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Simon Vandekar

@vandyatvandy.bsky.social
45 followers 42 following 23 posts

Biostatistician with neuroimaging data. Loves dogs, mushrooms, data.

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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Brooke Sevchik @bsevchik.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
🍄 Our new living systematic review and meta-analysis on MDMA for PTSD is now live on medRxiv. Here's what we found and how we built upon our open science infrastructure to support it 🧵 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
medrxiv.org
A living systematic review, meta-analysis, and open data resource of trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has emerged as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generating considerable enthusiasm in the field. However, rapidly changing evid...
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Out-of-sample machine learning prediction accuracy underestimates the true maximum achievable predictive accuracy (MAPA) for brain phenotype associations. @mntj21.bsky.social used double ML to improve estimates for ML accuracy. w/ @edwardhkennedy.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Double machine learning prediction accuracy is less biased for estimating the maximum achievable prediction accuracy (MAPA) for brain-phenotype associations than conventional Pearson's correlation.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Damien Fair @drdamienfair.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Hello all of you #ABCD and #HBCD data users! Did you know we recently deployed the NBDC Sandbox? Jupyter, R-Studio, or open your own linux environment. Compute in place, No Download. A 'SAFE' Cluster environment. Go check it out! nbdc.lassoinformatics.com/sandbox
nbdc.lassoinformatics.com
Sandbox
Lasso is designed to streamline secure access, querying, and responsible use of the ABCD and HBCD datasets.
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
A US Citizen was pulled out of her car by ICE after they ran into her making a U-turn after kidnapping someone else. She is a paralegal and was going to work. Humans should not be treated this way by their government. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n... youtu.be/0euW_3vqKZw?...
youtu.be
chicago, IL oct 10, 2025
YouTube video by Fernando Figueroa
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Do you want to report effect sizes for any brain-behavior association? Do you want to include spatial confidence intervals for effect sizes? This paper, by Xinyu Zhang has the methods and software you need! with @aarona-b.bsky.social @neilwoodward.bsky.social and others :)
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
@kaidikang.bsky.social , why do you look so much tallker than me in this photo?
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Interested in obtaining an MS or PhD degree in biostatistics? Vanderbilt is hosting a virtual info session with director of recruitment Simon Vandekar (@vandyatvandy.bsky.social) on Thursday 10/9, 6pm Central. vanderbilt.zoom.us/meeting/regi... (Pictured: MS students Seth Young and Zongyue Teng)
A young man and woman in discussion in front of a laptop screen
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
If you're a boardgame nerd, check out my brother's game on Kickstarter! It's awesome! Order in Chaos: The Strategic Game of Kingdom Razing on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/jer...
kickstarter.com
Order in Chaos: The Strategic Game of Kingdom Razing
Build your kingdom. Destroy your enemies. A competitive 2-4 player game of castle-building and conflict.
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Probably, Tylenol is not a primary cause of autism. www.coalitionofautismscientists.org
coalitionofautismscientists.org
Coalition of Autism Scientists | "autism scientists"
The Coalition of Autism Scientists formed in 2025 and is comprised of the leading autism researchers across the United States. The website includes statements made by researchers and science-based edu...
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
"Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department’s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week." It's hard to think of a dumber name for a foreign assistance program. apnews.com/article/obam...
apnews.com
Bush, Obama — and singer Bono — fault Trump's gutting of USAID on agency's last day
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the U.S.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Heather Burrell Ward, MD @heatherwardmd.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
1. Our new @JAMAPsych publication shows that provoking symptoms before administering TMS for OCD and nicotine dependence may enhance clinical response. Read more here & tweetorial below: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Co-authors include intern Ishaan Gadiyar, @kaidikang.bsky.social (PhD biostat 2025 @vanderbilt.edu) @vandyatvandy.bsky.social & @heatherwardmd.bsky.social VUMC News feature: news.vumc.org/2025/06/06/n... #MentalHealth
news.vumc.org
New study highlights potential boost to brain stimulation therapy through targeted symptom provocation
A study explores deliberately triggering symptoms immediately before administering rTMS enhances treatment outcomes.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Katie Whittemore✊🏻💙 @katiewhittemore22.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
11 MILLION PEOPLE!! 💥💥💥 Are we nearing the magic 3.5%?? Never forget….WE hold the power. #nokings
June 14
No kings 
Over 11 million people protested!
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
So grateful to Metro Police for keeping folks safe at the North Kings protest! www.wkrn.com/news/local-n...
wkrn.com
Gun pulled during ‘No Kings’ protest in Nashville
Authorities have arrested and charged a man who allegedly brandished a handgun during the ‘No Kings’ protest in Nashville.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Sen. Cory Booker @booker.senate.gov · 01/04/2025
I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:
youtube.com
Live: Speaking on Trump, Musk, and America’s Moral Moment on the Senate Floor | Senator Cory Booker
YouTube video by Senator Cory Booker
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
🇺🇸 Still going strong 🇺🇸 www.npr.org/2025/04/01/n...
npr.org
Cory Booker's anti-Trump speech on the Senate floor has lasted 19 hours and counting
The New Jersey Democrat has been criticizing the Trump administration's policies on immigration, education, the economy and more since 7 p.m. Monday. Here's what to know about his marathon speech.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Cory Booker has held the Senate floor for 17 hours and 21 minutes. The record of 24 hours and 18 minutes is held by segregationist Strom Thurmond, who spent that time protesting the Civil Rights Act of 1957. I am pretty sure Booker would not mind changing that history.
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Cory Booker is a true patriot
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 01/04/2025
Some 1,900 leading researchers accused the Trump administration in an open letter on Monday of conducting a “wholesale assault on U.S. science” that could set back research by decades and that threatens the health and safety of Americans.
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Has Begun a War on Science, Researchers Say
Nearly 2,000 scientists urged that Congress restore funding to federal agencies decimated by recent cuts.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Megan Jones @mntj21.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Check out the RESI package for effect sizes! Details and examples in our new JSS paper 👇
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Easily add effect sizes and confidence intervals with the RESI R package. Now official with a publication in JSS. doi.org/10.18637/jss... Check out the website (statimagcoll.github.io/RESI/) to report bugs or request model types. @mntj21.bsky.social - first author, with @kaidikang.bsky.social
doi.org
RESI: An R Package for Robust Effect Sizes by Megan Jones, Kaidi Kang, Simon Vandekar
<p>Effect size indices are useful parameters that quantify the strength of association and are unaffected by sample size. There are many available effect size parameters and estimators, but it is diff...
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@kaidikang.bsky.social defense is fast approaching 😃
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Usefully sober fact sheet on Ukraine. Please share with those who need it. understandingwar.org/backgrounder...
understandingwar.org
Institute for the Study of War
Russian forces currently occupy around 20 percent of Ukraine, leaving the remaining 80 percent of the country under Ukraine's sovereign control. At the current rate of advance, it would take Russian f...
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Nature @nature.com · 23/02/2025
Almost all grant-review meetings remain suspended at the US National Institutes of Health, preventing the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research from spending much of its US$47 billion annual budget. go.nature.com/418B5Pm
go.nature.com
Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order
Nature - The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep a funding freeze in place, leaving researchers in limbo.
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
The incompetence of the trump administration is moving too fast for our legal system to keep up... Many exceptional and essential people fired due to being in probationary period at NIH. www.npr.org/sections/sho...
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Many institutions are being overly proactive in shuttering DEI programs beyond the requirements of Exec Orders related to DEI. These actions are costly and detrimental to progress in reducing health disparities that are known to exist by statistical evidence. vanderbilthustler.com/2025/02/17/l...
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Stephanie Noble @sneuroble.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
The SfN site automates the process of writing your reps—you can also edit the message to add specific concerns about the indirects cap using the template below: fromthescienceclass.substack.com/p/biomedical... (H/t bsky.app/profile/scie... )
fromthescienceclass.substack.com
Biomedical Research Under Threat: Urge Congress to Act Now!
A Friday evening plea from a concerned scientist
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Nature @nature.com · 08/02/2025
Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 Kids’ real-world arithmetic skills don’t transfer to the classroom go.nature.com/3CEuiEV
go.nature.com
Kids’ real-world arithmetic skills don’t transfer to the classroom
Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 5 February 2025
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Now's the time to invest in coffee with these ridiculous tariffs going up. I recommend this delicious Columbian grown and natural anaerobic processed bean by Bryan Alvear from Black and White tinyurl.com/yc86nneu
tinyurl.com
Brayan Alvear Juicy Cherry | Colombia | Black & White Coffee Roasters
Reminiscent of some of our favorite Coca-Cola products, like Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke, the flavors in this coffee are intense - but also here for a good time. Spiced like sweet cinnamon and fruity...
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
It's been a little while since @kaidikang.bsky.social's paper came out, so this is way overdue, but I wanted to highlight my favorite findings from his paper (tinyurl.com/2u789j9w)... @ted-satterthwaite.bsky.social @aarona-b.bsky.social @drdamienfair.bsky.social @meharpist.bsky.social @nature.com
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Parker Singleton @parkersingleton.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
You can read our full Comment at the link above or here for a pre-proof version: singlesp.github.io/papers/natmh... s/o to the amazing sypres team: Brooke Sevchik, @vandyatvandy.bsky.social, Eric Strain, Sandeep Nayak, Bob Dworkin, @jcobbscott.bsky.social, & @ted-satterthwaite.bsky.social
singlesp.github.io
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
The grad application deadline for Vanderbilt Biostatistics is Jan 1st! Our faculty are national experts in EHR, real-world, ordinal, longitudinal, survival, imaging, and genomic data, causal inference, prediction, semiparametrics... you get it! Apply to join us! www.vanderbilt.edu/biostatistic...
vanderbilt.edu
Home
Vanderbilt University Biostatistics Graduate Program Interested in joining us? Applications are due by January 1, 2025.
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Reposted by Simon Vandekar
Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Coverage of Kang et al. in News Medical www.news-medical.net/news/2024112... (@kaidikang.bsky.social @vandyatvandy.bsky.social) #bwas #imaging #VUMCbiostatistics #NeuroSky #MedSky
news-medical.net
Strategic participant selection boosts reliability in brain imaging studies
Brain-wide association studies, which use magnetic resonance imaging to identify relationships between brain structure or function and human behavior or health, have faced criticism for producing resu...
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Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Vanderbilt PhD candidate Kaidi Kang @kaidikang.bsky.social is 1st author of a new paper in Nature, with associate profs Simon Vandekar (PhD @dbei-upenn.bsky.social) & Ran Tao (PhD @uncchapelhill.bsky.social), PhD candidates Jiangmei Xiong & Megan Jones... (1/2) news.vumc.org/2024/11/27/n...
news.vumc.org
New research points way to more reliable brain studies
A new study in Nature identifies research strategies for tying brain function and structure to behavior and health.
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Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Design your BWAS studies to optimize power! It was awesome working with Kaidi and international collaborators on this project
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