Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I’m so sorry for your loss. 😔
Epidemiologist * Bringing light to gynecologic health and health care * I also love TV Views expressed are personal
4,300 followers 479 following 1,116 posts
view profile on Bluesky Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I’m so sorry for your loss. 😔
[🤬🟥🐼] (@angryredpanda.bsky.social) reposted
The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming Before Gamergate, before the 2016 election, they launched a campaign against Twitter trolls masquerading as women of color. If only more people had paid attention. (Context for #EndFathersDay)
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
Not sure what to do about this, but it’s an important reality to face about the US in 2025 #polarization #SocialMedia www.facebook.com/share/p/17R7...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
@louierivers3.bsky.social has been talking to me about the badness and importance of Gamergate for a decade. I’m not a gamer and I don’t get it, but it’s been sitting there as an unseeded 🚨 warning for a long time now…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
For obvious reasons, I’m very interested in this admin’s attacks on Black women
Luke Dionise (@lukedionise.bsky.social) reposted
I feel awful for the Utah Valley University students who had to experience a shooting on their campus. My university is still feeling the effects of its own shooting, and I know personally what it’s like to have your sense of security shattered in a place you always felt at home. The US needs reform
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reposted
We don’t have to live like this
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
What do you think after looking at the grant titles? My read: Florida was building up its biomedical research w funding that expands research in underserved places that haven’t had a lot of NIH funding. So they’d put “Florida” in titles to emphasize place. Anti-DEI cuts target these funding types
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
And “program”
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I think “Center” is also an important keyword as infrastructure for training and interdisciplinary work are targeted
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Thanks for this reading list. Really important to keep in mind when hearing voices against GLP-1 access and coverage. As much money as there is in GLP-1s, there is even more in Big Food Manufacturing
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
😔 It’s really hard
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
With RFK, Jr so in the news rn, I have 2 recommendations for anyone wanting to do a deep-dive into the #MAHA political movement: 1. This podcast episode from @whyshoulditrustyou.bsky.social 2. This video collaboration of @nytimes.com & @derekberes.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/o...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵8/ This video about an analysis of 38 super-influencers make clear how these ideas were intentionally and strategically spread. Undermining trust in traditional health care is super profitable www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/o...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵7/ When I listened to this episode back in May, I thought these mixups about where the Big Money actually is in healthcare were just signs that we in public health and medicine are bad public communicators (I mean, we are! 😁) But there was more to it…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵6/ And more Follow-The-Money mixups They thought childhood vaccines were super-profitable to MDs & pharma… and that docs writing Rx make more money than the ones selling supplements & compounded drugs
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵5/ The critique of Big Money influences on health was all mixed up in a confusing way… Like, they seemed convinced that pediatricians & family medicine docs were making big money… (not the case; they are v low-paid compared to other doctors, esp considering debt from med school)…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵4/ more discouraging for idea of easy-to-find common ground: In a face-off btw Changing the System versus libertarianism, libertarianism won for these folks We all criticize influence of big money, but an ethos of Individualism (“freedom from”) was stronger than regulation (“govt power to”)
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵3/ I see themes in #MAHA that I love. I want systems change in food supply, health care too! But this convo made clear to me: For these folks, Representation (a having a voice at the table from someone they trust) was a higher priority than systems change And that’s normal & understandable
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵2/ First the (semi-hopeful?) caveat: The folks interviewed here are not representative of all MAHA folks. Most worked on RFK Jr.’s campaign. They are ride-or-die true believers They love RFK. Full stop. So outreach/messaging that doesn’t resonate with them might actually resonate w others
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
🧵 I’m a public health researcher who wants to build bridges This podcast ep with #MAHA folks from May has been taking up brain space all summer the convo was illuminating & discouraging @meganranney.bsky.social @kkjetelina.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I am also a budget hobbyist (Go, #YNAB), so I do get the author’s point. But, yeah, the post made me sad. I expected it to end with: “Here’s the cool thing I’m doing with the extra money!” Without that, it felt deflating to me.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Hard agree with this critique. I go to my local coffee place nearly every morning and sit. I inevitably chat with people. I have several good friendships that started as we saw each other at the coffee shop day after day. I’d rather have these friends than an extra $3000. 😊
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
Good interactive feature about what we lost when DOGE gutted govt watchdogs, Inspector Generals (free article) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
Such cool science! Connections btw deep biology & social stuff (when we intro foods to 👶, downside of BigFood adding novel ingredients, sunburn culture) Anti-science folks mock #NIH for work like this (Put mice under UV lights?! 🐭☢️🔦), but science is cool!!! #ScienceImmunology #DermSky #MedSky
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
I’m really into histories where societies get cause & effect, villains & victims really wrong, even backwards If this sounds good to you, read this essay on the arson epidemic in the South Bronx in the 70s @newyorker.com #BornInFlames @benchansfield.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
A Labor Day podcast recommend The biggest changes I’ve made in 2025 all flow back to Robert Putnam’s ideas here: thick, layered social groups —> functional local governments & better personal well-being & healthy national politics podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
“Black women are the canaries in the coal mine, the exclusion happens to them first. And if any other cohort thinks it’s not coming for them, they’re wrong. This is a warning, and it’s a stark one.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/u...
Megan Ranney MD MPH (@meganranney.bsky.social) reposted
Please help me welcome to Bluesky @drdebhoury.bsky.social - brave, brilliant, and principled. abcnews.go.com/Politics/vid...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Welcome, @drdebhoury.bsky.social! 👋🏾 You have many admirers and compatriots here.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
This article is actually really good on several different points: party history in NC, NC’s $$$ speeding fines and the companies looking to make money off it, rushed legislation paired with slow disclosures
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
North Carolina legislative shenanigans are limitless!
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
We don’t have to live like this
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I once conversed with them online about this. I think it’s bc they cater to deep-pocketed pharma and business analyst companies. I tried to get my university library to subscribe but they said it was too expensive. And better educational discount would be nice
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
It makes less than 0 sense <<<<<<0️⃣ It makes negative sense 📉
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
It’s really staggering… what this will do to humanity’s pursuit of medical knowledge I sometimes feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone, that more international entities *arent* freaking out, especially global pharma We shall see
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
no coincidence that one of this admin’s explicitly banned research topics is big, social causes of racial disparities in health. If you want to research genetics issues, fine… individual bad habits, fine… but income disparity or systemic racism…nah! www.science.org/content/arti...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Now I’m channeling my therapist talking to ME: 🤦🏾♀️😆 People are going to have their Feelings. We can’t control that. Ok, END unsolicited therapy! But, truly, many people don’t realize that what’s easy for them may be draining for us. But we have to care for ourselves even if they don’t understand
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Someone being snitty about your having an assistant (a real-live human admin professional!!!What a gift!) schedule for you is…🤯 I’ll bend my rules if I really need something from someone, but it’s rarely the case that someone else’s (very particular 👀) demands are worth that big hit to my energy
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Right now I have a link for general meetings and another for interviews I’m conducting for a research project. I *love* having the scheduler use the link versus emailing me to ask for my availability … or the dreaded scheduling poll
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I’ve recently started trying to automate more tasks, especially scheduling, which I loathe doing via email. I’m personally paying for a Calendly subscription so I can just respond to scheduling emails with a pre-written signature that includes the scheduling link. It’s a small step for me…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
“death rates [for Millennials are] high across so many kinds of deaths, from car collisions to fatalities from circulatory diseases & diabetes…. The oldest…were Reagan babies who launched their careers in the shadow of the Great Recession…the youngest entered adulthood during a worldwide pandemic”
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Remora House DC (@remorahousedc.bsky.social) reposted
Unhoused people are just the most accessible target. It won’t stop there.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Came here to say this 👆🏾
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
“Dense, but good” is a perfect summary. 😁 It’s so much more accessible than a typical article in a medical journal - but still quite dense. I need better language to describe pieces like this… dense/wonky if you’re not in the particular research field but wildly accessible if you are 🤪😁
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵9. I am fascinated by this science like this bc I’m a life course researcher. What might be fine at age X could actually be harmful at age Y hormones-cardiovascular health research really illustrates that and helps make sense of apparently conflicting science
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵8. But then, for some people (mostly older), doses of extra estrogen could loosen up the plaques and cause them to dislodge from the artery wall and block smaller blood vessels . Bad…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵7. Extra estrogen may make the blood vessels more “slick” and resistant to plaque build up, which sounds great, right? But what if you already have some plaques in your blood vessels? They can be sitting there quietly not causing immediate problems…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵6. The main theory now is that estrogen effects on CVD health 🫀depend on whether someone already has atherosclerosis (cholesterol buildup in blood vessels) or not.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵5. Supplemental hormones have effects on heart health that we are still trying to understand! In the early 70s, they even did a randomized trial giving men whod had heart attacks estrogen to see if it decreased CVD risk. It didn’t. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4356847/
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵4. A note: HRT is lower dosage than hormonal birth controls so it’s not reliable birth control. Important for my perimenopausal peeps to know!
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵3. HRT is just supplemental hormones, like most hormonal birth control. (But not effective birth control…see👇🏾🧵) People take hormones across ages for lots of reasons: birth control, acne, hair loss, heavy menstrual bleeding, bad PMS, perimenopause symptoms, vaginal dryness in menopause, etc.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🧵 2. Two tables list out different dosages and forms of HRT. I always appreciate the reminder that HRT is just on a spectrum of other hormonal treatments for a variety of conditions.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
I like this article (from an American Heart Association journal) on #HRT 1. It gives a good brief history… www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
What I appreciated about the recent podcast ep you posted is that some of the public health people DID push back like you’re imploring. Yes, the MAHA reaction to the violence was disappointing… maybe I reacted differently bc I’d already baked that in from previous episodes…
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
That’s interesting. I think I hit an emotional bottom after this episode podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
I listened too. I hear you. Have you listened to the other convos from the podcast? Compared to previous episodes, I was heartened. I appreciated how @matih-id.bsky.social & @kevinh-phd.bsky.social stood up for their values while staying in dialogue. We need people who can speak to values
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
““If I were the food industry, I would be happy with this report…” @lindseytaillie.bsky.social said.” #MAHA Draft Report Brings Relief to Some, Chagrin to Others www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/h...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
A great propulsive piece of writing! This quote is the slowest part, but I included it bc I crave anchors: “The goal of education is to create people as lifetime learners, seekers, & questioners. And the fact that higher education takes place in a community…is absolutely fundamental to what we do”
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
@bakerdphd.bsky.social I’d love yo hear your take on this thread and article. It sounds WILD!
Citizen.Coping (@propcazhpm.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
The intentional and systematic erasure and rewriting of the terror and atrocities of slavery in the US (though not confined to the US) is why it's so easy for modern regimes, including the latest, to reintroduce tactics meant to exploit and control people. Text below should say "A Black woman…"
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
🤦🏾♀️🤣
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
This fun fact is 🤯
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
#LoveLife season 2 was amazing So I just watched season 1. It was…fine? Except for the last episode of season 1, which was crazy-making! Early motherhood was depicted *so* badly. When the mom gently wafts off to sleep despite her breasts supposedly being engorged, I was screaming at my TV!
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
Immigration policy?
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
THANK YOU! Your voice on this podcast episode was a breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed! Your clear and full-throated words on behalf of your city’s well-being let me breathe more deeply. We see your service and how much you are giving to this country. Thank you.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
This thread shows how misleading quant modelling can be without accurate info on human behavior Understanding how people are actually behaving is key to prediction and to making change
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
One reason I find it powerful to do research about Black folks in the US: You become a kind of soothsayer What happens to Black people here ends up happening to everyone else too. Sometimes it’s quick, sometimes it’s slow. But it’s coming
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
As an GYN health services researcher, I’m excited about this research - esp since this US admin is defunding research about trans people I liked that the article centered patients’ perspectives on their own lives The Truth About Detransitioning, by Kinnon MacKinnon www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/o...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
A little summary of this week in science policy in the US
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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Kristian G. Andersen (@kgandersen.bsky.social) reposted
Just to give the TL;DR on this one: *The* main purpose of the EO is to move funding priorities and decisions away from experts and career professionals over to political appointees. With the ultimate power held by Vought / OMB.
Kevin Bird (@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social) reposted
Science is effectively dead in the US if this stands. I don’t see how it survive political interference at this level
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
Honestly…if they weren’t killing U.S. science, I’d be impressed by their ingenuity, persistence, and vision This multi-headed monster attack on science, financial stewardship, and rule of law is endlessly creative and dogged. I do feel a little awe
Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 (@altnih4science.bsky.social) reposted
A good explainer on the EO. @kgandersen.bsky.social takes apart the key points. His main point is exactly right. And we’ll add: politicizing science grants like this will — flatly — kill American science. Science, like business, is choked off by corruption.
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
“Maxwell’s new camp primarily houses nonviolent offenders, & the inmates there are reportedly livid, and probably not a little bit frightened, to be imprisoned with one of the world’s most notorious sex traffickers & alleged rapists” @moiradonegan.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social) reply parent
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NC Health News (@nchealthnews.bsky.social) reposted
Trump administration cancels millions in school mental health grants, four NC programs affected. Full story at www.nchealthnews.org #MentalHealth #Schools #Students #Kids #Trump
Whitney Robinson (@whitneyepi.bsky.social)
Well… at least one company has an ethical line… www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news... Ghislaine Maxwell barred from service dog training at cushy prison camp