Holly Witteman
@hwitteman.bsky.social
Professor & Canada Research Chair in Human-Centred Digital Health at Université Laval in Québec City 🇨🇦, PhD human factors engineering, #T1D since 1983, 💙 DIY looping #WeAreNotWaiting, En/Fr
Pinned
Holly Witteman
@hwitteman.bsky.social
· Jul 7
Are you living in Canada with #type1diabetes (yourself or a loved one)? You are not alone … find your #T1D community at communiT1D.ca!
Vivez-vous au Canada avec un #diabètedetype1 (vous-même ou un(e) proche)? Vous n'êtes pas seul(e) ... trouvez votre communauté du #DT1 au communauDT1.ca!
Vivez-vous au Canada avec un #diabètedetype1 (vous-même ou un(e) proche)? Vous n'êtes pas seul(e) ... trouvez votre communauté du #DT1 au communauDT1.ca!
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Attn: Canadian researchers/ If you are looking for text/arguments to mix-n-match in a letter to your MP, the committee, Ministers, etc.. here is some.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
October 31, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Attn: Canadian researchers/ If you are looking for text/arguments to mix-n-match in a letter to your MP, the committee, Ministers, etc.. here is some.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Holly Witteman
How to Communicate Medical Numbers-a @jama.com Insight from @angiefagerlin.bsky.social @athorpe8.bsky.social @uuhsresearch.bsky.social, @bzikmund.bsky.social @umich.edu
Read and listen to the podcast for useful tips and tools that could improve patient health+lives. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Read and listen to the podcast for useful tips and tools that could improve patient health+lives. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
September 24, 2025 at 7:08 PM
How to Communicate Medical Numbers-a @jama.com Insight from @angiefagerlin.bsky.social @athorpe8.bsky.social @uuhsresearch.bsky.social, @bzikmund.bsky.social @umich.edu
Read and listen to the podcast for useful tips and tools that could improve patient health+lives. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Read and listen to the podcast for useful tips and tools that could improve patient health+lives. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reposted by Holly Witteman
In Canada, proposed cuts of 15% across the federal government would have a dramatic effect on already globally decimated research & science.
Join Canada's research & science community and tell PM Mark Carney to preserve the funding promised in 2024.
Send a letter: win.newmode.net/canadianasso...
Join Canada's research & science community and tell PM Mark Carney to preserve the funding promised in 2024.
Send a letter: win.newmode.net/canadianasso...
September 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
In Canada, proposed cuts of 15% across the federal government would have a dramatic effect on already globally decimated research & science.
Join Canada's research & science community and tell PM Mark Carney to preserve the funding promised in 2024.
Send a letter: win.newmode.net/canadianasso...
Join Canada's research & science community and tell PM Mark Carney to preserve the funding promised in 2024.
Send a letter: win.newmode.net/canadianasso...
Reposted by Holly Witteman
This is a nice study showing that out-of-pocket costs for diabetes technologies are associated with worse HbA1c levels.
I wish there were more granular data on actual costs and affordability instead of just bucketing 'reimbursed' vs 'not reimbursed.'
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
I wish there were more granular data on actual costs and affordability instead of just bucketing 'reimbursed' vs 'not reimbursed.'
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Global Inequities in Diabetes Technology and Insulin Access and Glycemic Outcomes
This cross-sectional study estimates the association of accessibility and reimbursement for diabetes technologies and insulin with glycemic control among children with type 1 diabetes using data from ...
jamanetwork.com
August 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
This is a nice study showing that out-of-pocket costs for diabetes technologies are associated with worse HbA1c levels.
I wish there were more granular data on actual costs and affordability instead of just bucketing 'reimbursed' vs 'not reimbursed.'
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
I wish there were more granular data on actual costs and affordability instead of just bucketing 'reimbursed' vs 'not reimbursed.'
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Are you living in Canada with #type1diabetes (yourself or a loved one)? You are not alone … find your #T1D community at communiT1D.ca!
Vivez-vous au Canada avec un #diabètedetype1 (vous-même ou un(e) proche)? Vous n'êtes pas seul(e) ... trouvez votre communauté du #DT1 au communauDT1.ca!
Vivez-vous au Canada avec un #diabètedetype1 (vous-même ou un(e) proche)? Vous n'êtes pas seul(e) ... trouvez votre communauté du #DT1 au communauDT1.ca!
July 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Are you living in Canada with #type1diabetes (yourself or a loved one)? You are not alone … find your #T1D community at communiT1D.ca!
Vivez-vous au Canada avec un #diabètedetype1 (vous-même ou un(e) proche)? Vous n'êtes pas seul(e) ... trouvez votre communauté du #DT1 au communauDT1.ca!
Vivez-vous au Canada avec un #diabètedetype1 (vous-même ou un(e) proche)? Vous n'êtes pas seul(e) ... trouvez votre communauté du #DT1 au communauDT1.ca!
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Women are disproportionately affected by #irondeficiency & #anaemia
We undertook a comprehensive review of
🔑 role of iron in women's health across the lifespan
✅ factors affecting iron bioavailability, ID/IDA
🚫 limitations of interventions
🙋🏽♀️need 4 better diagnosis & acceptable treatments 4 women
We undertook a comprehensive review of
🔑 role of iron in women's health across the lifespan
✅ factors affecting iron bioavailability, ID/IDA
🚫 limitations of interventions
🙋🏽♀️need 4 better diagnosis & acceptable treatments 4 women
Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in women of reproductive age: Sex- and gender-based risk factors and inequities
Iron deficiency (ID) is a serious public health problem that affects 20–25 % of the population and 52 % of pregnant people worldwide. Biologically fem…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Women are disproportionately affected by #irondeficiency & #anaemia
We undertook a comprehensive review of
🔑 role of iron in women's health across the lifespan
✅ factors affecting iron bioavailability, ID/IDA
🚫 limitations of interventions
🙋🏽♀️need 4 better diagnosis & acceptable treatments 4 women
We undertook a comprehensive review of
🔑 role of iron in women's health across the lifespan
✅ factors affecting iron bioavailability, ID/IDA
🚫 limitations of interventions
🙋🏽♀️need 4 better diagnosis & acceptable treatments 4 women
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Pro tip, folks: if you make a figure for a publication, don’t just hand the copyright over to the publisher. Post it on OSF first and then give yourself permission to use it in the first publication and then all future publications. That way, no permissions issues.
June 10, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Pro tip, folks: if you make a figure for a publication, don’t just hand the copyright over to the publisher. Post it on OSF first and then give yourself permission to use it in the first publication and then all future publications. That way, no permissions issues.
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Google and Meta search both report that Cape Breton Island has its own time zone 12 minutes ahead of mainland Nova Scotia time because they are both drawing that information from a Beaverton article I wrote in 2024
June 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Google and Meta search both report that Cape Breton Island has its own time zone 12 minutes ahead of mainland Nova Scotia time because they are both drawing that information from a Beaverton article I wrote in 2024
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Tip for PhD applicants reaching out to prospective advisors: Don’t use an LLM to write these emails. It’s not a great first impression to express your admiration for a recent paper the faculty member published if that paper does not exist.
June 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Tip for PhD applicants reaching out to prospective advisors: Don’t use an LLM to write these emails. It’s not a great first impression to express your admiration for a recent paper the faculty member published if that paper does not exist.
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Happy World Bicycle Day.
June 3, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Happy World Bicycle Day.
Downside of working in diabetes research as a person with diabetes, a running list:
1. I now have to attend conferences whose taglines might as well be, “67 reasons your life sucks & 12 ways you could die soon.”
2. I cannot seem to bring myself to refuse requests to review from diabetes charities.
1. I now have to attend conferences whose taglines might as well be, “67 reasons your life sucks & 12 ways you could die soon.”
2. I cannot seem to bring myself to refuse requests to review from diabetes charities.
June 3, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Downside of working in diabetes research as a person with diabetes, a running list:
1. I now have to attend conferences whose taglines might as well be, “67 reasons your life sucks & 12 ways you could die soon.”
2. I cannot seem to bring myself to refuse requests to review from diabetes charities.
1. I now have to attend conferences whose taglines might as well be, “67 reasons your life sucks & 12 ways you could die soon.”
2. I cannot seem to bring myself to refuse requests to review from diabetes charities.
Reposted by Holly Witteman
great work by @ellenpeters.bsky.social et al. Best practices include communicating with numbers; decreasing cognitive effort; providing meaning of numeric risk data; acknowledging uncertainty; testing communication through teach-back. #medsky pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40301218/
Communicating Numeric Risk Information to Patients - PubMed
Risk information is increasingly available to health care providers and patients thanks to a growing body of health outcomes research and clinical prediction models. Meanwhile, communicating such info...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
May 29, 2025 at 9:35 AM
great work by @ellenpeters.bsky.social et al. Best practices include communicating with numbers; decreasing cognitive effort; providing meaning of numeric risk data; acknowledging uncertainty; testing communication through teach-back. #medsky pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40301218/
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Latest WMO decadal update is available:
- 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record
- 70% chance that 5-year average warming for 2025-2029 will be more than 1.5 °C
wmo.int/publication-...
- 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record
- 70% chance that 5-year average warming for 2025-2029 will be more than 1.5 °C
wmo.int/publication-...
WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update (2025-2029)
wmo.int
May 28, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Latest WMO decadal update is available:
- 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record
- 70% chance that 5-year average warming for 2025-2029 will be more than 1.5 °C
wmo.int/publication-...
- 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record
- 70% chance that 5-year average warming for 2025-2029 will be more than 1.5 °C
wmo.int/publication-...
Reposted by Holly Witteman
New Forbes story about the economic consequences of science cuts.
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Thoughtful and thorough analysis.
1/n
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Thoughtful and thorough analysis.
1/n
Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually
Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself
www.forbes.com
May 20, 2025 at 8:28 PM
New Forbes story about the economic consequences of science cuts.
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Thoughtful and thorough analysis.
1/n
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Thoughtful and thorough analysis.
1/n
Lunchtime at the ULaval botanical gardens. (Roger van den Hende gardens.)
May 15, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Lunchtime at the ULaval botanical gardens. (Roger van den Hende gardens.)
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Congratulations to our co-president, Dr. Kristin Connor (@kconnor.bsky.social), for being awarded the Nick Hales Award by the International DOHaD Society. #DOHaD2025
May 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Congratulations to our co-president, Dr. Kristin Connor (@kconnor.bsky.social), for being awarded the Nick Hales Award by the International DOHaD Society. #DOHaD2025
Reposted by Holly Witteman
"When we buy something, we don't pay for it with money,
we pay for it with the time we had to spend to get that money. Remember that everything can be bought, except time/life."
Pepe Mujica (1935-2025)
we pay for it with the time we had to spend to get that money. Remember that everything can be bought, except time/life."
Pepe Mujica (1935-2025)
May 13, 2025 at 8:02 PM
"When we buy something, we don't pay for it with money,
we pay for it with the time we had to spend to get that money. Remember that everything can be bought, except time/life."
Pepe Mujica (1935-2025)
we pay for it with the time we had to spend to get that money. Remember that everything can be bought, except time/life."
Pepe Mujica (1935-2025)
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Loved the chat with @tarakiran.bsky.social about what we can learn from public schools to deal with the #familydoctorshortage & managed to squeeze in a reference to the idea of thick v. thin relationships that I learned from reading @deanspade.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/w...
Why Primary Care Should Work Like Public Schools with Dr. Rita McCracken
Podcast Episode · Primary Focus with Dr. Tara Kiran · 2025-05-08 · 35m
podcasts.apple.com
May 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Loved the chat with @tarakiran.bsky.social about what we can learn from public schools to deal with the #familydoctorshortage & managed to squeeze in a reference to the idea of thick v. thin relationships that I learned from reading @deanspade.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/w...
Reposted by Holly Witteman
"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Reposted by Holly Witteman
Fact: Years after a measles outbreak, some people may develop a rare brain infection called SSPE. It is almost always fatal.
If you go looking, you can find many new stories about it. But for the most part, it's a quiet harm most people never even hear about.
If you go looking, you can find many new stories about it. But for the most part, it's a quiet harm most people never even hear about.
May 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Fact: Years after a measles outbreak, some people may develop a rare brain infection called SSPE. It is almost always fatal.
If you go looking, you can find many new stories about it. But for the most part, it's a quiet harm most people never even hear about.
If you go looking, you can find many new stories about it. But for the most part, it's a quiet harm most people never even hear about.
Reposted by Holly Witteman
The US has cut the equivalent of 3X the total annual CIHR budget so far this year, revealing both how low the CIHR budget is and how utterly draconian the White House has treated one of the most precious and successful institutions the US has ever built.
Update of my analysis of funding missing in FY2025 compared to FY2024.
Bottom line: The missing amount is estimated to be $2.05 B from non-competitive renewals and $0.83 B from new and competitive renewals.
Total: $2.88 B
Bottom line: The missing amount is estimated to be $2.05 B from non-competitive renewals and $0.83 B from new and competitive renewals.
Total: $2.88 B
May 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM
The US has cut the equivalent of 3X the total annual CIHR budget so far this year, revealing both how low the CIHR budget is and how utterly draconian the White House has treated one of the most precious and successful institutions the US has ever built.
I really hate the trend of academics planning studies in which they interview other academics about their area of expertise and keep interviews confidential & anonymous without letting the interviewees have a say in that. 🧵
May 14, 2025 at 1:14 AM
I really hate the trend of academics planning studies in which they interview other academics about their area of expertise and keep interviews confidential & anonymous without letting the interviewees have a say in that. 🧵
1/My faith in humanity was boosted this week.
May 11, 2025 at 12:37 PM
1/My faith in humanity was boosted this week.