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Alaka Halder

@ahalder.bsky.social
238 followers 625 following 68 posts

Research + data science at Garner Health | Previously: Princeton Econ | Interests: healthcare, development econ, AI, art history Website/Blog: www.alakahalder.xyz Twitter: x.com/HalderAlaka

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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
In Granada, past the houses and hills, I kept expecting to find the sea
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
#ASHEcon2025 has been awesome! Attended some great presentations, got helpful feedback on my paper, and made new friends I’ll try to recap some of the talks but I forgot to take photos (I did take notes!)
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
Looking forward to the Wed session on mental health (and your paper on seasonal allergies)
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
I'm asking o3 to help interpret a report on a topic new to me. When I pointed out that it was hallucinating more than usual (there's no pg 26!), it said that the PDF periodically "ages out" of the chat Is this new? A capacity issue? I’ve now uploaded the file for the 4th time
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Who’s going to #ASHEcon2025? I arrive Sun and present on Mon (3:30pm - Environment and Health) It’s my 1st time at ASHEcon! Let me know if you’d like to meet. I’m interested in healthcare access + costs, environment x health, development econ Please recommend sessions/events you’re excited about!
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
This is useful for analysts, researchers, and PMs who find git stressful and don’t want to keep pinging the on-call engineer or data scientist 😄 It's helped me avoid some recent headaches with some recent team version control interactions. Definitely recommend
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
If you're anxious about git operations (rebasing, reverting, cherry-picking, shelving, stashing) or unsure which ones to use, especially in a team repo, Augment (AI code editor) can walk you through the steps (with clear instructions and reasons) or handle the changes for you
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
How are we already a week into June?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Anyone at Google Gemini who can help my team with a request to increase our API rate limit? We'd like to switch to Gemini but need to test at scale first I submitted a request on Wed morning (ET) and tried following up. No response either time. Help us give you our money!!
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
🚀 Garner Health is growing! I'm hiring early-career data scientists to join my team (NYC-based, 3 days/week in office). If you're interested — or know someone who might be — check out the job description and application: job-boards.greenhouse.io/garnerhealth...
job-boards.greenhouse.io
Data Scientist
New York City, New York
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
My standards are likely too high, but for that, I blame the hype 😝
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
In defense of AI, I like the humble GPT 4 models. They're pretty useful for (1) quickly and cheaply extracting routine data from large, messy, diverse sources, (2) helping debug code when I'm tired, (3) roughly synthesizing LARGE logs and (4) catching typos
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
The stark contrast between my disappointing experience with o3 (yes, I use pro) and others’ makes me feel like the joke’s on me — as if o3 is intentionally, defiantly, and obstinately sloppy, like a teenager testing my attentiveness to see what she can get away with. 🙃
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
I've enjoyed #PAA2025 so much that I still haven’t made it to the National Gallery (DC) Yesterday, I presented two projects on child health and labor outcomes in developing countries, one in a flash session and one as a paper Hoping to share a quick recap next week of papers I've enjoyed!
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Alternatively, they know very well that I can't afford to buy Renaissance and Baroque art Do museums run ads? Maybe send me ads for museums I haven't visited?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
I dream of a day when all these social media platforms and tech behemoths — which I assume know more about me than I know about myself — will show me a good ad, sponsored post, or recommendation 🙏 I fear the problem is that I care about boring things that don’t sell 🙃
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
📈🤔 How do you decide when you have enough evidence to make a decision? When to call it a day vs. gather more data? I’m planning to write about this as I reflect on Q1 projects Till then, I’d love to hear from you: principles you use, surprising experiences, good resources, etc.
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
📊🩻 As a follow-up, I wrote about breaking into healthcare data roles after receiving questions from soon-to-be graduates and early-career generalists www.alakahalder.xyz/2025/03/20/b... Hope this helps some of you! What advice did I miss?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
What approaches have worked well, what hasn't, what do you plan to try next?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
How does your team or organization approach quarterly roadmap planning? How does leadership involve individual contributors, whether by soliciting ideas, voting on ideas, or in other ways? Per item on the roadmap, how precisely do you define "done"?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
You saved time, money, and effort. Your team is now free to focus on something that matters (or chase down the next shiny new thing!) I’ve never seen this kind of “failed” discovery work celebrated or highlighted as a “win” on a resume. Have you? If not, maybe it’s time to start!
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
I’ve seen this especially demoralize early-career teammates who feel their career advancement depends on completing a discovery project that leads to a build But it’s a success to drop the doomed project early! You completed your goal (research) and reached a clear conclusion
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
It’s OK to cull seemingly good ideas with low impact. I’m not talking about politics, just research projects at work I’m lucky to work somewhere that actively encourages this Yes, it’s disappointing to discover that an algorithm or product isn’t worth building
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Many early-career data science enthusiasts ask me how to stand out in startup job applications I wish I could reply to everyone. Instead, I consolidated some advice on resumes and cold outreach, drawing on my experience as a hiring manager and interviewer: www.alakahalder.xyz/2025/03/12/r...
alakahalder.xyz
Resume and Outreach Advice for Early-Career Data Roles at Startups – Alaka Halder
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
When giving tough, fair feedback (before the point of needing to part ways), I’ve found it makes a difference to show that you believe in the person’s ability to succeed It sounds obvious and yet doesn’t happen as often as I’d expect in practice — why?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
If they hadn't told you the dog was drowning, what would you have thought? (Goya, 1820 - 1823, Museo Del Prado, Madrid) www.museodelprado.es/en/the-colle...
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Article: www.propublica.org/article/thom...
propublica.org
A Hospital Helped a Beloved Doctor’s Practice Flourish Even as It Suspected He Was Hurting Patients
Hailed as a savior upon his arrival in Helena, Dr. Thomas C. Weiner became a favorite of patients and his hospital’s highest earner. As the myth surrounding the high-profile oncologist grew, so did th...
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Depressing ProPublica article re: prominent Montana oncologist I'm unfamiliar with the law. Can someone explain why it's unclear if the suspicious deaths are being investigated? Is the evidence insufficient? Are investigators unable to disclose more? Why was his license renewed?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I did, however, spend plenty of time looking for animals. I'm especially fond of finding small cats and dogs in paintings The Wedding at Cana by Veronese is a great example, though I haven't seen it in person
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Beautiful but too crowded on Presidents' Day to be truly enjoyable. Why do I keep visiting museums on public holidays? I was too grumpy to look up at the ceilings -- I always look at ceilings! -- and missed The Coronation of Hebe Next time...
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
And here are four pieces I'd like to see, off the top of my head. No trips yet planned
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
I didn't get around to reflecting on 2024, and suddenly it's February, so I'll compromise by sharing a few pieces I enjoyed seeing last year: - Dull Gret - Two Crabs - Bust of Nefertiti - An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Mid-December. Fluffy hydrangeas and surprise tomatoes.
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Lake Pflugerville (Nov '24)
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Reposted by Alaka Halder
Brad Shapiro @btshapir.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Do op-eds in major newspapers convince people to change their minds? Is there research about this?
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Thank you for organizing and judging! This has been a lot of fun :)
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Reposted by Alaka Halder
Jason Abaluck @jabaluck.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
If you think that insurance companies with the right incentives could do much more to help match you with the provider best suited to treat you rather than the average doctor you currently see, then you might be onto something (pending further study).
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Reposted by Alaka Halder
Jason Abaluck @jabaluck.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
You cannot have: a) Low healthcare costs b) No consumer cost sharing c) Doctors do everything they think benefits patients d) No insurer oversight
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
My answer to "From a game-theoretic perspective, when should political candidates stake out extreme versus moderate positions?" received a gold prize in Quora's 3nd Knowledge Contest in Economics, judged by @skominers.bsky.social. I had fun writing this! qr.ae/p2jDr9
qr.ae
From a game-theoretic perspective, when should political candidates stake out extreme versus moderate positions?
Alaka Halder's answer: Game theory can help us understand when political candidates should take an extreme or moderate political position to win elections. The Median Voter Theorem (MVT), developed by...
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Late November in the Carolinas
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
I'd love to see strong, comprehensive research around patient experiences and outcomes My family and I've had a string of bad experiences with multiple NPs. Wrong antibiotics for basic infections; comically unnecessary testing; messing up basic procedure, leading to surgery. It's made us wary
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Useful read for patients and families. If you have the opportunity, research your NPs! They increasingly fill care gaps but inexperienced ones cause serious headaches www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
The Miseducation of America’s Nurse Practitioners
They don’t merely support doctors—NPs increasingly treat patients independently, including in specialty practices and emergency rooms. When they aren’t well trained, the results can be tragic.
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Can't wait to visit again 🥰 In the meantime, I'm looking forward to upcoming Interintellect meetups and book talks in Austin!
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Sharing for friends in NYC: 🗣️ Income Inequality: Robert Kuttner and Tyler Cowen in conversation, moderated by Jeff Greenfield 🕢 Sun, Nov 17, 2024, 7:30 pm ET www.92ny.org/event/income...
92ny.org
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 07/11/2024
🧭 Austin @interintellect.bsky.social meetup at Easy Tiger 🍻 We discussed how to pick a city to live in, AI safety research, genome sequencing, music festivals, connectomics, ways of learning, value-based care, elections around the world, anywhere vs. somewhere people, and more 👋 See you all in Dec
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 04/11/2024
Cards are great (and yours are pretty)! Earlier this year, I attended a conference where the wifi went down and most people also didn't have cell signal. We were all jealous of the people who brought cards
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 03/11/2024
More lazy weekend baking. Swedish sticky chocolate cake (Kladdkaka) Probably the easiest thing I know how to bake. Doesn't disappoint except when I'm trying to lift slices out of the pan (well, they did say it would be sticky)
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Alaka Halder @ahalder.bsky.social · 02/11/2024
Baked some fluffy buttermilk cookies to try and finish off an endless bottle of buttermilk. They're tastier than they look! Could have been more generous with the cinnamon sugar I have way too much batter left and need to figure out the best way to freeze it
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Reposted by Alaka Halder
Paul Novosad @novosad.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
We are now streaming! Cities and Development Workshop 2024 Starting with Yue Yu's study of urbanization and road upgrading in Uganda. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxB...
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