Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · 25d

Interested in obtaining an MS or PhD degree in biostatistics? Vanderbilt is hosting a virtual info session with director of recruitment Simon Vandekar (@vandyatvandy.bsky.social) on Thursday 10/9, 6pm Central. vanderbilt.zoom.us/meeting/regi... (Pictured: MS students Seth Young and Zongyue Teng)

A young man and woman in discussion in front of a laptop screen

1 1

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · 16d

If you're a boardgame nerd, check out my brother's game on Kickstarter! It's awesome!

Order in Chaos: The Strategic Game of Kingdom Razing on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/jer...

Order in Chaos: The Strategic Game of Kingdom Razing

Build your kingdom. Destroy your enemies. A competitive 2-4 player game of castle-building and conflict.

www.kickstarter.com

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Sep 9

Probably, Tylenol is not a primary cause of autism.

www.coalitionofautismscientists.org

Coalition of Autism Scientists | "autism scientists"

The Coalition of Autism Scientists formed in 2025 and is comprised of the leading autism researchers across the United States. The website includes statements made by researchers and science-based edu...

www.coalitionofautismscientists.org

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Jul 2

"Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department’s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week."

It's hard to think of a dumber name for a foreign assistance program.

apnews.com/article/obam...

Bush, Obama — and singer Bono — fault Trump's gutting of USAID on agency's last day

Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the U.S.

apnews.com

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Heather Burrell Ward, MD @heatherwardmd.bsky.social · Jun 9

1. Our new @JAMAPsych publication shows that provoking symptoms before administering TMS for OCD and nicotine dependence may enhance clinical response. Read more here & tweetorial below: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

1 3 4

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · Jun 7

Co-authors include intern Ishaan Gadiyar, @kaidikang.bsky.social (PhD biostat 2025 @vanderbilt.edu) @vandyatvandy.bsky.social & @heatherwardmd.bsky.social VUMC News feature: news.vumc.org/2025/06/06/n... #MentalHealth

New study highlights potential boost to brain stimulation therapy through targeted symptom provocation

A study explores deliberately triggering symptoms immediately before administering rTMS enhances treatment outcomes.

news.vumc.org

2 2

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Katie Whittemore✊🏻💙 @katiewhittemore22.bsky.social · Jun 15

11 MILLION PEOPLE!! 💥💥💥

Are we nearing the magic 3.5%??

Never forget….WE hold the power.

#nokings

June 14
No kings
Over 11 million people protested!

880 8.2K 35K

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Jun 15

So grateful to Metro Police for keeping folks safe at the North Kings protest!
www.wkrn.com/news/local-n...

Gun pulled during ‘No Kings’ protest in Nashville

Authorities have arrested and charged a man who allegedly brandished a handgun during the ‘No Kings’ protest in Nashville.

www.wkrn.com

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Sen. Cory Booker @booker.senate.gov · Mar 31

I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:

Live: Speaking on Trump, Musk, and America’s Moral Moment on the Senate Floor | Senator Cory Booker

YouTube video by Senator Cory Booker

youtube.com

11K 11K 51K

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Apr 1

🇺🇸 Still going strong 🇺🇸

www.npr.org/2025/04/01/n...

Cory Booker's anti-Trump speech on the Senate floor has lasted 19 hours and counting

The New Jersey Democrat has been criticizing the Trump administration's policies on immigration, education, the economy and more since 7 p.m. Monday. Here's what to know about his marathon speech.

www.npr.org

1

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · Apr 1

Cory Booker has held the Senate floor for 17 hours and 21 minutes.

The record of 24 hours and 18 minutes is held by segregationist Strom Thurmond, who spent that time protesting the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

I am pretty sure Booker would not mind changing that history.

430 3.5K 22K

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Apr 1

Cory Booker is a true patriot

Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · Apr 1

Oh my God, I just had a full night’s sleep and Cory Booker is still going…
www.youtube.com/live/rCUK2Vb...

LIVE: Cory Booker speaks on the Senate floor

YouTube video by Associated Press

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Mar 31

Some 1,900 leading researchers accused the Trump administration in an open letter on Monday of conducting a “wholesale assault on U.S. science” that could set back research by decades and that threatens the health and safety of Americans.

Trump Administration Has Begun a War on Science, Researchers Say

Nearly 2,000 scientists urged that Congress restore funding to federal agencies decimated by recent cuts.

www.nytimes.com

56 480 1.4K

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Megan Jones @mntj21.bsky.social · Apr 1

Check out the RESI package for effect sizes! Details and examples in our new JSS paper 👇

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Apr 1

Easily add effect sizes and confidence intervals with the RESI R package. Now official with a publication in JSS.
doi.org/10.18637/jss...

Check out the website (statimagcoll.github.io/RESI/) to report bugs or request model types.

@mntj21.bsky.social - first author, with @kaidikang.bsky.social

RESI: An R Package for Robust Effect Sizes by Megan Jones, Kaidi Kang, Simon Vandekar

<p>Effect size indices are useful parameters that quantify the strength of association and are unaffected by sample size. There are many available effect size parameters and estimators, but it is diff...

doi.org

2 1

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Apr 1

Easily add effect sizes and confidence intervals with the RESI R package. Now official with a publication in JSS.
doi.org/10.18637/jss...

Check out the website (statimagcoll.github.io/RESI/) to report bugs or request model types.

@mntj21.bsky.social - first author, with @kaidikang.bsky.social

RESI: An R Package for Robust Effect Sizes by Megan Jones, Kaidi Kang, Simon Vandekar

<p>Effect size indices are useful parameters that quantify the strength of association and are unaffected by sample size. There are many available effect size parameters and estimators, but it is diff...

doi.org

1 3

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Feb 24

@kaidikang.bsky.social defense is fast approaching 😃

Peg Duthie @plduthie.bsky.social · Feb 24

PhD candidate @vanderbilt.edu Kaidi Kang @kaidikang.bsky.social (MS biostatistics @columbiauniversity.bsky.social) defends his dissertation on Monday 3/10 at 1 pm. Advisor: @vandyatvandy.bsky.social. The event is hybrid and all are invited. www.vanderbilt.edu/biostatistic... #NeuroSky #MedSky #BWAS

Kaidi Kang dissertation defense – March 10

PhD candidate Kaidi Kang will present his dissertation on Monday, March 10, at 1 p.m. Central Time. His advisor is Simon Vandekar. All are invited and encouraged to attend. The defense will be conduct...

www.vanderbilt.edu

3

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · Feb 22

Usefully sober fact sheet on Ukraine. Please share with those who need it.
understandingwar.org/backgrounder...

Institute for the Study of War

Russian forces currently occupy around 20 percent of Ukraine, leaving the remaining 80 percent of the country under Ukraine's sovereign control. At the current rate of advance, it would take Russian f...

understandingwar.org

73 1.7K 3.6K

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Nature @nature.com · Feb 23

Almost all grant-review meetings remain suspended at the US National Institutes of Health, preventing the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research from spending much of its US$47 billion annual budget.

https://go.nature.com/418B5Pm

Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order

Nature - The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep a funding freeze in place, leaving researchers in limbo.

go.nature.com

3 78 130

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Feb 19

The incompetence of the trump administration is moving too fast for our legal system to keep up...
Many exceptional and essential people fired due to being in probationary period at NIH.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

1

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Feb 17

Many institutions are being overly proactive in shuttering DEI programs beyond the requirements of Exec Orders related to DEI.

These actions are costly and detrimental to progress in reducing health disparities that are known to exist by statistical evidence.

vanderbilthustler.com/2025/02/17/l...

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Stephanie Noble @sneuroble.bsky.social · Feb 8

The SfN site automates the process of writing your reps—you can also edit the message to add specific concerns about the indirects cap using the template below:

fromthescienceclass.substack.com/p/biomedical...

(H/t bsky.app/profile/scie... )

17 23

Reposted by Simon Vandekar

Nature @nature.com · Feb 8

Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 Kids’ real-world arithmetic skills don’t transfer to the classroom

https://go.nature.com/3CEuiEV

Kids’ real-world arithmetic skills don’t transfer to the classroom

Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 5 February 2025

go.nature.com

1 11 25

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Jan 26

Now's the time to invest in coffee with these ridiculous tariffs going up. I recommend this delicious Columbian grown and natural anaerobic processed bean by Bryan Alvear from Black and White

tinyurl.com/yc86nneu

Brayan Alvear Juicy Cherry | Colombia | Black & White Coffee Roasters

Reminiscent of some of our favorite Coca-Cola products, like Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke, the flavors in this coffee are intense - but also here for a good time. Spiced like sweet cinnamon and fruity...

tinyurl.com

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Jan 22

See the supp for more details on how to do model between- and within-subject effects. There's cool recent papers on this (Di Biase et al PNAS 2023, shorturl.at/00iEv; snoop Tom's slides at tinyurl.com/2ecnx6pe)! It will be exciting to see what we learn about these different effects.

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

shorturl.at

Simon Vandekar @vandyatvandy.bsky.social · Jan 22

Don't throw out your data though! If you model separate between- and within-subject effects, you'd see that they're different! Brain-behavior associations across individuals are different than changes within individuals. You can model those separately in your own data without any fancy stats!

1 1 1