at 7:32 PM
7. My colleagues are afraid. Our work is scrutinized for forbidden works like "gender" and "climate". The pipeline of talent has been cut off. We can no longer train graduate students and postdocs. These are individual dreams crushed, causing collective damage that will take generations to undo.