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Brandon Barba

@brandon-barba.bsky.social
297 followers 354 following 60 posts

PhD student at UofAZ. Son of an immigrant (🇵🇪🇺🇸) Academic interests: Clinical Data Science (informatics, epidemiology, etc.) Other interests: lifting, football, and assorted nerdery

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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This is great. I appreciate how concrete it is.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 15/08/2026
TW: Suicide If you tell people you have SI, many are likely to suggest you call 988 or text the suicide lifeline. These are good resources *if you need to be kept physically safe;* they are not as helpful if your ideations are passive. Allow me to share some things that have helped me. /1
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Duaa Eldeib @deldeib.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
This was a hard story to report. Newborns who don’t get a vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop a condition where they bleed uncontrollably. But more and more families are declining the shot. And babies are dying. www.propublica.org/article/more...
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
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Darren Dahly @statsepi.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Though not without their flaws, Universities they have *already* done more to drive economic development and innovation than pretty much any other human institution, and that's in addition to creating informed citizens and otherwise enriching the human experience. The evidence for this is...
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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
“A man's ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” ― Albert Einstein
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Journal of Astrological Big Data Ecology @jabde.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Meme about researchers getting raw data
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
I’m sure by now many of you have heard that RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisory board has “leaked” a report claiming that there is a chronic condition, similar to LongCOVID, that is caused by the COVID19 vaccine. I wanted to take some time with it before I posted, and now I have, so here comes a thread.
nytimes.com
Confidential Report Calls for Sweeping Changes to Track Covid Vaccine Harms
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
As a grad student, I am having a hard time getting this message through in my research teams. I might have to steal that line “regression and storytelling”.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Same. My in-laws are there and trying to find more reliable info.
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Frank Harrell @f2harrell.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
#Statistics thought of the day: If you think you can find new disease subtypes by empirically clustering patients, think again: www.fharrell.com/post/cluster... #StatsSky
fharrell.com
The Burden of Demonstrating Statistical Validity of Clusters – Statistical Thinking
Patient clustering, often described as the finding of new phenotypes, is being used with increasing frequency in the medical literature. Most of the applications of clustering of observations are not ...
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The American Academy of Pediatrics @ameracadpeds.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Today marks a major moment for child health: the AAP has released its updated 2026 childhood and adolescent immunization schedule. Updated annually to reflect the latest scientific evidence, this year’s schedule is formally endorsed by 12 leading medical and healthcare organizations. bit.ly/4r5KbaQ
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.
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nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I was invited to do some live Decoders at Davos but didn’t go because new baby. But the only tech question worth asking in that forum right now is what American big tech companies are planning to do when the European markets slam shut as NATO collapses
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Alanah Pearce @alanahpearce.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Twitter is the world’s largest generator of CSAM & non-consensual porn by a margin of about 8000%, and somehow… MSM isn’t even reporting on it. (also includes advice for reporting ‘deepfake harassment’ to police if it escalates to a point where restraining order is necessary) youtu.be/p71qQKmIGhQ
youtu.be
I'm angry.
YouTube video by Charalanahzard
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 18/01/2026
In a surprise appearance in New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen denounced the Trump administration’s ICE deployments and dedicated a song to Renee Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this month.
nyti.ms
Springsteen Denounces ICE Deployments and Renee Good’s Killing
In a surprise appearance in New Jersey, the musician dedicated his song “The Promised Land” to Ms. Good, who was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this month.
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Tylenol during pregnancy is safe without increased risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability of offspring A new review of the evidence just out www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Great day to have functioning eyes and a working brain
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Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
A former resident from our program. Trying to help a neighbor. Threatened at gunpoint for it. Not allowed to do his job: help people. 🤬🤬🤬
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Jon Shaffer @jonshaffer.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Trump & RFK Jr.'s coterie of bootlicking doctors are real pieces of shit, we argue in the British Medical Journal, essentially. Link: www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Trump and RFK Jr are dismantling public health—aided and abetted
by powerful doctors

High profile physicians should be using their positions of power to resist Trump and RFK Jr’s damaging policies, not collaborating with them, say Gavin Yamey and Jonathan Shaffer

President Donald Trump and secretary of health and
human services Robert F Kennedy Jr have held many
press events during which they have promoted
dangerous health misinformation.1 2 Despite taking
an oath to“first do no harm,” influential doctors have
stood by Trump and RFK Jr’s sides during these
briefings, lending their support. The wider medical
community needs to tackle this phenomenon with
evidence based strategies, including warning the
public about the risks of misleading information,
highlighting scientific consensus, mapping the
institutional networks that spread controversial
information, and countering them using political and
legal strategies.3
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Eugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
It is simultaneously true that ML tools are incredibly useful and that many of their most intense adherents are selling snake oil
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Read this: www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
Becoming a U.S. citizen takes years and involves immigrants acquiring a green card, extensive interviews, background checks, classes and a citizenship test. The naturalization ceremony is the final step to the process, where the oath of allegiance and a citizenship certificate are granted.
Immigrants approved to be naturalized went to Faneuil Hall Thursday - known as the country's cradle of liberty - for that long-awaited moment to pledge allegiance to the United States. But instead, as they lined up, some were told by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials that they couldn't proceed due to their countries of origin.
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Devin Burghart @dburghart.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
This is unhinged, unadulterated white nationalism that is so off-the-charts fascist not even David Duke would have said that in public.
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David J. Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
NEW data I've received: Just 5% of people detained by ICE since October 1 have had violent criminal convictions, 3/4 had no criminal convictions at all. Most "criminals" had immigration, traffic, and vice offenses. Not the "worst of the worst"...
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers; slashed billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest sponsor of medical research; and threatened to oust the panel of medical experts charged with recommending preventive cancer screenings. Hundreds of N.I.H. grants and clinical trials were cancelled, affecting thousands of patients. I worried about funding for leukemia and bone-marrow research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I worried about the trials that were my only shot at remission. Early in my illness, when I
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Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 11/11/2025
This slide unfortunately generalizes well 🥲
Slide titled: The non-experimental psych workaround
- introduction: relies on a causal reading of the literature
- methods & results: implicitly (but never explicitly) causal inference-y
- discussion: only makes sense in terms of causality
- IMPORTANT: add a paragraph that your study was only observational and no causal conclusions are warranted. future longitudinal or experimental studies will surely fix this problem.
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Health Nerd @gidmk.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
This is one of the most remarkable academic debacles I've ever seen. A large RCT got published in BMJ. There are currently 44 Pubpeer comments, mostly about the data, including...well. Read for yourself. pubpeer.com/publications...
pubpeer.com
PubPeer - Prevention of acute myocardial infarction induced heart fail...
There are comments on PubPeer for publication: Prevention of acute myocardial infarction induced heart failure by intracoronary infusion of mesenchymal stem cells: phase 3 randomised clinical trial (P...
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
My Dad lives in a China and he messages me frequently about this. Just this morning he texted me about some anti-aging pill. It’s hard to temper his enthusiasm.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
I sat in a seminar where someone showed how they used it to do essentially an entire systematic review process (selecting papers, data abstraction, code for analysis, etc.) in a few hours. I don’t think they have published anything yet, but my guess would be soon. Seemed crazy to me.
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
“Tell your children who the cowards were.”
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Technology Connections @techconnectify.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
OK, having heard a report on some AI bracelet which is always recording audio with the idea that you could go back and audit your day's interactions or ask it questions about what you did that day... look if you actually want this I think you're forgetting what it means to be human.
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Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
The University of Arizona has given a non-answer on joining the Compact of Academic Excellence in Higher Education (as did Washington University in St. Louis) earlier today. UA President Suresh Garimella wrote that he welcomes "the opportunity to engage" in a letter to Linda McMahon.
president.arizona.edu
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Adi Robertson @thedextriarchy.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
It feels like a huge failure on multiple levels that there's so little attempt to articulate an alternative to totally unregulated big-corporate ownership of technologies like AR and AI, which have some actually real use cases just vastly outweighed by the harms of their business models
theverge.com
The future I saw through the Meta Ray-Ban Display amazes and terrifies me
This very first-gen device raises several questions about where the next chapter of mobile computing is headed.
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
There are basically only two positions in the debate about AI. 1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks. 2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational. Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.
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Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Private equity acquisition of hospitals have led to an increase in deaths among emergency department patients receiving Medicare, according to a recent study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
theguardian.com
Private equity takeover of hospitals led to rise in Medicare emergency patient deaths, says study
Study found seven more deaths per 10,000 patients in private equity hospitals’ versus non-private equity hospitals
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Big Belly Option
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Extra wide zone
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Put this in the dictionary under “Mossed”
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I like Layne’s content as well, but yeah we got to be careful endorsing anyone on here 😅.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I still feel like there is something to be learned about his sci/comm style. His ability to reach a huge audience on the RP channel, while still calling out a lot of BS is impressive. Somehow he reaches the bro’s, the nerds, the newbies, etc. But I don’t endorse the non-exercise stuff.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I agree. Avoiding his other channel left me blind to his most problematic views. There are better sources for depth in exercise science (B Schonfeld, E Helms). I’ve only found value in the more superficial health topics he covers, and he has gotten pushback several times.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
I haven’t watched that video but I imagine not. I explicitly avoid his other page because I knew I would disagree. I should have clarified that I was referring to his exercise science stuff.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
I think we probably are not on the same page. My experience has been that 95% of the time his information is good, just not super deep. I think his irreverent style breaks through in environment full of nonsense. Just my opinion.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
I’m a bit biased, I like Dr. Mike, as an aspiring scientist myself I don’t find him particularly deep in the “science” part of his commentary, but I do find him to be an effective science communicator. I have sent his videos to family and friends because they cover the basics in a compelling way.
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Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥 We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪 Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇 open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
I’ll take a look at it, thank you.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
This makes a lot of sense to me. I work a lot with gynecological surgeons, and we had a paper looking at surgical complications and how they different by SES status. The dataset had SES quartiles from an index. We just reported associations, but we hoped to dig deeper.
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
I would like to learn more about this discussion, the clinicians I work with are really interested in using these large administrative datasets that have a vulnerability index, which is being used as a proxy for SES.
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Jimmy Kimmel @jimmykimmel.com · 24/09/2025
As I was saying…
youtu.be
Jimmy Kimmel is Back!
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
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Brandon Barba @brandon-barba.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
I’ve been pretty happy with my Keychron, they have a bunch of options.
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