Three books stood out from my reading list this year: 1. On the Origin of Species: skillful persuasion techniques 2. The Beautiful Struggle: lyrical memoir with a journalist's restraint 3. Elderhood: compelling case for rethinking aging Happy New Year and happy reading in 2026!

We celebrate community health workers. But only half receive a salary. Everyone agrees that doctors deserve a reliable salary. But CHWs’ contribution is often invisible, serving people in their neighborhoods. Funders assume this is simple: raising awareness/teaching. We're testing a new strategy:

I was interviewed for @theguardian.com by the wonderful @melodyschreiber.com, one of the finest health reporters in the world, about what I called a “neocolonialist” study planned by Danish researchers in Guinea-Bissau, funded by RFK Jr. So many red flags 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Imagine a hospital built and then abandoned. For 30 years, its only visitors are water buffaloes. In 2008, our nonprofit, Possible, partnered with the Nepali government to renovate Bayalpata Hospital. 17 years later, it is transitioned back to the government. A look back at the changes.

Thank you! "Practical" is the highest compliment for our research

The honor was mine! Grateful to students+faculty for great questions and interest in practical solutions for intimate partner violence Thanks @pcollins-mh.bsky.social + @jkbass.bsky.social for the invitation + dinner Met Dr. Jackie Campbell, whose pioneering work continues to inspire!

This paper describes our approach to address a complex situation: husband drinks alcohol and wife cannot leave an abusive relationship Nurses use motivational interviewing for alcohol use and couple's therapy for communication skills, emotion regulation, & safety. dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Looking forward to visiting the @jhu-gmh.bsky.social team! Join on zoom if you would like to hear about work in reducing intimate partner violence and depression.

This is such cool work

When women face violence from a partner, the common advice is to leave. But for many, leaving isn't possible. We asked: Can we reduce violence and improve mental health by creating a supportive structure within the family? Sharing our RCT protocol for this innovative approach.

It’s true, I was out on admin leave today at 2pm. I was given no reason. The notice says it is “non-disciplinary.” I was told it came down from HHS.

NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say. Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration. Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".

Congratulations Sajama Nepali for receiving the Early Career Researcher Presentation Award at the Global Mental Health Summit! Wonderful when global and local knowledge drive innovation to improve mental health, AND our Possible team member gets recognized.

Don't miss talks from our team members covering two NIH-funded intervention studies supported by @ucsfpsych.bsky.social Global Mental Health Summit -a family-based intervention to reduce intimate partner violence and depression -address co-occurring depression, anxiety, hypertension, and diabetes

This is a remarkable piece. Conservative AND liberal legal scholars come out TOGETHER to condemn Trump’s compact for higher education. www.chronicle.com/article/our-...

2 weeks ago, a journal rejected my submission. It's ok. I'll send it somewhere else. Yesterday, they sent me a second rejection. Same manuscript. Should I write back: "I'm sorry to make you feel regret twice." 😄 When it's published elsewhere and I humblebrag, do I count this as two rejections? 😂

The entire HR department at the CDC is gone. Everyone at the IRB, which makes sure studies are conducted ethically and rigorously, and the ethics office, which oversee conflicts of interest for CDC leaders and advisory committee members, were also let go. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The US just released its global health strategy. Quick takeaways: 1/1

Some information from the NIGMS Advisory Council meeting today. On foreign grants... 1/3

What the Nepal crisis is really about (and what the international media is getting wrong):

The NIH budget will INCREASE by $400 million — not slashed by 40%, as Trump proposed — according to a proposal by Senate appropriators, says Sen Murray. "Some have asked if there will even be an NIH by [2029]. The commmittee's resounding message is yes—Congress has your back", she says.

A three-judge First Circuit panel has unanimously denied the Trump administration's request to pause the judgment that restored hundreds of NIH grants.

I had a genuinely though provoking (for me anyway) conversation with Awais Aftab ( @awaisaftab.bsky.social ) about where I think the field of psychiatric genetics is right now, and might be headed.

This is a wonderful interview on psychiatric genetics, dense with insights on heritability, prediction models, unspoken assumptions behind genetics studies, critique of doing experiments just because you can, and ultimately a refocus on what actually matters to improve care.

"The example prompted Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a longtime supporter of PEPFAR, to say he would vote in favor of rescinding funds from the program." But it was completely made up. Great reporting by @apoorvanyt.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/h...

I’m promoted to three-thirds Professor at UCSF! 10yo: Wait, weren't you already a professor? Me: You start as an assistant professor then you get promoted to associate and then full professor 8yo: So you were only a one-third professor and then two-thirds and now you are a three-thirds professor?

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.

Breaking news: The National Institutes of Health has ceased terminating grants on politically sensitive topics after a federal judge ruled last week that the cancellations were illegal. scim.ag/4l9MO8Y

Judge Young's order has come in. Grant terminations in the plaintiff states or to the plaintiff orgs (APHA, UAW) are officially void and illegal. It also says that the "Challenged Directives" are arbitrary and capricious — and thus illegal as well. Now what exactly are are these directives? 🧵

DID YOU KNOW: We are accepting organizational sign-ons to The Bethesda Declaration support letter! If you would like your org represented DM me or @standupforscience.bsky.social for details! #StandUpForScience www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...

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.

BREAKING: federal judge overrules hundreds of NIH grant terminations www.statnews.com/2025/06/16/n...

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!

Oof, a brutal exchange for the defense. The judge asks if they can point out a single grant that is used to "support unlawful discrimination," as the NIH alleges in its termination letters. The defense says it can't.

Courageous profile of a celebrity chef diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his 50’s and finally benefiting from a mood stabilizer. It is a reminder that mental health awareness must include every industry. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Looking forward to giving two presentations at the America Nepal Medical Foundation Conference tomorrow: 1. A presentation on MILAP, an innovative family intervention to reduce domestic violence among women who cannot or do not want to leave abusive relationships. 2:50pm and...

Extensive Propublica story about grant terminations Sharing specifics and putting faces on the research… Definitely worth a read projects.propublica.org/nih-cuts-res...

Hm I wonder who is behind this funding opportunity, the first posted at grants.nih.gov since January 22, that has a remarkably fast one-month turnaround and is offering $20 million

Full 🧵 #BethesdaDeclaration

"Ending a $5 million research study when it is 80% complete does not save $1 million, it wastes $4 million" In "The Bethesda Declaration," over 300 NIH employees take a big risk to point out flaws in the new administration's actions.

This is big. NIH first said that grants with foreign sub-awards will need to be transitioned to the US or terminated. But NIH director is now saying "by next week" they will have "good news" on making sure clinical trials with foreign subs will just be able to transition to the new structure

Viewpoint in JAMA details the consequences of the proposed cuts to NIH: ❌15% reduction in new therapies ❌reduction in life expectancy by 83M life years in the US = $8.2T ❌loss of $51B in economic output annually All to save $20B annually. The math ain't mathin.' jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

1. Over the past four months I've talked with many foundation directors about science philanthropy during Trump 2.0. Two things come to the fore every time. i) The most important they can do is maintain the pipeline of talent ii) With the federal govt pulling out, ROI is higher now than ever.

A US judge to govt lawyers defending the NIH's grant terminations: "I understand the administration is against DEI. Respectfully, I just don't know what you mean. This isn't a teasing question. There has to be some working definition. This is research to advance healthcare for all our citizens."

We are continuing to look into grant terminations at the NIH, and we want to hear from you. Please reach out to us with your experiences: www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

ICE says it is investigating the cause of death of 44-year-old Marie Ange Blaise in a Florida detention center on Friday. A local congresswoman says Blaise had complained of chest pains "for hours."

Where do kids see the most suffering and how do they figure out what to do? I asked my kids to independently select two charities to which I would donate $100 each (to celebrate my upcoming promotion). 1/n