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Advancing Science through Conversations: Bridging the Gap between Blogs and the Academy
A postdoc by day and a scientific activist by night, Nick Anthis isn't letting his research in protein structure and function get in the way of defending scientific and social progress.
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Category: vaccines
Have you gotten your H1N1 flu shot yet? If not, it's still not too late. Due in part to the successes of the public health campaign against H1N1 influenza, people have begun adopting a rather casual attitude toward it. This...
Posted on: January 12, 2010 9:50 PM, by Nick Anthis • 8 Comments •
Category: medicine
This isn't really anything new, but Emily Anthes has a nice summary in Slate today of what we currently know about the effectiveness of nutritional supplements--namely that they don't consistently show any clear benefits except in a few very specific...
Posted on: January 6, 2010 6:59 PM, by Nick Anthis • 15 Comments •
Category: marijuana
Yesterday, the influential AMA (American Medical Association) announced that it would cease its opposition to the concept of medical marijuana and instead advocate for a change in federal classification of the drug. From the LA Times: The American Medical Assn....
Posted on: November 11, 2009 12:37 PM, by Nick Anthis • 18 Comments •
Category: health policy
I recently had the pleasure of writing an op-ed piece about health care reform for my hometown newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and it ran in the paper today. You can check it out online here. I grew up reading...
Posted on: October 12, 2009 10:41 PM, by Nick Anthis • 4 Comments •
Category: universal health care
Socialized medicine isn't even on the table right now... unfortunately.
Posted on: August 6, 2009 4:22 PM, by Nick Anthis • 15 Comments •
Category: blogosphere
Although I've only written a bit about the recent outbreak of influenza A H1N1 (swine flu), I'd encourage you to take a look at this post by Kent Newsome that discusses where to find reliable information on this topic. This...
Posted on: May 2, 2009 11:26 AM, by Nick Anthis • 9 Comments •
Category: structural biology
All H1N1 swine flu isolates tested to date are resistant to adamantane-based drugs. This post explains the origin of this resistance in light of what we know about the structure and function of influenza proteins.
Posted on: May 1, 2009 6:49 AM, by Nick Anthis • 37 Comments •
Category: medicine
Yesterday, the Institute of Medicine released a report entitled "Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice". As far as I can tell, the full report is only available for a fairly substantial charge, but these are some of...
Posted on: April 29, 2009 9:54 AM, by Nick Anthis • 2 Comments •
Category: human rights
Further to the points I wrote about in my previous post on the CIA torture memos, Mike Dunford of The Questionable Authority has previously raised another important issue: the complicity of medical professionals in CIA torture: Reading these memos, it's...
Posted on: April 19, 2009 10:42 AM, by Nick Anthis • 2 Comments •
Category: vaccines
The Lay Scientist has a new guest post up from British physician "DeeTee" about measles, a horrible disease that until recently had been virtually eradicated from the developed world. Unfortunately, despite the fact that measles is totally preventable with proper...
Posted on: April 17, 2009 7:46 AM, by Nick Anthis • 0 Comments •
Category: philosophy of science
Human medicine is rife with unempirical interventions.
Posted on: April 5, 2009 8:47 AM, by Nick Anthis • 7 Comments •
Category: biology
The active ingredient in marijuana causes cancer cells to begin to degrade themselves from the inside, leading to programmed cell death.
Posted on: April 2, 2009 6:12 AM, by Nick Anthis • 85 Comments •
Category: Nobel Prize
was awarded for the discovery of HIV and the discovery that HPV causes cancer.
Posted on: October 6, 2008 9:10 AM, by Nick Anthis • 3 Comments •
Category: drug industry
Another doctor is caught not disclosing payments from drug companies, but when will the drug companies themselves be held responsible?
Posted on: October 5, 2008 7:10 AM, by Nick Anthis • 5 Comments •
Category: medicine
Legendary heart surgeon Michael DeBakey passed away Friday night at the age of 99. From the Houston Chronicle: Medical statesman, chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, and a surgeon at The Methodist Hospital since 1949, DeBakey trained thousands of...
Posted on: July 12, 2008 6:08 AM, by Nick Anthis • 2 Comments •
Category: chemistry
That might not be possible, but ingesting isotopically-enriched food would make your waste even more valuable.
Posted on: April 25, 2008 7:37 AM, by Nick Anthis • 1 Comments •
Category: HIV/AIDS
Scientists identify the alpha-4 beta-7 integrin as a co-receptor for HIV, offering a potential new drug target.
Posted on: February 11, 2008 8:23 PM, by Nick Anthis • 3 Comments •
Category: HIV/AIDS
Antiretroviral drugs taken prophylactically protecting against HIV, some doubt about the effects of circumcision, and a blast from the past with John McCain
Posted on: February 5, 2008 7:20 AM, by Nick Anthis • 16 Comments •
Category: stem cells
Awkward? Probably. But, menstrual blood stem cells show some early promise.
Posted on: November 29, 2007 7:45 AM, by Nick Anthis • 3 Comments •
Category: medicine
Guess what... we all get to play doctor!
Posted on: October 24, 2007 5:25 PM, by Nick Anthis • 10 Comments •
Category: scientific activism
Drug safety advocate Dr. Steven E. Nissen
Posted on: July 22, 2007 7:44 AM, by Nick Anthis • 0 Comments •
Category: death penalty
On Tuesday, California offered the courts a revised capital punishment policy, and I was dismayed to learn that a physician had helped formulate the policy.
Posted on: May 18, 2007 6:11 PM, by Nick Anthis • 5 Comments •
Category: public health
It's a virtual smorgasbord!
Posted on: May 11, 2007 5:18 PM, by Nick Anthis • 14 Comments •
Category: universal health care
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is a matter of British pride, despite some minor shortcomings. Strong on preventative and routine medical care, the NHS has on the other hand been criticized for its long waiting lists required for more...
Posted on: January 5, 2007 8:12 PM, by Nick Anthis • 1 Comments •
Category: health policy
When you live in the wealthiest nation in the world but can still claim over 40 million people without health insurance--despite spending more than twice as much per capita on health care as any other nation--you might have a problem....
Posted on: October 26, 2006 7:08 PM, by Nick Anthis • 4 Comments •
Category: death penalty
Another reason to question the death penalty: lethal injections are a pretty nasty way to go.
Posted on: August 24, 2006 6:14 PM, by Nick Anthis • 0 Comments •
Category: drug industry
I'll be honest with you: sometimes I really don't know what to think about drug companies. I'll give them some credit, since unlike many of their peers they produce a product that is useful to society and has important humanitarian implications. I want to like them--I really do--but when I read about things like this, it becomes pretty difficult.
Posted on: July 26, 2006 7:45 AM, by Nick Anthis • 2 Comments •
Category: universal health care
If Massachusetts were a physician, I'd have mixed feelings about visiting him or her. Sure, Dr. Massachusetts would be persistent and would try to make me feel better, but probably wouldn't do much to treat the underlying causes. Massachusetts would probably be an adept surgeon, but maybe not a great family doctor.
Posted on: July 25, 2006 7:45 AM, by Nick Anthis • 7 Comments •
Category: universal health care
I had a great hassle-free trip to the doctor the other day, and it wasn't because I live in some fantasy world. I live in England.
Posted on: July 24, 2006 7:45 AM, by Nick Anthis • 7 Comments •
Category: Fantastical Fridays
If you know what I'm talking about, and if you are in fact "cool", then you might also be interested in these recent research findings about the surprising lack of negative health affects associated with marijuana.
Posted on: July 21, 2006 7:45 AM, by Nick Anthis • 2 Comments •
Category: marijuana
Which of the following does not belong: (a) abortion, (b) medical marijuana, or (c) physician-assisted suicide? According the Supreme Court, the answer is (b) medical marijuana
Posted on: July 20, 2006 7:45 AM, by Nick Anthis • 7 Comments •
