Welcome

Ever met a PhD Scientist turned entrepreneur? Nice, to meet you!

I often get the question ‘who are you’? I am a PhD scientist, start-up company founder, inventor in fields of Immunology and Optical Engineering with multiple issued patents.

I have a following of over 300K people on TikTok as ‘LaughterInLight’ where I have covered the COVID-19 pandemic and evolution of the virus, done multi-part scientific debunking of wild theories, and deep-dive explanations of virus mutations and dynamics. I always strive to give my audience actionable insights, and top-tier information and predictions (with a rough estimate of probabilities) that can help them keep themselves and their loved ones prepared and healthy.

A few significant things I have gotten right over the years:

1. Omicron Variant. Before the variant was even named, while the WHO was still in closed-door meetings I was able to analyze the mutations and very early data from other countries on it’s transmission rate and predict that it would spread far better than previous variants and likely cause a massive pandemic wave.

2. I translated the earliest data out of Israel showing the waning of vaccine efficacy and was one of the first people on any social media platform to indicate that it was real and that it was going to be problematic, including eliminating any possibility of herd immunity. This was not surprising as most respiratory virus vaccine efficacy does wane over time (I have done several explainers on this).

3. Two years ago I updated my MMR vaccine as it was clear rates of vaccination in the United States were going the wrong direction. We are now facing what will likely be a record year for measles cases and the United States may soon lose it’s measles elimination status.

4. I have long been sharing mechanistic data on how SARS-CoV-2 can cause people to be transiently immunocompromised, which may last up to 18 months for some people. (Please see my series on Long COVID)

5. I debunked the idea of ‘Immunity Debt’ when it was first proposed and went head to head with popular social media doctors with little to no training in Immunology when they attempted to tell parents ‘it’s ok to let your kid get sick, they’re catching up’. This has now, years later been shown clearly to have been false and bad medical advice.

How did I get here? I stepped forward during the COVID pandemic after watching too many people simply ‘get it wrong’, misled by grifters and media headlines at the expense of their health and possibly their lives. Once I ‘tuned in’ to what the conversations were on social media, I as a trained expert, was appalled, especially by MDs with no training in infectious disease who with an air of authority began telling people absolutely false information about SARS-CoV-2. I took on a few different types. First an ego-manic ER physician on the east coast who in March of 2020 tried to tell me it was all overblown (I wonder how it all played out for him), and family medicine doctor in the Lake Tahoe area. She attempted to tell me that SARS-CoV-2 would not be airborne. She argued non-stop with me even pulling the “well. I’m a physician” card. Meanwhile everything MD’s know about infectious disease, has, at some point, been worked on and developed by a PhD. I can only hope that for the sake of the people they were ‘advising’ on social media they changed their tunes quickly.

I then moved to TikTok where I quickly found a community of like-minded scientists and physicians dedicated to getting it right to guide people through dark times. I kept looking forward to the day when I didn’t think my communication of infectious disease news would be needed anymore, but unfortunately I think it’s needed now more than ever. So I am still here.

This Substack is a way to produce longer-format, highly referenced content that is shareable and distributed directly to your inbox, not a the whim of any one algorithm.

All actionable public health information will always be kept free. I will occasionally write other pieces about ideas and tech developments at the nexus of the research fields I work in which include optical physics, immunology, chemistry, engineering, and physiology. Anything that will not have an immediate impact on personal health and wellness might be behind a paywall. Unfortunately, I have to keep commenting for paid users only to reduce the amount of faceless trolling.

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Disclaimer: All views posted are my own and do not represent current, prior, or future employers or companies. I receive no external funding or compensation for any content aside from what a given app or platform provides. If you see someone asking for donations, that’s not me. I do not consult with, nor am I beholden to, any private or public agency regarding my content, scientific interpretation, or opinions. Like any good Scientist, I will occasionally consult with other Scientists and Medical Professionals. If I have made an error, please do point it out to me. Otherwise, if you are upset about a typo, content, or opinion, feel free to forward your complaint to the ethereal void of my inbox, theoretically, something could happen.