Elizabeth Matsui
@elizabethmatsui.bsky.social
Professor - Pediatrician - Environmental Health and Asthma Disparities Researcher - The Effort Report - UT Austin -views own
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
This paper has been getting a lot of press but I think there are reasons to be skeptical (1/n) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/w...
Peanut Allergies Have Plummeted in Children, Study Shows
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:16 PM
This paper has been getting a lot of press but I think there are reasons to be skeptical (1/n) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/w...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
I'm so proud of @nationalacademies.org for having rapidly produced this comprehensive report which definitively demonstrates that CLIMATE CHANGE HARMS HUMAN HEALTH--which is the basis of the "Endangerment Finding" that EPA is now looking to eliminate.
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
Read "Effects of Human-Caused Greenhouse Gas Emissions on U.S. Climate, Health, and Welfare" at NAP.edu
Read chapter Summary: The scientific community has been studying the question of how human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are affecting the climate ...
nap.nationalacademies.org
September 21, 2025 at 9:32 PM
I'm so proud of @nationalacademies.org for having rapidly produced this comprehensive report which definitively demonstrates that CLIMATE CHANGE HARMS HUMAN HEALTH--which is the basis of the "Endangerment Finding" that EPA is now looking to eliminate.
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
@docsforclimate.bsky.social
Congratulations @mmccormackmd.bsky.social - Hopkins is lucky to have you!
I’m honored to share that I was named Director of the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In this role, I look forward to leading our Division through a changing research landscape and supporting faculty to reach their highest potential.
September 3, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Congratulations @mmccormackmd.bsky.social - Hopkins is lucky to have you!
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
New study: researchers looked at hospital visits after a coal plant was closed near Pittsburgh
--> immediate 20.5% decrease in weekly respiratory emergency dept visits
--> immediate 41.2% decrease in pediatric asthma ED visits
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40691837/
--> immediate 20.5% decrease in weekly respiratory emergency dept visits
--> immediate 41.2% decrease in pediatric asthma ED visits
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40691837/
August 8, 2025 at 2:20 PM
New study: researchers looked at hospital visits after a coal plant was closed near Pittsburgh
--> immediate 20.5% decrease in weekly respiratory emergency dept visits
--> immediate 41.2% decrease in pediatric asthma ED visits
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40691837/
--> immediate 20.5% decrease in weekly respiratory emergency dept visits
--> immediate 41.2% decrease in pediatric asthma ED visits
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40691837/
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
As heartbreaking news continues to emerge from central Texas, @chastenbuttigieg.bsky.social and I are thinking of everyone affected and grateful for the extraordinary work of first responders.
Here are some ways all of us can help:
Here are some ways all of us can help:
Hill Country flooding: Here’s how to give and receive help
Catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country has killed 79 people. Rescue crews are searching for missing girls from Camp Mystic. Here is a guide on how to help those affected.
www.texastribune.org
July 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
As heartbreaking news continues to emerge from central Texas, @chastenbuttigieg.bsky.social and I are thinking of everyone affected and grateful for the extraordinary work of first responders.
Here are some ways all of us can help:
Here are some ways all of us can help:
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
An estimated 8% of American children have asthma. Pediatrician and immunologist @elizabethmatsui.bsky.social talks about how factors like poor housing conditions and a lack of care worsen conditions and undermine lung development.
Listen to the episode🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/916-childhoo...
Listen to the episode🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/916-childhoo...
July 7, 2025 at 12:37 PM
An estimated 8% of American children have asthma. Pediatrician and immunologist @elizabethmatsui.bsky.social talks about how factors like poor housing conditions and a lack of care worsen conditions and undermine lung development.
Listen to the episode🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/916-childhoo...
Listen to the episode🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/916-childhoo...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
Studies show that just one exposure to tear gas can increase the likelihood of respiratory illnesses. That's why in 2020, the ATS called for a moratorium on the use of tear gas and other chemical agents.
Learn more about the damage tear gas causes (via @wired.com): www.wired.com/story/what-t...
Learn more about the damage tear gas causes (via @wired.com): www.wired.com/story/what-t...
June 10, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Studies show that just one exposure to tear gas can increase the likelihood of respiratory illnesses. That's why in 2020, the ATS called for a moratorium on the use of tear gas and other chemical agents.
Learn more about the damage tear gas causes (via @wired.com): www.wired.com/story/what-t...
Learn more about the damage tear gas causes (via @wired.com): www.wired.com/story/what-t...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
It’s hard to put into words just how comprehensively this bill is going to hurt public colleges and universities in Texas—especially UT.
Texas legislators just passed a bill that
gives politically-appointed regents control over faculty curriculum, hiring, & governance. It does what they accuse academics of doing: privileging ideas, biases, & agendas on political grounds, & silencing those that do not follow their ideology.
gives politically-appointed regents control over faculty curriculum, hiring, & governance. It does what they accuse academics of doing: privileging ideas, biases, & agendas on political grounds, & silencing those that do not follow their ideology.
Political appointees would have more control over Texas universities’ courses and hiring under bill OK’d by House
Senate Bill 37 would give more power to university regents, who are appointed by the governor, to vet and veto new curricula and administrators.
www.texastribune.org
May 25, 2025 at 1:53 AM
It’s hard to put into words just how comprehensively this bill is going to hurt public colleges and universities in Texas—especially UT.
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
time.com
May 13, 2025 at 11:19 AM
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
Asthma is on the rise. Rates are soaring in the oil sands region: patients feel it, data confirms it. Canada’s new government must prioritize clean air and health equity. Read our op-ed in @TheHillTimes. Accessible only today! 🔗 loom.ly/rP6GcwU
#WorldAsthmaDay #OilSands
#WorldAsthmaDay #OilSands
Fighting for air: keeping health and justice at the forefront of Canadian environmental policy
The air we breathe is a shared resource, and in many ways each breath we take connects us to people across Canada.
loom.ly
May 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Asthma is on the rise. Rates are soaring in the oil sands region: patients feel it, data confirms it. Canada’s new government must prioritize clean air and health equity. Read our op-ed in @TheHillTimes. Accessible only today! 🔗 loom.ly/rP6GcwU
#WorldAsthmaDay #OilSands
#WorldAsthmaDay #OilSands
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
And there it is for the rest of the COVID vaccines.
April 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
And there it is for the rest of the COVID vaccines.
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
Incredibly disappointing news to hear
So sad to see this happening: the leading environmental health journal EHP stops handling manuscripts. Some friends with manuscripts in revision (months to even a year in the peer review process) got their manuscripts withdrawn. Hope this is just a pause but not the end.
April 24, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Incredibly disappointing news to hear
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
This feels existential for US science:
To get any future medical research funding, an entire university would need to certify that it won't have programs doing DEIA work
(e.g. note-takers for blind students, veteran's support, women's resource groups, etc.)
No institution could *ever* comply.
To get any future medical research funding, an entire university would need to certify that it won't have programs doing DEIA work
(e.g. note-takers for blind students, veteran's support, women's resource groups, etc.)
No institution could *ever* comply.
New NIH grant rules override the Civil Rights Act of 1964, barring recipients from DEI activities
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is rolling out rules that block new grants for any researcher or institution ad | The National Institutes of Health is rolling out rules that block new grants f...
www.fiercebiotech.com
April 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
This feels existential for US science:
To get any future medical research funding, an entire university would need to certify that it won't have programs doing DEIA work
(e.g. note-takers for blind students, veteran's support, women's resource groups, etc.)
No institution could *ever* comply.
To get any future medical research funding, an entire university would need to certify that it won't have programs doing DEIA work
(e.g. note-takers for blind students, veteran's support, women's resource groups, etc.)
No institution could *ever* comply.
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
“Older Black Americans are twice as likely as white patients to develop [dementia]. Just as it is not illegal to research breast cancer in women, Mezuk said, it should not be illegal to research dementia in Black and lower-income white Americans.”
www.michigandaily.com/news/researc...
www.michigandaily.com/news/researc...
NIH terminates $13 million grant on dementia
A $12.9 million grant for a study on dementia risks among at-risk U.S. populations was terminated by the National Institutes of Health.
www.michigandaily.com
April 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
“Older Black Americans are twice as likely as white patients to develop [dementia]. Just as it is not illegal to research breast cancer in women, Mezuk said, it should not be illegal to research dementia in Black and lower-income white Americans.”
www.michigandaily.com/news/researc...
www.michigandaily.com/news/researc...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
There are so many ways one could provide context for this data.
For example, in the last five years universities have received 52-55% of their research funding from the federal government. That's the lowest percentage since the 1950s. 1/x ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/high...
For example, in the last five years universities have received 52-55% of their research funding from the federal government. That's the lowest percentage since the 1950s. 1/x ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/high...
How Universities Became So Dependent on the Federal Government
For decades, universities got billions in federal dollars for research. The relationship was mutually beneficial, until President Trump decided it wasn’t.
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
There are so many ways one could provide context for this data.
For example, in the last five years universities have received 52-55% of their research funding from the federal government. That's the lowest percentage since the 1950s. 1/x ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/high...
For example, in the last five years universities have received 52-55% of their research funding from the federal government. That's the lowest percentage since the 1950s. 1/x ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/high...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
COMPARE: the results of fighting back to the results of not fighting back
April 10, 2025 at 11:11 PM
COMPARE: the results of fighting back to the results of not fighting back
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
"Eliminating federal funding for the humanities saves next to no money, but it will cost the American people something precious: one of the few federal institutions whose whole purpose is to foster community and thoughtful discussion." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...
Opinion | Why DOGE Slashed the National Endowment for the Humanities
Eliminating federal funding for the humanities saves next to no money, but it will cost the American people something precious.
www.nytimes.com
April 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
"Eliminating federal funding for the humanities saves next to no money, but it will cost the American people something precious: one of the few federal institutions whose whole purpose is to foster community and thoughtful discussion." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
I am gifting this superb piece today, “President’s Third Term Talk Defies Constitution and Tests Democracy,” by Peter Baker of The New York Times. Looking back over the past four years from the President’s latest reckless talk that he is serious about serving a third term in office,
April 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I am gifting this superb piece today, “President’s Third Term Talk Defies Constitution and Tests Democracy,” by Peter Baker of The New York Times. Looking back over the past four years from the President’s latest reckless talk that he is serious about serving a third term in office,
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
A second child has died in the current US measles outbreak: An entirely avoidable tragedy and one more sign that this outbreak is probably much larger than reported numbers suggest and not going anywhere soon...
#IDsky 🧪
#IDsky 🧪
A Second Child Dies of Measles in Texas
It is the second confirmed measles death in the U.S. in a decade. If the outbreak continues at the current pace, the nation may lose its “elimination” status.
www.nytimes.com
April 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
A second child has died in the current US measles outbreak: An entirely avoidable tragedy and one more sign that this outbreak is probably much larger than reported numbers suggest and not going anywhere soon...
#IDsky 🧪
#IDsky 🧪
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
This is Utah in case anyone’s wondering how pissed off people are. I have never seen anything like this.
April 5, 2025 at 7:06 PM
This is Utah in case anyone’s wondering how pissed off people are. I have never seen anything like this.
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
If you think this can’t happen, remember that of the 125,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII for years without charge or trial, two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Including me.
April 4, 2025 at 7:51 PM
If you think this can’t happen, remember that of the 125,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII for years without charge or trial, two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Including me.
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
Lee Zeldin, the new head of the EPA, announced plans to take a broad swipe at this bedrock law that protects people across the U.S. from harmful pollution. Here’s what you need to know: vitalsigns.edf.org/story/clean-...
The Clean Air Act — and your family's health and safety — are under attack
The Clean Air Act is under attack from the Trump administration and its EPA chief, Lee Zeldin.
vitalsigns.edf.org
April 3, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Lee Zeldin, the new head of the EPA, announced plans to take a broad swipe at this bedrock law that protects people across the U.S. from harmful pollution. Here’s what you need to know: vitalsigns.edf.org/story/clean-...
Reposted by Elizabeth Matsui
Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.
April 3, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.