Shonna McBride
@shonmcbride.bsky.social
Molecular Microbiologist studying C diff and friends. Opinions are my own.
This is disgusting, xenophobic, bigoted, greedy, cruel, short-sighted bullshit: harm for harm's sale. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Exclusive | U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After Graduation
The proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street and universities.
wsj.com
The US just surpassed the number of measles cases in 2025 in the first 6.5 months of 2026 🤬 2025 = 2288 cases Jan. 1- July 22, 2026 = 2298 cases with reports of sepsis and brain swelling in hospitalized children. #FireRFKJr @defendpublichealth.bsky.social www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
Studies Document Brain Swelling, Sepsis in U.S. Measles Outbreaks
Kids and the unvaccinated were most likely to end up hospitalized in South Carolina and Utah
medpagetoday.com
IMO, Taco Bell is probably the safest fast food outlet in the US today. I appreciate that they stepped up and took responsibility for the contaminated lettuce, which wasn't their fault in the first place. @tacobell.bsky.social
We can blame DOGE for many things. Diarrhea now included. "The CDC lab that responds to outbreaks of the parasite cyclospora was downsized from 11 people to just three."
The CDC Has a Cyclospora Lab. DOGE Downsized It Last Year
“Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” the former CDC lab director tells WIRED.
wired.com
Congrats we just made it impossible to come here for a PhD www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/16/m...
Trump administration limits student visas to four years, changing longstanding policy - The Boston Globe
The new rule, which also restricts the international students’ ability to transfer schools or change majors without approval in their first year, will go into effect in mid-September.
bostonglobe.com
My quote of the day Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
“It could take at least a year for OMB to respond to the comments and amend the draft rule”. Friends, this is a direct result of our collective action. The OMB Rule that would require political review of grants has prompted at least 50K comments. Thanks to all who commented, and you still can.
A Proposed Rule Would Politicize Medical Research. Scientists Are Not Happy.
In tens of thousands of comments, researchers, doctors and others warned the rule could hamper progress on important health issues.
nytimes.com
$1.1 trillion in federal grants is on the line, including Medicaid, Head Start, and community health centers. Learn about a free tool that I built to help you write your public comment in <5 minutes. 🔗 drruth.substack.com/p/i-built-yo... Deadline: July 13. Every voice counts. #medsky #2CFR200
I Built You a Tool That Helps You Write Your Federal Comment in 2 Minutes
*Deadline for commenting on OMB rule 2 CFR Part 200 is July 13th.*
drruth.substack.com
Here’s Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately. Meteorologists simply aren't able to gather as much data as they used to, and you're suffering for it. gizmodo.com/heres-why-we...
Here's Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately
Meteorologists simply aren't able to gather as much data as they used to, and you're suffering for it.
gizmodo.com
I love everything about this editorial by @dereklowe.bsky.social. Silence won't save anyone in the end. www.science.org/content/blog... "So the CEOs have decided to lie very still and hope that no one notices them.... But will it work? Only so long as Trump and his creatures see a benefit in it..."
Speaking Up: Who Is, and Who Isn't
science.org
The State Department’s plan will basically destroy PEPFAR and lead to the closure of many CDC country offices—a scenario that would jeopardize the health of millions and make Americans less safe.
New Plan Scales Back C.D.C.’s Work on Diseases Abroad
nytimes.com
I Was an NIH Program Official. Here's What a Peer Reviewer Doesn’t See. www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Opinion | I Was an NIH Program Official. Here's What a Peer Reviewer Doesn’t See.
The NEJM editors understand the threat of the proposed federal grant review changes
medpagetoday.com
🧪⚛️ What is going on within NSF? What is an X-Lab? More on today's news of cuts. nanoscale.blogspot.com/2026/06/bad-...
Bad to worse at NSF? (June 2026 edition)
This is a US research ecosystem post. Feel free to skip if this isn't your cup of tea. I'm showing my internet age in thinking that the rig...
nanoscale.blogspot.com
The reflecting pool is being sabotaged by paid protistas
"Right now, in some underfunded lab, a scientist is chasing a question that sounds pointless.... No one can say if they will succeed. But a century of experience says that funding people to do this work is a good bet. If we stop making that bet, we will pay for it in cures no one will know to miss."
Opinion | The Science That Turned Lizard Venom Into GLP-1s Is Under Attack
nytimes.com
Russell Vought is the director of the Office of Management & Budget. He is promulgating a new rule to install political control over ALL federal grant-making. Forget the experts. Russ is the decider-in-chief now. Write your members of Congress today. And share this. actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...
Oppose OMB Proposal to Put ALL Federal Government Funding Decisions in the Hands of Political Appointees
On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), OMB-2026-0034, Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance. The scope of this proposed regulation is...
actionnetwork.org
As we approach America250, I wish to point out that if not for woke George Washington mandating that his troops be inoculated against smallpox, we probably wouldn’t have made it to America001.
When I head to Washington, I will be the first woman in Congress with a science PhD. That matters. At a time when science is under attack, Congress needs more leaders who understand the value of evidence-based decision-making.
The Hib vaccine basically eliminated Hib. Before then, it was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in young kids, and led to tragedies like this one. Remarkable public health win. www.voicesforvaccines.org/a-hib-vaccin...
A Hib Vaccine Would’ve Saved My Brother
I sat on the floor next to Bobby. As I sat there watching him, I felt terrified.
voicesforvaccines.org
In 1863, Lincoln signed the National Academy of Sciences into law as an INDEPENDENT non-gov entity. Since WW2, we enjoyed pre-eminence in research. We benefitted from Germany's brain drain. We had the privilege of first access to next gen treatments before other countries. They looked to us. 🧪🧵
Gave some comments for this story in @science.org about a study in JAMA that shows a devastating decrease in NIH fellowships awarded to Black and Hispanic scientists. A lot of early career people are having their future meddled with. Some groups unequally... www.science.org/content/arti...
Study finds sharp decline in Black, Hispanic researchers receiving NIH funding
Drop in those receiving grants and fellowships in 2025 shows impact of Trump administration rollbacks to diversity initiatives
science.org
From 500 views in the first two months to over 100,000 views in the last few days. The ADA opinion piece that was too scary to be distributed at the ADA meeting has gone full Streisand. Y'all are doing the Lord's work.
For context, this is one hundred ninety-two thousand, five-year biomedical research grants. More than five years of complete funding for the entirety of the NIH for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, blindness, epilepsy, infectious diseases, etc… An entire generation of scientists.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 2mo agoIn the last 18 months, Congress has given DHS $240 billion — a quarter of a trillion.
New analysis in @jama.com: In 2025, NIH supported 4% fewer scientists vs 2024, reversing a previously upward trend. Black PIs saw the largest drop (−9.8%) followed by Hispanic PIs (−7.3%). jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... Current NIH policy is eroding the research workforce & US science leadership.
Trends in NIH Investigators by Sex, Race, Ethnicity, and Disability Status
This cross-sectional study assesses National Institutes of Health (NIH) data from fiscal years 2016-2025 comprising annual counts of principal investigators funded through research grants and fellowsh...
jamanetwork.com
If you have applied or plan to apply for an NIH grant, if you have reviewed or want to review for an NIH panel, you must read this piece from @27unihted.bsky.social about the detrimental changes to NIH peer review. @jeremymberg.bsky.social @drugmonkey.bsky.social substack.com/inbox/post/2...
The Quiet Attack On Science: Subverting NIH Peer Review
Authored by anonymous current and former NIH workers with experience in peer review, this is an overview of all the changes to NIH's peer review over the last 18 months.
substack.com
Today is National Cancer Survivors Day. Some history in cervical cancer. Once upon a time, cervical cancer was the #1 cause of death in women. The pap smear was invented by George Papanicolau in 1941. It is used to identify abnormal cells under a microscope. 🧪
I thought people were kidding, turns out Elon really did axe the screwworm containment program back in March 25. fucking imbecile www.agri-pulse.com/articles/226...
Bird flu, screwworm monitoring among foreign aid programs killed by Trump
Among the more than 5,300 grants and programs killed as a result of the Trump administration’s USAID cuts are a slate of U.S.-funded programs at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, including eff...
agri-pulse.com
Steven Kahn, director of the UW Diabetes Research Center, was removed by police from a national conference as he and others handed out copies of an editorial.
UW diabetes researcher removed from conference by police
seattletimes.com
