Asst Professor at WSU. Maker of artisinal, small-batch simulation models for the discerning infectious disease consumer. WoW and zombie epidemiology. He/him.
Oct 31, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
So I was reading Hacker News and there was an article on the lab leak hypothesis - one commenter was surprised when I mentioned that no, that's not settled science. Because in that community, the lab leak hypothesis is definitely regarded as capital-T true. Musings on why. 1/10
First, what I'm not talking about - whether it *is* true. Or indeed which iteration of the lab leak hypothesis we're talking about. This is purely about my thoughts on why, in certain communities, it got picked up and adopted far more readily than the science behind it. 2/10
Aug 22, 2021 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
Today appears to be "Epidemiology and School Closures Discourse" day and so...a thread. It's a long one. #epitwitter
1st, I don't have kids. I do have friends w/kids. The combination of anxiety and being utterly out of spoons to keep this going for another year - and that those two things often head in opposite directions - is palpable, even online. I can't imagine, but I can empathize. 1/17
Apr 3, 2021 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Following @EpiEllie 's example, and because I'm in a retrospective mood, let's talk about my early thoughts on the pandemic - and particularly, where I got things wrong. 1/12
First up, like many epidemiologists, I believed it was possible to contain this with a sufficiently robust response. I believe the actual phrase I used was "This is not the first coronavirus we've dealt with." 2/12
Oct 20, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
COVID-19 and seasonality: A thread.
So, we're entering the typical season for respiratory viruses in the middle of a respiratory virus pandemic, which means we're going to get lots of explanations that feel intuitive.
Be careful with those. Lets talk flu... 1/8
#epitwitter
The first epidemiology projects I worked on were focused on influenza seasonality - something that was already well studied at the time. My very first paper? A review of the proposed casual mechanisms for seasonality. If you really want to read it: jvi.asm.org/content/81/11/…
2/8
Sep 4, 2020 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
One modeler’s thoughts on the UIUC thing. Because while there are some valid criticisms to be had here, I think there’s also some unfair aspects running around #epitwitter .
So here we go - a long thread.
First, yes, it's fun to drag physicists for modeling epi problems. And there is a tendency for some fields to show up and assume your problem is an easy subset of their problems. And to want to mock them
I'll admit to having done so in the past too. @NoahHaber will confirm ;)
Apr 28, 2020 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
There's been some complaining about preprints on #epitwitter recently. There's a lot of junk out there, but there's also value. medRxiv: A Defense.
I've used preprints a lot. Pretty much all my lab's work is was on arXiv or bioRxiv/medRxiv. Was before COVID, will be after COVID.
