Congratulations to Georgia Dr Georgia Richards on being awarded an Open Data Institute Fellowship. This is related to her work on the hugely successful Preventable Deaths Tracker at preventabledeathstracker.net.

66 medically related anniversaries in 2023:
1. 1123--Foundation of the Augustine Priory of St Bartholomew by Rahere, a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral; this was the start of what eventually became the site of St Bartholomew's Hospital.

For a list of medical anniversaries in 2023 see bmj.com/content/380/bm…

Here is a clear, deCoffeynated guide to the use of the Oxford (or serial or Harvard) comma: blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/02/07…

The efficiency paradox in health care. bmj.com/content/375/bm…

Clinical pharmacology. The current number of UK clinical pharmacologists is under 25% of the number that the RCP estimated as necessary in its 2015 report rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outpu…. All doctors need to know how to prescribe medicines to maximize benefits and minimize harms.

'... The grave's a fine and pleasant place, but none, I think, do there embrace'. Marvell-ous lines from a master of seduction.

Congratulations, Tanja. Great to hear that Doug's influence lives on.

Might not airborne transmission from respiratory and faecal sources be equally important? The MJA review quotes both.

I hope you're not saying that my percentages are wrong 😉

I don't think it's as simple as that, Renee. We are told that we need 70-80% immunity to prevent further spread, and vaccination may be only 90% effective. Measles vaccination below the necessary 95% or so has been disastrous. Should we not encourage vaccination, if possible?

The Early Career Clinical Pharmacology Abstract Competition is for Medical Students, Junior Doctors (FY1, FY2, IMT1, IMT2), Pre-registration Pharmacists, and Pharmacists up to 2 years after qualification. Deadline for entries 5 July 2021. Entry details at bps.ac.uk/education-enga…

Here's preprint evidence that CD4/8 T cell responses are similar in response to different variants of SARS-CoV2 (UK, SA, Brazil, CAL) and to mRNA vaccines. It's not just about antibodies. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…; cebm.net/covid-19/what-…

The coronavirus vaccine monitoring study is now recruiting participants. Register here vac4covid.com

This is good news. For information about baricitinib (mechanism of action, indications, adverse effects, interactions, etc) see the vignette in the COVID-19 Evidence Service at cebm.net/covid-19/baric…

Great to see the courageous and dogged journalism of Deborah Cohen Hannah Barnes BBC Newsnight recognised with a nomination for Home News Coverage, amidst a very crowded field of impressive work from across the industry..

You don't have to read my 'When I Use a Word' BMJ column about viruses this week, but others might like to, if you let them know by retweeting this tweet. blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/01/29…

Happy birthday to Thomas Willis and all his circle, 27 January 1621. blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/01/08…

I would agree with this if you added 'that stands up to expert scrutiny'. We have seen so many poor-quality SRs recently; merely doing one is not enough.

The Christmas season is associated with preventable harms from cards, tree decorations, and presents, as well as overeating and overdrinking, so do the benefits of Christmas outweigh the harms? Jeff Aronson & Robin Ferner ow.ly/k3dt50CNzhT