Saskia Popescu
Infectious disease epidemiologist & global heath security strategist | GHSN CEO |UMB Asst Prof working in pandemic prep, biosurveillance, One Health, AMR, BW & biosecurity. ELBI & CFR ☣️
Biopreparedness & biothreat guru - movie aficionado. Views=my own
- US lawmakers introduce bill to screen sales of potentially dangerous synthetic DNA
- Public health giant William Foege, who helped eradicate smallpox, has died at 89 www.statnews.com/2026/01/25/w... via @statnews.com
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- This is utterly disappointing and bs rhetoric - Africa CDC is an amazing health agency doing vital, collaborative work to ensure health access and equity. Something we should all strive towards.
- Reposted by Saskia PopescuNEW: The Trump admin unexpectedly canceled almost $2 billion in funding for substance use and mental health. Organizations today are forced to lay off staff and scale back lifesaving services, like opioid reversal medications for first responders. My latest: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
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- “The Pitt has an emphatic moral clarity that feels awkward only because we haven’t seen it for so long. It refuses to both-sides issues that it considers straightforward. Should you vaccinate your children against measles? Yes, The Pitt says”
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- Reposted by Saskia PopescuChildren will die with RFK Jr.'s new vaccine recommendations. We're NOT doing the "experts disagree" game. The US vaccine schedule was painstakingly constructed through a deep & thorough process by experts with unquestionable expertise. This is policy by fiat. It is pre-meditated murder. 1/
- “Science has always required creativity—people asking and pursuing questions in ways that have never been attempted before, in the hope that some of that work might produce something new.” Dr. @katherinejwu.com
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- Not surprising and still disappointing.
- Reposted by Saskia Popescuwhen someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
- Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/h...
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- The Epidemiologists Are Running for Office - Instead of trying to depoliticize their field, a swell of scientists want to become politicians. Via @katherinejwu.com
- FWIW, if you’re talking about AI hype bandwagons and your example is how the entertainment industry reacted to AI being used bc “people worried they wouldn’t get credit”, you legit don’t get the argument, core issues, strike, or agreements. Pick a better example or do your hw.
- Hi All- Just a heads up that we’re working on a tech issue related to the abstract submission page. Apologies and will be resolved shortly!
- Somewhat controversial take - I enjoyed TRON Ares. Mostly bc I went for the NIN soundtrack, awesome visual effects, & some decent action…and maybe points on AI ethics. It’s not Legacy, but it was fun to watch. You don’t go to a TRON movie (w/Leto) for the feels, but the fun experience.
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- Maldives becomes the first country to achieve ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B hq_who_departmentofcommunications.cmail19.com/t/d-e-gwgjl-...
- ‘The damage is beyond repair’: The CDC is facing another round of deep staff cuts
- Reposted by Saskia PopescuI don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
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- Hearing about the gutting of CDC and ASPR. This is truly the utter destruction of US public health…and just so utterly short-sighted. Honestly, screw this.
- Grateful to have gotten my flu shot earlier this year (prior to Australia’s flu season), and just got my covid booster in time for the US respiratory virus season to pick up. The perks of bouncing between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres 😂
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- Senate-passed BIOSECURE Act would add arrow to Trump’s drug-pricing quiver www.statnews.com/2025/10/10/s... via @statnews.com
- Very important article and worth the read - Opinion | 6 U.S. surgeons general: RFK Jr. threatens the health of Americans - The Washington Post
- The NIH ordered me to stop my ‘dangerous’ gain-of-function research. It isn’t dangerous at all www.statnews.com/2025/10/06/g... via @statnews.com
- Made to order bioweapon? AI-designed toxins slip through safety checks used by companies selling genes | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
- Two former top NIH officials say they were forced out in retaliation for objecting to grant terminations www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/n... via @statnews.com
- Ffs - US measles cases top 1,500 as outbreaks grow in Utah and Arizona
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- This whole thread:
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- State Department outlines plans to move from global health aid to self-reliance
- How new technology could make it easier to identify covert bioweapons programs
- Hell yes.
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- Dr. @angierasmussen.bsky.social breaking down current policies and the anti-vaccine trends/rhetoric within the US that will lead to significant global health ramifications - #19vaccinecongress
- Learning from my favorite expert on infodemiology & public health @jessicamalaty.bsky.social at the #19VaccineCongress - discussing risk and creating healthier information ecosystems
- Honored to be in Kyoto at the #19thVaccineCongress as an Assistant Editor but more importantly, as a public health practitioner working to strengthen global health security, which relies on the availability and accessibility of vaccines.
- As we enter the “fuck around and find out” public health era, it’s important to remember, people will be harmed..people will die. All of this is preventable. Florida Says It Plans to End All Vaccine Mandates www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
- Snubbing Kennedy, States Announce Plans to Coordinate on Vaccines www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
- Not sure who needs to hear this, but you can’t have an effective “biothreat radar system” (pathogen early warning system aka biosurveillance) if you decimate the CDC (capacity for detection, data analysis/dissemination, and response). Sincerely, a biosurveillance nerd/epi
- We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health 👇🏻
- US public health, global health sec, & science is facing unprecedented threats & intentional erosion. During COVID-19, I think so many of us felt that this horrific global event would bring us together - a pandemic requiring community partnership & trust in science. (1/5)
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- RFK Jr.’s push for change carries political risks. Trump is all in.
- FEMA’s Chaotic Summer Has Gone From Bad to Worse
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- Reposted by Saskia PopescuI took this picture myself at the CDC protest today. These are among the hundreds of bullet holes in CDC headquarters windows, visible from the street. I heard today that the admin has no urgent plan to fix these windows. Imagine being a CDC employee going to work under these conditions
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- Reposted by Saskia PopescuBREAKING: Big moment as CDC staff stage a mass walkout. They have lined the street outside its HQ to greet and salute the four top officials who have resigned in protest at RFK Jr’s attack on the agency’s science base. (🎥 AP)
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- HHS secretary to testify at Senate hearing in wake of CDC shakeup
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- When critical public health/global health sec/biosec programs (& roles) are dismantled, it becomes painfully apparent that the point is to ensure failure of mission. Break it down until it can’t perform & then remove it entirely. From CDC to USAID, ODNI, & NSC, we’re losing our health resilience.
- Reposted by Saskia PopescuScoop - SUSAN MONAREZ, nation’s newly installed CDC director, is being ousted, people familiar tell @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social + me
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- Public Health Initiatives Deliver Big Returns on Investment - Data analysis shows that every dollar spent on such efforts saves about $14 in medical and societal costs
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- Trump Budget Office Is Withholding H.I.V. Funds That Congress Appropriated www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/h...
- Folks, we are entirely dismantling health, research, and now biothreat intelligence
