iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Now, replace AI with “Living with Covid” and see how all of you feel about that.

Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Respirators in social settings work extremely well and allow one to avoid infections for years…as I have. There is NO way I would not take that option. I have a family & there are things I want to do in life. I don’t succumb to peer pressure. Is this high school? People are DYING from Long Covid.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

1/ Public health has become overly insular and insufficiently interdisciplinary. I work in applied health science. What I don’t have is indoctrination into decades of droplet-era institutional inertia. That’s the difference.

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Ilkka Rauvola @jukka235.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

WHO just removed the word "AEROSOL" from the modes of transmission of Meningococcal Meningitis from its website. 1/x @catinthehat.bsky.social

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

1/ Please put aerosol scientists and engineers back in charge of public health. We built infectious disease policy around outdated droplet assumptions while ignoring aerosol physics, ventilation, and indoor air quality.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

1/ Public health has an education problem. Airborne transmission is still incorrectly described — or omitted entirely — in many Master of Public Health programs and the textbooks used to train future professionals.

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Gary Longsine 📱 @arbiteriapetus.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

A proper contemplation of the Precautionary Principle should be incorporated into the standard curriculum, forthwith. 📚 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precaut...

en.wikipedia.org

Precautionary principle - Wikipedia

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Check out this conversation on the AI tool built for censorship of specific health topics at the NIH 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4iY...

youtube.com

NIH Whistleblower Exposes Grant Terminations, AI Censorship & Research Cuts - Jenna Norton Interview

YouTube video by Annika Horne

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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

The problem is almost none of the people in these decision making positions has much of an understanding of science, and they're all trained to think that absence of evidence = evidence of absence. And since the entire GRADE pyramid is purely reactive, the only evidence they accept is dead bodies.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Tennis taught me emotional regulation at the deepest level. The ball does not care about your frustration, excuses, momentum swings, ego, or story. You reset between points or you lose. Honestly, that’s most of life.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

A virus that damages every organ system is not “endemic.” It is unaddressed. There is a difference. Words matter when they’re being used to lie to you.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Indoor air is the new tobacco. We’ll look back stunned that we breathed it without thinking. The lawsuits will be enormous. The recovery will be slower.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Five years in and we still treat masks like a personality. Surgeons aren’t making a statement. They’re protecting a patient. So am I.

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Vic GenXer @genxer22.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The Sliding Window re: tuberculosis Decades before 1920 Glass manufacture innovation, 1902 Dr. Karl Turban & architect Jacques Gros adopted a new type of window in their TB Sanatoriums. Folding and sliding doors and windows that allowed complete opening of window frames composed of several sashes.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Higher ed is going to spend the next decade pretending nothing is wrong with student cognition except “use of AI.” By the time the data is undeniable, the cohort will be in their 30s, wondering why everything feels so hard.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Cognitive fatigue is real. We mock it because admitting it would force us to redesign everything: schools, workplaces, classrooms, hospitals, parenting. Mocking is cheaper.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

You don’t have a phone problem. You have a meaning problem. The phone just fills the vacuum a faster than anything else ever has.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Attention is the rarest cognitive resource we have. We are feeding it, hourly, to slot machines that don’t even pay out.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Self-complexity is a buffer against grief. We never teach this. We should. Lose one self and there are still nine left to walk you home.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

We tolerate indoor air in 2026 that would have horrified sanitation engineers in 1926. We just don’t see what’s killing us.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The most underrated public health intervention of the next decade is going to be opening a window.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The immune system has a memory. So does the heart. So does the brain. Survival is not the same as escape.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The most dangerous lie of the last six years was that getting it over with was a strategy. You don’t out-tough a virus that hides in your tissues.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Clean air will be the sanitation revolution of the 21st century. Or it won’t. And we’ll pay for it for three generations.

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RenéeLiana @reneeliana.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

This was really fun, Sean, amateur virilogist here. I missed 3 and was happy to learn something new. When I have more time I'll take the longer test. Everyone should check this out if you've been keeping up with the research: 😷🫰

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Can I add this to my dossier? A Zoom conversation with a family about airborne precautions was followed by a $200 donation to my lab. Some of the most meaningful academic impact never shows up in citation metrics. /1

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Wait… people still read papers? Gnarly 😎 Pretty wild that our paper on exercise breaks and executive function landed among the top 10% most-viewed papers published in Advanced Science in 2024. Go team 🙏

Screenshot of an email from Wiley congratulating Sean Mullen for publishing one of the top 10% most-viewed papers in Advanced Science in 2024. The email features the journal cover art, a green “Download Now” button, and the paper title: “Effects of Physical Exercise Breaks on Executive Function in a Simulated Classroom Setting: Uncovering a Window into the Brain.” A badge at the bottom reads “Top viewed article Wiley 2025.”

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Congratulations graduates! Be safe out there. 😷

Dr. Sean Mullen wearing academic regalia and a black graduation cap stands outdoors under a bright blue sky. He is wearing a black respirator-style face mask, a dark doctoral-style gown with velvet panels, and a gold tassel hanging from the cap. The photo is taken from a slightly low angle in strong sunlight, creating a dramatic and confident appearance.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Launching today, on my 46th birthday, 10yrs after I established my future self: the Self-Complexity Research Network. An open-science platform for self-complexity, possible selves, and identity research—built because much of this literature's infrastructure has been lost 🔗 selfcomplexityresearch.org

selfcomplexityresearch.org

Self-Complexity Research Network | Sean P. Mullen, PhD | University of Illinois

Self-Complexity Research Network is the public hub for self-complexity research, measurement, identity mapping tools, dashboards, and open science resources led by Sean P. Mullen at the University of ...

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Illinois Stakeholders for Air Quality in Schools @illinoisair.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

We had our Subject Matter Hearing for SB3110 in the Senate’s Appropriations-Education Committee on 4/28! Also, some exciting news: the American Lung Association endorsed our bill! From IL? If you don’t see your senator’s name below, call their office & ask them to co-sponsor SB3110!

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Yesterday: ideas → reality. The inaugural ETC Lab Conductor Symposium. Students designing real solutions for health, cognition, & behavior—not just talking about them. This is the work. Just getting started. 🔗 exercisetechlab.com/presentation... @ahsillinois.bsky.social @illinoisresearch.bsky.social

A large, diverse group of students and researchers sit around a conference table in a bright room with tall windows. Many are smiling toward the camera, suggesting a celebratory group moment following a lab symposium or meeting.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Does anyone even give preliminary exams anymore or is it just me?

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

We ask students to do their most complex thinking inside fragmented tools. Then we worry about AI misuse. Maybe the problem isn’t the student. Maybe it’s the environment. Here’s my solution and I’d love your feedback. seanmullen.com/hk-dept/prel...

seanmullen.com

Preliminary Examination Builder — Mullen, UIUC Health & Kinesiology

Chair's tool for generating student-tailored preliminary examination instances with embedded dissertation text and committee metadata.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Sharing the tools behind my work—not just the outputs: seanmullen.com/creative-wor... Built to solve real problems in research, teaching, and behavior change. Open, adaptable, and free to use. If something here helps—or sparks an idea—I’d love to hear.

seanmullen.com

Creative Works — Sean Mullen

A curated archive of digital tools, research artifacts, and creative projects.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

I used to wonder what it felt like to be a scientist sounding the alarm on: tobacco AIDS Now we’re living it. Turns out the barrier isn’t evidence. It’s denial.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Your vitamin D isn’t going to cure the persistent viral infection that’s in your platelets & bone marrow causing immune dysfunction & vascular damage with every SARS-CoV-2. Get your head out of your ass.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Masking is a sign of health intelligence. You don’t mask?

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I find it amusing that every single social media feed I have has some version of a “Hey Fuckface” rant on Trump. The lack of power everyone feels and the need for people to vent couldn’t be more palpable.

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Jose Zepeda @josezepeda.21st.show · 30/03/2026

Sauna culture is really starting to take off in the U.S. @21st.show spoke with @drseanmullen.bsky.social about sauna's true benefits, and what's fiction. youtu.be/JoJwQ07l-oY

youtu.be

What to know about sauna wellness

YouTube video by Illinois Public Media

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Classic. “Null effects. Let’s keep studying it though because + vibes.”

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

From a former newspaper journalist. Wake up you No Kings folks. You’re omitting a huge item in the buffet of grievances against government. It’s leading to many of your grievances including accelerating everyone’s short-fuses, poor short-term memory & incapacity to understand what’s going on!

A dark background with white text reading: “I saw your disabled stats. Three recent college grads within a block of my home are sidelined with POTS, including my daughter. I wonder if they’re counted in those stats. One is trying to work, another can’t get out of bed with PEM, and mine is trying to finish
grad school from the sofa. Don’t know what she’ll do after that. We are just trying to buy time, waiting for answers. I think this is so much worse than anyone knows.”

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I can’t wait to see how this goes over on the National maskless No Kings Day of protesting. Sure, it’s outdoors but most of you don’t get it. You’re still oblivious and brain damaged. If you’re in a crowded space, you should probably be wearing a respirator (N95+ aka a high performance mask). 🦗 🦗

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Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

I wrote a couple of weeks ago how our current medical establishment is recycling COVID myths to minimize measles.

sciencebasedmedicine.org

MAHA Leaders Are Recycling COVID Myths to Minimize Measles

Once again, everything old is new again. The circle of disinformation is complete.

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

I should add, ya’ll sound like it too… “I hear he coughs all night through the thin walls.” —Tom Waits (What’s He Building, 1999)

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Kids are losing life minutes estimated at the rate of a pack of cigarettes per day in Illinois, as we’ve been at high/very high levels (see wastewater analysis👇) every week of 2026. It’s a pack/day in the typical classroom under these conditions w/zero mitigations. seanmullen.com/airborne-inf...

seanmullen.com

Airborne Infection Risk Estimator

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Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

AIRE v3.6 is out. Added: • Scenario presets • Turnover modeling • Time-to-threshold risk • Clearer CO2 assumptions Small version bump. Meaningful improvements. seanmullen.com/airborne-inf...

seanmullen.com

Airborne Infection Risk Estimator

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