SO IF YOU CARE TO FIND ME LOOK TO THE WESTERN (Blue) Sky!! bsky.app/profile/alexander-s… #Wicked 🧹

New pod: INSIDE THE MOST MIRACULOUS MONTH OF MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS IN ... YEARS? DECADES? The two leading causes of death in America are heart disease and cancer. Nothing else comes close. And in the last 4 weeks, we've gotten sensational news on unprecedented therapies that fight (even "cure") cardiovascular disease and take on previously "undruggable" cancers I went deep with @matthewherper on: - why the latest GLP1, retatrutide, works so well - is ~everybody is going to be taking low-dose GLP1s in the next 10-20 years because of the side-effect profile? - new evidence that GLP1s might significantly reduce some cancers - daraxonrasib, the miraculous new pancreatic cancer vaccine, and why it seems to do the impossible - promising, if experimental, new results for a one-and-done gene therapy to wipe out vast swaths of heart disease risk - where is AI in all of this? youtube.com/watch?v=Hwq6XM6o…

The director-general of the World Health Organization is “really worried” about the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, already the third largest on record. trib.al/coSJVec

My letter to readers on STAT’s new investigative series on alcohol epidemic statnews.com/2026/05/14/dead…

The loss of a giant in science: J. Craig Venter. @matthewherper describes his accomplishments as “really cool.” statnews.com/2026/04/30/crai…

Endometriosis frequently surfaces in other clinics - not just gynecology. trib.al/A151KBF

At the #STATBreakthrough Summit, STAT reporter @LizzyLaw_ asks HHS chief counselor Chris Klomp about the turnover at the FDA.

Call it a bumpy flu season so far. But, @HelenBranswell writes, don't call it "super flu." statnews.com/2026/01/06/flu-…

Are you going to #ASH25, the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology? STAT is - and we're hosting one of our amazing live events featuring @adamfeuerstein, @damiangarde, and @kathmacphail -- as well as executives and physicians from $JNJ, $GILD, $BMY, Blood Cancer United.. and ASH! The event is Friday night. It will feature: Damian interviewing J&J exec Yusri Elsayed and research veteran Lore Gruenbaum about why hematology is oncology's breakthrough foundry; Katherine interviewing Bethany Samuelson Bannow, an ASH researcher able to look out over the hematology field -- and who's own research recently went viral; And Adam interviewing Lynelle B. Hoch from $BMY and Cindy Perettie from Kite about the future of CAR-T. There will be food, drinks, and great company. If you're in Orlando, check it out! You can sign up here: statnews.com/event/stat-at-a…

It's the incredible shrinking Moderna. This morning's absolute must read, whether you are in biotech or not is my colleague @Jasonmmast on the rise and fall --and maybe rise again? -- of the biotech firm that seemed to dominate the world just a few years ago. Jason interviewed two dozen current and former Moderna employees, and pushed the company to talk. The details are scintillating: overspending on clinical trials, boasting that the company would have a dozen drugs, overestimating sales... and hiring Maroon 5 to play a party. Now, the department of Health and Human Services, which helped build the company, seems to have turned on it. It's a story of the double-edged sword of the bravado and risk-taking that often drive entrepreneurship, of the backlash against vaccines, and of the hard fact that even if you have billions of dollars you can spend them Give it a read: statnews.com/2025/10/30/mode…

Well. I have the absolute best news for fans of @statnews. Quite simply: @damiangarde is returning. Damian will be working with me on STAT's events, including our Summits. He'll also be writing the kind of amazing profiles that are his stock in trade. I'll include a few in a thread after this post in case you haven't read them, in which case you are in for a treat. Damian's one of the most fluid and creative writers I have ever worked with, and he knows the biopharma industry like few others. He shared a Polk Award with @adamfeuerstein and me for STAT's reporting on controversies around the Alzheimer's drug aducanumab, and I can tell you that story relied not only on his skill as a writer but on his incredible ability to get sources to open up. He was also a person who added heart and soul to STAT -- it's really difficult to have an argument with anyone when Damian is around. I can't wait to work with him again. I'm really, really excited. Welcome home.

Ten years goes by in a blink! Excited to see how far we’ve come - even more excited to see how far we will go!

MAHA turned 1 over the weekend, and it's hard to believe it's only been one year since Kennedy endorsed Trump and kickstarted this movement. I talked with nearly two dozen people to try and make sense of all that has happened — or not. statnews.com/2025/08/25/rfk-…

If you're interested in a @statnews subscription and are a student, new graduate, teacher, or health care worker, see this page for discounts on offer. statnews.com/stat-subscripti…

“Kennedy would be less hazardous if he decided to do cardiac surgery. Then he would kill people only one at a time,” writes former CDC Director William Foege. trib.al/wK4DyM4

So proud of @statnews reporters winning FOUR Murrows: @EricBoodman @KatieMPalmer @ushamcfarling @@TaraBannow @LizzyLaw_ @bobjherman Casey Ross For Excellence in Writing, Investigative, Feature Reporting, DEI

Very important work here by @statnews reporters on how political oversight is gumming up the process of funding for scientific research. statnews.com/2025/08/15/insi…

CDC leaders tried to reassure staff during an all-hands meeting today, following Friday's shooting. Staff, though, described the meeting as brief — 13 minutes long — and chaotic. Via @HelenBranswell @ChelseaCirruzzo statnews.com/2025/08/12/cdc-…

AI use may be deskilling doctors, new Lancet study warns statnews.com/2025/08/12/ai-d…

If you aren't checking out @statnews.com today, you're missing out. Our newsroom is on fire. So many important stories to read. statnews.com

Senate committee rejects NIH cuts, boosts budget by $400 million statnews.com/2025/07/31/nih-…