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Verity Hill

@viralverity.bsky.social
581 followers 446 following 2 posts

Wellcome ECA Fellow at the Centre for Virus Research, University of Glasgow Phylodynamics for public health viralverity.github.io She/her

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Reposted by Verity Hill
Asher Leeks @asherleeks.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The Social Lives of Viruses is coming to Vancouver, Canada, from 4th-8th August 2026! This is a free meeting dedicated to all aspects of virus-virus interactions & evolution. To apply: socialviruses.zoology.ubc.ca @sociovirology.bsky.social #socialviruses #evosky #lovevirology #virosky
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Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Except literally every data analysis or model I've ever asked AI to build has contained at least one error: www.nature.com/articles/d41... Common response: "But someone just needs to give AI detailed instructions..." But who is the "someone" in that sentence? And how did they get their expertise?
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Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Why Spain is breaking the mold in Europe - choosing regularisation instead of MAGA mass deportations!! Two reasons: morality & pragmatism. 🙏Spain showing us another, better way is possible www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.
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Yale School of Public Health @yalesph.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
In 2022, Dr. Foege joined us for a final, profound conversation on the history of global health. He left our students with a simple message: “Get the science right. Add art. Get a moral compass. Put those three things together, and now you have moral, creative, common sense at its best.” 3/4
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Ellie Bourgikos @ebourgikos.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
🦟📄 New preprint! Our first large-scale phylodynamic study of Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) reveals how mosquito ecology shapes the evolution, persistence, and spread of this understudied arbovirus in North America. Read it here! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Evolutionary history of Jamestown Canyon virus disentangles complex multi-vector ecology
Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne virus of increasing concern in North America. It has been historically understudied, leading to significant gaps in our understanding of it...
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weserhag @weserhag.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
theguardian.com
‘Rebranded plantations’: how empire shaped luxury Caribbean tourism
Research shows that the British colonial wealth extraction system still influences the region’s tourist industry
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Prof Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
The thing they never talk about is how much the UK as an economy & a functioning society is dependent on immigrants. Most of the press don’t care to share such facts either & just parrot anti-migrant rhetoric. It pains my brain to keep seeing such stupidity. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tory MP criticised after demanding legally settled families be deported
Katie Lam said move would make UK ‘culturally coherent’ and that a large number of people ‘need to go home’
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Zoe Williams @zoesqwilliams.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
My god, the sheer relief of reading a piece by someone who knows something about this football match and didn't just learn to spell Maccabi two days ago www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Standing with Maccabi’s football hooligans against local police – is that what patriotism looks like now? | Jonathan Liew
Tommy Robinson is said to be going to Villa Park as a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan. Do the politicians jumping on this bandwagon care what they are doing, asks Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew
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jaythechou.bsky.social @jaythechou.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1681
Paddington in 28 Weeks Later (2007)
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Greg Albery @gfalbery.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I'm v excited to be recruiting a PhD student to work on badger behaviour and ecology! Starting date is March 2026; see the ad here, or message me for more details: www.gregalbery.me/s/March-2026...
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Nate O @nateo.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
It does not matter if immigrants commit fewer crimes. In fact, it would not matter if every immigrant committed crimes. Immigration is still good, freedom of movement is foundational to humanity, and every restriction on freedom of movement by the state is itself a criminal act by the state
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Silkabelli (cittadina UE 🇪🇺) @silkabelli.eurosky.social · 16/09/2025
Queen
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Greg Albery @gfalbery.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Celebrating the publication of our big collaborative spatial-social meta-analysis of density-dependent transmission effects, out now in Nature Eco Evo! doi.org/10.1038/s415... (or rdcu.be/eD6eB)
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
This absolute banger
Starmer was recently asked how he would feel if his daughter had to walk past an “asylum hotel”. “I totally get it,” he responded, going on to say that “local people by and large do not want these hotels in their towns, in their place, and nor do I. I’m completely at one with them on that.”This desire to meet the hard right halfway, to find a middle point, is hopelessly exploitable. In an age of radicalisation, you simply get pulled further and further to the right, while tacitly validating those values at every step. Nowhere is this more evident than in the UK press’s fixation on trans people. The Labour government, following the reactionary centrist logic of trying to diffuse an issue by giving policy ground, has allowed itself to be pulled radically to the right on this matter. First, by abandoning its commitment to changing ID laws to make it easier to transition, then by effectively banning puberty blockers following pressure from those opposed to them. Now the UK is on the verge of implementing a bathroom ban mandating that trans people must be excluded from toilets that match their gender identity. This is being done without parliamentary debate. Most of the public is not aware of it, and yet, if this goes ahead, it would make the UK one of the world’s most illiberal advanced democracies on trans rights.   

An actual pragmatist would evaluate and change course. Someone who understood public opinion might notice that anti-immigrant sentiment responds to media coverage, not objective reality. They might reason that this is not a problem that can be addressed by policy concessions because policy is not what is causing it. They might even consider offering a different narrative and seeing whether that makes a dent. A truly daring politician might consider telling the British public the truth: that they are being lied to by the right-wing press about the cause of the country's problems, and that Reform is capitalising on this for political gain.

To put it mildly, this has not worked. The theory was that feeding the wolf would starve it. But, somehow, the beast is stronger than ever. Reactionary centrists simply cannot account for this outcome. All they can think to do is keep throwing more meat.
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
It would be a lot simpler, and more effective, to provide all people seeking asylum with the right to work. It has public and cross party support, helps protect against exploitation, helps people rebuild lives faster, and reduces Home Office costs. #r4today www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
Asylum hotel data to be shared with food delivery firms in illegal working crackdown
Information will be shared with food delivery firms to help them uncover abuse on their platforms
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Scott Bryan @scottygb.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
BBC NEWS / AFP / BBC NEWS / REUTERS JOINT STATEMENT: “We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. "They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering. "
JOINT STATEMENT ON GAZA FROM AFP, AP, BBC NEWS AND REUTERS

 

“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.  

 

“Journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in warzones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them.

 

“We once again urge the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza. It is essential that adequate food supplies reach the people there.”
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Nathan Grubaugh @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Interested in using phylogenetics to study arboviruses? Our new review in @natrevgenet.nature.com‬ by @viralverity.bsky.social‬, @sdellicour.bsky.social‬, and Marta Giovanetti has you covered! 📖 👉 rdcu.be/epH2U Short 🧵
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Liam Proven @lproven.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
The Copilot Delusion buff.ly/99QsTEM <- the story is that one thing LLMs are good at is helping programmers. An experienced programmer carefully explains, in detail, why this is not true.
buff.ly
The Copilot Delusion
Disclaimer: This post was written May 2025, and the arguments apply to AI code capabilities at this time. The arguments around lack of competence are certainly likely to become less prevalent-while the...
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Roman Biek @rbiek.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Fantastic opportunity to join some excellent programmes to gain quantitative ecological training at the University of Glasgow 
 @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk 
@uofglasgow.bsky.social for full details see bsky.app/profile/uofg...
bsky.app
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Janelle Shane @janelleshane.com · 13/04/2025
1. LLM-generated code tries to run code from online software packages. Which is normal but 2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but 3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So 4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
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Asher Leeks @asherleeks.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Can we use social evolution to fight pathogens? @asgriffin.bsky.social and I review the evidence for 'cheat therapy' in bacteria and viruses... 🧪🦠 #socialviruses #evosky #virosky 1/3
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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Excited to see review with @asherleeks.bsky.social out today in Nature Antimicrobials and Resistance. We compare application of social evolution to treatment of infection in bacteria and viruses: very different stories! rdcu.be/eftKw @biology.ox.ac.uk @erc.europa.eu @naturerevmicro.bsky.social
rdcu.be
Exploiting social traits for clinical applications in bacteria and viruses
npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - Exploiting social traits for clinical applications in bacteria and viruses
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Sebastian Schönnenbeck @homomorphiesatz.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
"You can't policy your way out of a right-wing propaganda problem." Louder for the people in the back! At no point will any right-wing party be like "You know what, I think as a nation we are now cruel enough to immigrants and LGBTQ-people. Let's focus on something else for a change."
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Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Gift article written by @gregggonsalves.bsky.social that offers some much needed hope and a plan. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | I Shudder to Imagine Kennedy Running Our Health Agencies. (Gift Article)
We have to go toe-to-toe with this administration and resist its attacks on public health.
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Megan Ranney MD MPH @meganranney.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
In Connecticut - NIH FUNDING: $770M JOBS SUPPORTED: 6609 ECONOMIC ACTIVITY SUPPORTED: $1.68B
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Nathan Grubaugh @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
I was a Head Start kid with a single teenage mom growing up in a rural community. My aunt is a Head Start teacher, my grandmother was a Head Start bus driver. This program provides vital support for our communities. No one who is “pro-family” should want to shut this down.
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Senator Bill #Cassidy owns this nomination now. As a physician he broke his oath to do no harm, his duty to serve the citizens of his state and this country. Every #measles case, every #mumps case, every #pertussis case is Senator Cassidy's now. This is his legacy of cowardice.
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Health Nerd @gidmk.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
10/n To sum up: 1. The moral panic was gibberish. Only a tiny proportion of kids have ever been diagnosed with GD, and very few of those got drugs in the UK. 2. Services in the UK were TERRIBLE before the Cass review. Less than 1/10 ELIGIBLE kids were prescribed medications!
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Katharine S. Walter @katwalter.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
I am with dozens of Utah scientists, healthcare providers, and educators who urge Senators Lee and Curtis to vote no on RFK’s dangerous nomination. The health of Utahns and Americans is at risk. www.sltrib.com/opinion/comm... @sltrib.com @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
sltrib.com
Voices: We’re infectious disease experts. RFK Jr. would put all our health at risk.
“A vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would take America back to a troubling era when countless children suffered and died from horrific infections, leaving many with lifelong disabilities,” write Susana ...
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 23/01/2025
1. Sabotage public institutions. 2. Claim they don’t work efficiently. 3. Eliminate them. — That’s the playbook.
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Today, the global gag rule is expected to go back into effect "The harm of the gag rule to reproductive health is far-reaching and long-lasting" www.guttmacher.org/report/evide...
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Verity Hill @viralverity.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Most of my time this year has been working on this new dengue nomenclature system with a huge and brilliant set of global collaborators!! Glad to see other people think it's worthwhile too 😎 @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social
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Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · 09/12/2024
Today Pathoplexus announces the inclusion of a new viral pathogen: mpox (previously known as monkeypox). Within the context of the current mpox outbreaks and ongoing health concerns, Pathoplexus aims to support sequence sharing to improve both understanding and response. 1/7
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@YaleEMD @yaleemd.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
🌍📢 This December, we are spotlighting the intersection of Climate Change and Infectious Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health! Stay tuned for faculty and student spotlights featuring innovative research and contributions! 🌱🦠 #ClimateChange #InfectiousDiseases #PublicHealth #YaleEMD
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@YaleEMD @yaleemd.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
🌍 In recognition of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, we’re proud to spotlight Dina Garmroudi in our EMD Student Spotlights series! 🌍 Learn how her HIV research at YSPH is advancing public health. Check out her Q&A! 🧬 @yalesph.bsky.social #WorldAIDSDay #PublicHealth 👉 medicine.yale.edu/news-article...
medicine.yale.edu
EMD Student Spotlight series: Dina Garmroudi
This series spotlights the amazing students working with faculty from the YSPH Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases (EMD) department. In acknowledgement of World
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arsweeny.bsky.social @arsweeny.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Interested in fitness consequences of the gut microbiome in the wild? Keen on being involved with an iconic long-term study system? Check out a PhD opportunity working on Soay sheep microbiomes! Info below and feel free to contact with q's. e4-dtp.ed.ac.uk/e5-dtp/super...
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