Lauren Hersch Nicholas
lhnicholas.bsky.social
Lauren Hersch Nicholas
@lhnicholas.bsky.social
health economist, climber, biker, looking for my #econtwitter, #econsky, #surgtweets, #healthpolicyvalentines communities
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."

There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
🚨Attention! AshEcon call for papers! 🚨
www.ashecon.org/2026-minneap...

Due date for abstracts: December 10, 2025

I'm the Program Chair for Health and Development, so would like to encourage global health scholars in particular

Some tips for prospective authors in thread below
2026 Call for Abstracts – ASHEcon
www.ashecon.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
CSWEP strongly condemns Larry Summers’ behavior as revealed in the email correspondence with the late Jeffrey Epstein. While abuse of power in the economics profession is not new, rarely has the intent behind such abuse been so clearly stated.
November 19, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
I know that the job market is rough this year for Econ PhDs. @utoronto.ca has expanded its postdoc funding. If you are on the market and work on school finance or early childhood education and are interested in a PostDoc, let me know! #econsky #educsky postdoc.sgs.utoronto.ca/current-post...
Postdoctoral Talent Initiative – School of Graduate Studies Postdoctoral Fellows
postdoc.sgs.utoronto.ca
November 13, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
PSA for people with NIH grant periods starting January 1st (including most NIGMS MIRAs): your RPPR is due Saturday, but they haven’t sent out the usual automated reminders, presumably due to the shutdown
November 11, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Yes to all of these! And don‘t crowd tables with meaningless extra digits just because they are software defaults!
Short 🧵 on boring but imp topic: how to format tables! First, + most imp point: table in an econ paper should be comprehensible w/o any cross-reference to text. Variables should be clearly defined (not "lnconsexp"; write "Consumption)"; + specification described in notes
November 4, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
My research team has published research showing that malnutrition and hunger in childhood are long-term risk factors for dementia decades later in life. Makes me think about the long-term health consequences of withholding SNAP benefits from families.
November 4, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
Some authors have contacted AEA editors about an unexpected loss of data access that affects their ability to respond to an R&R. If this affects you, please explain the circumstances in your cover letter. Or reach out to the coeditor if you need guidance before resubmitting. @aeajournals.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
A bellwether of the wreckage that will be caused by the catastrophic assault on science in the U.S.
Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs

- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
Just here to remind everyone that while the federal government is shutdown, all study sections at the NIH are currently on hold. Another blow to science and to early career scientists like myself with young labs and research groups. Very hard to remain positive about this career path.
October 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
It might be hard to convey to people outside economics just how seismic this is. The Trump effect has most certainly arrived to US academia.
I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7
October 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
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
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
The acting CDC director has now approved ACIP recs allowing anyone 6 months+ to receive an updated Covid-19 shot after discussing w/ their provider. If you are on the fence about getting an updated shot, read my in-depth take on the evidence we've accumulated on these vaccines. #publichealth
Do additional COVID vaccines really help?
We've accumulated a lot of scientific evidence in the last few years.
open.substack.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
The econ PhD market will be difficult this year. The exact same thing happened when I went on the market years ago: I sent out 150 applications...and got 1 interview! Then I wrote a paper about it! ideas.repec.org/p/feb/natura...

Both sides of the market responded. Is this happening now too?
October 7, 2025 at 3:31 PM
new results finds MA patients more likely to be stuck in hospital when they need SNF care, we found similar areas of concern with very sick patients being more likely to be sent home with no home care (along with less SNF) in MA vs TM jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
September 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
Hey Firefox users.
August 29, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Who wants to plan a field trip if we can’t get them at work?
NEWS: CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the country, is currently not offering Covid vaccines in 16 states and DC — even to people who meet the new FDA criteria — because the CDC hasn't signed off and isn't expected to do so (if it does so) for at least three weeks.
CVS Holds Off on Offering Covid Vaccines in 16 States
www.nytimes.com
August 29, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
They important thing about #TaylorSwift getting engaged is that millions of dollars in grants funding for research projects on how to cure cancer,reverse alzheimer's dz and discover vaccines for serious infections, are being canceled daily and we really should care about how devastating that is.
August 26, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
no phds at harris, jesus
August 23, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
Good. I agree with the American College of Ob-Gyns.

I was horrified when RFK Jr, Jay Bhattacharya, & Marty Makary announced, in a video on X, that they were advising against vaccination in pregnancy—a closed-door decision that flies in the face of science & evidence

www.cnn.com/2025/08/22/h...
Another major medical association breaks from CDC as ob/gyn group recommends Covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy | CNN
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on Friday reaffirmed support for Covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy, becoming the second major professional medical association to break from...
www.cnn.com
August 23, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Lauren Hersch Nicholas
Really simple instructions for how to turn off the auto AI on your web browser. I use Firefox and it does indeed work and only took a second! 🔥
How to Turn Off Google AI Overview and Set "Web" as Default
tenbluelinks.org
August 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Instead of making numbers into unwanted dates, now excel wants to make up AI “data” too 🙄
August 21, 2025 at 2:14 AM
great news for everyone who hates these texts, also protective for dementia patients (i.e. www.cnn.com/interactive/...)
August 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM