Katherine Pearson

Opinion | Why Universities Are So Powerless in Their Fight Against Trump The administration has turned our institutions’ traditional strengths into paralyzing weaknesses.

Disjointed & mild responses against the Trump administration attacks bring to light the complex organizational realities of research universities that make fighting back difficult, but not impossible. Jason Owen-Smith provides an in-depth look at this organizational complexity & what could be done.

It takes a big, talented team to conduct research. We're lucky to have amazing people like Neil and Karis on our team.

My quote of the day

A Video Quote

Medical miracles don't happen overnight. You have to invest in them. Our investments are in trouble.

(From Francis Collins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, July 16, 2025)

From The Daily: Vote yes on Ann Arbor proposals A and B This Editorial Board endorses these proposals and believes that the development of this new, multi-use structure would offer many new opportunities to the Ann Arbor District Library and the greater lo...

🫡 go blue www.michigandaily.com/opinion/edit... #a2council

Blue digital grid background with University of Michigan ISR logo at the top followed by the headline text "Now On Bluesky" featuring the Bluesky logo and handle "@umisr.bsky.social" at the bottom.

Now on Bluesky: University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR)! We’re a leading social science research institution, with studies on politics, health, inequality, and economic behavior. Follow for research highlights, behind-the-scenes looks, and insights from our scholars!

#Science

What the GOP’s tax bill means for your health care Legislation passed by the Senate on Tuesday could affect how people sign up for Medicaid and the insurance marketplaces, and where they can get care.

This is an excellent explainer of what's at stake right now:
wapo.st/3TgX03t

Exceptional exploration of research by @spattersearch.bsky.social, illuminating the way that isolation and challenges for older adults are linked

ah, the voice of the common man

Financial and Transfer Income as Components of the Regional Economic Base Government transfers and financial income form a major component of the basic sector in the United States.

New working paper alert! Posted at @equitablegrowth.bsky.social, it investigates the economic geography of social transfer programs and financial income--with implications for the Medicaid and SNAP cuts proposed in the reconciliation bill 👀

equitablegrowth.org/working-pape...

In Defense of ‘Silly’ Science Basic research and the value of curiosity.

Basic science is essential. "Most drugs don’t begin with research intended to make that drug. In fact, the results of their study showed that 80% of the medicines on their list led back to a discovery from basic research without any intention of creating a new drug" www.chronicle.com/article/in-d...

This seems to be an escalation of the surveillance tactics that the police used when we were organizing at UM in 2015-2018. The campus police informed me they were watching my social media and one undercover cop called me by name at a protest. But this is scary

University of Michigan using undercover investigators to surveil student Gaza protesters Revealed: security trailing students on and off campus as video shows investigator faking disability when confronted

Just appalling. #academicsky

Street view of the historic student homes of Arthur Miller and Katherine Pearson, with ISR looming to the left

Hear me out: what if instead of preserving Depression-era student housing, we turned this site into the ISR beer garden? record.umich.edu/articles/reg...

A leader who exits at a moment like this is a leader we wouldn't want. #GoBlue

Three scientists speak about what it’s like to have research funding cut by the Trump administration Stories from the front line of the US government’s attack on federal science funding. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Sunghee Lee and I were recently interviewed by a global podcast (The Conversation Weekly) about the state of federally-funded research in the United States and what it is like to have a hard-earned grant arbitrarily terminated by the current administration:

theconversation.com/three-scient...

Congratulations!

How Researchers Could Get Their Canceled NIH Grants Back The National Institutes of Health terminated numerous federal research grants that officials say no longer align with the agency’s priorities. But experts see multiple avenues to appeal the NIH’s deci...

With researchers nationwide facing NIH grant terminations, our member @sbagen.bsky.social (who recently returned to academia after a stint as HHS general counsel) commented to Inside Higher Ed about the grounds for appealing: www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

US map via scienceimpacts.org visualization of economic loss due to IDC cuts to 15% as part of Feb 7, 2025 executive order, with shading denoting intensity of cuts.

Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.

Find out how your community may be impacted.

Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org

a 🧵

Rising house prices don’t just make it harder to become a homeowner – they also widen the racial wealth gap Housing market appreciation has been the primary driver of growing white-Black wealth disparities since the mid-1980s.

New today from me @us.theconversation.com: I talk about my research on how rising housing prices have widened the White-Black wealth gap over the past several decades. theconversation.com/rising-house...

Help us protect at-risk data. Your contributions today shapes tomorrow.

DataLumos is doing invaluable work to preserve government data resources. What can you do? The team is looking for volunteers to assist with metadata and donations to support the costs of data rescue. Details at isr.umich.edu/giving/suppo...

This is excellent - thanks for sharing it! I'm not sure any platform is really sparking joy these days, but this is a helpful comparison

FANTASTIC

ICPSR at U Mich is coordinating the archiving of at-risk federal data (all of it?)

You can upload data you have & search for data you don’t have

www.datalumos.org/datalumos/

How Dunning-Kruger works...
and travels.

Trump Softens Tone on Inflation After Pledging to Lower Prices President Trump pledged to lower costs on “Day 1” as a candidate. His administration now acknowledges it will take more time.

They promised grocery prices would fall. I told you they were lying. Now they're either not talking about grocery prices, or “softening” their tone. Lemme translate: Grocery prices aren't coming down. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/b...

Judge orders CDC, FDA to restore websites taken down after Trump gender order U.S. District Judge John D. Bates granted a restraining order temporarily reversing the Trump administration’s moves to remove scientific data.

Encouraging development. The suggestion that anyone would ever use the Wayback Machine to access data gave me a good laugh, at least www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

I proudly support the University of Michigan's stated core values.

The AP also issued guidance on references to the Gulf of Mexico and Denali. I get the logic, but I'm not changing www.ap.org/the-definiti...

Covid Learning Losses (Gift Article) We explain the ways students haven’t recovered.

Some of the things that will become more difficult to track as they dismantle the educational statistical systems. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/b...

Democratic-led states sue to block Trump research funding cuts Democratic attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging sharp cuts to grant funding for universities, medical centers and other research institutions that the Trump administration announced on Friday.

Democratic attorneys general from 22 U.S. states filed a lawsuit today to challenge sharp cuts to the reimbursement rate on NIH grants for universities, medical centers and other research institutions. www.reuters.com/legal/democr...