iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Programs left with no personnel working on shoestring budgets, funding diverted to disproven theories on vaccination & autism. The CDC, previously an internationally respected public health institution, is a broken shell of its former self. Are we healthier yet? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...

nytimes.com

‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission (Gift Article)

The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I just signed on to @protecthealthcare.medsky.social's letter opposing Heidi Overton's nomination to lead the FDA — her record on vaccines and reproductive care is genuinely dangerous. Are you a medical professional who shares these concerns? If so, join us: committeetoprotect.org/reject-overton

committeetoprotect.org

ACT: Reject Heidi Overton - The Committee to Protect Health Care

President Trump has nominated Dr. Heidi Overton — an architect of his administration’s rollback of childhood vaccine guidance and a vocal opponent of medication abortion — to run the FDA, a critical p...

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

"This hidden curriculum, spoken through silence, revealed the unknown unknowns of patient care: the subtleties of presence, restraint, and empathy that every patient teaches but no textbook names." A beautiful & evocative essay in @fammedjournal.bsky.social journals.stfm.org/familymedici...

journals.stfm.org

Hidden Curriculum in Silence

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

💯 Vanessa Kerry @seedglobalhealth.bsky.social: we must resist global health approaches that create "artificial trade-offs: prioritize pandemics or primary care, climate resilience or maternal health...inseparable components of a functioning health system" www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/sove...

thinkglobalhealth.org

Sovereignty vs. Multilateralism Is the Wrong Debate in Global Health | Think Global Health

Seed Global Health CEO: countries need a global health model where sovereignty sets the agenda and multilateralism enables it

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Family medicine delivers high quality primary care to help achieve the goal of universal health coverage #PHCforUHC @woncaworld.bsky.social

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

By the end of 2025, US total spending on halloween candy surpassed US total spending on humanitarian aid.

Graph shows a rapid drop in humanitarian aid funding by the US, culminating in a total spend of $3.4 billion at the end of 2025, less than the total amount ($3.4 billion) that the US spent on halloween candy.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

"A more balanced global evidence base is essential to ensure that primary care innovations are applicable, sustainable, and equitable worldwide." Proud to have written this w/colleagues Drs. Garcia-Huidobro, Cuba, Prasad, Adams, @shailey.bsky.social @klausvonp.bsky.social & @pilarastier.bsky.social

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Sharing the recording of our Grand Rounds presentation, for those who were unable to join us live: "From Global Health to Globalism - Evaluating Approaches to Global Engagement" with @shailey.bsky.social mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_ds... #medsky #PublicHealth #AcademicSky

mediaspace.umn.edu

2025-11-12 Family Medicine and Community Health Grand Rounds - University of Minnesota - Kaltura MediaSpace

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

An excellent summary of current US political discourse: a game of rock paper scissors from hell in which some approaches temporarily triumph, & meaning too often loses. American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming / A theory of political speech under the second Trump presidency

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Proud of my colleague Katie Loth for writing and sharing this important essay - when we stop measuring food insecurity, that doesn't make the problem go away. www.minnpost.com/community-vo...

minnpost.com

Shutting down food insecurity report only serves to hide hunger

The USDA’s cancellation of its annual food insecurity report leaves families — and especially children — at risk of being overlooked.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

"we spent more than 100 years working at the C.D.C...We served under multiple Republican and Democratic administrations...we did not always agree with our leaders, but they never gave us reason to doubt that they would rely on data-driven insights for our protection." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

RFK Jr. has now officially stated that he will dismantle the United States Preventive ServicesTask Force (USPSTF). This is an independent body of expert scientists who volunteer their time to review data and provide guidance to Americans on important things like cancer screenings.

wsj.com

Exclusive | RFK Jr. to Oust Advisory Panel on Cancer Screenings, HIV Prevention Drugs

The task force determines which preventive services insurers must cover at no cost to patients.

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Leora Horwitz @leorahorwitzmd.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Heard from #AHRQ that the entire grants staff has been let go! They are unable to issue funds for grants already funded, let alone fund new grants. This is outrageous and will make Americans poorer and sicker. Why? A brief thread about just some recent AHRQ-funded research: #MedSky #HealthPolicy

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Family Medicine Journal @fammedjournal.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

"In these first few months after arrival, I have become, in many ways, an intern again." Esther Johnston, MD, MPH (@esthermjohnston.bsky.social) reflects on the challenges and opportunities that come with professional change. "Everything Old Is New Again": journals.stfm.org/familymedici...

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

A tribute to colleagues who have been so supportive as I learned the ropes in a new place this year, & to all the learners who juggle the cognitive load of trying to master new systems while bringing their best selves to their patients encounters, each & every day: journals.stfm.org/familymedici...

journals.stfm.org

Everything Old Is New Again

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

The call for abstracts is now open for the North America Conference to End Race Based Medicine, which will be FREE to attend and held in Detroit October 17-18, 2025. Submissions are encouraged from students, residents, fellows and faculty from all disciplines. #academicsky #medsky bit.ly/NACERM2025

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Concerning on so many levels: that peer reviewers are farming out a critical role in ensuring academic integrity to AI (recognizing the broken system of academic publishing that => overloaded peer reviewers) & that this shortcut is so easily subverted. #Academicsky asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...

asia.nikkei.com

'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers

Instructions in preprints from 14 universities highlight controversy on AI in peer review

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Carolyn Barber, MD @cbarbermd.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

The MAHA report, promoted by RFK Jr. as “gold-standard science,” is riddled with bogus citations: ⭐️ 7 studies don’t exist — one author: “The paper cited is not a real paper.” ⭐️ Key conclusions misquoted ⭐️ One study exists only in the report ⭐️ Dozens more have broken links #BlueSky #Medasky #SciSky

t.co

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) @stfm-fm.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

In this editorial, a group of family medicine global health practitioners based in South Africa, India, and the United States collectively reflect on the question, “What should lie at the heart of global health partnerships in family medicine?” journals.stfm.org/familymedici...

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) @stfm-fm.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

May's special global health issue of Family Medicine attracted submissions from around the world, reflecting collaborations and partnerships between family physicians and colleagues. Read the editorial from Cindy Haq, MD, and Esther Johnston, MD, MPH: journals.stfm.org/familymedici...

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Family Medicine Journal @fammedjournal.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Interest in training opportunities and ethical engagement in global health among medical trainees continues to increase. Preparation activities and formal curriculum for trainees traveling for international rotations vary widely across programs: journals.stfm.org/primer/2025/...

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Your Local Epidemiologist @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

9/ This isn't about whether you need a booster. It’s about how vaccine decisions are made—and who gets to make them. Americans deserve public health policy grounded in evidence, transparency, and debate—not declarations from two contrarians with an agenda.

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

Vanity Fair @vanityfair.com · 12/05/2025

RFK Jr. celebrated on Sunday by taking shirtless selfies and swimming in an E. coli-ridden, sewage-infested creek where swimming, notably, has been banned by the National Park Service, thanks to the whole...poop water issue.

vanityfair.com

RFK Jr. Took His Grandkids for a Dip in a Sewage-Contaminated Creek For Mother’s Day

The National Park Service bans swimming in Rock Creek due to “high levels of bacteria.”

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?"
"Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Deeply proud to have served as a guest editor of this special global issue of Family Medicine; & grateful to my colleagues who contributed their writing & research, & served as peer reviewers. May we never stop engaging as a global community in our shared learning. journals.stfm.org/familymedici...

journals.stfm.org

Cynthia Haq, MD | Esther M. Johnston, MD, MPH

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

AAUP @aaup.org · 17/04/2025

“If a pact is formed, the universities shall “commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund”. The fund will be in turn used to provide “immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement.” #defendhighered

theguardian.com

US universities’ faculty unite to defend academic freedom after Trump’s attacks

Indiana University leads the push for a pact among 18 institutions as Donald Trump targets diversity

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

ihjm.bsky.social @ihjm.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Re-introducing ourselves: IHJM was born out of a desire to facilitate national movements, to re-imagine a new medicine that ends racism in clinical algorithms and builds on the work of advocates before us. We envision an interdisciplinary hub - a community, research epicenter, and dialogue space.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

"When I finished my PhD in Immunology and Microbiology I started working at CDC NIOSH in Morgantown...to understand diseases that were being seen in coal miners...The type of research that we were doing is not being done anywhere else in the world. And now it’s not being done at all." bit.ly/3YioisS

facebook.com

Redirecting...

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I so enjoyed joining two wise family docs to discuss the evolution of global health & the need to honor real assessments by local leaders. One Click at a Time aims to re-envision the design & technology of primary care through discussions w/health care leaders. #FMSky #MedSky bit.ly/423tFx9

bit.ly

Esther Johnston, MD: Global Health and Technology | One Click At a Time: Technology Empowered Family Medicine Podcast

Alternate title: Assessment BEFORE Plan In this episode, Lalita and Kelly speak with Esther Johnston, MD, family physician and an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota North Memorial Fami...

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Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

99.4% of new drugs approved by the FDA are the product of NIH funded research. Remember this every time you see another headline on the NIH funding cuts. It will directly impact YOU. #ScienceNOTSilence

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

A beautiful summary in PLOS Global Health of some key changes needed to engage with a more decolonized lens in global health education. journals.plos.org/globalpublic...

A table summarizing the major differences between a colonial and decolonization approach to global health education.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

"America First does not have to be democracy last. The world needs American leadership. Most importantly, the world needs America to remain a democracy." www.cfr.org/blog/uncle-s...

cfr.org

Uncle Sam Goes Rogue

President Trump’s coddling of Vladimir Putin sends the wrong message about U.S. leadership in the world.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

"Thousands of doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and other health personnel at US-funded programmes have reported job losses" in countries where health care worker shortages are already profound. We should be ashamed of this complete reneging on our commitments. www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

telegraph.co.uk

African hospital staff laid off en masse amid Trump aid freeze

Thousands of doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and other health personnel at US-funded programmes have reported job losses

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

"Emphasizing the popularity of vaccines is not merely a matter of correcting the record. Studies have shown that presenting vaccines as a subject of debate or controversy can unintentionally reinforce vaccine hesitancy by making the issue appear less settled" 📊🛟🩺 #MedSky substack.com/redirect/2b9...

substack.com

Opinion | Kennedy’s Anti-Vaccine Views Don’t Represent America (Gift Article)

Threatening vaccine access is not only bad science, it’s bad politics.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

"Regardless of the popularity or powerful interests behind a policy, the responsibility of the profession is to speak out when the science is clear that it will threaten health or safety. Silence is not an option." #MedSky 🧪 🩺📊 🛟🩺 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

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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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

“The removal of datasets and guidance from the [CDC and NIH] websites to comply with the President’s recent executive order puts the health and wellbeing of patients at risk and makes it more difficult for physicians to provide quality care“ #Medsky 🩺 www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom...

acponline.org

Statement from Leading Physician Groups on Removal of Data and Guidance from Federal Websites | ACP Online

February 6, 2025 The statement below is issued by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College o...

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

“We have betrayed the trust of ministries of health & the regulatory agencies in the countries where we were working and of the women who agreed to be in our studies, who were told that they would be taken care of…It’s unethical, it’s dangerous and it’s reckless.” 🩺📊 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/h...

nytimes.com

Dozens of Clinical Trials Have Been Frozen in Response to Trump’s USAID Order

The stop-work order on U.S.A.I.D.-funded research has left thousands of people with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies, with no access to monitoring or care.

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Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP @esthermjohnston.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

“Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president. He is trying to substitute perception for reality. He is hoping that perception then becomes reality. That can only happen if we believe him….don’t believe him.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Don’t Believe Him

Look closely at the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s second term and you’ll see something very different than what he wants you to see.

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