Kara Gavin
@karagavin.bsky.social
Science/medical writer & media relations for University of Michigan (Michigan Medicine/Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation) focusing on #primarycare, #mentalhealth, aging & #healthpolicy Mom, wife, baker, French horn player, AAAS Fellow, J! bronze
Countywide vote total from the Wayne County clerk (except for city of Northville and Detroit absentees) show 66% in favor, 33% opposed. www.waynecountymi.gov/files/assets...
Kara Gavin@karagavin.bsky.social · 15h ago30 years without bus service to Plymouth, Canton, Northville & other western suburbs of Detroit are about to end. www.freep.com/story/news/l...
30 years without bus service to Plymouth, Canton, Northville & other western suburbs of Detroit are about to end. www.freep.com/story/news/l...
Wayne County transit millage passes, county says, ending opt outs
The millage renews public transit for communities in the SMART system and adds a new tax for those in 17 others that do not have the bus service.
freep.com
The University of Michigan's Survey Research Center @um-src.bsky.social is seeking motivated New Yorkers to serve as field interviewers on the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey. recruit.isr.umich.edu/jobs/658306-...
Field Interviewer New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey August 2026 - The University of Michigan
If you have not yet done so please read the full description by clicking on the (v). You are encouraged to apply, regardless of your current work assignment.
recruit.isr.umich.edu
Not exactly a surprising analysis, but a sobering one. open.substack.com/pub/gooznews...
Health care headed for a financing crisis
Uncompensated care for the uninsured is skyrocketing ahead of major cuts in federal funding, setting the stage for a major spike in insurance premiums for the privately insured.
open.substack.com
This may dramatically slow down the attacks on science. It also provides a template for how to prevent the federal government from becoming a patronage state. It’s a big deal!
Politico@politico.com · 3d agoSenate finalizes funding patch that would block Trump’s grant overhaul
The deadline for the 1st Michigan Science and Technology Policy fellowship is Monday August 9th. Please circulate widely!
Shobita Parthasarathy@shobitap.org · 3w agoI am thrilled to announce the 1st Michigan Science & Tech Policy fellowship! We're looking for someone w/AI expertise & policy interests, to work in the MI Dept of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. App deadline Aug 9. Learn about the MiST fellowships: stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/fellowships/...
Michigan's #cyclosporiasis outbreak has now turned deadly: the state health department just updated its site to include a note about 2 deaths of individuals who had significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis & dehydration: www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/keep-m...
michigan.gov
Over the past three years, the Lab Reuse Program at Michigan Medicine has rehomed over 9,000 lbs of surplus research supplies. By giving unused equipment a second life, the program has helped campus labs save nearly $416,000. myumi.ch/e7zwM
“Medicare for All” is at the center of tomorrow’s Michigan primary What are the two candidates really saying about it? How would they govern? Can they win in November? Some answers here… www.thebulwark.com/p/the-medica...
The ‘Medicare for All’ Test for Michigan Democrats
Haley Stevens wants to move legislation. Abdul El-Sayed wants to move the debate. But first, one of them has to keep the seat blue.
thebulwark.com
More than 660,000 public comments were posted on the DEA's proposed rescheduling of 7-OH products (which would effective ban the synthetic opioids marketed as related to kratom but far more potent). www.regulations.gov/document/HHS... The rescheduling could take effect as early as this week.
Kara Gavin@karagavin.bsky.social · 5d agoI first wrote about kratom & 7-OH in February, after @umich.edu addiction experts told me what they were seeing in clinic from these unregulated opioids. Now, with the DEA possibly about to reschedule 7-OH and other synthetic opioids, an update & a call to action for clinicians: michmed.org/RMnBV
Do yourself a favor and watch this series. We just finished episode 7 about the start of the Holocaust and while the visuals were hard to stomach, the reminders of the role of complicit civilians felt quite timely... www.history.com/shows/world-...
Watch World War II with Tom Hanks Full Episodes, Video & More | HISTORY
Catch up on World War II with Tom Hanks, only on HISTORY. Get exclusive videos, pictures, bios and check out more of your favorite moments from seasons past.
history.com
Please stop saying “lockdowns.” There were never true lockdowns in the US, and it fuels far right narratives to repeat this inaccurate statement. You can say closures, you can say restrictions, or better, you can say public health measures which saved many lives.
Dr. Lucky Tran@luckytran.com · 6d agoPeople still complain about “lockdowns” but we had none in the US. We had stay-at-home orders, where although businesses were closed, you could still go outside whenever you wanted. Other countries had far stricter rules, and yet have been much more accepting of them as they saved many more lives.
tired of seeing this stupid statistic trotted out by the worst people in metro detroit, so i wrote about it
How should we measure SMART's effectiveness?
"3.9 riders per bus" is a dumb statistic.
detroit.leaflet.pub
If you’re able to donate blood, PLEASE do so. As an ICU nurse, I promise you that we are in dire need of blood and blood products for patients. We do whatever we can in order to avoid transfusing, but we can’t always replace lost blood with normal saline or Lactated Ringers.
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · last wk."On Monday, the Red Cross declared a national blood crisis for the second time ever in its history."
Only in Ann Arbor, home of 60 years of successive generations of pharmaceutical company R&D on the same site (Parke Davis -> Warner Lambert -> Pfizer -> now used by U-M for many types of research and known as NCRC)
NEW: The known reach of cyberattacks on water systems continues to expand to include Michigan + other states and could be far wider. Officials say Iran remains top suspect despite Trump's rejection of the notion. Water remains safe, but experts are spooked www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
Scope of Hacks on U.S. Water Supply Widens as Evidence Points to Iran (Gift Article)
Michigan and Minnesota are among at least seven states coping with cyberattacks aimed at disrupting water systems nationwide.
nytimes.com
I'm back! Each Friday night, I write a briefing on what happened in US science & higher ed. 🧪 July 31 (Year 2, Week 31) - student visas, asylum cases & ICE surge at airports - "Golden Age" & Vanderbilt reports - kangaroo courts, grant terminations & so much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
Year 2, Week 31
Jul 11-31, 2026 – the abracadabra of it all
buttondown.com
NO WARRIOR CAN FIGHT ALONE. ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT.
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
Vermont was an independent republic for 14 years before becoming the first state admitted to the US after the original 13 colonies.
Hoover Street Rag@hooverstreetrag.org · 5d agoYou know what, be the change you want to see in the world: ------ I believe that we all have favorite random facts that we know and love. Share one of your favorite random facts in the hopes that someone else will learn the cool thing. * Atlanta is further west than Detroit.
I first wrote about kratom & 7-OH in February, after @umich.edu addiction experts told me what they were seeing in clinic from these unregulated opioids. Now, with the DEA possibly about to reschedule 7-OH and other synthetic opioids, an update & a call to action for clinicians: michmed.org/RMnBV
What’s the latest on 7-OH and kratom availability and addiction care?
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency proposed temporary rescheduling of 7-OH products could remove synthetic opioids from the market, leaving natural leaf kratom available amid a shortage of addi...
michmed.org
I first wrote about kratom & 7-OH in February, after @umich.edu addiction experts told me what they were seeing in clinic from these unregulated opioids. Now, with the DEA possibly about to reschedule 7-OH and other synthetic opioids, an update & a call to action for clinicians: michmed.org/RMnBV
What’s the latest on 7-OH and kratom availability and addiction care?
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency proposed temporary rescheduling of 7-OH products could remove synthetic opioids from the market, leaving natural leaf kratom available amid a shortage of addi...
michmed.org
1/🧵 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR AUSTRALIANS SEEKING NUVAXOVID (NOVAVAX). Today I received a Nuvaxovid (Novavax) vaccination - my first COVID-19 vaccination in more than three years.
A few eye-popping numbers about jumps in uninsured patients seeking care at hospitals (as revealed in for-profit chains’ earnings reports) here… www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/b...
After Obamacare Cuts, Hospitals Are Treating More Uninsured Patients (Gift Article)
More people who lost coverage after congressional Republicans ended enhanced federal subsidies are now seeking care in emergency rooms and unable to pay bills.
nytimes.com
On this day in 1965, the law creating #Medicaid and Medicare was signed. Our researchers at the @umich.edu Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation have done many studies to evaluate both programs - including this recent report on Michigan’s Medicaid expansion: ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/...
Michigan’s Medicaid expansion improved both health and finances
U-M report shows individuals, hospitals and primary care clinics all experienced positive impacts, but raises concerns about cost-sharing provisions that all states must soon enact
ihpi.umich.edu
The deadline for commenting on the interim final rule on Medicaid work requirements is tomorrow at midnight. So far, CMS has received almost 73,000 comments. www.regulations.gov/document/CMS...
For 34 years, ISR’s Health and Retirement Study has followed about 20,000 Americans to better understand dementia, retirement and healthy aging. A new feature in the July OVPR collection explore how ISR built a public research resource that now informs aging research around the world.
*Yelling from the rafters* One and a half million Americans died and we still have no moment of silence, day of remembrance, or means for collective mourning.
The Fig Economy@figgityfigs.bsky.social · last wk.One of my Crank Theories of Everything, at least of Everything in the Recent Past, is that we are dealing (badly) with COVID trauma we’d mostly prefer to pretend never happened.
Why do Americans experience the same economy so differently? Joanne Hsu, director of Surveys of Consumers, discusses AI, inflation, stock ownership and everyday costs in a new video interview. Watch the video to explore the findings.
