Whitney Zahnd
@whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
1.6K followers 740 following 560 posts
Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy at UIowa| UIUC alumna | Posts about rural health, cancer disparities, access to care, faith, cats, and women’s basketball| Opinions are mine, not my employer’s | Website: https://www.acre-lab.org
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whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Her Halloween name is Noelle Zahnd-bie, obviously.🧟‍♀️
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Venn diagrams in space!🙌
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Small victories--I'm (temporarily) caught up on grading, and the undergraduate class on rural health that I'm developing was approved by our curriculum committee today.
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
What a time to be talking about Medicare in class tomorrow and Medicaid next Tuesday! 😬
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Love this. Look for the helpers--be the helpers.

Paraphrasing my mom--this too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.
jackiantonovich.bsky.social
As a historian, I can certify that we are in the bad times. But bad times eventually end.
In the meantime:
• Figure out a small way to help someone
• Figure out a small way to fight back
• Figure out a small place to find joy
• Figure out a small way to grow and thrive

And do it often.
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
A couple of @ruralhealth.bsky.social policy briefs were approved recently. These focus on the impact of tariffs on rural health infrastructure and the enhanced premium tax credits for marketplace insurance.
www.ruralhealth.us/NationalRura...
www.ruralhealth.us/NationalRura...
www.ruralhealth.us
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Not unhinged, but if you're in the sciences of any kind, make time for reading fiction and/or narrative non-fiction. I didn't get back into regularly reading these types of books again until this past summer, and I wish I'd done it A LOT sooner.
rachelfeder.bsky.social
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
NHANES also provided data for a first-generation college student's master's thesis.🙋‍♀️
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
NHANES gave the first clear evidence that too many Americans had too much lead in their blood leading to unleaded gasoline requirements, and its data are part of children's growth charts ubiquitous in pediatricians' offices.

Make Our Children Healthy Again??

www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/...
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
ajzionts.bsky.social
The Rural Health Transformation Program appears to be the biggest one-time spending aimed at rural health.

But it's dwarfed by regular Medicare+Medicaid spending in rural areas and is in the same bill that will cut MORE from rural health. Also, the new funding may not all go to rural areas.
Reposted by Whitney Zahnd
jackiantonovich.bsky.social
In 1972, a whistleblower leaked to the press the details of the highly unethical & racist Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments run by the United States Public Health Service. Because of that (and other unethical experiments) Congress passed the National Research Act of 1974, which includes the IRB process.
melodyschreiber.com
The entire HR department at the CDC is gone. Everyone at the IRB, which makes sure studies are conducted ethically and rigorously, and the ethics office, which oversee conflicts of interest for CDC leaders and advisory committee members, were also let go.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Instability and confusion’ as CDC slashes 1,300 jobs before reinstating half
Trump administration says 700 notices were sent in error, while top CDC officer says ‘they didn’t think through what they were doing’
www.theguardian.com
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Congrats to my doctoral student, Gawain Williams, on his first, first-authored paper! His work identified racial disparities in prostate cancer treatment receipt in Iowa. It's important to examine these disparities, even (or especially) in homogeneous states. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Client Challenge
link.springer.com
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Good thing she has connections to the person who did the cover art.
merriam-webster.com
Andrea Sachs just called saying she needs a copy of the unpublished manuscript for the New Merriam-Webster 12th Edition Collegiate Dictionary for Miranda Priestly's twins, even though it isn't being released until November 18???
the New Merriam-Webster 12th Edition Collegiate Dictionary
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
“It is unfortunate that we will not be able to benefit by treating qualifying patients at home, where they are most comfortable and recover faster,” Junis said. “Our digital hospital program has allowed us to free up beds for our sickest patients who need them most.”
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
This precisely outlines the reasons he should resign.
mcbridetd.bsky.social
“It’s imperative that we remove officials with conflicts of interest and catastrophically bad judgment, and political agendas,” HHS Secretary Kennedy said
mcbridetd.bsky.social
“The administration did not like that CDC data did not support their narrative, so they got rid of them. They didn’t like that CDC policy groups would not rubber stamp their unscientific ideas, so they got rid of them"
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
I like the mockumentary style camera work! 😹
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
CDC Office of Rural Health still standing (for now at least).
“Still Standing” message from the Director of the CDC Office of Rural Health.
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
Damn.
crampell.bsky.social
Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
As a lefty, I'm obligated to point out that the WNBA first-team is 80% left handed! 👏
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
As a lefty, I'm obligated to point out that the WNBA first-team is 80% left handed! 👏
wnba.com
WNBA @wnba.com · 5d
The all WNBA First-Team hooped all szn long and earned the honors for their grit and elite play on the floor 👏
whitneyzahnd.bsky.social
If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.
publichealthguy1.bsky.social
gold standard science baby!!
atrupar.com
RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."