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Ursula Hofer

@hoferu.bsky.social

990 followers 420 following 480 posts

Desk-chair virologist, EiC of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, previously at different Nature journals, MD PhD. She/her/expert. Opinions my own.

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Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · Feb 28

This month's editorial:

Should science be political?

In my mind, there's only one response to this question...

And the more pressing question is, how can politics be more scientific?

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Should science be political?

At this point in time, with US President Trump's administration attacking institutions such as the US CDC, NIH, USAID, WHO, and their people and functions, whether science should be political seems li...

www.thelancet.com

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 48m

Yep, nothing is ever free. Second above and even if the money comes from HIC institutions or organisations, you're in a risky position. Looking at you, MMWR and EID.

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

The Lancet Infectious Diseases @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social · 2d

📅 @phoebedownes.bsky.social will be attending ID Week, #IDWeek (19-22 October) in Atlanta, GA on behalf of The Lancet Infectious Diseases!

📧Feel free to reach out with enquiries. Explore our scope, reach & impact, commitment to publishing excellence, & more: hubs.li/Q03BL6Th0

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 1d

Honestly, I do not know. Adrenaline? But then, I cannot remember all that much of early parenthood, seems like a (fever) dream 😉

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 1d

I'm impressed how people combine scientific careers and parenthood and I love seeing babies at conferences. However, what I would love even more if everyone had access to appropriate parental leave.

This is me accepting my first EiC job, couple hours old newborn in tow, starting 6mo mat leave.

Me, many years ago (oh, the innocence of youth 😉), in bed with a pram and newborn next to me, replying to the email offering me my first EiC job, big grin on my face.

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

🎃nisillos @onisillos.bsky.social · 2d

"Too often #AMR is framed as an immense although conceptually simple challenge: delay resistance to current drugs and produce new drugs. But we need to go beyond this, we need to pull every lever at our disposal to minimise infection even before we turn to drugs."

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

AMR is more complicated than a lack of drugs

Later this month (Nov 18–24) is World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW), the annual reminder of this long smouldering crisis in modern health care. This is the first year with the new name as it was formerly ...

www.thelancet.com

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 4d

It's October, I identify more as a witch this month 🧙‍♀️

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 4d

Don't mess with the feline editorial assistant.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 8d

Yes, exactly. And I also worry about the misrepresentation of honest scientific discussion for anti-science disinformation.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 8d

Finally, the main downside of open peer review that I see is the weaponization of critical comments for mis- and disinformation. Think about vaccine papers, COVID origins etc.

I wouldn't mind the editorial accountability of it, but again, privilege.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 8d

I understand that I'm saying this from a privileged position and the incentives for many people are different.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 8d

I wouldn't necessarily agree with the statement that peer review is broken. Open for improvement, yes. As I become older (and grumpier), my answer to almost everything is do less with more. More resources to the things that really matter. Does every paper need peer review? To be published?

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 8d

Interesting discussion about peer review; I particularly enjoyed the history.

CMI Communications @cmicomms.bsky.social · 9d

🎙️ Just published: Communicable E37: 'Peer review is broken'

Hosted by @angelahuttner.bsky.social & @anniejoseph.bsky.social

w/ invited guests: Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social & Serge Horbach

Listen on Communicable:

#IDSky #Clinmicro #MedSky #peerreview #AI

Communicable E37: 'Peer review is broken'

Contrary to popular belief, peer review has only recently become an...

share.transistor.fm

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

Shahan Ali Memon @shahanmemon.bsky.social · 10d

The future of peer review is here.

Introducing Nature Instant!

We've automated rejection so you can get disappointed faster. Because why wait 6 months for reviewer 2 when you can get roasted by an #AI in seconds?

Here is how it works.

#AI4Science #PeerReview #FictionScience #FiSci #AAAI #ScAISci

Showing a fictitious system for submitting manuscripts called "Nature Instant" showing bot choices for authors to choose from as initial AI-based peer reviewers. The bots are trained on real human reviewer data.

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 13d

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Gift link: nyti.ms/48FOuUn

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

The Lancet Infectious Diseases @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social · 19d

Read our October issue!

Featuring a trial testing moxidectin for lymphatic filariasis, bedaquiline resistance and tuberculosis outcomes, and a recombinant influenza vaccine for children.

www.thelancet.com/issue/S1473-...

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 21d

If it's 'hate', women for sure. Part of the antivaxx policies is keeping women pregnant, at home doing care work, dependant on men. Besides hate, grift and selling snake oil is a huge motivator for the antivaxx movement.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 22d

I guess it's 'hate immigrants' day AGAIN. Blame immigrants for inequality, instead of economic profiteers. And of course this rhetoric comes exactly from the people who profiteer the most...

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 26d

Kimika Hara, contemporary Japanese embroidery artist #WomensArt
#September

Embroidery of sixteen different coloured and shaped toadstools on a reddisn background

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 26d

We'd been thinking about this topic since a session at ECCMID a couple years ago, where there was a lot of talk about risks for publishing, research quality.

So, here we wanted to focus on where real progress is happening and how we can harness this for the clinic and human health.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 26d

Our new series on AI in ID is finally online!

Long time in the making - big thanks to all the authors, in particular, the lead of the series, Prof Anna Odone.

The Lancet @thelancet.com · 27d

The role of AI in infectious diseases is emerging—offering new opportunities for infection prevention, outbreak detection & control.

But challenges like data fragmentation & trust remain.

Explore a new @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social Series ⤵️
bit.ly/4nbkHrh

Infographic panel for the Lancet Infectious Diseases Series, Artificial intelligence and infectious diseases.

Infographic panel for the Lancet Infectious Diseases Series, Artificial intelligence and infectious diseases.

Infographic panel for the Lancet Infectious Diseases Series, Artificial intelligence and infectious diseases.

Infographic panel for the Lancet Infectious Diseases Series, Artificial intelligence and infectious diseases.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 28d

I feel like there's more questions than answers for this topics, alas. Lots of work still to do.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social · Sep 9

New Review:

Autoantibodies in long COVID: a systematic review

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Autoantibodies in long COVID: a systematic review

Post-COVID-19 condition (also known as long COVID) affects a substantial proportion of individuals who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, profoundly affecting their daily lives and work. Diagnosis an...

www.thelancet.com

Reposted by Ursula Hofer

The Lancet Infectious Diseases @thelancetinfdis.bsky.social · Sep 12

New Editorial:

More data needed on the FDA's decision to suspend Ixchiq

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

More data needed on the FDA's decision to suspend Ixchiq

Record-breaking numbers of chikungunya virus infections—a mosquito-borne disease characterised by joint pain and fever—have been reported this year, affecting Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. ...

www.thelancet.com

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 28d

Please don't send me emails written by AI; please don't expect me to send you emails with the effusiveness and artificial sincerity of AI. Thx.

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 28d

Congratulations! 🎉🧬🎉

Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · Sep 11

Same, usually with added travel chaos. Interestingly, I don't really get nervous for panels or presentations anymore (yay, being older), still have the conference nightmare.