Incredible piece, including new insights into federal interference with ACIP.

Excellent reflection on the CDC's recent vaccine effectiveness webinar via @b-lopman.bsky.social

Summary: Ongoing framing from anti-science, organized interests and all-too-willing administration partners ask scientists to, in effect, 'shut up and pipette' and eventually not even do that or anything else in the lab/university if the private capture of public science is successful. 👇

From the White House, Scott Atlas (along with the current NIH Director) tried to manufacture scientific support for Trump's unpopular approach to the pandemic but was largely unsuccessful due to criticism from the scientific community. Better to get rid of us altogether 🤷‍♀️

This is Scott Atlas, the guy behind Trump's herd immunity covid approach, reflecting an ideology where public problems are best solved by doing nothing. "Give way to the market": The reality is that the market depends upon NIH-funded innovations. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/are-univer...

Looking forward to sharing the work we've been doing at @scienceimpacts.org mapping impacts of science funding cuts during the next parallel session on Data, Infrastructure & Software @icssi.org! scienceimpacts.org

3 years ago, Musk tweeted that it was time to "move on" from the Fauci Files a full week before his hand-picked journalist released a story he flew internationally twice to write, revealing...Fauci had comms staffers tweeting on his behalf. But conspiracy theories can keep running on fumes forever

Our scoping review "Emerging frontiers in infectious disease modelling: reassessing the data-driven feedback loop between human behaviour and disease dynamics" is out now! From a group of epidemiologists, behavioural scientists, & mathematicians. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...

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]

On the Smart Girl, Dumb Questions podcast earlier this year, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said big question he still has is whether his actions will actually restore trust in science. 1) he's cut NIH grants on hesitancy that could answer this but 2) the episode's top comments suggest an answer

Last few weeks have been a string of "FDA approves thing blocked capriciously by Vinay Prasad and Tracy Høeg when they were for some reason directing centers." I wonder what the cost of those pointless delays was...

News: Senate Democrats are demanding the Trump admin provide records on their vaccine reforms. The move signals where future oversight efforts could focus, should Dems win Congress in the midterms. www.statnews.com/2026/06/18/r...

Short-form video (~8 mins) on threats to science from @evidentmedia.org, an Emmy-winning nonprofit newsroom, featuring takes from @cdelawalla.bsky.social, @drstarbird.bsky.social & me. Ongoing efforts by OMB are another indication of the ongoing existential threats to American leadership in science.

Powerful piece from two former NIH staffers www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

It's important for you to know that Mary Roach reads the audio versions of her two most recent books (Fuzz and Replaceable You). She is clearly trying to hold back laughter at some of the more ridiculous notes in the latter, peak listening experience.

In new video, Atlas retells how, from within the White House, he orchestrated the meeting that became the Great Barrington Declaration with allies Kulldorff & Bhattacharya (+ a libertarian thinktank) to manufacture support for Trump's unpopular & unscientific preferred approach to the Covid pandemic

ADA members are being threatened with arrest for speaking out against the destruction of biomedical research in America while the ADA invited the NIH Director overseeing that destruction to give a keynote talk. The ADA is not serving the members and patients it claims to represent.

"A few brushes of a pen, some clearly visible through budget requests, others less so through internal machinations, are rapidly destroying what generations have built. We can no longer afford complacency and fear. We must all act now!" diabetesjournals.org/care/article...

First MMWR on AIDS, 45 years ago tomorrow

Agnotocracy

Registered 4 voters in Texas today (you have to go through a training to become a Volunteer Deputy Registrar here and be able to register people 🧙‍♀️)! And the second person was also named Mallory 👯‍♀️! Plus I got a nice view 😎

Webinar "Funding Under Pressure: Political Influence, Censorship, and the Future of U.S. Research" Wednesday 11:00 Eastern Details and registration here. www.defendresearch.org/events/webin... @michaeldgreen.phd @rouhiroo.bsky.social

"There is far more space to operate than many realize. And the more you speak out publicly, demand action from professional societies, and engage directly as part of grassroots groups, the more effective you will become."

Spoke to a reporter today about being a young scientist in this environment. What I keep trying to communicate is there’s clearly a lot of new effective disincentives for partnering with the federal government. The issue is that they are making the risks so big y even bother for the reward?

Cliff Lane, longtime NIAID researcher and leader is suing for wrongful termination. democracyforward.org/news/press-r...

The National Science Foundation is terminating and suspending grants again, and at Grant Witness we need you to help to track them! 🧪 We can only identify research being suppressed by under-the-radar suspensions directly from researchers. Please report! grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF

PLEASE SHARE: STAT is hiring for a "Trust-in-science" reporter! The reporter will cover where trust is breaking down, the consequences, and how to rebuild it. If you or someone you know would be great for the position, please apply! #journojobs #journalismjobs #journalism #science 📰🧪

So here's what happened to my lab (and @viralemergence.org). www.nature.com/articles/d41...

So... I got more information about this plan. The most important points follow on the next posts. 1/3

New analysis of the links between RFK Jr, Tracy Høeg, & the Danish researchers Peter Aaby & Christine Stabell Benn (the Danish team got funding from RFK Jr to do a trial, now suspended, in Guinea-Bissau in which 1/2 of newborns would be denied hep B vax birth dose) kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...

Have you had any difficulty accessing miscarriage care after the Dobbs decision? I'd love to talk with you for a story I'm writing. (Please share!)

A week ago, The Brownstone Institute was fundraising off of hantavirus conspiracy theories & opposition to quarantines. Since then, they have not said anything about a passenger trying to quarantine at home while Jay Bhattacharya (who won an award from them this year) mandates quarantine at the NQU

On his way out and back into the land of no (vs little) accountability for his action, RFK Jr will put out a bunch of (flawed) "investigations" that will power the anti-vax movement for the next decade.

Independence requires daylight. @aaas.org is right to demand a public hearing for the nomination of a Thiel "protégé", Jim O'Neill, as NSF Director. In welcoming his nomination, O'Neill claimed that "entropy is on the march". True, but the chaos is coming from inside. www.aaas.org/news/aaas-le...

Dr. Fauci came to Stanford for Medicine grand rounds and shared a few reflections I thought were worth passing on: The first was about Operation Warp Speed and the current state of the NIH. As you’ll recall the first mRNA vax was developed at record speed. Fauci atttributes that success to 4 factors

State Rep. @jasmineclarkforga.bsky.social wins the Democratic primary in the vacant #GA13, @decisiondeskhq.bsky.social projects. Clark is now poised to become the first Black woman PhD scientist to serve in Congress. My interview with her here: 19thnews.org/2026/05/geor...

A summary of today’s revelations of treachery by RFK Jr.’s handpicked minions. In 11/2025, three doctors (Makary, Prasad, Hoeg) employed by the United States government told the world, with confidence, that COVID19 vaccines killed 10 children. We now have ironclad evidence that they lied.

This post is not about average Americans being at risk from the Andes Hantavirus. It’s about how ideology from current CDC leadership has finally become acquainted with reality. open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

Sen Cassidy says he is supporting RFK Jr for HHS Sec bc RFK promised Cassidy could do more oversight as chair of Senate Health Committee. Taking everyone at their words, what happens if Cassidy loses his primary in 2026 & GOP maintains Senate Maj? Rand Paul is 2nd highest ranking Republican on cmte.

There is so much more to science funding than top line budget fights. If orgs and Congress want to engage in what is really happening, they need to look into their own communities where people and projects are being abandoned. This cannot wait until 2029.

The acting head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's drug center, Tracey Beth Hoeg, is expected to leave the agency just days after Commissioner Marty Makary resigned, according to three people familiar with internal planning.

NEW: One interesting thing about the "missing scientists" claims is how similar they are to another theory that's been circulating in the "natural health" world for years. I wrote about why some of these claims reach the mainstream and others don't. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Such a great, highly readable piece on test negative designs from @jdrakephd.bsky.social. www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

I've been waiting for this since Kulldorff's HHS position was announced. He's leading the effort which also involves NIH, led by Kulldorff's close ally Jay Bhattacharya. Anyone optimistic about this should familiarize themselves w Kulldorff's recent activities & how the anti-vaccine movement works.

Two examples of political leaders publicly embracing Jay Bhattachary's preferred approach to the Covid pandemic: President Trump's HHS Sec in October 2020 (right before the deadlist Covid wave in the US) and Governor Ron DeSantis in August 2021 (before the deadliest Covid wave in Florida).

"We’re likely going to get out of this situation. But it won’t be because we’re flush with prepared leaders with adequate bandwidth, let me assure you."

Disregarding facts and evidence is not just a political move, it comes with real reputational harm that will linger beyond this year. Why should scientists turn to NASEM for advice and counsel if we cannot trust it to look at the state of science honestly in this moment?

Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson: Memphis is the place that raised me. Republicans are eviscerating the only Black majority congressional district in our state. This is about attacking, targeting, and cracking District 9 into pieces for more political and racial dominance

Our current Acting CDC Director said his entire plan for pandemic preparedness is to fire everyone responsible for it.