Latest horrifying news on Trump administration erasing national data: they're ending data collection on food security by Census. Explanation of why this is a big deal: updates.dataindex.us/archive/fors... @npi.ucanr.edu @donmoyn.bsky.social @centeronbudget.bsky.social @popassocamerica.bsky.social

House Appropriations Committee Advances Key Spending Bills: Rejects Administration’s Proposed Funding Cuts and Praises Population Research buff.ly/9nu03sX

Upcoming seminar hosted by #HealthAffairs on "#Immigration Policies and Their Impact on #Health Care," including effects on both patients and the healthcare workforce. Oct 15 at 1pm Eastern. Sign up here: www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/h... @nilc.org @immcouncil.org @kffhealthnews.org

And now a moment of levity: my first attempt at #distractedboyfriend meme as I prepare some lecture slides on hypothesis-generation and theory-testing. #sciencesky #academicsky

New podcast @irpwisc.bsky.social w/ Jane Waldfogel @columbiauniversity.bsky.social on importance of US safety net benefits for kids, and how a universal child $$ benefit would be investment in the future. US is among only high-income countries without this benefit: www.irp.wisc.edu/resource/irp...

New @jamahealthforum.com by D Cutler: "Worst Piece of Health Care Legislation Ever" on #OBBBA ravaging healthcare for millions. Only disagreement is with: "As bad as it is as economic policy, the bill is worse as health policy." It's pretty terrible on the economy. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

New commentary @nam.edu on the critical value of US govt-funded health research, which is currently being dismantled and undermined by Trump administration. nam.edu/perspectives... @warren.senate.gov @edmarkey.bsky.social @massgovernor.bsky.social

Thrilled to co-author 2 recent qualitative papers that perfectly demonstrate the importance of mixed methods research to inform US policy. In the first aptly titled "It's confusing as hell" we examined lived experiences of low-income people applying for the EITC. academic.oup.com/healthaffair... 1/

New paper @ameracadpeds.bsky.social w/ Dr. Whaley @phfewic.bsky.social summarizes studies on US social policies to promote breastfeeding, e.g. how work restrictions for many safety net policies ⬇️ women's ability to breastfeed: doi.org/10.1542/peds... @npwf.bsky.social @urbaninstitute.bsky.social 1/

New paper @ameracadpeds.bsky.social w/ Dr. Whaley @phfewic.bsky.social summarizes studies on US social policies to promote breastfeeding, e.g. how work restrictions for many safety net policies ⬇️ women's ability to breastfeed: doi.org/10.1542/peds... @npwf.bsky.social @urbaninstitute.bsky.social 1/

Thanks to @hsph.harvard.edu for a great summary of this important work, with important implications for recent ⬆️ work requirements & ⬇️ generosity of US safety net policies: hsph.harvard.edu/news/breastf... @irpwisc.bsky.social @npwf.bsky.social Original article: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Researchers who had their federal funding terminated by the Trump administration—and later had it restored thanks to a federal judge’s ruling—say that the process of getting their projects moving again has been marked by confusion and delays.

New analysis from CBO of the "Big Beautiful Bill" shows the bottom 20% get poorer, not much change for most of America, & the top 10% get meaningfully richer - and that's before tariffs The "Big Beautiful Bill" was the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in history

Just to give the TL;DR on this one: *The* main purpose of the EO is to move funding priorities and decisions away from experts and career professionals over to political appointees. With the ultimate power held by Vought / OMB.

We're hiring! Please share with your networks! The Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor in the field of demography of health and aging beginning in August 2026 jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/assista...

Our latest study @jamahealthforum.com shows the harms of work requirements for safety net programs. Women who were subject to harsher requirements and who received less cash assistance from TANF were less likely to breastfeed. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @donmoyn.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu 1/

Our new study shows that policy changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that increased access during the COVID-19 pandemic increased breastfeeding: tinyurl.com/ycxpf2cn @ritahamad.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu @pamherd.bsky.social @urbaninstitute.bsky.social

As a social epidemiologist, I often use data from Bureau of Labor Statistics to study health impacts of economic policies. As Trump fires head of #BLS and justifies decision with false reasons, I worry about quality and politicization of data we use to inform policies. @aeainformation.bsky.social

New analysis by @kff.org finds that immigrants make up 3X the share of physicians and surgeons in rural America than their share of the rural population/total workforce (14% vs. 5%). They also play outsized roles in agriculture, construction, and service occupations. www.kff.org/racial-equit...

A quarter of US children have at least one immigrant parent; >90% of these kids are themselves US citizens. Read a new report from the Center for the Study of Social Policy on immigration policy’s real-time adverse impact on these young children: cssp.org/resource/imm... @nilc.org @immcouncil.org

Health Affairs is planning a theme issue on the intersections of #climate, #health, and #equity. Read more and submit your abstract here by August 11: www.healthaffairs.org/request-for-... @apha.org @iaphs.bsky.social @societyforepi.bsky.social

Not surprising. US is only high-income country--and 1 of only a few countries worldwide--that doesn't have national #paidleave policy for new parents. Our research (and others) have shown positive effects of state leave policies on health: tinyurl.com/3x55ykhn @irpwisc.bsky.social @npwf.bsky.social

"... the United States was absent from the top rankings due to its lack of statutory paid parental leave and private healthcare system." www.newsweek.com/20-best-coun...

Read more about increased #childtaxcredit take-up during the pandemic-era expansion, and continuing barriers to #healthequity. Final article is now posted and special free access is available until 8/28 via this link! authors.elsevier.com/a/1lPJ23k7xF... @hsph.harvard.edu @delauro.house.gov

The 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion involved automatic deposits of cash into bank accounts of most eligible families. Our study finds that this reduced administrative burdens & boosted CTC take-up, but disparities remained. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @pamherd.bsky.social 1/

Check out personal stories from #pophealth scientists about how drastic federal funding cuts are affecting scientific progress & junior researchers' careers. This includes several stories from people here @hsph.harvard.edu who lost all federal funding, including my team's story. @iaphs.bsky.social

Check out personal stories from #pophealth scientists about how drastic federal funding cuts are affecting scientific progress & junior researchers' careers. This includes several stories from people here @hsph.harvard.edu who lost all federal funding, including my team's story. @iaphs.bsky.social

A majority of working-age Medicaid enrollees report that losing Medicaid coverage would affect their ability to work, with 40% saying it would have a "major impact," per polling released by @kff.org yesterday www.kff.org/medicaid/pol...

Judge Young said that the NIH grant terminations were rooted in discrimination against racial, sexual, and gender minority groups: “I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.” #HealthInequity #DEI www.science.org/content/arti...

The U.S. once saw steady declines in mortality—but progress stalled around 2010. New research: In 2023 alone, there were 525,505 more deaths than expected had pre-2010 trends continued. 91% were among adults without a BA degree. Most were due to CVD and diabetes. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The 2025 Health Datapalooza unites patients, investors, researchers, policymakers & more to use data to tackle the toughest challenges in health care. We'll see you in Washington DC this September 4-5: Register by July 10 for early bird rates! buff.ly/pWELCI6 #hdpalooza #healthdata

Interested in social epidemiology but don't have access to formal training, or do you want more than your current training program offers? Check out new online course from University of Toronto, including lectures from yours truly on social policy evaluation: leongcentre.utoronto.ca/social-epide...

#Medicaid covers about one in five people nationwide. Join @RWJF and @JHPPL on June 12 @ 3 p.m. ET as we discuss the program’s legacy and future. Speakers include @povertyscholar.bsky.social Andrea Campbell, David Adler and me. Register: bit.ly/4dsIsXR

New research letter led by Hannah Factor, a star PhD student here in Harvard's health policy program, finds that damage from SNAP work requirements is hard to undo, likely because of the administrative burdens involved with re-enrollment jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Our latest paper is now in print, showing ⬆️ prevalence of adverse perinatal health outcomes in the wake of pandemic. This suggests potential lasting impacts on future generations. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... @societyforepi.bsky.social @dkarasek.bsky.social @alisongemmill.bsky.social 1/

Coverage @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social on horrific consequences of federal termination of funding @hsph.harvard.edu and across university, including abandoned patients, damage to study samples and partnerships, and choking off of pipeline of future researchers: www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

The House-passed Republican reconciliation plan would cut #SNAP by roughly 30%, putting food assistance at risk for over 2 million children and weakening the program’s ability to respond during economic downturns, even as recession risks remain elevated: www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

"We’ve already seen what happens when it goes wrong." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Many studies have shown +++ impacts of social safety net programs on health of low-income Americans. This unprecedented income redistribution from poor to rich will result in worsened health inequities, which is unfair & a disinvestment in our future. @justinwolfers.bsky.social @irpwisc.bsky.social

"This is the largest redistribution from poor to rich in American history."

From my colleague, Ben Sommers: “This is not savings through improved efficiency, or more people going to work. It’s savings by kicking people out of the program who are mostly eligible.”

Sad coverage @nytimes.com about termination of federal grants @hsph.harvard.edu. My team lost millions of $$ in NIH funding that we had been awarded through rigorous review processes. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...

Harvard Chan scientists participate in a rigorous application process for federal grants to conduct their vital health research. The government has now terminated nearly every single one of those grants.

Harvard Chan School is home to a wide variety of research initiatives, with faculty, researchers, and students all working together to improve health, prevent disease, and support well-being. We asked some of them if they could explain their research in 7 words.

There is no need for Medicaid work requirements because almost everyone who can work is working. What we are getting instead is Medicaid work *reporting* requirements, where people lose coverage because of administrative burdens.

House Republicans’ agenda would take food assistance from millions while giving big tax breaks to the wealthy, raising costs for families and breaks promises to those most in need. More from @sharonparrott.bsky.social on the impact of this bill: www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

Same. Our NIH research includes (or included, past tense) research on place-based risk factors for dementia, impacts of school segregation on heart disease, and health impacts of pandemic policies. The last is notably ironic: one study assesses how COVID school closures worsened kids' mental health!

Breaking coverage @nytimes.com of push to end school desegregation. My team has NIH grant to examine health impacts of exactly this rollback of school desegregation, finding negative impacts on Black kids across their lifespan, & spillover impacts for other kids. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/u... 1/

@donmoyn.bsky.social is right. Want to hear more from actual researchers who have are experts on this evidence? Check out @irpwisc.bsky.social virtual seminar coming up later this month: www.irp.wisc.edu/resource/wor... @chloeneast.bsky.social @centeronbudget.bsky.social

This is just not true. The majority view among researchers at this point is that work requirements do not work. There is a reason they do not cite a single study here.