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Alison Smith, MD, MSc

@alisongrace.bsky.social
479 followers 143 following 16 posts

ID fellow @University of Washington, formerly Duke IM, Emory MD/MSc // Interested in hospital epi/infection prevention, AMR, health system sustainability, LGBTQ+ health // opinions my own ☀️

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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Really enjoyed working on this perspective with Russell Kempker, who was a fantastic mentor in medical school at Emory — it was fun to reflect on how my roles as mentee and peer mentor have changed since then!
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/new-...
seattletimes.com
New federal rules threaten to obstruct scientific research | Op-Ed
A new federal policy would give political appointees authority to decide which research gets funding and constrain scientists’ ability to publish findings.
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IDSA @idsainfo.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Candidozyma auris (C. auris) is a frequently multidrug-resistant emerging fungal pathogen notorious for its ability to persist and spread within healthcare environments. In CID, authors describe their institutional experience with C. auris detection via universal screening. bit.ly/4eIG01s
bit.ly
Enhanced detection of Candidozyma auris colonization with universal screening on admission
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Just out in CID: a report on our experience with universal C. auris screening on inpatient admission 🔎🔎 The majority of patients (80%) with C auris colonization would’ve been missed by existing public health screening guidance—
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UW Infectious Disease Fellowship Program @uwidfellowship.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
F1 (and soon to be Chief Fellow) Alison Smith is first author with a bunch of UW peeps on this great look at universal screening for c auris. Do current public health criteria for screening hit the mark? Maybe not… academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Enhanced detection of Candidozyma auris colonization with universal screening on admission
Abstract. Universal admission screening for Candidozyma auris (C. auris) identified C. auris colonization in 25/22742 (0.1%) of patients. Most patients (20
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Scenes from our first year fellows’ Friendsgiving — grateful for my co-fellows! @uwidfellowship.bsky.social 🫶
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UW Infectious Disease Fellowship Program @uwidfellowship.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
UW pharmacist, Dr Whitney Hartlage, presenting on non-severe CAP, asking the very good question, “do we really need to add empirical atypical coverage routinely?” Spoiler alert, the data suggests “No” #IDWeek #IDSky
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UW Infectious Disease Fellowship Program @uwidfellowship.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Prolonged applause for Dr Demetri Daskalakis, formerly of the CDC, winner of the HIV Medical Association Transformative Leader Award… #IDSky #IDWeek #IDStrong
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
that’s my team!! 🦠☀️
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Thrilled to be part of the first-year fellow class at UW ID! 🦠 @uwidfellowship.bsky.social
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 03/05/2025
“I urge you to keep going, keep doing what is right for our country, and I do believe that history will vindicate your service," Jackson told fellow judges.
newrepublic.com
A Supreme Court Justice Finally Just Stood up to Trump
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized the president's unsettling attacks on the judiciary.
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Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
This! I’ve never seen this many people in the streets in this many places in the U.S. in my lifetime. It’s inspiring, dammit.
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HIVMA @hivma.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
On #TransgenderDayOfVisibility this year, visibility takes on even greater urgency. HIV clinicians must remain steadfast in the commitment to health equity. All people should receive the compassionate, evidence-based HIV care they deserve. #TDOV #HIVCareForAll
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
On the imperative for ID physicians to speak out against a government that threatens the core tenets of our mission, and the safety of our patients - I'd add another call to action: to pressure university leadership to speak out. The silence from leading institutions has been deafening.
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Kseniia Petrova, a Russian scientist at Harvard Medical School, was detained at Logan Airport after returning from France and sent to an ICE detention in Louisiana, The Insider reports. A big critic of Putin and the war in Ukraine, she may now be deported to Russia.
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Peter Kalmus @climatehuman.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Imagine thinking education is the problem
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
This vote was to start the process of the cuts. It WILL come back for a final vote. There are some chances to slow or potentially stop it. Need constant pressure on GOP Focus on GOP swing seats & key committees. Energy & Commerce is where the Medicaid fight will go down. Ways&Means for tax fight.
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Oni Blackstock, MD MHS @oniblackstock.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
“…This could be a golden era of resistance in terms of alternatives, if we choose to seize them, if we come out of our fear, if we come out of our shock, there is gonna be a tremendous amount of experimentation, because there’s gonna be millions of people…” - Kali Akuno, Organizer
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 17/02/2025
The good news: CDC's webpages have been restored following court orders. The bad news: many have this despicable banner attached to them. We will be getting into misconceptions in gender ideology in a later post. For now, we are hurt and ashamed, and we stand with the LGBTQIA+ community.
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
The public takes normalcy and a functional public health system, access to vaccines and safe drugs for granted. What's the saying "you don't miss your water till the well runs dry"? Things are going to get very dark for health safety and public health and it will happens sooner that you think.
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
meanwhile our hospitals are full of severe influenza — this is absolutely indefensible
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Eli Perencevich @eliowa.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
The US healthcare system is no longer safe. Without a strong CDC we can’t control new pathogen outbreaks in our hospitals or benchmark infection rates to prevent surgical infections or pneumonias There is no “private” solution that can make it safe Every hospital CEO should be speaking up
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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
If this reporting stands up (and it appears confirmed by multiple sources): devastating. The EIS is the front-line SWAT team of disease detection in the US and globally, and also the training ground for new generations of public health workers. No EIS, no boots on the ground for outbreaks. ->
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ACLU @aclu.org · 13/02/2025
BREAKING: A federal court temporarily blocked President Trump’s executive order aiming to restrict access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under age 19 nationwide. This is a major victory for our freedom to access life-saving care.
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 12/02/2025
Musk killed these people.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
You have questions. Mostly of the "What Can I Do to Resist This Coup?" variety. Choose Democracy has answers. Here's a really handy guide to the how/what/why of organizing... Share widely. Link here: choosedemocracy.us/what-can-i-do/
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
University leadership in U.S. seems to be finally speaking up. That's a good thing, I guess, but we remember their silence regarding attacks on trans folk, DEI, human rights etc. Indirects on grants are important, but I wish it didn't take that to move the people who lead our institutions on issues.
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Editorial from the @thelancet.bsky.social "The health, medical, and scientific communities have a vital role in advocating for their patients, defending programmes, and lobbying for policies and institutions that are good for health and wellbeing." #GoodTrouble
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
now THIS is the energy I want from our elected officials
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Thanh Neville, MD, MSHS @thanh-neville.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
"To condone policies that the profession knows will compromise health—or to remain silent and look away—is to be complicit in putting population health at risk" To every university, every public hospital, every academic society: SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION. #medsky
jamanetwork.com
How Should Health Care and Public Health Respond to the New US Administration?
This Viewpoint discusses scientific, medical, and public health actions, including withdrawing from the World Health Organization, taken so far during the first week of the Trump administration.
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 01/02/2025
The silence from our universities has been deafening. Tell them to grow a spine and stand up for their scientists! Top NIH funded schools: UC - regentsoffice@ucop.edu UW - regents@uw.edu John Hopkins - cbjorklund@jhu.edu Penn - ofcsec@pobox.upenn.edu, (215) 898-7005 Duke - boardchair@duke.edu
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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
RFK Jr will kill millions just by making vaccines or essential medicines more difficult to access (which he WILL do). And in a health emergency—like, say, an H5N1 pandemic—he would kill millions more. He cannot be confirmed. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/u...
nytimes.com
RFK Jr., Trump’s Pick for Health Secretary, Faces First Senate Confirmation Hearing (Gift Article)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies in confirmation hearings before the Senate’s Finance Committee on Wednesday, and will appear Thursday before the health committee.
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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Appalling cruelty beyond comprehension. Trump is ordering an immediate, unlawful shutdown of PEPFAR, potentially denying life-saving HIV medication to millions of people. This guarantees a lethal, global resurgence of the HIV epidemic. Just unfathomable sadism. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/h...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries
PEPFAR’s computer systems also are being taken offline, a sign that the program may not return, as Republican critics had hoped.
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 28/01/2025
The CDC is actively involved in protecting the homeland. One of the most important ways we do that is through participation in WHO’s Global Outbreak and Response Network. Until now. CDC has been told to cease participation. We will no longer be informed when there is a new global health threat.
who.int
Rapidly detecting and responding to health emergencies
Rapid detection and verification of health emergencies is essential to save lives. WHO’s global surveillance system picks up public health threats 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Once an event is ve...
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 25/01/2025
Call your senator and demand a No vote for RFK Jr (202) 224-3121.
A picture of a small white dog witb grey ears holding a red rotary phone
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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 02/01/2025
I think the better strategy is to relentlessly hammer the truth: 1) RFK Jr. is going to stop research into lifesaving cures 2) And he has no experience managing massive, complex programs like Medicare & Medicaid that provide the care you/your family rely on
s Are Concerned That RFK Jr. Will Stop Lifesaving Research
A majority of voters — at least
70% — express concern about
each of RFK Jr.'s tested stances
and potential actions if he were
confirmed to lead HHS.
Voters are particularly concerned
about RFK Jr. stopping government
research into lifesaving drugs and
cures (+50-point margin), his
opposition to vaccines potentially
causing a resurgence of deadly
childhood diseases (+45-point
margin), and the risk of him
redirecting funds allocated for
treatment and research to friends
producing unproven supplements
(+44-point margin).
RFK Jr.’s Inexperience With Medicare and Medicaid Is the Top Concern Among Voters
Of all the potential concerns, it is
the most concerning to voters that
RFK Jr. lacks experience managing
Medicaid and Medicare.
Twelve percent of voters are most
concerned that his confirmation
could lead to childhood diseases
coming back. RFK Jr. ignoring
scientists and public health
experts and stopping government
drug and cure research is the
biggest concern among 11% of
voters.
However, 15% of voters don’t have
any concerns,
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Oni Blackstock, MD MHS @oniblackstock.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
This is a moment in time when we need greater global public health collaboration and coordination esp. re: pandemic preparednes, climate crises and other human made crises, not less.
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Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
I assume most people know this, but seems important to point out basic truths at this moment in time. There is no energy emergency in the U.S. The U.S. is the world's top producer of oil and gas at the moment, and the top exporter of gas, and U.S. oil and gas producers are making record profits.
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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
US withdrawal from WHO would be a disaster for both global public health & nat security. Also very bad for seasonal flu and pandemic prep. US would leave Global Influenza Surveillance and Response network & CDC would not be involved in flu vax strain selection. 👇 www.science.org/content/arti...
Narrative describing some consequences for US withdrawal from WHO.
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
THIS is how you do it. @warren.senate.gov is the only Senator that I know of who is throwing down the gauntlet on RFK Jr. What a letter. More Senators should have her courage and resolve.
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Interested in the use of antibiotics at end of life? Join our #ESCMID webinar on the topic next Wednesday 9-11am EST! I'm honored to be speaking among the international panel. You can register here! #IDSky docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
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Darcy Wooten (she/her) @darcy-id-doc.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Reflections from the last 2 weeks of inpatient ID service: We referenced this article on a nearly daily basis so I’m putting it here for all of those out their for whom I know it is relevant (ie everyone): academic.oup.com/cid/article-...
academic.oup.com
State-of-the-Art Review: Use of Antimicrobials at the End of Life
Abstract. Navigating antibiotics at the end of life is a challenge for infectious disease (ID) physicians who remain deeply committed to providing patient-
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Scott Hadland, MD @drscotthadland.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
This is inconceivable. We are entering a dark phase of American public health in which many, many people suffer unnecessarily from vaccine-preventable illnesses. We need to keep fighting, sharing stories of harm from the front lines & disseminating data. #MedSky www.npr.org/sections/sho...
npr.org
Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots
An NPR investigation found Louisiana health officials told staff to stop promoting vaccines for COVID, flu and mpox, holding flu shot events or otherwise encouraging the public to get those vaccines.
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Oni Blackstock, MD MHS @oniblackstock.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
It’s Ok. Tap in, tap out. That’s why we must act as a collective - when some need to tap out and restore, others can tap in.
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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Polio vaccines are why parents no longer fear their kids need an iron lung to live. Revoking approval of polio vaccines will result in paralyzed children. Stan Plotkin on Aaron Siri: “I find him laughable in many ways — except, of course, that he’s a danger to public health.”
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Incredible reporting as always by @stephanienolen.bsky.social in the NYT on the emergence of Clade Ib #mpox in Kamituga, DRC. It is a must read (not paywalled) article. Gives important insight into the context of the outbreak and real life challenges to the response. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/h...
nytimes.com
In Congo, a Medical Mystery Offers Clues to the Mpox Epidemic
In a remote Congolese town, a medical mystery led to the discovery of alarming changes in the mpox virus and, eventually, to a global health emergency.
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Alison Smith, MD, MSc @alisongrace.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Headed to Seattle for ID fellowship next year!!! #FellowshipMatch2024 @uwidfellowship.bsky.social
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