#clinical council

[coochiequeens]

But the TQ+ cult continues to deny that children are transed

Dr Helen Webberley said that her licence had been revoked on a technicality

ADRIAN SHERRATT FOR THE TIMES

James Beal, Social Affairs Editor Friday July 19 2024

The General Medical Council has revoked the licence to practise of a controversial British doctor whose offshore clinic treats transgender children.

Dr Helen Webberley, 55, will lose her licence in Britain from Friday but will remain on the GMC’s register, following the decision by the medical regulator.

The decision was made by the GMC after she did not comply with a registered doctor’s legal obligation to revalidate their licence every five years.

Webberley runs GenderGP, an online company registered in Singapore, which facilitates access to puberty blockers and hormones for adults and children.

She told The Times that the decision would not prevent her from continuing in her role at GenderGP and said that she did not personally treat the patients.

Michael Webberley was struck off in 2022 for prescribing hormones to patients as young as nine without proper assessments

Webberley said: “I fought incredibly hard to keep my licence, both for myself and also for the community, because it’s important to set precedent. Now to have it taken away on a technicality, if you like, is very heartbreaking, but I will continue my work as I have done.”

GenderGP assesses adults and children with gender dysphoria and connects them to doctors outside Britain, in the European Economic Area (EEA), for prescriptions for hormones.

This means UK children as young as eight can access puberty blockers, despite the Cass Report, a review of trans healthcare led by the paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, concluding there was no good evidence for prescribing them.

Webberley was suspended from practising medicine in 2022 after she was found to have committed serious misconduct by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel over her treatment of three trans children. She successfully appealed against the decision at the High Court in 2023.

Dr Hilary Cass’s review found there was no good evidence to support the global clinical practice of prescribing hormones to under-18s to pause puberty

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE

Webberley said that she had not used her licence to practise since 2017, when investigations into her conduct by the GMC began. She said that she could not revalidate her licence because she could not find a “responsible officer”, or suitable person, to vouch for her fitness to practise.

Doctors are required to notify the GMC of a designated body and responsible officer to do this.

Webberley said: “The difficulty is … I no longer have a connection with an NHS trust or a GP surgery. I don’t have a responsible officer. It’s also very difficult to get that connection after what I’ve been through.”

She says she was offered the chance to take an exam in order to revalidate her licence, but declined because they “don’t have one for doctors working in transgender medicine”.

Michael and Helen Webberley are now thought to be living in Spain while their business is registered in Singapore

The GMC then withdrew her licence, which it can do if it determines that guidance to revalidate has not been complied with “without reasonable excuse”.

Webberley, from south Wales, said that she would carry on her work at GenderGP.

She said: “I’m not allowed to directly treat and manage individual patients [but] I’m not treating them.

“Treatment means sitting down with somebody, making a diagnosis, making a treatment management plan, prescribing medication, following up investigations and results.

“With GenderGP we have a whole team of professionals who do that. I don’t treat patients individually. They [the GMC] don’t have a regulatory role in my wider work.”

A GMC spokesman said: “Every licensed doctor must take part in the revalidation process, which provides assurance that they are keeping their knowledge up to date, are fit to practise and that no concerns have been raised about them.

“Doctors who do not have a connection to a designated body or suitable person are able to revalidate in a number of ways, including by passing a written multiple choice test called a revalidation assessment.

“There are 12 assessments to choose from, and doctors are encouraged to choose one closest to their most recent area of specialty. We cannot tailor assessments to every doctor’s specific area of practice.

“If doctors do not comply with our guidance on revalidation without reasonable excuse, we may withdraw their licence to practise.”

Webberley and her husband Michael, who set up GenderGP in 2015, are now believed to live in Spain.

As an online business based abroad it is not registered with the Care Quality Commission, but Helen Webberley has denied basing it in Asia to avoid scrutiny.

Michael Webberley, 67, a former gastroenterologist, was struck off in 2022 for prescribing hormones to patients as young as nine without proper assessments.

GenderGP was also criticised in the High Court earlier this year for giving “dangerously high” levels of hormones to a 16-year-old, who was born female but identified as male, that could have resulted in sudden death.

Webberley has called the court claim “untrue”. The Times reported last month that GenderGP, which has more than 10,000 patients, had ditched health advisers in favour of an AI algorithm providing “self-service” treatment.

Behind the story

The health secretary Wes Streeting has indicated that he will seek to make permanent the temporary three-month ban on puberty blockers being supplied to children (James Beal writes).

But Helen Webberley said children at her clinic were still getting hold of them.

Laws to ban the drugs being supplied by private or offshore clinics were passed by Victoria Atkins, Streeting’s predecessor, in emergency legislation before the general election.

They are due to expire on September 3, but the Labour government suggested last week that it would, subject to court proceedings, renew the ban with a view to making it permanent.

It followed the Cass Report, which found there was no good evidence to support the global clinical practice of prescribing hormones to under-18s to pause puberty or transition.

However, Webberley, in an interview with The Times last month, said patients at her offshore clinic were going abroad, using foreign doctors and chemists, to side-step the ban.

She said: “The parents of young people who are affected by this ban will find another way. The last thing is that they will allow their child to stop the puberty blocker and start going through puberty. That’s going to really really affect them mentally and physically.

“I know mums and dads who are just going on holiday to get their puberty blocker instead. They’re going to wherever they’re going on holiday this year.”

Distancing GenderGP, her clinic, from their actions, she said: “We don’t have to find those opportunities, the parents find those ways of managing it.”

Now the revelation that she has lost her GMC licence to practise may increase concerns about her clinic, which operates out of reach of regulators such as the Care Quality Commission.

It follows disclosures that GenderGP had created an AI algorithm to make treatment recommendations rather than using health advisers.

However, given the state of transgender healthcare in the UK, with long waiting lists for treatment, it may not deter transgender patients from turning to GenderGP.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Scotland Yard could be called in to investigate an alleged breach of the Princess of Wales’s private medical data.

The world-renowned London Clinic in Marylebone where the Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery in January, launched an investigation amid allegations staff attempted to access her private medical records.

After The Mirror’s world exclusive was picked up around the world this week, sources have said tonight that “up to three people” could be involved in the alleged accessing of Catherine’s medical records.

In a further bombshell, it can be revealed that the alleged breach took place after the future queen was discharged from hospital on January 29, as social media exploded with outlandish and hurtful conspiracy theories relating to her surgery.

Sources said the criminal investigation, described as “unprecedented” and now being run by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), could run alongside an additional probe by the Metropolitan Police.

Accessing someone’s medical records without cause or consent can be a criminal offence.

If the ICO investigates and finds evidence that medical records were accessed illegally, it can take action, including prosecuting and fining the person responsible in court.

The development came amid a new statement from the CEO of the The London Clinic, who said:

“There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues.”

A source said:

“This is such a unique case that a police investigation could run alongside one by the Information Commissioner's Office.

The IOC will deal with anything as a criminal matter, which could end up in a Magistrate’s Court, but if there were further claims of wrongdoing such as a conspiracy to distribute illegally accessed information, then that could be a matter for the police.”

Scotland Yard has also been urged to launch an immediate investigation, alongside the IOC probe, over fears of a potential royal blackmail plot.

Dai Davies, the former chief superintendent and head of the royal protection unit, said:

“Anyone accused of this most serious breach of trust should be interviewed under caution at the earliest opportunity.

The implications for the royal family are far and wide, and there must be a full probe by Scotland Yard to determine if any further crimes have been committed.”

The Met Police said it had not yet received a referral, but Health Minister Maria Caulfield said today that she understood “police have been asked to look at it.”

Speaking to Sky News, she said it was "pretty serious stuff to be accessing notes that you don't have permission to."

She added:

"I say this as someone who's still on the nursing register, that the rules are very, very clear for all patients.

That unless you're looking after that patient, or they've given you their consent, you should not be looking at patients' notes.

So there are rules in place and the Information Commissioner can levy fines, that can be prosecutions, your regulator.

So as a nurse, my regulator would be the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), can take enforcement action….and can strike you off the register if the breach is serious enough.

So there are particularly hefty implications if you are looking at notes for medical records that you should not be looking at."

Asked if the police should look into the matter, she said: "My understanding is that police have been asked to look at it - whether they take action is a matter for them.”

Fears that the King’s private medical information had also been compromised were dismissed tonight, after Charles spent three nights at the hospital during the same period as the Princess of Wales after undergoing an operation for an enlarged prostate.

Sources confirmed bosses at the hospital had informed Buckingham Palace that the alleged breach being probed did not involve the monarch.

Charles and Catherine were discharged separately just hours apart on January 29.

The King was subsequently diagnosed with “a form of cancer,” announced by Buckingham Palace on February 5.

Senior bosses at the hospital notified the IOC within 72 hours of the alleged breach of Kate’s records, in accordance with the watchdog’s guidelines.

Despite global speculation over the nature of the princess’s surgery, which has sparked wild conspiracy theories across social media and international news outlets, Kensington Palace has gone to great lengths to protect her privacy.

The palace said when Catherine was admitted that she would spend two weeks in hospital and not return to royal duties until after Easter as she continued her recovery at home.

Sources suggested the princess may decide to join the royal family on a scheduled walk to church on Easter Sunday, but no decision had yet been taken.

As the crisis intensified today following The Mirror’s revelations, Al Russell, the CEO at The London Clinic, added:

“Everyone at The London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.

We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day.

We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken.”

The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors, also said patients must have confidence that their personal information is protected "at all times."

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said:

“Clearly there are strict rules on patient data that must be followed. I think we all want to get behind the Princess of Wales and Prince of Wales and we wish her the speediest of recoveries.”

[thedissociatives]

praying that the Important Emails i sent have actually been seen

[townpostin]

Singhbhum Chamber Discusses Recent GST Amendments

GST Council’s Proposed Tax Relief Measures Discussed The Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently held a tax clinic to address GST-related concerns and discuss proposed amendments to the tax structure. JAMSHEDPUR – The Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a tax clinic at its premises on Friday, focusing on recent GST Council proposals and potential relief measures for…

[vicforberger]

Lab test subjects as employees

In late 2022 and early 2023, a few folks started contacting me about being disqualified or having to repay unemployment benefits they received during the Covid-19 pandemic because of their participation in lab testing studies. Then at the July 2023 Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council meeting, a coalition of lab testing companies and Rep. Gundrum asked the council to support a change in the…

[cowboy-heart]

'BUTCH MANIFESTO'

inspired by 'FEMME SHARK MANIFESTO' by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

(ID under cut)

Ko-Fi (Commissions Open!)

[ID: an original poem titled 'BUTCH MANIFESTO'. the stanzas are all on the left side of the page and lineated, except for the first line, and last stanza. Poem begins:

Listen up! Butches hold it down! We don’t spend hundreds of pounds on designer clothes and black and white tuxes – we shop off the charity shop rack, hand-me-downs from our bois, our men, our women. Butch is not a glamour word - Butch is not for the white collars in their 9-5 and their office parties, Butch is not for the woman in a police uniform with short cropped hair, Butch is not for the masc who looks down on our femmes, Butch is not for the dumbass white people who call themselves stud, like our people haven’t taken enough from black lesbians, Butch is not for the politician or the soldier, it’s for those of us who get shit done and don’t throw anyone under the bus; who stand between our loved ones and the white-knuckled fist; it’s for the people who take a breath of relief when they get home and get to lay their head on the shoulder of their baby and say, it’s hard, and I need you right now; it’s for those of us with hard-soled feet, worn by hours of standing, just so people can buy some useless shit on a Sunday. Butch is for the primary school teachers, the neighbour keeping your package safe, the hairstylist, the barber, the youth worker, the locked up, the sectioned, the evicted, the boy on the dole. Butches hold each other up, Butches stand up for communities, no matter how different we might be.

Butches stand up for Butches, because only we know the shit we face, we don’t argue over what butch looks like for someone - their struggle doesn’t counteract ours. We’re brothers, sisters, siblings, lovers, mentors, we don’t fight over femmes or fight each other. We help up our siblings who can’t hold themselves up and shouldn’t have to.

Butch is recognising our hurt, our pain, and making sure nobody has to go through that, in the very least not alone. Butch is not reproducing that hurt, butch isn’t the transfem exclusion, the toxicity, it’s driving our girls and boys to the abortion clinic, it’s holding your femme’s hair back over the toilet bowl, it’s telling your darlin’ to take a deep breath, before you poke the needle into her thigh, it’s holding back on punching the catcaller because you know it’ll put your lover in more danger, it’s fishing in your closet for an old, dusty dress for your questioning girl, it’s never calling the cops, it’s carrying the Narcan, it’s gathering the funds for bail, it’s tipping the waiter, it’s kissing the bruised chin of a fellow butch who’s built like a brick shithouse.

Butch is not all muscle, able-bodied, white Butch is not all skinny and androgynous Butch is care Butch is NURTURE. Butch is a cane and an unsteady step Butch is putting down the ramp Butch is wheeling up it Butch is addict Butch is straight-edge Butch is diaspora Butch is desi Butch is antiracist Butch is socialist Butch is punk Butch is black Butch is brown Butch is fat Butch is fat-loving Butch is mental illness Butch is antipsych Butch is autism Butch is trans Butch is anger Butch is tears Butch is grief Butch is the old bull Butch is the closeted kid in a dress Butch is the baby dyke wearing a rainbow flag cape Butch is smile lines Butch is crinkled eyes Butch is crying in your friend’s beat-up car Butch is foetal position Butch is pink Butch is motherhood Butch is fatherhood Butch is cat-dad Butch is fucking Butch is getting fucked Butch is stone Butch is bashful Butch is humble Butch is cocky Butch is proud Butch is single Butch is uneducated Butch is poet Butch is poetry Butch is council estate Butch is gentleness Butch is bones and spit and the soft curve of our lower backs the clenched jaw under a double chin the hard-eyes that any femme can see right through the estradiol the testosterone the carabiner clink the thick hands the cellulite the bloody pads the tampon string the mood swings the sagging tits the top surgery scars the swinging cock the hairy pussy the protruding t-dick the leather harness.

Butch is eternity Butch is sewn into the fabric of atoms Butch is love and solidarity Butch is never leaving anyone behind and never selling anyone out.

End poem. In the bottom right corner, the poet is signed as 'Ren H.' End ID].

[asalescommunity]

When a virus is in a city an epidemiology can be announced in a city.

All procedures according to a science can be obeyed.

A research in a laboratory can be made because a verification in a correct manner can verify a code of a virus based on a chemistry in order to produce an anti virus in the laboratory.

An industry based on a medicine can produce a medication to cure a body of a disease that has affected the body due to the virus, and a diagnosis according to a health disorder can start a medical treatment in the correct manner.

The medical treatment that is incorrect will lead to a damage of the body.

In such a case, an investigation is required and a doctor, as well as a professor can lose a licence to represent a profession to work for patients because in such the case they were not service providers.

An author Piotr Sienkiewicz

+48 721 951 799

[dentalosce]

Best OSCE and ADC education center is Dental101 in Melbourne. They have full course which includes OSCE Mock exam and preparation courses for exam Melbourne.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Hospital staff embroiled in a privacy probe involving the Princess of Wales will likely be facing disciplinary action, an expert has warned.

The Mirror revealed an investigation is underway at the world-renowned The London Clinic into claims Catherine's confidentiality was breached while she was a patient in January.

At least one member of staff was said to have been caught trying to access the 42-year-old's medical notes.

The future Queen had abdominal surgery at the London hospital in January and stayed for a fortnight, as she recovered before returning home to Windsor.

The allegations are the latest blow to hit Catherine, whose absence from public life over the past two months has led to wild conspiracy theories on social media about her whereabouts and health.

Now, an employment expert has outlined the likely next steps for accused staff, while a data protection expert has suggested Catherine could well claim compensation.

Employment partner Tracey Guest at law firm Slater Heelis told the Mirror:

"Any hospital employee who has accessed Catherine's private medical records, without any proper work reason to do so, is at risk of being dismissed due to gross misconduct.

Previous cases for dismissal relating to confidential information have held that it is important for employers to have policies in place, which make it abundantly clear to employees that unauthorised interference with computers/accessing confidential information unnecessarily will carry severe penalties.

No doubt all hospital employees will have been given contracts of employment where confidential information is a key term.

And it is likely that the hospital will have policies in place to make it clear that unlawfully accessing patient confidential information is likely to amount to gross misconduct."

The next steps to follow will depend on the alleged employee's years of service at the clinic. Tracey continued:

"If an employee has two or more years' service, the hospital will need to follow a fair procedure prior to dismissing an employee, otherwise they will be at risk of a claim for unfair dismissal.

This means that the hospital should require the employee to attend an investigation meeting, where the allegations are put to the employee and the employee is given a chance to respond and put forward any explanation/deny the allegations.

If the Investigating Officer decides that there is a case to answer, the employee must then be required to attend a disciplinary meeting.

The employee should be advised in advance in writing of the disciplinary allegations against them and warned that a possible outcome may be dismissal.

The employee should also be given the right to be accompanied to the disciplinary meeting by a fellow employee or trade union representative of their choice.

If an employee is dismissed, they should be given the right to appeal the decision."

It is likely that accessing medical records without any proper work reason is also a breach of data protection, and these allegations would also be discussed with the employee concerned, Tracey explained.

Meanwhile, the employees' alleged actions causing reputational damage to the hospital will also be assessed.

"Given the publicity surrounding this matter, this allegation would be genuine and could provide a further reason to warrant dismissal for gross misconduct (subject to the findings of any appropriate investigation and disciplinary)," Tracey added, before suggesting:

"Any employee involved in accessing medical records without a proper reason to do so may be best advised to resign, in order to avoid having a dismissal on their records."

The clinic's boss said that all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken when looking at alleged data breaches.

Al Russell, said in a statement:

"Everyone at the London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.

We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day.

We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken.

There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues."

It is a criminal offence for any staff in an NHS or private healthcare setting to access the medical records of a patient without the consent of the organisation's data controller.

Looking at somebody's private medical records without permission can result in prosecution from the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK.

A spokesperson for the data watchdog said:

"We can confirm that we have received a breach report and are assessing the information provided."

Jon Baines, Senior Data Protection Specialist at Mishcon de Reya, outlined what this would mean and suggested that Catherine could claim for compensation.

"Any investigation by the ICO is likely to consider whether a criminal offence might have been committed by an individual or individuals," he began.

"Section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018 says that a person commits an offence if they obtain or disclose personal data 'without the consent of the controller.'

Here, the controller will be the clinic itself.

"Although there are defences available to someone charged with the offence — such as that they reasonably believed they had the right to 'obtain' the personal data, or on grounds of public interest — such defences are unlikely to apply where someone knowingly accesses patient notes for no valid or justifiable reason.

Mr Baines explained that an offence is only punishable by a fine.

In England and Wales, although the maximum fine is unlimited, there is no possibility of any custodial sentence.

"A further area of potential investigation for the ICO will be whether the clinic itself complied with its obligations under the UK GDPR to have 'appropriate technical or organisational measures' in place to keep personal data secure.," the data expert continued.

"Serious failures to comply with that obligation could lead to civil monetary penalties from the ICO, to a maximum of £17.5m although, in reality, given that such civil fines must be proportionate, it is rare that such large sums are even considered by the ICO.

Individuals, such as - in this case - The Princess of Wales, can also bring claims for compensation under the UK GDPR, and for 'misuse of private information', where their data protection and privacy rights have been infringed."

Mr Baines added:

"Whatever the outcome from the ICO, anyone working in an environment where they might have access to personal data, particularly of a sensitive nature, should be aware that there are potential criminal law implications arising from unauthorised access.

Any organisation holding such information should ensure it has appropriate measures in place to prevent, or at least reduce the risk, of such access."

Earlier today, a health minister said police have "been asked to look at" whether staff at The London Clinic attempted to access the Princess of Wales' private medical records.

MP Maria Caulfield, who is a nurse serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy, said there could be “hefty implications” if it turns out anyone accessed the notes without permission, including prosecution or fines.

When questioned whether it should be dealt with as a police matter, Ms Caulfield told LBC:

“Whether they take action is a matter for them. But the Information Commissioner can also take prosecutions, can also issue fines, the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), other health regulators can strike you off the register if the breach is serious enough.

So there are particularly hefty implications if you are looking at notes for medical records that you should not be looking at."

Reassuring listeners, she also told Times Radio:

"For any patient, you want to reassure your listeners that there are strict rules in place around information governance about being able to look at notes even within the trust or a community setting.

You can't just randomly look at any patient's notes. It's taken extremely seriously, both by the information commissioner but also your regulator.

So the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), if as a nurse, you are accessing notes that you haven't got permission to access, they would take enforcement action against that. So it's extremely serious.

And I want to reassure patients that their notes have those strict rules apply to them as they do for the Princess of Wales."

Kensington Palace refused to confirm what Catherine was being treated for at the time of the announcement she had surgery but later confirmed the condition was non-cancerous.

An official statement read:

"Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery.

The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery."

The Palace also raised that they wanted to keep her health concerns private, adding:

"Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter. The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate.

She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.

Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness' progress when there is significant new information to share.

The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements.

She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible."

As speculation has swirled regarding the Princess' whereabouts, Catherine was most recently seen stepping out in public with Prince William for the first time at the weekend.

The couple, dressed in sportswear, were spotted walking with shopping bags at a farm shop close to their home on the Windsor estate.

[reasonsforhope]

"Since it was first identified in 1983, HIV has infected more than 85 million people and caused some 40 million deaths worldwide.

While medication known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, can significantly reduce the risk of getting HIV, it has to be taken every day to be effective. A vaccine to provide lasting protection has eluded researchers for decades. Now, there may finally be a viable strategy for making one.

An experimental vaccine developed at Duke University triggered an elusive type of broadly neutralizing antibody in a small group of people enrolled in a 2019 clinical trial. The findings were published today [May 17, 2024] in the scientific journal Cell.

“This is one of the most pivotal studies in the HIV vaccine field to date,” says Glenda Gray, an HIV expert and the president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, who was not involved in the study.

A few years ago, a team from Scripps Research and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) showed that it was possible to stimulate the precursor cells needed to make these rare antibodies in people. The Duke study goes a step further to generate these antibodies, albeit at low levels.

“This is a scientific feat and gives the field great hope that one can construct an HIV vaccine regimen that directs the immune response along a path that is required for protection,” Gray says.

-via WIRED, May 17, 2024. Article continues below.

Vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize a virus or other pathogen. They introduce something that looks like the virus—a piece of it, for example, or a weakened version of it—and by doing so, spur the body’s B cells into producing protective antibodies against it. Those antibodies stick around so that when a person later encounters the real virus, the immune system remembers and is poised to attack.

While researchers were able to produce Covid-19 vaccines in a matter of months, creating a vaccine against HIV has proven much more challenging. The problem is the unique nature of the virus. HIV mutates rapidly, meaning it can quickly outmaneuver immune defenses. It also integrates into the human genome within a few days of exposure, hiding out from the immune system.

“Parts of the virus look like our own cells, and we don’t like to make antibodies against our own selves,” says Barton Haynes, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and one of the authors on the paper.

The particular antibodies that researchers are interested in are known as broadly neutralizing antibodies, which can recognize and block different versions of the virus. Because of HIV’s shape-shifting nature, there are two main types of HIV and each has several strains. An effective vaccine will need to target many of them.

Some HIV-infected individuals generate broadly neutralizing antibodies, although it often takes years of living with HIV to do so, Haynes says. Even then, people don’t make enough of them to fight off the virus. These special antibodies are made by unusual B cells that are loaded with mutations they’ve acquired over time in reaction to the virus changing inside the body. “These are weird antibodies,” Haynes says. “The body doesn’t make them easily.”

Haynes and his colleagues aimed to speed up that process in healthy, HIV-negative people. Their vaccine uses synthetic molecules that mimic a part of HIV’s outer coat, or envelope, called the membrane proximal external region. This area remains stable even as the virus mutates. Antibodies against this region can block many circulating strains of HIV.

The trial enrolled 20 healthy participants who were HIV-negative. Of those, 15 people received two of four planned doses of the investigational vaccine, and five received three doses. The trial was halted when one participant experienced an allergic reaction that was not life-threatening. The team found that the reaction was likely due to an additive in the vaccine, which they plan to remove in future testing.

Still, they found that two doses of the vaccine were enough to induce low levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies within a few weeks. Notably, B cells seemed to remain in a state of development to allow them to continue acquiring mutations, so they could evolve along with the virus. Researchers tested the antibodies on HIV samples in the lab and found that they were able to neutralize between 15 and 35 percent of them.

Jeffrey Laurence, a scientific consultant at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, says the findings represent a step forward, but that challenges remain. “It outlines a path for vaccine development, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he says.

For one, he says, a vaccine would need to generate antibody levels that are significantly higher and able to neutralize with greater efficacy. He also says a one-dose vaccine would be ideal. “If you’re ever going to have a vaccine that’s helpful to the world, you’re going to need one dose,” he says.

Targeting more regions of the virus envelope could produce a more robust response. Haynes says the next step is designing a vaccine with at least three components, all aimed at distinct regions of the virus. The goal is to guide the B cells to become much stronger neutralizers, Haynes says. “We’re going to move forward and build on what we have learned.”

-via WIRED, May 17, 2024

[slyandthefamilybook]

since we now know that all those "my blog is safe for Jewish people" posts are bullshit, here are some Jewish organizations you can donate to if you actually want to prove you support Jews. put up or shut up

FIGHTING HUNGER

Masbia - Kosher soup kitchens in New York

MAZON - Practices and promotes a multifaceted approach to hunger relief, recognizing the importance of responding to hungry peoples' immediate need for nutrition and sustenance while also working to advance long-term solutions

Tomchei Shabbos - Provides food and other supplies so that poor Jews can celebrate the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays

FINANCIAL AID

Ahavas Yisrael - Providing aid for low-income Jews in Baltimore

Hebrew Free Loan Society - Provides interest-free loans to low-income Jews in New York and more

GLOBAL AID

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee - Offers aid to Jewish populations in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the Middle East through a network of social and community assistance programs. In addition, the JDC contributes millions of dollars in disaster relief and development assistance to non-Jewish communities

American Jewish World Service - Fighting poverty and advancing human rights around the world

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society - Providing aid to immigrants and refugees around the world

Jewish World Watch - Dedicated to fighting genocides around the world

MEDICAL AID

Sharsheret - Support for cancer patients, especially breast cancer

SOCIAL SERVICES

The Aleph Institute - Provides support and supplies for Jews in prison and their families, and helps Jewish convicts reintegrate into society

Bet Tzedek - Free legal services in LA

Bikur Cholim - Providing support including kosher food for Jews who have been hospitalized in the US, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Israel

Blue Card Fund - Critical aid for holocaust survivors

Chai Lifeline - An org that's very close to my heart. They help families with members with disabilities in Baltimore

Chana - Support network for Jews in Baltimore facing domestic violence, sexual abuse, and elder abuse

Community Alliance for Jewish-Affiliated Cemetaries - Care of abandoned and at-risk Jewish cemetaries

Crown Heights Central Jewish Community Council - Provides services to community residents including assistance to the elderly, housing, employment and job training, youth services, and a food bank

Hands On Tzedakah - Supports essential safety-net programs addressing hunger, poverty, health care and disaster relief, as well as scholarship support to students in need

Hebrew Free Burial Association

Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services - Programs include early childhood and learning, children and adolescent services, mental health outpatient clinics for teenagers, people living with developmental disabilities, adults living with mental illness, domestic violence and preventive services, housing, Jewish community services, counseling, volunteering, and professional and leadership development

Jewish Caring Network - Providing aid for families facing serious illnesses

Jewish Family Service - Food security, housing stability, mental health counseling, aging care, employment support, refugee resettlement, chaplaincy, and disability services

Jewish Relief Agency - Serving low-income families in Philadelphia

Jewish Social Services Agency - Supporting people’s mental health, helping people with disabilities find meaningful jobs, caring for older adults so they can safely age at home, and offering dignity and comfort to hospice patients

Jewish Women's Foundation Metropolitan Chicago - Aiding Jewish women in Chicago

Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty - Crisis intervention and family violence services, housing development funds, food programs, career services, and home services

Misaskim - Jewish death and burial services

Our Place - Mentoring troubled Jewish adolescents and to bring awareness of substance abuse to teens and children

Tiferes Golda - Special education for Jewish girls in Baltimore

Yachad - Support for Jews with disabilities

[birbbones]

So I'm not the one to ask for help so I've been very hesitant on sharing, but got some news last week that I will be homeless by June (and no, this is not an awful april fools joke, I am panicking here).

Some of you in the vulture culture community know last week and a bit ago I had an accident resulting in losing consciousness, breaking my neck, and experiencing a seizure for the first time. I've been having ongoing brain issues (we removed a lot of cerebral fluid in December that was causing increased pressure and testing the fluid to rule out infection, diagnosed with IIH), and last month I've been having heart issues.

Referrals have been made to a cardiology specialist, as well as the first fit clinic. But it's looking like I will probably have to go private to get listened to / get the care I need ASAP. Couple with the fact I will be homeless by June, it's a really terrifying situation. I have contacted local councils, independent living schemes, shelter, private landlords etc and feel like I've been let down. I'm awaiting a doctors appointment with a NHS advisor on the 10th, where I'll be showing them my list of resources I've used, and to see if they are able to help find anything.

I reluctantly made a justgiving page, on the advice of my friends, and while I hate asking for help, I am honestly quite scared and uncertain about my future.

If anyone can share the link, reblog this post, or even donate some change. It would mean a lot.

Thank you for your time, I'm sorry for posting this here but I don't know what else to do. I will be continuing to work on the skull index, as its such big passion project of mine along with the help of my team. Its a great distraction.

[capricorn-season]