Vinay Prasad's unique ability to attract criticism — even when his bosses, including the president, wanted him to keep his head low — did him in at the FDA. www.statnews.com/2026/03/08/v...

BREAKING: Vinay Prasad is leaving the FDA for the second time. First reported by the WSJ www.statnews.com/2026/03/06/f...

A month in, TrumpRx falls short of the president’s grand promises for the discount medicines website, @danielpayne.bsky.social reports, with relatively few drugs listed and uneven savings www.statnews.com/2026/03/05/t... via @statnews.com

There’s a new mystery involving Jeffrey Epstein and a Harvard genome sequencing project that he participated in, @mmolteni.bsky.social reports in this @statnews.com exclusive www.statnews.com/2026/03/04/j...

It's time to VOTE! #STATMadness is back! Our bracket-style contest to find the best innovation in science and medicine. Help us crown a new champ! Vote now: www.statnews.com/feature/stat...

Stanley Plotkin had a major hand in the development of a number of vaccines in use today; he designed the rubella vaccine. He remembers the world before widespread use of vaccines & knows what's coming as vaccine policy is rewritten & vaccine confidence is eroded. www.statnews.com/2026/03/02/s...

NEW: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary defended FDA's rare disease drug rejections, Vinay Prasad on CNBC this morning. He also appeared to disparage a Huntington’s disease treatment under review. www.statnews.com/2026/02/26/m...

A rare disease drug was approvable, then it wasn’t. Inside a surprise rejection by the FDA. Excellent reporting by @adamfeuerstein.bsky.social in this @statnews.com exclusive www.statnews.com/2026/02/25/r...

Jeffrey Epstein’s tissue samples ignited a furor in the Harvard lab of George Church, reports @mmolteni.bsky.social in this @statnews.com exclusive. 13 years later, the whereabouts of the sex offender’s skin cells are a mystery www.statnews.com/2026/02/24/e...

A study suggesting cancer immunotherapy is more effective when given in the morning made headlines -- and raised concerns the findings were too good to be true. A scientific journal is now investigating the study, @angusrohan.bsky.social reports for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/20/c...

amid uncertainty from the fed govt, states are toying around with the idea of implementing their own funding initiatives the moves feel necessary to researchers in those states, but some policy experts cautioned it could feed rhetoric about not needing federal $ www.statnews.com/2026/02/20/s...

A key U.K. study of Grail’s multi-cancer detection test has failed, a major setback for the company, @matthewherper.bsky.social writes for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/19/g...

Bhattacharya is set to be leading both NIH & CDC @sherylnyt.bsky.social reports www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

STAT has won a prestigious George Polk Award for documenting the Trump administration’s shakeup of the FDA, scientific research, and public health. www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/s...

"Well that didn’t take long." @matthewherper.bsky.social for @statnews.com on why the FDA's abrupt reversal on Moderna's flu vaccine is one more sign of chaos at the agency.

BREAKING: FDA reverses course and will now review Moderna's flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f...

NEW: FDA rejects rare disease therapy from Disc Medicine, the first experimental drug to go through the commissioner's fast-track voucher program. STAT previously reported that top official Vinay Prasad became personally involved in this review. www.statnews.com/2026/02/13/d...

“This is like asking, how do you think dropping an atomic bomb on New York City will affect the future of Broadway musicals? This is a generational loss of innovation, technology, and economic power.” Powerful reporting this week by @bostonglobe.com 👇

The NIH's recent move to no longer consider basic experimental studies in people ‘clinical trials’ has divided researchers, @pharmalot.bsky.social writes for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20....

This story has now been updated with comments from FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and others:

"There is not a word of ineligible [research] ... and I used to make these decisions,” said Susan Brennan, former director of NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Two students she mentors have had applications deemed ineligible, and they're not alone. My latest for @statnews.com 👇

Students and faculty have been baffled (and frustrated) as NSF turns back applications for its prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Those affected seem to mainly be in the life sciences. My latest for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...

Scoop: Top FDA official Vinay Prasad overruled the agency’s reviewers when he refused to accept Moderna’s application for a new influenza vaccine, STAT has learned. www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/m...

The OHSU board of directors unanimously passed a resolution authorizing negotiations with the NIH that could end all experiments on monkeys and shift the federally funded Oregon National Primate Research Center into a sanctuary. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

Hims and other telehealth platforms are pushing multi-cancer detection tests before evidence of benefit. Important and timely story via @katiepalmer.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/t...

Vertex’s CRISPR treatment for sickle cell disease hits unexpected roadblock: Collecting enough cells to create the therapy. Important reporting by @jasonmast.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/05/v...

If you (or a mentee) are a NSF GRFP applicant in the life sciences who had a submission Returned Without Review, I'd be interested in hearing your story. I'm a reporter at STAT News, and my email is [email protected]. I'm also reachable via Signal (username jwosen.27) #journorequest

Junior scientists, the worker bees of academia, face a quandary when starting their own labs: How far to stray from the hive. My latest for @statnews.com is a Q&A with @uoregon.bsky.social researcher Christopher Liu about insights from a new study www.statnews.com/2026/02/04/a...

NEW: I obtained a recording of an internal FDA town hall held today, where leaders tried to quell staff and external concerns about the commissioner's voucher program, a controversial new pathway to fast-track certain drugs. Read my exclusive: www.statnews.com/2026/02/03/f...

Fearing an ICE crackdown, immigrants nationally are avoiding treatment, sometimes with dire consequences www.statnews.com/2026/02/03/i... via @danielpayne.bsky.social for @statnews.com

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by researchers alleging that major academic publishers (including Elsevier and Springer Nature) created a set of anticompetitive business practices that exploit the scientific workforce. My latest for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/02/a...

PacBio’s very expensive foray into short read sequencing is now officially over. 🙄 www.pacb.com/press_releas...

With continued uncertainty over federal government support for biomedical research, PhD students are struggling to find labs willing to take on new students, @jonathanwosen.bsky.social reports. New students are the future of US science. www.statnews.com/2026/01/30/f...

Tenuous funding for biomedical research has some first-year Ph.D. students struggling to find labs -- and questioning their future career plans. My latest for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/01/30/f...

STAT gathered nine of the biggest voices in the health influencer space worth keeping an eye on, for better or for worse. List members include: @kkjetelina.bsky.social @drjessicaknurick.bsky.social @jessicamalaty.bsky.social @hubermanlab.com Read the story: www.statnews.com/2026/01/27/w...

"Beneath ski goggles, tears streamed." Alex Pretti remembered by health care workers at a Minneapolis vigil as a ‘stand-up guy’ www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/a... via @mmolteni.bsky.social for @statnews.com

Unfilled vacancies have depleted NIH advisory councils, key players in grant approvals www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/n... via @mmolteni.bsky.social for @statnews.com

In a Q&A with @angusrohan.bsky.social, Anthony Letai says NCI is more stable than perceived and is heading for a big year www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/n... via @statnews.com

Would the #CDC's principal deputy director view it as a public health loss for the US if the country loses its #measles elimination status? "Not really," Dr. Ralph Abraham said at a press conference today. www.statnews.com/2026/01/20/c...

House and Senate appropriators endorse NIH budget increase, reject Trump’s proposed cuts, @aniloza.bsky.social and I write for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/01/20/n...

A proposed limit on multiyear funding of NIH grants has become an important sticking point in Senate budget talks, @aniloza.bsky.social and John Wilkerson report for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/01/16/n...

Graduate student enrollment in biomedical degree programs rose last fall despite funding turmoil, new data show, though at a slower rate than previous years. Important to note this includes master's AND doctoral students. My latest for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/01/15/b...

Nicole Kleinstreuer has been named deputy director at NIH (shes been acting in that capacity for some months) @saratalpos.bsky.social talked w/ her abt alternatives to animal models in Oct for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2025/10/03/a...

Richard Pazdur, a veteran drug regulator who left the FDA last month, warned politics & ‘chaos’ are damaging the agency. Story by @elaineywchen.bsky.social based on @matthewherper.bsky.social's interview with Pazdur during a @statnews.com #JPM26 event last night www.statnews.com/2026/01/13/r...

Illumina launches a massive cell atlas to fast-track drug discovery, with Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, and Merck as its first customers. My latest for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/01/13/i...

Noubar Afeyan, one of biotech's top investors and co-founder of Moderna, says U.S. policy is ‘taking a sledgehammer to our miracle machine.’ Story via @matthewherper.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/n...

New Medicaid eligibility rules may cause more than a million missed cancer screenings, and more than 100 preventable deaths, new study says. www.statnews.com/2026/01/08/m...

When it comes to vaccine schedules, the U.S. is now the outlier. STAT analysis shows top officials have put the country out of step with peer nations. Read more: www.statnews.com/2026/01/09/c...

New dietary guidelines limit saturated fats to 10% of total calories, but also encourage full-fat dairy, red meat, and beef tallow. How will that work? www.statnews.com/2026/01/08/s...

A little scoopy tidbit in STAT's DC Diagnosis newsletter today: Vinay Prasad wants access to FDA employees' calendars, though his own is largely private. He has also instructed employees not to tell their supervisors when he reaches out to schedule meetings.