Are PANDAS/PANS a MAHA thing? I feel like I should know this.

NIH Vigils@nihvigils.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A web of the relationships between the new Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the “vaccines cause autism” community. This guy will be controlling what NICHD grants are funded.

“We forget that America once confronted a housing crisis with far more urgency and ambition.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/o... Via @nytopinion.nytimes.com

Anyone close to the world of #newbornscreening knows of its current public health value and that genomics has been touted as its future. This excellent feature in Nature lays out the issues/obstacles www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Screening babies’ genomes could save lives. Here’s how it would work

Massive genomic newborn-screening studies are under way all over the globe. But questions about scalability, feasibility and net benefit remain.

nature.com

Proud to know these folks - thanks @285southatl.bsky.social 285south.com/are-you-conc...

“Are you concerned about yourself and your neighbors?” – 285 South

As food insecurity grows among Georgia’s immigrant and refugee communities, one mutual aid group is operating under the radar to support their neighbors

285south.com

Read this new one by Rachel Aviv. It is astonishing, one of the best magazine stories I've read in a long time. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Scientist Who Lived with Dozens of Children from the Pacific Islands

Carleton Gajdusek won the Nobel for his work on a disease in Papua New Guinea. But his biggest experiment was on the children he took back to the U.S.

newyorker.com

LEADERSHIP MATTERS!!

This is good. Scientists talking like real people. Scientists travelling deep underground to smell farts. Scientists squabbling. All good! @jamesdinneen.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/science/elem...

The Mystery of Dark Oxygen

Scientists once thought that life-sustaining oxygen existed only near Earth’s surface. Then they detected it deep underground.

newyorker.com

Scott Atlas predicted COVID would kill 10,000 Americans and was a chief advocate of herd immunity via mass infection. Today, MAGA disinformation agents are very upset Fauci opposed any of this.

I'm guessing that @shaylalove.bsky.social did not get strong interest from @newyorker.com on this topic www.vox.com/advice/49731...

Is it okay to be intentionally ignorant?

A new — surprisingly peaceful — way to think about information and knowledge.

vox.com

Gutting federal research funding from America’s universities would not only dismantle the primary engine of scientific discovery in the United States, it would fundamentally change American science for generations to come. Article: zurl.co/sCa8E

Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

zurl.co

The FDA has reversed its demand that Huntington’s disease patients undergo sham brain surgery to act as clinical trial controls. Under new leadership, regulators are letting UniQure use standard-care comparators for its AMT-130 gene therapy, which aims to slow progression up to 75%. #MedSky

"Truly evil" FDA rejection of gene therapy overturned after Trump official ousted

Gene therapy company UniQure had another FDA meeting after Vinay Prasad's exit.

arstechnica.com

I am once again on the Hill representing @standupforscience.net--AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION BASED IN GA-05--and unable to get a member meeting with my house rep @repnikema.bsky.social...

I have often been critical of the leadership @aaas.org but they just took action on the new OMB rules that will politicize science, speaking out and notifying members. I hope all take the time to follow their advice, contact Congress, and most important, post a comment www.aaas.org/news/aaas-st...

"This would be the end of American science as we know it," said @colesci.bsky.social, a policy analyst from the group @standupforscience.net who has been organizing to protest the change. "We're gonna make sure that it doesn't fade quietly into the night." www.npr.org/2026/06/03/n...

President Trump seeks control of science funding

The White House Office of Management and Budget is moving to take more control of billions of dollars in federal grants. Critics say the proposed change would jeopardize the integrity of U.S. science.

npr.org

Russell Vought, Director of the OMB, has issued a set of proposed changes that would dramatically alter federal grant funding. However, we can each take action to prevent these from taking effect. Here's how, a 🧵 🧪 1/n www.science.org/content/arti...

White House seeks to tighten political oversight of grantmaking

Sweeping proposed rule, now open for comments, would also restrict foreign collaborations and remove federal funding for open-access fees

science.org

My comments to @nytimes.com on the "Uniform Regulation." “It means that all grants, not just science grants, are now subject to the rules that are defined by the White House, rather than by a technical agency." said Cole Donovan, the director of science policy and advocacy @standupforscience.net

White House Seeks to Impose Political Test on Billions in Federal Grants

nytimes.com

When funders interfere in the conduct of the science drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/06/01/w...

When funders interfere in the conduct of the science

it is unusual. A recent article in Science Insider from Jocelyn Kaiser had a paragraph that caught my attention An HHS spokesperson said on background that NIH staff are still making final grant de…

drugmonkey.wordpress.com

Scientists--I'm a journalist looking for interesting examples of global health research that has managed to continue or adapt following the dismantling of USAID. Re-posts appreciated!

Defend Public Health demand that Congress block Russ Vought's proposed changes to US grants which gut peer review and isolate US science and give control over science to political appointees. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social www.defendpublichealth.org/press-releas...

Congress Must Block New Rules on Federal Grants, Defend Public Health Urges | Defend Public Health

New regulations issued last week by the Office of Management and Budget regarding federal research grants amount to a declaration of war on impartial, evidence-based science, and Congress must act qui...

defendpublichealth.org

Kenyan healthcare workers are pushing back hard against reported plans for the U.S. to establish Ebola quarantine/treatment facilities in Kenya for exposed American personnel during the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Central/East Africa.

An unapologetically angry post about what’s being done to US science:

The Current Crisis: What's Happening to Science in America

science.org

What if essentially all research collaborations with China were banned? There's a new bill before Congress that would do exactly that www.science.org/content/arti...

Lawmakers propose banning all U.S.-Chinese research collaborations

Critics say bill would weaken U.S. science by cutting flows of ideas and talent

science.org

This sounds awesome, an intellectual challenge

J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈@jaspar.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Attn: STAT is hiring a reporter to cover a new trust-in-science beat. Note that the listing currently says it's Boston-based, but that's an error and is being corrected. The position is remote-friendly! www.statnews.com/careers/stat...

“Academic science is not only about productivity, it is also about deep understanding, exploring creative solutions and training critical thinkers to be the next generation of researchers.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The uncritical adoption of AI in science is alarming — we urgently need guard rails

Artificial intelligence is rapidly accelerating scientific output, but risks narrowing inquiry, weakening judgement and undermining how scientists are trained.

nature.com

People often pitch AI as unprecedented. But what if we already have the organizational tools to evaluate & negotiate its use? Our new book Auditing AI opens in the 1980s with the story of the US Network for Organ Sharing how how they test & decide on their algorithms direct.mit.edu/books/book/6...

Introduction

CC BY-NC-ND

direct.mit.edu

Last year, @alexip718.com interviewed state Rep. Clark at a @standupforscience.net protest. An assistant professor at Emory Nursing School and a March for Science organizer, she lamented how the Trump administration was treating people of color and immigrants as scapegoats in public health crises:

Across America, Protesters Stand Up for Science, Oppose Trump and DOGE Cuts

The Xylom's reporters covered the Stand Up for Science protests from Atlanta, New York City, and Seattle.

thexylom.com

Let me introduce Dr. Colette Delawalla. PhD in Clinical Psychology and founder of Stand Up for Science. (And all around great human)

State Rep. @jasmineclarkforga.bsky.social wins the Democratic primary in the vacant #GA13, @decisiondeskhq.bsky.social projects. Clark is now poised to become the first Black woman PhD scientist to serve in Congress. My interview with her here: 19thnews.org/2026/05/geor...

Jasmine Clark is poised to be the first Black woman Ph.D. scientist in Congress

Rep. Jasmine Clark is poised to become the first Black woman Ph.D. scientist to serve in Congress from Georgia’s 13th Congressional District.

19thnews.org

Sad to read news about @healthbeat.org in Atlanta. @rgrapevine.bsky.social was doing excellent work.

Georgia, it’s Election Day. You have the chance to send Miracle Rankin and Jen Jordan to the Georgia Supreme Court. They are extraordinary leaders who will fight to protect your rights and uphold the rule of law.