Sophia, MPH
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sophiacbess.bsky.social
Sophia, MPH
@sophiacbess.bsky.social
1.1K followers 2.4K following 550 posts
public health person, data scientist, GenAI refuser digging in my heels. I ❤️ vaccination.

personal account; views my own, not my employer’s
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
kakape.bsky.social
“This is a very important development,” says Dyann Wirth, a malaria researcher at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the work. “We’ve been looking for this for a long time.”
🧪 #IDsky
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘A sigh of relief’: New malaria drug succeeds in large clinical trial
As existing drugs falter because of resistance, the world gets a backup—but hard choices loom on how to use it
www.science.org
November 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
mjcrockett.bsky.social
Pop-up AI defacing your article critical of AI captures a lot of what it feels like to work in this space.
@lmesseri.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
alexip718.com
To put this in scale, Elon Musk's salary from Tesla alone could fund the SNAP program for the entire country into 2034.
legal.reuters.com Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 7d
Tesla CEO Elon Musk scored a resounding victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a pay package of as much as $878 billion over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
Tesla shareholders approve $878 billion pay plan for Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk scored a resounding victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a pay package of as much as $878 billion over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
reut.rs
November 6, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Once you start thinking of AI as a war on humanity, on human thought, on human inquiry, on human labor, on nuance and critical thinking, it slots in pretty seamlessly with the right wing ideological project, oligarchical political projects, big tech's political projects, etc
The future being pushed by both AI boosters and educational censors is one where access to information is tightly controlled. Children will not be allowed to read certain books or learn certain narratives. “Research” will be performed only through one of a select few artificial intelligence tools owned by AI giants which are uniformly aligned behind the Trump administration and which have gone to the ends of the earth to prevent their black box machines from spitting out “woke” answers lest they catch the ire of the administration. School boards and library boards, forced to comply with increasingly restrictive laws, funding cuts, and the threat of being defunded entirely, leap at the chance to be considered forward looking by embracing AI tools, or apply for grants from government groups like the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is increasingly giving out grants specifically to AI projects.
November 6, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
chanda.blacksky.app
This is a very good sign about his understanding of what good governance involves
November 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
hypervisible.blacksky.app
OpenAI is a social arsonist.
November 2, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
mcbazacophd.bsky.social
I love kids. I have two of them. They’re amazing. However, kids are the absolute least self aware, clumsiest little puffins on the planet.

Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times.

Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀

#PublicHealth
October 31, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
hypervisible.blacksky.app
“Ironically, while naming AI psychosis might seem like a step toward addressing an emerging, unmet public health need, this term easily becomes a distraction from the underlying problem it exposes — by pathologizing users instead of penalizing companies.”
October 29, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
astrokatie.com
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
publichealthguy1.bsky.social
former ACIP expert @kevinault.bsky.social explains what’s at risk
A vaccine schedule should be published by the CDC by 1 January, and Vaccines for Children - a program that provides vaccines to 52% of children in the US - depends on that schedule, Ault said. Normally, the schedule would have been published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, but that publication is temporarily closed during the government shutdown. And the schedule would've been discussed at the October meeting. "All the vaccines for children and to some extent adults are at risk if that job does not get done in the next two and a half months," Ault said. Gutting the committee also means promising new vaccines in the late stages of clinical trials may never be recommended, he added.
October 27, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
cmyeaton.bsky.social
For the 4th week in a row, we went state-by-state to check on flu, Covid-19 and RSV. All quiet, for now. caitlinrivers.substack.com/p/outbreak-o...
Outbreak Outlook: Week 4 of DIY Surveillance
Unusually quiet autumn for respiratory infections
caitlinrivers.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
rebeccasear.bsky.social
“Unlike most other global-scale scientific challenges, the data necessary for scientific progress are generated and controlled by the same industry that might be subject to evidence-based regulation. Moreover, technology companies have been a major source of funding for this field”
jbakcoleman.bsky.social Joe Bak-Coleman @jbakcoleman.bsky.social · 21d
I'm excited to finally have a preprint of this paper up, a few years in the making.

In it we argue that industry-driven manipulation of social media research is well underway and that norms and institutions in the field are ill-prepared to resist tech's influence.

arxiv.org/abs/2510.19894
October 24, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
sonjadrimmer.bsky.social
In 2025 I've spoken about how AI firms have been exploiting historical artifacts & knowledge in ways that threaten the ongoing practice of history at Wesleyan, Tufts, CCNY, Middlebury, UMass, UToronto, Miami Uni: & what I've seen repeatedly is how students WANT US TO PROTECT them from this.
sonjadrimmer.bsky.social Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 21d
I gave a talk at Middlebury yesterday & was buoyed by the conversation I had with students & faculty. The most interesting--& troubling--kinds of questions I got were from students who are opposed to the use of "AI" in their education & want to know how to convince their parents of its dangers.
October 24, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
gregggonsalves.bsky.social
Macedo and Lee will never admit the damage they’ve done or the deep errors of their analysis. Thanks to @joho.bsky.social for writing this.
joho.bsky.social Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 21d
It *may* be dawning on the author of “In COVIDs Wake” that he’s done nothing but elevate MAHA/MAGA propaganda while faking being a “progressive.”

This is also true for every credulous news organization that platformed his revisionist history.

My latest.

sciencebasedmedicine.org/professor-st...
Professor Stephen Macedo: How Does it Feel to Have Elevated MAGA/MAHA Propagandists?
The fault is not yours alone. You were just a bit player in a larger misinformation media ecosystem that was devoted to rewriting the history of the pandemic, numbing people to the grave risk We Want
sciencebasedmedicine.org
October 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
tressiemcphd.bsky.social
It is an absolute scandal. An embarrassment. A tribute to the long history of state terrorism that codifies power. Shame, shame, shame.
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 24d
Breaking News: North Carolina state senators approved a new congressional map that could give Republicans an extra seat. The state House is expected to pass it.
North Carolina State Senate Approves New Congressional Map in Effort to Add a Seat
The Trump administration has pushed Republican leaders to redraw House district maps before the midterm elections next year.
nyti.ms
October 22, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
mdwallach.bsky.social
Got the chance to give my 2 cents about actual things autistic people and patients want for a piece about the gap between what helps and whatever eugenic fantasy RFK is jerking off about. By the inestimable @melodyschreiber.com

She nailed it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘It’s quite useless to us’: what autistic people actually want from the Trump administration
US government is seeking proof that acetaminophen leads to autism while not providing ‘services and support so we can be included in the community’
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
bcmerchant.bsky.social
CA governor Gavin Newsom vetoed both of the major AI bills on his desk that Silicon Valley meaningfully opposed—one making it illegal for bosses to use AI to fire workers with no oversight, one requiring chatbot sellers to ensure their products do not harm children before marketing to them.
Silicon Valley's capture of our political institutions is all but complete
The tech lobby kills off two key California AI bills, and why it matters. Plus: How Sam Altman played Hollywood with Sora 2, organized mass social media deletions, and more.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
durhamhealthnc.bsky.social
Updates on COVID-19 vaccines:
- COVID-19 vaccines are available for all ages 6 months or older without a prescription
- Vaccines will be covered by most insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, and the VFC program
- We are not yet able to begin vaccinating. We will share an update as soon as we can!
what’s going on with covid vaccines now? The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has just approved COVID-19 vaccination for ages 6 months and older based on “individual-based decision-making.” In other words, people age 6 months and older can once again receive COVID-19 vaccines without a prescription. These vaccines will be covered by most insurance companies, Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, and the Vaccines for Children program. are vaccines available at the health department yet? Not yet, but we’re so close. This week’s ACIP approval was needed before the state could issue standing orders for health departments, allowing us to begin vaccinating. We’re still waiting for those orders, but they should be ready soon, and we’ll be able to get started. At the moment, we expect to be able to vaccinate ages 6 months and older. (But this has been a long, unusual process this time around, so please do not hate us if something changes. We don’t think it will, but who really knows anymore.) So who should get vaccinated? Medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ​American Academy of Family Physicians​, and more continue to recommend vaccination for people age 6 months and older, especially people who are at high risk, like people who have underlying conditions, are pregnant, or are age 65 or older. Vaccination helps protect you and others, even if you are not high-risk. Where can I get my family vaccinated right away? Unfortunately, we don’t receive lists of vaccination locations, so we don’t have much detail for you, but we know that most pharmacies and many primary care providers are already providing updated COVID-19 vaccines. We also know, unfortunately, that not all locations will vaccinate all ages or accept all insurance, so we recommend calling first. We don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to get started here at the Health Department, but we will share a news release, update our website, and post on social media as soon as we know more.
October 10, 2025 at 7:52 PM
sophiacbess.bsky.social
“Calling genAI a “tool” has become the standard way of referring to what is, in fact, a political technology. Tools are seen as neutral and unaccountable. This notion rests on several false assumptions:”
petertarras.bsky.social Peter Tarras @petertarras.bsky.social · Oct 15
Andrea Reyes Elizondo @altibel.bsky.social and I have responded to a blog, recently published on @leidenmadtrics.bsky.social, which argued that using AI responsibly in research means being transparent about it. We object that supposed transparency obscures more fundamental ethical questions.
Why AI transparency is not enough
Recently, a taxonomy to disclose the use of generative AI (genAI) in research outputs was presented as an approach that creates transparency and thereby supports responsible genAI use. In this post we...
www.leidenmadtrics.nl
October 15, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
tanvi.bsky.social
his summer, I went to Panama and met Jharana, a 33-year-old from Nepal who had been deported there in a group of 300 others — the 1st group to be sent to a third country. I wrote about what happened to her and others over the year for
@nymag.com -->

nymag.com/intelligence...
What Happened to The Migrants The U.S. Dumped In Panama?
Nearly 300 people were sent to a country they’d never lived in. The journey didn’t end there.
nymag.com
October 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
boghuma.bsky.social
Awesome public health news:
Maldives becomes the first country to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of
1. mother-to-child transmission of HIV,
2. Syphilis and
3. Hepatitis B
www.who.int/news/item/13...
Maldives becomes the first country to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B
In a landmark public health achievement, WHO has validated the Maldives for eliminating mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of hepatitis B, while maintaining its earlier validation (in 2019) for EMTCT of HIV and syphilis. This makes the Maldives the first country in the world to achieve ‘triple elimination’.
www.who.int
October 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
tom.medsky.social
Our VFC COVID vaccines arrived on Friday a full 23 days after our private insurance ones.

A meaningless delay that is 100% the result of RFK Jr and Jim O'Neill's incompetence.
Two boxes of Spikevax one adult and one pediatric. They are white with red and blue bars and lettering. Inside a freezer.
October 13, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
chanda.blacksky.app
MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”
Dear Madam Secretary, I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters. I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education. As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples: • MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions. • MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%. • We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree. These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law. The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone. In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education. As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation. Sincerely, Sally Kornbluth CC Ms. May Mailman Mr. Vincent Haley
October 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Sophia, MPH
bachynski.bsky.social
SILS faculty says they “were told the new school will be “operational” by July 1, 2026. The University has not released a formal timeline.

The faculty member wrote that Roberts pushed for the new school despite lacking a “cogent idea” as to what the “School of AI” will entail, teach and stand for.”
UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’
SDSS Dean Stanley Ahalt will be made dean of the new school while SILS Dean Jeffrey Bardzell will stand as the University’s Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Vice Provost for AI.
dailytarheel.com
October 10, 2025 at 11:40 AM