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Kara Gavin

@karagavin.bsky.social

2.1K followers 2K following 830 posts

Science/medical writer & media relations for University of Michigan (Michigan Medicine/Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation) focusing on #primarycare, #mentalhealth, aging & #healthpolicy Mom, wife, baker, French horn player, AAAS Fellow, J! bronze

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · Jan 8

It’s great to see a growing community of #medsky folks from the Univ. of Michigan on this platform! Here’s a starter pack I’ve begun to compile - please share and ask to be added if you’re in any role at the Med School or the clinical world! go.bsky.app/NKhdFPM

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 4h

Female workers in US steel mills, WW2 (c.1942) were a subject for photographer Margaret Bourke-White. They were known as 'Rosies' based on the 'Rosie the Riveter' icon, which represented women who worked in factories and shipyards when men were absent in war #WomrnsArt

Monochrome photograph featuring two white woman workers,upper half, while welding, both wearing goggles and with scarfs covering their hair

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 5h

October 12, 2025

On October 9, President Donald J.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

OPB @opb.org · 9h

Researchers discovered that since 2017, firearms have surpassed motor vehicle collisions as the leading cause of mortality for youth ages 11-18, spiking from 1,945 deaths in 2001 to 3,224 in 2022.

Gun deaths among high schoolers on the rise, WSU study finds

The researchers found that, nationwide, high schoolers ages 14 to 18 are at an exceptionally elevated risk for gun-inflicted injury and death compared to children in other age groups in both rural and urban settings.

www.opb.org

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 1d

In case anyone is looking for an evidence-based excuse to be lazy with fall yard work…

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/r...

Why Leaving the Leaves Is Better for Your Yard

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Kara Gavin

Carolyn Barber, MD @cbarbermd.bsky.social · 2d

FRIDAY NIGHT MASSACRE: Late Friday, the Trump admin laid off dozens of CDC staff — from outbreak “disease detectives” to chronic disease scientists — even shuttering the team behind the famed MMWR. Public health just took a major hit. #BlueSky #MedSky #EMSky #NurseSky #PedsSky #SciSky #IDSky

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Public News Service @publicnewsservice.bsky.social · 3d

A new KFF poll finds broad public support for extending ACA tax credits, which are set to expire soon.

Without them, premiums could more than double, leaving many without coverage.
#HealthPolicy #ACA #InsuranceAccess

Full story:

Poll: Most Americans, Kentuckians support extending ACA tax credits

Public News Service (PNS) is a member-supported news service that advocates journalism in the public interest. PNS's network of state-based news services distribute high quality public interest news…

app.publicnewsservice.org

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Frog and Toad Bot @frogandtoadbot.bsky.social · 4d

Frog and Toad looked into a mirror.

“We look brave,” said Frog.

“Yes, but are we?” asked Toad.

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 4d

A study of nearly 300,000 people published today in the New England Journal of Medicine found “that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29 percent, their risk of hospitalizations by 39 percent and their risk of death by 64 percent.”

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 4d

Milan
Saline
Grosse Ile
And perhaps even Ypsilanti?

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 4d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 4d

Also Gratiot…

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Emily Briceno, PhD @emilybriceno.bsky.social · 4d

Our lab is recruiting a postdoctoral research fellow! Are you interested in cross-national cognitive aging research? Please check out our posting and reach out with any questions! careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

RESEARCH FELLOW | U-M Careers

careers.umich.edu

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 4d

For those who want an in-depth training experience, we will be opening up the application process for our IHPI Impact Accelerator soon! IHPI members are able to apply, and if you’re not a member yet but are U-M faculty (any campus) and study health care, join now! ihpi.umich.edu/members/poli...

Impact Accelerator Program

ihpi.umich.edu

Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 4d

For those with a U-M login, my colleagues and I have put together a toolkit with lots of tips, templates and more. It’s on the IHPI site but is open to all at U-M: ihpi.umich.edu/member-resou...

ihpi.umich.edu

Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 4d

Got a chance to hear @umich.edu President Grasso speak to communicators from across U-M this morning. Heartened to hear he will be asking all faculty to see themselves as public intellectuals and find ways to share how their work & expertise impacts the general public. My colleagues & I can help!

U-M President Grasso at Communicators Forum

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 9d

Some day, there won't be anyone left who remembers life before the polio vaccine. But while there still are, listen to them: www.thebulwark.com/p/polio-vacc...

The Polio Vaccine Was a Miracle—and We Must Not Forget It

As a polio survivor, I am a dinosaur today. My great hope is that our country’s living memory of the disease ends with my generation.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 5d

For First time in History, Renewables Overtook Coal in Global Electricity Production in H1

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Ember energy analysis firm has released its global electricity report for the first half of 2025, and it contains two big surprises. The first is that sustainable sources of energy have now overtaken coal for the first time since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The second is that […]

dlvr.it

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks, @mlive.com, for doing a story about the new exhibit on @umich.edu medical history that my colleagues and I put together! www.mlive.com/news/ann-arb...
#histmed

Artifacts tell 175-year story of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor

In a new exhibit, there are old unsterilized knives, wooden canes engraved with graduates’ names, a 1950s-era insulin travel kit and a nurse training manikin named “Mrs. Chase.”

www.mlive.com

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Univ. of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation @um-ihpi.bsky.social · 5d

Cutting truly wasteful healthcare spending?

Check.

Documenting how we did it in the @umich.edu medical center, and then in three other hospitals?

Check.

Expanding it to more than a dozen other hospitals?

Now in progress.

Sharing findings for others to use?
Here: ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/...

Tailoring & teamwork help hospitals reduce wasteful pre-surgery testing

Success in pilot study laid the groundwork for current statewide effort

ihpi.umich.edu

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 5d

The correct pluralization of Surgeon General is Surgeons General.

Which you don't get to use very often.

Except when reading a powerful op-ed written by (checks notes) SIX of them:

wapo.st/3VTALll

(including @umich.edu residency alum Dr. Antonia Novello...)

Opinion | Six surgeons general: It’s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.

We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

wapo.st

Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 6d

Somehow I think tonight’s #tcmparty programming is not an accident…

Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 6d

It was so fun to give a Nerd Night talk this past June, and now it looks like I might get to do another one! Researchers, clinicians, and other Ann Arbor based nerds in my orbit, consider proposing a talk!

pulp.aadl.org @pulp.aadl.org · 6d

A Hundred Nerds:
Ann Arbor’s edition of Nerd Nite hit the century mark this summer. We spoke to event hosts and @aadl.org staffers Emily Murphy and Jacob Gorski about the informal talk series and its evolution ahead of an October 9 event at LIVE in Ann Arbor. pulp.aadl.org/node/647854

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Reposted by Kara Gavin

Edward Nirenberg @enirenberg.bsky.social · 6d

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was just announced:
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medic...

This seems like a good opportunity for me to explain a bit about peripheral immune tolerance and where the prizewinners' work comes in 🧵

6 October 2025

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to:

Mary E. Brunkow
Institute for Systems Biology,
Seattle, USA

Fred Ramsdell
Sonoma Biotherapeutics,
San Francisco, USA

Shimon Sakaguchi
Osaka University,
Osaka, Japan

“for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance”

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Kara Gavin @karagavin.bsky.social · 6d

Too bad @nobelprize.bsky.social hasn’t got its Bluesky account up and running in time for today’s first prize announcement. (Can you have a chat with them @altmetric.com ?)

The livestream is at x.com/i/broadcasts...

The Nobel Prize

WATCH LIVE: Join us for the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine announcement.

x.com

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