A Fourier Duck, PhD
@crystalline-entity.bsky.social
Running a Structural Biology and Protein Production group at a Boston biotech. Previously worked in rare disease, but focusing on drug discovery in precision oncology the last few years. Crystallography with a splash of CryoEM and NMR. Opinions are my own.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
For the first time in my career, I can’t tell people to trust what the CDC website says. And that is an incredibly sad and devastating place for this country to be.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 4:22 AM
For the first time in my career, I can’t tell people to trust what the CDC website says. And that is an incredibly sad and devastating place for this country to be.
Nah. Can’t be ‘united’ if the political party is a laughably incapable opposition that is now just kicking the can down to midterms.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 11, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Nah. Can’t be ‘united’ if the political party is a laughably incapable opposition that is now just kicking the can down to midterms.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
‼️ ICYMI: Amazon Ring announced a partnership with the notorious surveillance tech company Flock, which was recently exposed for secretly sharing camera data w/ ICE & law enforcement investigating people who travel for abortion care.
October 30, 2025 at 7:31 PM
‼️ ICYMI: Amazon Ring announced a partnership with the notorious surveillance tech company Flock, which was recently exposed for secretly sharing camera data w/ ICE & law enforcement investigating people who travel for abortion care.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Dr. Susan Monarez: “I could have stayed silent, agreed to the demands, and no one would have known. What the public would have seen were scientists dismissed without cause and vaccine protections quietly eroded…I would have lost the one thing that cannot be replaced: My integrity.”
September 17, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Dr. Susan Monarez: “I could have stayed silent, agreed to the demands, and no one would have known. What the public would have seen were scientists dismissed without cause and vaccine protections quietly eroded…I would have lost the one thing that cannot be replaced: My integrity.”
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
New: In 7 months, Kennedy has broken the CDC, perhaps irreparably. For all he’s done with mass firings, gutting expertise, and attacking vaccines, Wednesday’s loss of its most senior and competent leaders—truly the CDC’s backbone—is the most consequential attack yet.
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/c...
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/c...
‘People will die because of this’: How RFK Jr. drove out the CDC’s senior leaders
On the same day Susan Monarez was fired, four of the agency’s top leaders quit.
www.msnbc.com
August 28, 2025 at 3:52 PM
New: In 7 months, Kennedy has broken the CDC, perhaps irreparably. For all he’s done with mass firings, gutting expertise, and attacking vaccines, Wednesday’s loss of its most senior and competent leaders—truly the CDC’s backbone—is the most consequential attack yet.
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/c...
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/c...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
RFK Jr on the mass shooting in Minnesota: "We're launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence."
August 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM
RFK Jr on the mass shooting in Minnesota: "We're launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence."
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
The Wednesday Night Massacre at #CDC. Key leaders depart after firing of Director. #RFKJr #Vought & #Trump have now destroyed the agency. Their acts will kill people. They have blood on their hands. www.statnews.com/2025/08/27/c...
CDC Director Susan Monarez is ousted as senior leaders exit agency
Susan Monarez, the first Senate-confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been ousted after just a month on the job.
www.statnews.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:34 PM
The Wednesday Night Massacre at #CDC. Key leaders depart after firing of Director. #RFKJr #Vought & #Trump have now destroyed the agency. Their acts will kill people. They have blood on their hands. www.statnews.com/2025/08/27/c...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
The most important part of this article, to me, is the end.
It challenges a false binary between “long COVID” and “everyone else.”
Maybe it's a spectrum... 🧵 (1/5)
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
It challenges a false binary between “long COVID” and “everyone else.”
Maybe it's a spectrum... 🧵 (1/5)
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Why scientists are rethinking the immune effects of SARS-CoV-2
“Immunity debt,” a theory to explain the global surge in non-covid infections since pandemic restrictions were lifted, is increasingly being challenged by emerging evidence. Nick Tsergas reports
Myco...
www.bmj.com
August 20, 2025 at 5:50 AM
The most important part of this article, to me, is the end.
It challenges a false binary between “long COVID” and “everyone else.”
Maybe it's a spectrum... 🧵 (1/5)
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
It challenges a false binary between “long COVID” and “everyone else.”
Maybe it's a spectrum... 🧵 (1/5)
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
A loss for:
- Cancer research
- HIV research
- Vaccine research
- Chronic disease research think heart disease, dementia, obesity, diabetes etc.
All of this compounded by the brain drain of young researchers losing hope in the viability of careers in research & science.
apnews.com/article/supr...
- Cancer research
- HIV research
- Vaccine research
- Chronic disease research think heart disease, dementia, obesity, diabetes etc.
All of this compounded by the brain drain of young researchers losing hope in the viability of careers in research & science.
apnews.com/article/supr...
Supreme Court lets Trump administration cut $783 million of research funding in anti-DEI push
The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to slash hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research funding in its push to cut federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
apnews.com
August 21, 2025 at 9:52 PM
A loss for:
- Cancer research
- HIV research
- Vaccine research
- Chronic disease research think heart disease, dementia, obesity, diabetes etc.
All of this compounded by the brain drain of young researchers losing hope in the viability of careers in research & science.
apnews.com/article/supr...
- Cancer research
- HIV research
- Vaccine research
- Chronic disease research think heart disease, dementia, obesity, diabetes etc.
All of this compounded by the brain drain of young researchers losing hope in the viability of careers in research & science.
apnews.com/article/supr...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Anyone remember when RFK lied to CONGRESS that he wouldn’t cut any “working scientists?”
Yeah… I’m sure.
Read more about his lies and terrible decisions here: www.standupforscience.net/blog/9-worst...
Yeah… I’m sure.
Read more about his lies and terrible decisions here: www.standupforscience.net/blog/9-worst...
August 21, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Anyone remember when RFK lied to CONGRESS that he wouldn’t cut any “working scientists?”
Yeah… I’m sure.
Read more about his lies and terrible decisions here: www.standupforscience.net/blog/9-worst...
Yeah… I’m sure.
Read more about his lies and terrible decisions here: www.standupforscience.net/blog/9-worst...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Let me get this straight: RFK Jr’s $500m cut to mRNA contracts was based on a non‑peer‑reviewed, self‑published, anti-vax bibliography authored by his cronies who are all tied to a ‘vaccine detox’ supplement company? Got it 👍
www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-ci...
www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-ci...
‘Experts’ Cited By RFK Jr. to Justify mRNA Vaccine Funding Cut Have Ties to Anti-vax Supplement Company
Four authors of the non-peer reviewed, anti-vax bibliography cited by Kennedy’s HHS are involved with The Wellness Company.
www.importantcontext.news
August 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Let me get this straight: RFK Jr’s $500m cut to mRNA contracts was based on a non‑peer‑reviewed, self‑published, anti-vax bibliography authored by his cronies who are all tied to a ‘vaccine detox’ supplement company? Got it 👍
www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-ci...
www.importantcontext.news/p/experts-ci...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
failed to earn the public's trust? it earned the scientists a Nobel prize 🏅 ffs.
August 12, 2025 at 9:46 PM
failed to earn the public's trust? it earned the scientists a Nobel prize 🏅 ffs.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
No one should ever have the power to autonomously cancel hundreds of millions of dollars for scientific research based on some lies they saw on YouTube.
August 7, 2025 at 4:55 PM
No one should ever have the power to autonomously cancel hundreds of millions of dollars for scientific research based on some lies they saw on YouTube.
So instead of cancer vaccines we get E. coli-laden milk and soda with cane sugar (50% fructose) instead of corn syrup (55% fructose). Fucking brilliant.
August 6, 2025 at 2:17 AM
So instead of cancer vaccines we get E. coli-laden milk and soda with cane sugar (50% fructose) instead of corn syrup (55% fructose). Fucking brilliant.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
"We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted..."
Words really don't mean anything anymore, do they?
The incompetence is staggering, the political motives, clear as day.
www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...
Words really don't mean anything anymore, do they?
The incompetence is staggering, the political motives, clear as day.
www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...
August 5, 2025 at 11:06 PM
"We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted..."
Words really don't mean anything anymore, do they?
The incompetence is staggering, the political motives, clear as day.
www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...
Words really don't mean anything anymore, do they?
The incompetence is staggering, the political motives, clear as day.
www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
We could have had cancer vaccines, and instead the United States will contribute nothing whatsoever to mRNA research, condemning millions of people worldwide to unnecessary illness and death
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he will cancel $500 million in vaccine development projects.
August 5, 2025 at 11:04 PM
We could have had cancer vaccines, and instead the United States will contribute nothing whatsoever to mRNA research, condemning millions of people worldwide to unnecessary illness and death
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Just to be clear - the MAGA freaks are celebrating sugary cola (39g/12oz!) as a “health” victory while they are bringing back asbestos, paraquat (one of the most toxic pesticides to exist), eliminating clean water and air protections, and more than 10 million Americans are losing healthcare coverage
July 30, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Just to be clear - the MAGA freaks are celebrating sugary cola (39g/12oz!) as a “health” victory while they are bringing back asbestos, paraquat (one of the most toxic pesticides to exist), eliminating clean water and air protections, and more than 10 million Americans are losing healthcare coverage
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Health Secretary Kennedy to oust advisory panel on cancer screenings, HIV prevention drugs, WSJ reports reut.rs/452or6u
Health Secretary Kennedy to oust advisory panel on cancer screenings, HIV prevention drugs, WSJ reports
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to remove all the members of an advisory panel that determines what cancer screenings and other preventive health measures insurers must cover, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
reut.rs
July 25, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Health Secretary Kennedy to oust advisory panel on cancer screenings, HIV prevention drugs, WSJ reports reut.rs/452or6u
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Here is my live posting on the FDA panel on SSRIs in pregnancy
Holy shit the FDA panel on antidpressants seems wild to me. I am not an expert, but apparently depression is a useless term and that is preventing us from feeling emotional distress. We should experience everything as a signal and learn to pay attention to it.
July 21, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Here is my live posting on the FDA panel on SSRIs in pregnancy
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Over 120 mRNA cancer trials are now at risk as the Trump admin cuts funding & tells researchers to scrub “mRNA” from grant proposals.
What started as COVID fearmongering is now derailing life-saving cancer research.
Hope remains - but scientists say time is running out.
zurl.co/YBGNy
What started as COVID fearmongering is now derailing life-saving cancer research.
Hope remains - but scientists say time is running out.
zurl.co/YBGNy
‘Tremendous uncertainty’ for cancer research as US officials target mRNA vaccines
Amid Trump cuts and state-level backlash, experts worry that progress in messenger RNA vaccines could stall
zurl.co
July 14, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Over 120 mRNA cancer trials are now at risk as the Trump admin cuts funding & tells researchers to scrub “mRNA” from grant proposals.
What started as COVID fearmongering is now derailing life-saving cancer research.
Hope remains - but scientists say time is running out.
zurl.co/YBGNy
What started as COVID fearmongering is now derailing life-saving cancer research.
Hope remains - but scientists say time is running out.
zurl.co/YBGNy
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
If you were wondering about the lack of opposition to massive research cuts from the investor class, and you think "surely they can't be so stupid that they fail to realize that most startups that get launched arise from government-funded, fundamental research", well, maybe it's time to think again.
Notable how the racism has infected and corrupted their view of other issues too. This is a preposterous and exactly backwards understanding of the relationship between the NSF, universities, and "American innovation."
July 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
If you were wondering about the lack of opposition to massive research cuts from the investor class, and you think "surely they can't be so stupid that they fail to realize that most startups that get launched arise from government-funded, fundamental research", well, maybe it's time to think again.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
The ugliness of this bill doesn't stop.
Senate Republicans also voted against your right to breathe clean air.
Senate Republicans also voted against your right to breathe clean air.
July 1, 2025 at 6:58 PM
The ugliness of this bill doesn't stop.
Senate Republicans also voted against your right to breathe clean air.
Senate Republicans also voted against your right to breathe clean air.
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
With this budget, ICE alone would have nearly as large a detention operation as all 50 states' prison systems combined. Bigger budget than the Marine Corps. Police-state levels of spending
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
‼️‼️
June 29, 2025 at 11:33 AM
With this budget, ICE alone would have nearly as large a detention operation as all 50 states' prison systems combined. Bigger budget than the Marine Corps. Police-state levels of spending
Reposted by A Fourier Duck, PhD
Great piece by @gorskon.bsky.social today…
RFK Jr.’s remade ACIP meets: And so it begins (in earnest)…the dismantling of US federal vaccine infrastructure
The newly reconstituted CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet this week. Packed with antivaxxers, the antivax-adjacent, and the unqualified, ACIP will begin the dismantling of the
sciencebasedmedicine.org
June 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Great piece by @gorskon.bsky.social today…