Ask an Epidemiologist

Advice on how to become a critical consumer of health research

Rhetorical Questions and Real Answers About Vaccination

I love three things: talking about research, debating the pros and cons of healthcare decisions, and dogs. And my dog is taking a nap.

Step Right Up: Your COVID Vaccine Is Ready

Feeling anxious about getting a COVID shot? Let me tell you about my experience.

Transparency, the FDA, and the COVID-19 Vaccine

Feeling anxious about the pace of vaccine development in Operation Warp Speed? Let me help you work out those jitters.

5 Recommendations for Giving Thanks During a Pandemic

Breaking bread with others is an important tradition, but this year shouldn’t be business as usual. Tips for making holiday memories during a pandemic.

Whose Expert Guidance on Risk and Reopenings Should You Follow?

The Times surveyed epidemiologists about resuming activities during COVID. Here’s what I would have said, had they only asked.

Denial, Misdiagnosis, and the “Big C"

What Chadwick Boseman showed us about living with cancer.

Missing Maternal Mortality

We under-count pregnancy-related deaths by excluding suicide, overdose, homicide, and accidents. Does it matter?

Saying What They Won't: Speech-Writing for a Pandemic

Disillusioned by the the politics of COVID, but political satire just isn't helping to perk up your mood? Try this honest-but-earnest stump speech on for size.

Point, Counterpoint, and COVID

How can public debate strengthen community ties during the pandemic crisis?

What Might Have Been: Grief and Gratitude in a Pandemic

Collective grief for collective gain? Making peace with what might have been during the pandemic.

An Epidemiologist Answers COVID-19 FAQs

Questions about coronavirus? You've come to the right place.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Looking for some colorful graphical projections of when the pandemic will peak? Keep waiting. Looking for some reflective late-night reassurance? Come on in.

Social Distance and Mental Health in a Pandemic

Welcome to the new normal: Scrubbing up, staying home, and not panicking.

4 True, but Unreported, Headlines About the Coronavirus

Is it time to convert your basement into the survivalist cave of your dreams? I'm glad you asked.

How I Learned to Manage my Worry About the Coronavirus

Epidemiology is #trending with coronavirus in the news, but how can you build your quantitative reasoning skills in a more measured way? I’m glad you asked.

“Deaths of Despair” Meets “Black Lives Matter”

Beauty isn’t the only thing that lies in the eye of the beholder. How emphasis and interpretation of data on declines in life expectancy are distracting us from bigger issues.