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Ben Johnson

@benjaminjohnson.bsky.social
119 followers 99 following 7 posts

Chief Editor of Nature Health, a new journal of public, global and population health from the Nature Portfolio

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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 22/01/2026
Time to prioritize self-reliance programmes to manage Africa’s healthcare needs. Comment from Ebenezer Frimpong, Mlungisi Ngcobo & Nceba Gqaleni #health #medicine #africa www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
Time to prioritize self-reliance programmes to manage Africa’s healthcare needs - Nature Health
African countries should invest in homegrown health intervention programmes to withstand external funding shocks.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Guinea-Bissau suspends a US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives. “African scientists say that the Guinea-Bissau study shows how political pressure, funding interests & fragmented oversight can push local health priorities aside.” 🧪 #MedSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Guinea-Bissau suspends a US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives
Officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services, which funded the controversial study, say that it will proceed as planned.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 15/01/2026
Nature Health launches today! In our inaugural editorial, we outline our vision of 'health beyond medicine' and aim to publish research, reviews and opinion that bridges the 'implementation gap' between health research with policy and practice. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
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Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 13/01/2026
Nature Health launches this Thursday 15th January! Stay tuned for the latest Research, Reviews, News and Opinion content on public, global, digital and environmental health.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 02/12/2025
Nature Health's 3rd article is now live - on a videogame intervention for opioid risk in students aged 16-19 years old. #digitalhealth #opioids #videogame www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
A videogame for perceived risk of harm from opioid misuse in adolescents: a randomized controlled trial - Nature Health
In a trial involving 532 participants from 15 high schools and at high risk for opioid misuse, a videogame intervention could not increase perceived risk of harm from opioids with respect to the contr...
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 02/12/2025
Wearable data from 7013 participants in the All of Us Research Program shows that park accessibility across 53 U.S. cities is positively associated with daily step counts, providing a mechanism for how urban greenspace can improve health. #urbanhealth #parks #health www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
Wearable data link urban green space to physical activity - Nature Health
Wearable data from 7,013 participants in the All of Us Research Program show that park accessibility across 53 US cities is positively associated with daily step counts, providing a mechanism for how ...
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 15/05/2025
Interested in diversity in genomics research? Nature Health's Chief Editor @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social will be speaking at the Genomics Diversity Symposium on 11th June at @qmul.ac.uk Register today! www.qmul.ac.uk/phuri/news--...
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Health @nathealth.nature.com · 08/04/2025
Nature Health will launch in 2026! We welcome submissions across the health sciences, including biomedical research, but also social and environmental sciences, including qualitative and mixed methods research. #health #medicine #publichealth Check out our website: go.nature.com/3Ylz5mc
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature @nature.com · 08/04/2025
Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway go.nature.com/4cup7oG
go.nature.com
Science’s big problem is a loss of influence, not a loss of trust
Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway.
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Nature Health is now open for submissions! We are a new journal of public, global and population health aiming to publish the best research that has an impact on health policy and practice. Get in touch if you want to know more, or go ahead and submit online: www.nature.com/naturehealth/
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature @nature.com · 02/04/2025
Many parents are concerned that teenagers are spending more time on their phones and less time socializing directly go.nature.com/4lc0cKb
go.nature.com
Are screens harming teens? What scientists can do to find answers
The fierce debate about smartphones and adolescent mental health rests on conflicting science. Researchers and technology companies must work to improve it.
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Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Statement from Infectious Diseases Society of America: The CDC study to explore vaccines & autism will: - waste needed resources at worst possible time - "drive misinformation" Reality: Decades of research & "scientifically sound studies show no link or association between vaccines and autism."
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
The NIH by charts: It will not be easy to replace funding frozen and terminated by the agency. It is by far the global leader in biomedical funding, and, as many have told me: an absolute gold standard in how to review and fund research. Our full analysis here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 11/02/2025
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature! We are thrilled to recognize these outstanding women driving innovation in technology. Learn more about the winners here and below: go.nature.com/3X07UN9 🧵 📸 Masayuki Nakano/Sony #WomeninStem 🧪
Kiana Aran, Amanda Randles, Yating Wan, Jiawen Li after being awarded the 2025 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature. Credit: Masayuki Nakano/Son Kiana Aran, Amanda Randles, Yating Wan, Jiawen Li after being awarded the 2025 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature. Credit: Masayuki Nakano/Son
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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 11/02/2025
Analysis of the confined crowds at the San Fermín festival in Spain shows that dense crowds can self-organize into macroscopic chiral oscillators, coordinating the orbital motion of hundreds of individuals without external guidance, according to a paper in Nature. go.nature.com/3WKkb8r 🧪
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
How the World Health Organization can thrive without the United States. Editorial from @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
How the World Health Organization can thrive without the United States
If the 193 remaining member nations want the WHO to succeed, they must find a way to pay for it.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Diseases, especially infectious diseases, do not respect borders. If countries genuinely want & value an organization that champions health for all, they must all step up to support WHO (Our editorial this week) #MedSky @nature.com @who.int www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
How the World Health Organization can thrive without the United States
If the 193 remaining member nations want the WHO to succeed, they must find a way to pay for it.
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Jocalyn Clark @jocalynclark.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Censor CDC scientists and ask them to withdraw papers from medical journals? This is not how it works, Mr President. Our response @bmj.com on the Trump Executive Order and his "forbidden words" www.bmj.com/content/388/...
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Today I leave Nature Medicine 😢 and start a new adventure as Chief Editor of a new @NaturePortfolio journal on public, global and population health… Nature Health! 🌍 There are huge challenges in global health right now, but also solutions, and I’m excited to share them. #health #medicine
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Henry Gee 亨利·纪 @endofthepier.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Pre-Columbian Amazonians farmed fields of maize: Lombardo, et al. Maize monoculture supported pre-Columbian urbanism in southwestern Amazonia. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org
Maize monoculture supported pre-Columbian urbanism in southwestern Amazonia - Nature
Remote sensing, field survey and microbotanical analyses show that the pre-Columbian Casarabe culture in the Bolivian Amazon invested heavily in landscape engineering, constructing a complex system of...
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Nature Reviews Biodiversity @natrevbiodiv.nature.com · 15/01/2025
Here we go! The first issue of Nature Reviews Biodiversity is now live🥳🎉🥂. Thank you to our authors, reviewers, and community for the support! We hope you enjoy the reading. www.nature.com/nrbd/volumes...
Two birds of different species looking at each other from different sides of a river
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Dear Donald Trump: A letter from Nature on how to make science thrive and why it matters for the health, prosperity and safety of people of America and the world 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Dear Donald Trump: A letter from Nature on how to make science thrive
The US federal government can harness science to secure the health, prosperity and safety of Americans and the world.
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
It is indeed - this is my current role! Happy to talk to anyone interested in applying.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 14/12/2024
Nature Medicine asks leading researchers to name their top clinical trial for 2025, from gene therapies for prion disease and sickle-cell disease to digital tools for cancer and mental health. Read what they named as their top 11 trials. 🧪
go.nature.com
Eleven clinical trials that will shape medicine in 2025 - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine asks leading researchers to name their top clinical trial for 2025, from gene therapies for prion disease and sickle-cell disease to digital tools for cancer and mental health.
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
The COPs are not working. The system that scientists use to access & influence UN environmental agreements is under strain. In this editorial we argue we must understand how & why research is being pushed to the margins & what to do to get policy back on track 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Good COPs, bad COPs: science struggles in a year of environmental summits
The system meant to ensure that international agreements are informed by a consensus of rigorous research is under severe stress.
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Which clinical trials will shape medicine in 2025? Find out in our Year in Review for Nature Medicine #medicine #health #Clinicaltrials www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Eleven clinical trials that will shape medicine in 2025 - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine asks leading researchers to name their top clinical trial for 2025, from gene therapies for prion disease and sickle-cell disease to digital tools for cancer and mental health.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Shari Wiseman @shariwiseman.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Nature Neuroscience is hiring a computational/systems/cognitive editor! Come join our team! Happy to answer any questions. springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...
springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Neuroscience
Job Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Neuroscience Location: New York, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Berlin or Shanghai Application Deadline: January 6, 2025 About Springer Natur...
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Gav Armstrong @nchemgav.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Don't use red and green data lines/surfaces in the same panel please #chemsky. It can be difficult for some colorblind readers to differentiate them. I've accepted (in principle) 2 papers today, and both sets of authors were asked to remove red/green colour contrasts www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Colour me better: fixing figures for colour blindness
Images can be made more accessible by choosing hues, shapes and textures carefully.
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Gabrielle Brewer @gabriellebrewer.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
#natureconference 🚨 I'm co-organizing a conference on Gene & Cell Therapies with Joao Monteiro #NatureMedicine, Pep Pàmies #NatureBiomedicalEngineering & @francesari.bsky.social #Nature. Come join us in Wenzhou in April! 👇more details: conferences.nature.com/event/GeneCe...
conferences.nature.com
HOME - Gene & Cell Therapies: the path to clinic
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 05/12/2024
The first day with no sea ice in the Arctic will be a visible sign of climate change. A study in Nature Communications shows that this could occur before 2030 and becomes more likely as the world warms. As the ice thins, the triggers are extreme weather events. go.nature.com/49qq5AO 🧪
This is figure 3, which shows the sea ice area and sea ice mass on the way to first daily ice-free conditions.
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
It might be a day or two — or potentially longer — before health officials in DRC can determine what is the cause of an outbreak in a remote part of the country where 382 cases, 79 of them fatal, have been reported. Samples had to be transported >500 km for testing. www.statnews.com/2024/12/05/m...
statnews.com
Cause of outbreak in DRC still being investigated, health officials say
A disease outbreak in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has caused 79 deaths. Health officials are still investigating the cause.
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Science could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Why aren’t governments using it? Our global survey finds that most specialists are unhappy with systems to provide science advice to policymakers. #sciencepolicy 🧪@natureportfolio.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Science could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Why aren’t governments using it?
A Nature global survey finds that most specialists are unhappy with systems to provide science advice to policymakers.
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Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk · 05/12/2024
"More than 3 million people have been stuck on NHS waiting lists for more than 18 weeks. That's probably the worst, most appalling legacy of the last Conservative Government, and it needs to be fixed." Ed Davey calls on the Prime Minister to prioritise GP access to bring down NHS waiting lists.
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Richard Van Noorden @richvn.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
COOL IDEA KLAXON: I'm looking for scientists who *aren't* expert with AI but are curious to see if it can help out their lab, to try out a new AI system designed for this purpose. The idea is to report on what happens, be it astounding, absurd, or frustrating. Pls msg to indicate interest - thanks!
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Patient engagement is now a requirement in the Declaration of Helsinki, a cornerstone of medical research ethics. Read in my editorial for Nature Medicine why this is a welcome change for #health www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Declaration of Helsinki embraces health equity - Nature Medicine
The updated Declaration of Helsinki empowers ethics committees to require community engagement and equitable partnerships
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Reposted by Ben Johnson
Smriti Mallapaty @smritimallapaty.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Here's the Nature Portfolio starter pack, for those keen to follow Nature journals, editors and journalists go.bsky.app/TnP8YBb
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Flora Graham @floragraham.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Last week, I asked Briefing readers what they thought — should #ScienceTwitter become #ScienceSky? Many told me they were worried about the implications of totally giving up the other place...
Graph showing poll results: 
It’s worth scientists staying on Twitter/X to try to hang on to its benefits
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Scientists should reconvene on Bluesky
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Not bothered with science Twitter before and couldn’t care less now
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Scientists should make the effort to rebuild the community on another social network (let us know where!)
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Something else 
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Many respondents, including most of those who emailled me, were worried about letting peddlers of fake news frolic unopposed on Twitter. “I feel a sense of duty to not abandon ship,” wrote process engineer Jon Gaide. “With Twitter being the most accessible digital public square, it’s important to do our best to prevent it from becoming an echo chamber of raw milk and science denial.”
Others asked, why not have both? “It's important for our voices to reach those who are not scientists so that we may inform and combat misinformation,” wrote earth scientist Chris Schneider. “But it is equally important for us to be able to collaborate and communicate informally where we can find support and a ready ear.”
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STAT @statnews.com · 29/11/2024
What YouTube Health is doing to combat misinformation and promote evidence-based content www.statnews.com/2024/11/29/y...
statnews.com
What YouTube Health is doing to combat misinformation and promote evidence-based content
It's Garth Graham's job to ensure that when people ask about a lump in their abdomen or a lingering dry cough, they get evidence-based answers
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Ben Johnson @benjaminjohnson.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Are GLP-1 based blockbuster obesity drugs really for everyone? Read our editorial in Nature Medicine: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Are GLP-1 drugs really for everybody? - Nature Medicine
As GLP-1 receptor agonists emerge as treatment options for conditions beyond diabetes and obesity, it becomes critical to understand how genetic, clinical and sociodemographic differences impact their...
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NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Maudsley @nihrmaudsleybrc.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Applications are open for our 3-year PhD programme to study the neurobiological underpinnings of clinical phenotypes in a large-scale, real-world population. 📅 Apply by Sunday 9 February 2025 to start in June 2025. More details: bit.ly/3Z2o4pv @kingsioppn.bsky.social
PhD Studentship in Child Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
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Bradley Love @profdata.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
"Large language models surpass human experts in predicting neuroscience results" w @ken-lxl.bsky.social and braingpt.org. LLMs integrate a noisy yet interrelated scientific literature to forecast outcomes. nature.com/articles/s41... 1/8
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