Aaron Richterman
Penn HIV/ID physician-scientist — Poverty/Food Insecurity and Health — Social Protection Policies
ldi.upenn.edu/fellows/fellows-dir…
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanFrom research to policy impact 📊➡️🏛️ In 2024, LDI Fellows Aditi Vasan, @draaron.bsky.social & George Dalembert briefed PA lawmakers & Gov. Shapiro's office on the health benefits of tax credits—helping shape the new Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit, recently signed into law. bit.ly/4qvTQb8
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman🚨New Paper🚨 US doctors are paid very different amounts for treating different patients—even when providing identical services. How much less are physicians paid for treating non-White patients? In @jamahealthforum.com, we offer the 1st national estimates. (1/7) jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
- Philadelphia is at risk of losing vital support for people living with HIV as funding cuts ripple through programs that address not just treatment but education, housing, and food security. Check out this piece from Billy Penn on what’s at stake ➝ billypenn.com/2025/11/18/h...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanNew research finds that cash transfers may help overcome poverty-related barriers & improve perinatal HIV outcomes in Haiti ft. @draaron.bsky.social, Sindy Desire, Florence Momplaisir (@pennidfellows.bsky.social) & @hthirumurthy.bsky.social (@pennmehp.bsky.social) link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- New in @thelancet.com: a follow-up to our @nature.com paper on cash transfers and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. This studies explores *why* cash transfers reduce death, tracing effects on determinants of survival. free access 🔗: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
- Poverty drives many preventable deaths. Over 100 LMICs now use government-led cash transfer programs. In our 2023 @nature.com study, we showed these programs *substantially reduced mortality among women and young children* www.nature.com/articles/s41... But how do they work? 👇
- Using data from >2M births & nearly 1M children across 37 countries (2000–2019), we linked national cash transfer programs to 17 health-related outcomes. We used a two-stage difference-in-differences design (Gardner) to estimate program effects, and adjusted for multiple comparisons.
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- Within a few years after giving birth, many women with HIV fall out of care. In our new paper from rural Haiti, we explore why this happens—and what might help prevent it link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Women in our study were deeply committed to their own health and their babies’ health, yet faced profound challenges from poverty, food insecurity, and stigma.
- Targeted poverty alleviation during pregnancy could address many of these barriers. Participants shared thoughtful perspectives on what such support might look like in practice, and raised importance concerns like the need the sure discreet, confidential delivery.
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- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanSNAP benefits may resume—but deep cuts are still coming. Court rulings may soon restart payments, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act slashes SNAP by $187 billion. LDI Fellows discussed how this will impact food insecurity, worsen health outcomes, and more. bit.ly/4hJLKbl
- This is a good write up on the unfortunate and likely health consequences of upcoming SNAP cuts. Not to mention the desperation being experienced by many people now experiencing a delay in Nov benefits. ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/res...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanThree major respiratory viruses COVID-19, RSV & flu still drive hospitalizations yearly. A new review of 511 studies shows current vaccines work. COVID-19 mRNA shots targeting XBB.1.5 cut hospitalizations by ~46–50%; newer KP.2-adapted vaccines reached 68% effectiveness. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanThank you, @cidrap.bsky.social, for covering our new @nejm.org review of Covid-19, RSV, and influenza immunizations. Check it out: cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/meta-analysis-covid-rsv-flu-vaccines-fall-provides-sea-data-showing-efficacy-safety
- 👇🏻 our new paper on updated evidence for respiratory virus vaccines
- Even as the anti-vax lobby erodes public trust, new evidence confirms that "immunizations against Covid-19, RSV, and influenza have shown consistent effectiveness & safety and are associated with a substantially reduced risk of hospitalization & severe disease" www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
- “The evidence-based processes used by the ACIP were adopted to prevent exactly what happened at the first 2 meetings this year: presentation of anecdotes, selective quoting of single studies, and a lack of in-depth evaluation of some of the evidence presented.” jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman📢 Important update! Join the Vaccine Integrity Project live stream TOMORROW 8/19 at 2pm ET. We'll review flu, COVID & RSV vaccine data—focused on safety & efficacy during pregnancy, and for kids & the immunocompromised. Watch here:
- Tomorrow at 2pm the Vaccine Integrity Project through @CIDRAP will host a live webinar, From Data to Decisions: The Evidence Base for 2025 Fall/Winter Immunizations. The panel will break down evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness followed by a Q&A. youtube.com/watch?v=lSuvGl…
- I am part of the data team that has been looking at the recently published body of publicly available data concerning vaccine safety and efficacy for flu, COVID, and RSV immunizations.
- During the live stream, the scientific research team will focus on the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 and RSV immunizations in pregnant, pediatric, and immunocompromised populations. Please tune in!
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanOf every 1,000 children born in Kenya, 32 don’t make it to their first birthdays. A new stumbled onto a straightforward solution: Giving $1,000 to poor families lowered infant mortality rates by nearly half, and deaths in children under 5 by 45 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/h...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanTo save the lives of infants and small kids in lower resource countries, there are a handful of tools: anti-malarial drugs, bed nets and vaccines. A massive experiment in rural Kenya suggests another. n.pr/4fKcjw3
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanIMPORTANT UPDATE IMPORTANT UPDATE Regarding APHU/ACLU et al. vs. NIH Lawsuit
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanI wrote a letter to my mom about Gaza. It's personal, but I wanted to share, in case it can be useful to anyone else who’s decided it’s time to have this discussion with their parents, or any parents who’ve decided it’s time to understand their children. aaronregunberg.substack.com/p/a-message-...
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman1. The pediatric death toll from #flu for 2024-25 continues to climb, with #CDC informed of 5 more deaths last week. That brings the season's total so far to 266, which is only 22 fewer than during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic! Of kids eligible for vax & for whom vax status is known, 90% weren't vaxed.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanTo me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it—now.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanA new study estimates that USAID saved 92 million lives from 2001 to 2021, and that its demolition could kill 14 million people in only five years through 2030. That would make the end of USAID by far the most impactful action Trump has taken this year. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
- 11 minutes: watch and share www.cbsnews.com/news/when-is...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanHepatitis B can be passed from parent to baby at birth - and when that happens, the consequences can be deadly. It is unscientific and dangerous to intentionally ignore the success of U.S. vaccination programs or argue that the U.S. should not vaccinate babies for hepatitis B at birth.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanNew from me and the great @hana-kiros.bsky.social reporting on the devastation caused by the USAID cuts Musk championed, Musk’s troubling obsession with “western civilization” and which lives he believes are worth saving (it’s not kids in South Sudan)
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanWe know that undernourished persons with TB are at higher risk of mortality, but why? My incredible mentee Dr. Alexa Tabackman tries to understand why in this new paper: tinyurl.com/2jc76v8c A thread 🧵 @buceid.bsky.social @bostonmedical.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social @meganmurray.bsky.social
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanNEW: The Trump administration said their research did not "enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness." Thousands of scientists disagreed. We heard from +150 researchers impacted by the NIH grant terminations on what is being lost in the cuts. 🧵👇 projects.propublica.org/nih-cuts-res...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanAnyone that has been around a lab knows that the trainees really drive the research, while most professors just sort of guide the ship. Most innovation comes from our trainees. Old professors like me will be able to survive these cuts, but our young scientists and our future will be destroyed.
- Just published: our commentary on a new study adding to the growing evidence showing how anti-poverty programs improve population health. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
- Here’s the study—one of several from this group using uniquely rich administrative data from Brazil. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanThe Future of Health and Health Care Conference May 1 | Jordan Medical Education Center Atrium Features 5 Research Associates @scotthalpernmd.bsky.social, Kevin Volpp, Atheendar Venkataramani, @draaron.bsky.social, @hthirumurthy.bsky.social REGISTER: d197nivf0nbma8.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025...
- When Dorcas would get home from school, she'd often play house, pretending to prepare nshima. "I'm thinking she'll be very family-oriented when she grows up.” When NPR met with the family, it had been eight days since Dorcas and her mom took the last of their HIV meds. www.npr.org/sections/goa...
- “The doors of the [US-funded] clinic, which services over 2,000 HIV patients, have been locked since the end of January, the staff let go and the furniture largely removed. This clinic didn't just provide medication, it also provided basic food since HIV meds cannot be taken on an empty stomach.”
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanSpecifically, I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about ultra-processed food addiction.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanLast month, the CDC Division of Viral Hepatitis found the source of a Hepatitis C outbreak in Florida that state officials had been unable to solve since December. Now the entire Division has been fired, leaving investigations of outbreaks in OR, PA, MA, NM, WI, WV and GA, unsolved in addition to FL
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanAh yes. Let's stop research on perhaps the most brutal disease in existence, the one without any really good treatments.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanSimple answer - kids who receive the MMR vaccine do not die from measles The MMR vaccine is safe and effective and does not cause autism
- I have sent patients to the NIH for *life saving* treatments. I don’t use that term lightly. The public value of this institution is beyond doubt. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanFor what it’s worth, Jeanne Marrazzo is a national treasure. RFK Jr is a national embarrassment.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanNEW FINDINGS: Simple visual aids, such as bead-filled bottles, may change attitudes and improve intent to take medication among people with HIV. Read our research brief here: ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/res...
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman“For decades, members of our profession have cared for people marginalized by society – immigrants, gay and bisexual men, transgender and gender diverse individuals, women, and people of every race or spoken language.”
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanA friend drove two hours today for her breast cancer chemotherapy only to learn it was canceled due to NIH cuts. Clinical trial ended midstream. No treatment, no restart, no plan, no information. Her bro-in-law's chemo was also canceled.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanSee list of grants recently terminated. What great crime did these people commit to get their grants canceled? Was their work hurting or helping make America healthier, kinder, smarter? Where are we if science funding is not by peer review but by political affiliation? taggs.hhs.gov/Content/Data...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanMultiple sources tell me AHRQ is about to be destroyed. A terrible loss for our country.
- Missed this story last night portending something bad for AHRQ AHRQ fills a hugely important void in the medical and health care research space: it funds work that doesn't map cleanly to a disease, body part, or special population (e.g., older Americans) www.politico.com/news/2025/03...
- This is an incredible story. As a parent it brought tears to my eyes. As an infectious diseases dr it reminded me why this field is so gratifying. wapo.st/3DDwQUn
- It also brought to mind my own positive experiences consulting with ‘bureaucrats’ at FDA or CDC aka dedicated and talented public servants, in cases like severe mpox during pregnancy or drug resistant TB
- Destroying careers of America’s best scientists, and for what? www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanMeet Gracie Himes, age 20. Her goal: Fight cancer by developing new medicines. On March 3, her dreams were shattered when Trump admin cuts hit West Virginia University, which rescinded her PhD program offer. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanNothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world. Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanRFK Jr with more scientifically illiterate ramblings: The vaccine confers life long immunity to 95-98% of people who get 2 doses. Breast milk does NOT provide reliable protection to infants, regardless of mother’s immunity (infection vs vaccine).
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- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanWHERE WILL YOU BE ON MARCH 7TH!? Head to www.standupforscience2025.org/local-event-information/ or the link in our bio to find your closest event—or add one if you're hosting one! #standupforscience2025
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanYep, measles is preventable
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanSCOOP: The world is likely to see millions more malaria infections and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio each year, according to a whistle-blower from USAID. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/h...
- an absolute moral stain on the US An email announcing that the work was “being terminated for convenience and the interests of the U.S. Government,” all but ensuring that, among other things, scores of women will give birth to children who then die of AIDS www.salon.com/2025/02/28/a...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanThe leadership and staff at the NIH institute who processed 100 grants in an afternoon are heroes. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanThe #HPV vaccine has decreased high grade cervical dysplasia in the USA by 80 % in the youngest age group. Reported in today's MMWR. #MedSky + #ObGynSky. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...
- this is just so sad and stupid www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/h...
- If it's true that future collection of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data "will cease," this would be a staggering loss to the global community. 1/6 www.science.org/content/arti...
- More details in this pre print papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanThe first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanI wrote about structural violence, cholera, & health as peace for Harvard's ReVista. I didn't know how dramatically things would shift in the few weeks between writing &publishing. Posting today in honor of Paul Farmer-who taught me so much. M sonje w Polo revista.drclas.harvard.edu/health-as-pe...
- "if this block to publishing in the register continues on much longer, it’s going to swallow two funding cycles, and that will put many labs out of business” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s...
- Since 1974, measles vaccination has saved nearly 100 million lives (mostly very young children) —more than the total deaths in World War II. A reminder of what vaccines make possible.
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanVaccines are one of the three best things human beings have ever done to extend our own lifespans (along with sanitation and cheap food production at scale). This graphic is amazing (and bc of differences in methodology, this doesn't even include the COVID vaccine, which saved another ~20 million).
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanSurvey of PEPFAR contractors Jan 24-28 suggested 36% of organizations had already shut down by that point. As of February 9, most services remained paused. Of 65 PEPFAR partners surveyed, less than 10% had restarted providing any services. www.amfar.org/wp-content/u...
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman✨#IDFacultyFridays Spotlight: Dr. Jillian Baron, MD, MPH (ID Attending, Medical Director of PPMC Clinic, & @PennIDFellows grad)✨ Favorite thing about Penn ID: “The supportive community of the ID division.” Dr. Baron is a big EAGLES fan so we had to celebrate her on the day of the Eagles parade! 🦅
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Aaron Richterman1/ “In 1995, the death rate from AIDS stood at a staggering 16.2 per 100 000. Today, that number has plummeted to 1.3 per 100 000. Over the last 30 years, NIH-funded research has been pivotal in uncovering the fundamental biology of HIV…”
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanRead the recent 2025 AIDS Care paper by PARC Research Associates Aaron Richterman, Harsha Thirumurthy & colleagues "B-OK: A Visual and Tactile Tool for Improving HIV Mental Models in a United States Urban Center" doi.org/10.1080/0954... @draaron.bsky.social NIH Supported Research
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanJust received this photo from a friend of a warehouse in Kinshasa. These are tuberculosis medications--ALREADY PAID FOR--that aren't being distributed due to the Trump Administration's stop work order. TB treatment is being interrupted in SO many patients around the world. What does that mean? (1/2)
- Reposted by Aaron RichtermanYou cannot “pause” an airplane and fire the crew in mid-flight and pretend that no damage is done. But that is exactly what Musk and Trump are doing with total disregard to the harm. Our last chance depends on court rulings this week that could end the illegal purge and shutdown.
