My friend is a co-lead on this project (my wife is a collaborator). Let me tell you what it was about and why Battacharya’s decision simply amplifies the consequences of structural racism that the project was attempting to understand. A 🧵 1/12

Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · yesterday

Fresh grant terminations at NIH 🤬 www.science.org/content/arti... 1/7

This blog post is a master class in (1) communicating a message so few articles (and analysts 😬) seem to fully understand/engage with and (2) the power of good data viz. Such a good and worthwhile read!

Kristoffer Magnusson@rpsychologist.com · last mo.

New interactive blog! "Why Adjusted Regression Coefficients Are Less Descriptive Than They Look" rpsychologist.com/descriptive-...

1. Colorado is on the verge of passing a new conversion therapy ban. And it's clever. Borrowing from a Republican tactic of using private right of action to get around SCOTUS rulings, now Colorado will allow survivors to sue their conversion therapists. All that is left is the full Senate passage.

New Colorado Conversion Therapy Ban With Clever Mechanism Close To Passing

The bill uses a private right of action, a tactic previously used by Republicans to target abortion providers.

erininthemorning.com

love this creative thinking! go Boise!!! (also, help me understand how when our states, country, and world have quite literally life-or-death issues at play, state govts are spending their time banning flags, revoking trans people's licenses, regulating where trans people pee, etc. jfc.)

Erin Reed@erininthemorning.com · 4mo ago

1. Idaho banned the pride flag on government property. So Boise made the pride flag their official city flag, which allowed them to fly it. Then Idaho banned new city flags. So in response, Boise has now wrapped the poles themselves in rainbows! Subscribe to support our journalism.

I’ve been warned that by engaging in politics, I might undermine myself as a scientist. Or worse, reduce the trust that people have in me or scientists as a whole. This latter point is the thesis of a recent article by Byron Hyde: link.springer.com/article/10.1... I disagree for multiple reasons.

I've been convinced for years that bots in online research are much more sophisticated than we think they are. Our current "best practices" are absolutely obsolete. This should be required reading for anyone collecting, or publishing from, online data. Seriously.

Sean Westwood@seanjwestwood.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Many have asked for the LLM Survey paper. The release was bungled a bit by PNAS, but it is live now: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

So... I did some analysis of grants that did receive noncompetitive renewals. In particular, I looked a those award where the title of the grant changed. Warning: The results are just what I expected, but oooph... 1/4

a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .

ALT: a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .

media.tenor.com

RFK Jr. is going to release a report on what he thinks are the causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder. There is reason to believe it won’t be trustworthy, so @defendpublichealth.bsky.social has released our own evidence-based report of ASD risk factors to the public. Vaccines aren’t one of them.

Risk Factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder: What We Already Know From Scientific Evidence | Defend Public Health

With Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to announce what he believes are the causes of autism this month, Defend Public Health is preemptively warning the public not t...

defendpublichealth.org

Stoked to read this handbook. Also, my new life mission is to piss off the right people by the doing ethical, principled, rigorous science that they're going to dislike. We *must* keep shining a light on LGBTQ+ people, trans people specifically, Black and Brown people, and women. Lfg.

Association for Psychological Science@psychscience.bsky.social · 11mo ago

APS Fellow @lewan.bsky.social & colleagues have recently developed the Anti-Autocracy Handbook, which they describe as “a call to action, resilience, and collective defense of democracy, truth, and academic freedom in the face of mounting authoritarianism.”

I took this picture myself at the CDC protest today. These are among the hundreds of bullet holes in CDC headquarters windows, visible from the street. I heard today that the admin has no urgent plan to fix these windows. Imagine being a CDC employee going to work under these conditions

NEW: Don't ask too many questions, but... NIH may not re-terminate the 900ish grants at issue in the main NIH lawsuits after all. To the PIs of reinstated grants, SPEND NOW! 🧵 Here's what NIH is probably thinking. Bear with me:

Wow! So Bhattacharya is now saying in right leaning rags that it’s been rogue program officers that created banned words lists at NIH. 🤣 What a sad, small person he is! “Program officers ‘took it upon themselves’ to create ad hoc, unofficial lists…”

I spoke to @politico.com about the Black maternal mortality crisis. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

The Black maternity mortality crisis comes to the Hill

Your definitive guide to women, politics and power.

politico.com

NEW: In an unprecedented move, the NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding. NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and told to expect placements by political appointees.

Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities

The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.

nature.com

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨 Brave #EPA employees who signed the #DeclarationofDissent are now facing administrative leave after speaking out. NOW MORE THAN EVER THESE EPA EMPLOYEES NEED YOUR SUPPORT & SOLIDARITY! stand with them publicly now by adding your name here ➡️ zurl.co/6MReq zurl.co/XiAxu

EPA places staffers who signed ‘dissent’ letter on leave

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is placing staffers who signed a letter of dissent against the Trump administration’s actions and policies on leave. The EPA says it has placed 1…

thehill.com

Judge Young states that there must be a permanent injunction for the racial discrimination present in the NIH terminations. But he says that b/c of Skrmetti, there is no federal remedy for NIH's LGBTQ+ discrimination??? Skrmetti wasn't about sexual orientation though. Can law people please explain?

Max Kozlov@maxkozlov.bsky.social · last yr.

The court also finds "extensive discrimination" against trans people. But his hands are tied because of the SCOTUS decision in Skrmetti. Not all discrimination is illegal, he interprets SCOTUS as ruling, meaning bias against trans people is akin to setting a voting age or disenfranchising felons.

Medicare for All - "That's socialism!" Social Security - "That's socialism!" Debt free education - "That's socialism!" Universal childcare - "That's socialism!" $1 trillion+ in tax cuts for the wealthy... "That's just how it is."

Robert F Kennedy Jr is not a vaccine skeptic. Reporters and editors who’ve decided it’s somehow more fair to call him one instead of the anti-vaccine activist and lawyer he is should stop mischaracterizing him so… in the pursuit of accuracy.

Just in: NIH staff have been instructed to REINSTATE these ~900 grants to comply with the court order, per sources. This comes after staff were also directed to cease any further terminations. You can see the lists grants to be reinstated in my post below.

Max Kozlov@maxkozlov.bsky.social · last yr.

The judge intends to limit his order to universities in the plaintiff states (CA, MD, WA, AZ, CO, DE, HI, MA, MN, NV, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, WI), members of the plaintiff orgs (APHA, UAW), and the researchers named directly, he said today. His written opinion will come in the coming days.

Stay denied by Judge Young in APHA v NIH and State AGs v Kennedy cases. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... 1/n

BREAKING: In a unanimous decision, a federal court of appeals has ruled that Louisiana's law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms is unconstitutional. We’ll keep saying it: Public schools are not Sunday schools.

This is so despicable. Know that you can still provide @trevorproject.bsky.social's direct number (866-488-7386 or text to 678-678) to folks who need it. Given that this also cuts needed funding for this work, it's a good day to donate to The Trevor Project here:

Donate to The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project https://give.thetrevorproject.org/campaign/692681/donate

give.thetrevorproject.org

Maggie Astor@maggieastor.bsky.social · last yr.

Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.

although there are still uncertainties in how this ruling will play out, this is nonetheless important to celebrate. HUGE thank you to the many people who contributed so much of their time, expertise, and emotional energy to bring these lawsuits to fruition.

Scott Delaney@scott-delaney.bsky.social · last yr.

THIS IS IT! THIS IS HUGE!! PLAINTIFF'S WIN!! Judge Young rules that the NIH grant terminations at issue in these cases are illegal and therefore vacated. BOOM!

MORE YOUNG: "It is palpably clear that these directives and the set of terminated grants here also are designed to frustrate, to stop, research that may bear on the health – we’re talking about health here, the health of Americans, of our LGBTQ community. That’s appalling."

THIS IS IT! THIS IS HUGE!! PLAINTIFF'S WIN!! Judge Young rules that the NIH grant terminations at issue in these cases are illegal and therefore vacated. BOOM!

Scott Delaney@scott-delaney.bsky.social · last yr.

"This Court rules that the challenged directives . . . are arbitrary and capricious." "They are of no force and effect." "They are illegal and so are each of the terminations before this Court"

Finally. A person with (more) power calling these terminations what they are: discrimination. What an incredible moment to witness.

Scott Delaney@scott-delaney.bsky.social · last yr.

After ruling, with anger in his voice, Judge Young: "This represents racial discrimination. And discrimination against America's LGBTQ community. That's what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out. And I do so."

Huge thanks to @anniewaldman.bsky.social and @propublica.org for shining a light on these terminations. These terminations are a major blow professionally. But they'll wreak far more havoc on the health and livelihood of so many humans.

Annie Waldman@anniewaldman.bsky.social · last yr.

NEW: The Trump administration said their research did not "enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness." Thousands of scientists disagreed. We heard from +150 researchers impacted by the NIH grant terminations on what is being lost in the cuts. 🧵👇 projects.propublica.org/nih-cuts-res...

Entire CDC staff that oversaw an annual survey to better understand infant & maternal health was axed. For 3+ decades, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, or PRAMS, surveyed moms pre/postpartum & has been used by researchers to study US’s disproportionately high maternal mortality rates

Gold-standard maternal mortality database in limbo as CDC staff placed on leave

As part of the sweeping layoffs that rocked HHS, the entire staff that oversaw an annual survey to better understand infant and maternal health was placed on administrative leave.

statnews.com

When I heard the mom of a trans girl say the night her daughter came out to her was the first time she'd ever seen her child happy, I knew it was a story I needed to share. These are the stories the public isn't hearing. An honor to get to report on 3 family's journeys for @teenvogue.com.

Why These Trans Teens and Their Families Risked Everything to Get Gender-Affirming Care

It’s as simple as love.

teenvogue.com