"Kumar’s departure follows a broader leadership shakeup inside the agency, and a particularly rocky year of turnover in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research where the cell and gene therapy office is housed." www.statnews.com/2026/06/29/v... By @lizzylawrence.bsky.social

Foxes named to panel advising henhouse.

NIH grants have been under political scrutiny since early 2025. But what does the screening process actually look like? What is being flagged? I spent a month digging into leaked docs and emails. We've published the 235-word list that are being flagged by an internal AI tool. And so much more. 🧵

Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - [email protected]

"Each vial includes a minimally nutritious transportation medium to sustain the larvae while still delaying development until the maggots reach the patient." www.fda.gov/vaccines-blo...

Renato Rosaldo, Anthropologist Who Disrupted His Discipline, Dies at 85 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/s...

Members of Canada's North Shore Regiment disembarking from their landing craft at Juno Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV7m...

"Being moved into the Death Master File can be devastating to someone who is still alive because it can cut off their financial access. Last year, career staff warned that falsely giving people death dates could be catastrophic, though the administration overrode those objections."

"Some have compared it to a flak tower, others to a 'Klingon prison'." www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

"It falls on Trump's 80th birthday and Flag Day, and it's part of the administration's year of celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

NSF uses staffing cuts to strip Inspector General's office of its ability to investigate research misconduct www.science.org/content/arti...

Scott Pelley, the longtime CBS News journalist, was fired by the network a day after he harshly criticized its leadership in a staff meeting.

“You came into our house. This is ‘60 Minutes,’ and I guess you wandered in expecting to read a statement off your phone, and you wouldn’t answer any questions?” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Scoop: NSF has been quietly blocking new funds and grants to four top universities: Duke, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Dozens of proposals from PIs at these universities—and their collaborators—have been stuck at the Office of Award Management awaiting finalization for months.

Three things said about AI and social science: it's a topic to study, a thing to critique, a tool to use. My new Daedalus essay argues these aren't three conversations; they're one. A 🧵 on "Field Theory: AI as Social Science Question, Object, and Tool." www.amacad.org/publication/...

Essential reading from @shobitap.org in @science.org: the concept of "sacrifice zones" described communities near industrial or military sites. "Sacrifice subjects" names who bears the risks of new technologies. People-first regulation, she argues, starts with that question.

"I am quite aware that in making this argument I’m ranking Makary below a former commissioner who paid a $90,000 fine and served time in probation because of undisclosed conflicts of interest. (Discussion of Lester Crawford’s reign is for another time.)"

One year later - my reflections on what's happened to US science since the National Science Foundation grant terminations last year. The problem of misinformation isn't going away, but our ability to study and understand it is under attack. 1/ 🧪 www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...

Scores of CDC employees, including those undergoing cancer treatment, or who have severe mobility issues or serious bowel disorders have been told they cannot work from home. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/h...

The wellness industry’s influence goes beyond dubious health claims. Our new article led by @karremannancy.bsky.social with @spidermaani.bsky.social and Benjamin Hawkins examines the wellness industry from a commercial determinants of health perspective. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

“It means that people get fired because there is uncertainty about whether the grant will come through. It means budgets get busted. It means research projects get stalled.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/s...

“The constant demand for cadavers led to routine grave robbing practices, mainly targeting African American burial grounds, to supply the medical school.” abcnews.com/US/wireStory...

A former tobacco executive quietly joined CDC senior leadership last month — a move raising concerns over the industry's influence over public health and revolving doors. www.statnews.com/2026/04/22/n...

📢 ISSCR is hosting a briefing in Washington, DC on April 23. Speakers will cover scientific background of stem cell research, clinical translation outlook, and case studies underscoring the role of federal research funding ➡️ clinical trial. https://ow.ly/7Xpb50YNCFM

"The Times’s analysis shows that the damage was often caused by strikes in crowded neighborhoods — especially in Tehran, a capital of 10 million people that is as densely populated as New York City." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

So honored to receive a Polk award today with STAT colleagues @mmolteni.bsky.social @aniloza.bsky.social @angusrohan.bsky.social @jonathanwosen.bsky.social @isabellacueto.bsky.social @lizzylawrence.bsky.social @jaspar.bsky.social @rickberke.bsky.social Gideon Gil Laura Chang+Sarah Todd. What a team.

"The laws of war forbid the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure as a means of coercing a government." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/u...

"No other recent American president has talked so openly about committing potential war crimes, legal experts, historians and former U.S. officials say." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/u...

"The disgraced former law school dean at Manitoba's largest university has been disbarred for a second time — this time overseas — as a Canada-wide arrest warrant remains in effect over two years after he disappeared." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

My one-hour special “Rick Steves Iran: Yesterday and Today,” which helps humanize 90 million Iranian people, is streaming free and ad-free at www.ricksteves.com/watch-iran.

Current administration outlines plan to cause further harm to scientific research. Proposed self-harm extends across the board from basic science research & health research to environmental research & protection. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

BREAKING: In response to huge cuts in Trump's budget request, NSF is shuttering its SBE directorate. Staff will be transferred to other parts of the agency and "grants that align with Administration priorities" will be maintained. That & more w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social & @edwrdchen.bsky.social

"Intentional attacks against educational institutions may be considered a war crime under international law." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/w...

"Since artificial wombs don’t exist yet, brainless bodies can’t be grown in a lab. So he’s said the first batch of brainless clones would have to be carried by women paid to do the job. In the future, though, one brainless clone could give birth to another." www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/30/1...

"For all the uncertainties, one truth I feel deeply from having seen war up close: Old men should not fix their messes by dispatching young people to die in unnecessary wars." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/o...

Thirteen people have died in federal immigration custody in the first three months of this year, and 46 have died since President Trump took office last year and began his mass deportation campaign, according to death reports and news releases made public by ICE. trib.al/XITKbfd

The news has moved on, but ICE is still in Minneapolis. My neighbors are still patrolling streets, driving strangers to work, and providing aid. As a photojournalist at @propublica.org, I wanted to know: What do they look like in their daily lives? So I picked up my camera 👇

Pregnant women who have been swept up in President Trump’s immigration crackdown have been held in detention centers as late as eight months into their pregnancies without adequate food or medical care, a New York Times examination found. nyti.ms/40QJ7wD

“Demagoguery and scapegoating of minorities has always been a powerful force in politics. What’s new is that people in leadership roles don’t see it as their job to tamp it down.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

California lawmakers said they plan to rename Cesar Chavez Day, observed on March 31, to “Farmworkers Day,” following the devastating accusations of sexual abuse by Chavez, a labor leader who has been celebrated for decades in the state.

From the OIG report: “We found that nursing homes inappropriately diagnosed schizophrenia to mask their misuse of antipsychotic drugs, artificially inflate their star rating, and skirt established safeguards meant to protect residents." www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

“The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. … I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here.” Read Dolores Huerta's statement on Cesar Chavez in full:

Having a deep-fried President & Secretary of Health & Human Services probably hasn't helped matters.

"Government data provided to CBC News reveals B.C. has hired 414 health-care workers since it launched a recruitment campaign in the U.S. exactly one year ago." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

"In the end, the sports and books departments were folded, and the metro section was gutted. Most international correspondents and editors were laid off, including those in the Middle East, just weeks before the United States and Israel attacked Iran." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/b...

"When intending to upload code, some researchers have also accidentally published partial or entire Biobank datasets to GitHub, a popular online code-sharing platform." www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

"Over the last year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his associates have questioned the safety of childhood vaccines, made false statements about their effectiveness and rescinded recommendations for routine vaccination against a half-dozen diseases." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/h...

"The center, founded in 1960, is responsible for many of the biggest scientific advances in understanding of weather and climate." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/c...

NEW: Nevada Regulators Fine Peptide Providers at Anti-Aging Festival Where Two Women Became Critically Ill, by @anjeanette-damon.bsky.social

Come work with The Public's Science team @ the Institute for Advanced Study. Hiring a fellow to develop digital infrastructure for public engagement, and are seeking someone committed to reimagining the social contract for American research. Please share widely. jobs.chronicle.com/job/37962820...