I’m guessing those kinds of assertions are coming, never mind that of causes of death to be concerned about include the obsession with guns in America but with no corresponding gun laws whatsoever. You want to prevent unnecessary wrongful death, that’s where you start.

Speaking diplomatically when the person you’re talking to is not basing anything they ‘think’ on actual facts and reality IS somewhat crazy-making. I only try so hard, after that you have to call it off and tell them when they want to deal in reality, you’re there for them.

There’s a choice of whether or not to learn science—if they don’t want to learn, they’ll have to know that their opinion means nothing because they are willfully ignorant

I think we have to address the misinformation coming from this admin in particular and referring to the actual science, of the kind explained reasonably here. And I have worked with many brilliant scientists on the spectrum, and often appreciate their unique approach and perspective on our research.

Happy to speak with you further, as a prof in the life sciences at Washington U. My email is kkroll@wustl.edu and I can also reach out to you…although I’m currently working on many grant applications and manuscript submissions so I’m more than a little over-committed at this fraught political time.

We’re still holding on for now, in part due to philanthropic support stepping in where the NIH is beyond sluggish. I think anyone wholly depending on federal funds will have problems these days, because the system is broken.

One can only hope, as we now need a prescription to qualify for a COVID booster, and likely the new variants will be worse than ever given declining herd immunity/vaccination.