former WHO senior pandemic influenza comms advisor (for better or worse) 2005. WHO & FAO risk com training/webinars 2003-2023; FedSoc member; U. of Penn Med '80
Expat on a beautiful boat.
Joined May 2013
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Pinned Tweet
[Angela, I can't resist making this my pinned tweet for awhile! I promise I'll exchange it soon for something more substantive!]
Note the ba da boom Herskovitzian last line of this great post by my wonderful childhood friend.
A cheerleading piece like this on the front page of @nytimes is the height of irresponsibility. Not one of the glaring moral and existential dangers of AI was even mentioned (in spite of a disclaimer reminding the reader that the Times is suing these companies for copyright infringement!).
If the author is going to ignore the universal surveillance state enabled by AI, or the inherent inequality created by these first steps toward transhumanism, or the daily barrage of news reports about rogue AI agents, then one should infer the paper thinks these dangers unimportant.
Should we next expect a cheery piece on the use of Polonium to heat our houses?
nytimes.com/2026/10/25/techn…
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
Alberta once again showing the rest of Canada how it's done. As of January 4th, only the Alberta flag and the Canadian flag will be permitted outside schools.
It's incredible that the flag representing the most atrocious medical crime in history was ever flown outside Canadian schools.
Far from signalling that the school is a "safe space" for vulnerable youth, what flying this flag actually says is that students are at risk of having their heads filled with a dangerous, incoherent political ideology that could confuse them into thinking they need healthy body parts amputated.
How long before the rest of Canada wakes up to the danger this ideology poses to children?
Last morning in Red Hook till Christmas. I love going back to life on my ship, but this reminds me why I like time in NYC a couple times a year. (The main reminder: kids and grandkids!)
We always remember how fortunate we are.
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
I wrote a new piece about women’s rights and whether or not I want trans people dead. (Spoiler: I don’t)👇
jkrowling.com/opinions/an-up…
Sickening denial of reality, regardless of your opinion about trans issues.
“Biological male.”
“Biological female.”
“Protect the children.”
Those are phrases flagged in hate-speech research funded by the Council of Europe.
The published code categorizes biological-sex terms as “structural denial” and protecting children as a “dog whistle.”
The project, conducted by trans advocacy group TGEU and the Institute for Journalism and Social Change, examined YouTube comments.
The accompanying report calls for stronger media regulation addressing publishers that leave comments classified as hate speech online.
From a 2019 Lancet article: "Madagascar accounts for 75% of global plague cases reported to WHO, with an annual incidence of 200–700 suspected cases (mainly bubonic plague). In 2017, a pneumonic plague epidemic of unusual size occurred. The extent of this epidemic provides a unique opportunity to better understand the epidemiology of pneumonic plagues, particularly in urban settings."
RFI: Madagascar investigates suspected pneumonic and bubonic plague cases, including three deaths within a family
Read more at: beaconbio.org/en/report/?rep…
I am definitely missing something re the Guinea Bissau hep B birth dose study. Someone please answer:
1. If the study goes forward, ____ newborns will be given the birth dose prior to 2027, when the birth dose becomes part of the child vax schedule in GB.
2. If the study does NOT go forward, ____ newborns will be given the birth dose prior to 2027, when the birth dose becomes part of the child vax schedule in GB.
3. Am I right that currently, all GB newborns are supposed to get a hep B dose at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age? (Obviously, it's harder to get them all in for follow-up; easier to get nearly all of them at birth.)
4. Why is it so obvious to everyone except me (it seems) that there's an ethical problem here? (Assuming you get the answers to 1 and 2 correct!)
CDC is reviving a trial delaying hepatitis B birth doses for 7,000 babies in Guinea-Bissau where 1 in 5 adults is infected.
Infection at birth becomes chronic ~90% of the time and can cause liver cancer.
We have 4 decades of safety data on this vaccine. The trial risks lifelong infections in babies to look for harms that data never found. You don't test whether a proven vaccine is safe by delaying it in the babies most likely to be infected.
Great reporting from @KatherineEban for @RollingStone
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
JAMA Article on E-Cigarettes Makes Refreshingly Sound Recommendations to Clinicians arielleselyaphd.substack.com…
The vicious responses to Singal illustrate one of Scott Alexander’s/SlateStarCodex’s most brilliant (but quite difficult) essays: The Toxoplasma of Rage. @benryanwriter gets it. Alas, the concept applies to many current uber-outrages. I can’t picture piercing it even with my husband’s wonderful “Risk=Hazard+Outrage” framework.
slatestarcodexabridged.com/T…
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
I'm thrilled to announce that I've been promoted to Director of Behavioral Science at Pinney Associates!
Thank you @jgitchell!! Much more work to do in this space!
Papal transparency—what a role model.
Not that public figures are obliged to reveal medical issues; but when they obviously hide them, it generates rumors and distrust.
Dear friends, during some recent medical examinations, the doctors found a small, localized nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is well-localized. The doctors believe that it is best to intervene, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to remove it. The operation is already scheduled to take place in the coming days. I thank you for your spiritual closeness and entrust myself to your prayers.
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
The op-ed from the Wall Street Journal about the latest award of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
I know that at a certain point it makes me sound naive, but I think we should be clear that a president announcing a ceasefire signed by two warring countries that doesn't actually exist is and should be the sort of thing that gets him swiftly removed from office.
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
Cool. I’m your enemy. Good to know.
Regardless, just like I’m not calling men dressed up as women “transwomen,” I’m not calling LLMs/AI “superintelligence.”
My integrity is worth far more than avoidance of any vacuous, baseless label being used to compel my speech—no matter who is trying to impose it.
Always has been.
Always will be.
RT @cdoug: New report: "Use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation remained common from 2018 to 2023. Perceived lower harm and social exposu…
I've known Leroy Anderson's Typewriter Concerto since I was a child. But this is the first time I've ever seen it performed, and I grinned through the entire 4+ minutes, including the curtain call!
It's my practice to accidentally stumble upon something delightful on line or in a kindle book when it's getting close to shutting down my electronics for the day. My "rule," when I choose to obey it, is to not look at anything else on line after a delightful moment like this one.
Goodnight! Now I'm off to bed.
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
Former North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr opening up the second day of FDLI's 2026 tobacco and nicotine regulation and policy conference.
"I was encouraged by hearing Dr. Koplow's clear commitment to reforming the PMTA process."
Jody Lanard MD retweeted
I take a moment to salute, as I regularly do, one of the best signs in America — found at the Milwaukee airport, after security screening (with the discombobulation such screening entails). At the same time, I salute the boundless ingenuity of the English language.
A ghostly windy morning on the Upper Bay (NYC).
Here’s the Queen Mary 2 departing from the Red Hook cruise terminal a few minutes ago. Next port Boston.
Within minutes I can only imagine that I still see it, through my impressionist window.
My favorite nor'easter coverage so far:
"The New England Aquarium, in Boston, is closed today. People are there nonetheless."
--NY Times, Nor’easter Live Updates: Heavy Rain and Wind Batter Northeast, Bringing Coastal Flooding, as of 6 pm Sept 26
nytimes.com/live/2026/09/26/…
