Emme Bruns

Oh God, this is good news. I had been trying to bring myself to blog about this trial, but every time I was too enraged to get something together.

This was a hideously stupid and unethical idea, and no one promoting it should have anything to do with medicine or public health.

This is incredible and important...

Push-back matters.

Doctors warn delaying hepatitis B shot for newborns could revive a deadly threat As RFK Jr.'s new vaccine panel ponders changing the hepatitis B vaccination schedule, some doctors recall past patients, including children, who died painful deaths before there was a vaccine.

As RFK Jr.'s new vaccine panel ponders changing the hepatitis B vaccination schedule, some doctors recall past patients, including children, who died painful deaths before there was a vaccine. n.pr/3McwKqG

Trump meets with Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salam No doubt Trump shares the prince’s feelings towards journalists who criticize him

anntelnaes.substack.com/p/trump-meet...

Everyone should read this.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Dark blue poster of a crowd of Republican congressmembers applauding as Trump bangs a gavel on a podium. Text reads: SNAP is less than 2% of our federal budget, and yet it has helped 12% of the US population. Republicans have already used the OBBB to slash SNAP by 25% over the next decade. MAHA = Make America Hungry Again

This should make you angry.

Republicans point fingers at problems about our health and our science, while they turn around and systematically dismantle the programs and agencies that work to fix them.

As SNAP benefits shut down on 11/1, remember who's responsible for our kids going hungry.

If the National Guard is really in D.C. to protect federal
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago

This is so heart breaking.

JD Vance officiated the wedding of new head of NIH environmental institute Unusual hiring process raises fears of political favoritism

Another example of the new MAHA “Gold-standard” science: Hiring key science positions based on personal connections with the Vice President rather than scientific credentials. To be clear: this is another example of cronyism over merit.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Steve Witkoff promised to divest of his crypto assets linked to the Trump family’s crypto schemes.

But 10 months in, and he still hasn’t.

So many of these assets involve Middle East countries with an interest in U.S. policy.

The conflicts of interest are massive. We need answers.

How a Joe Rogan-Mel Gibson podcast inspired Florida’s cancer research focus Following a Joe Rogan, Mel Gibson podcast, Florida wants to study whether ivermectin could work against cancer. There is not yet evidence it would.

Latest MAHA scheme: Gut funding and scientific and medical expertise at the NIH and CDC, and replace with… that’s right advice from Mel Gibson and Joe Rogan.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

No Kings As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

If you haven't already made a plan to attend a NO KINGS event this Saturday, start planning. It is up to all of us to exercise our right to peaceful protest so that its still there in the future. Stand up for democracy and objective truth. Find an event close to you: www.nokings.org#map

You can now sign up for the lottery to speak at the next mtg of RFK's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice 9/18-9/19. Especially since they removed med orgs as liaisons, this is the only way they will receive critical feedback.

www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/aci...

There is a public comment period open until Aug 31 on the proposed closing of the USDA research facility in Beltsville Maryland (BARC). This is a massive research campus that also hosts the National Germplasm Resources Lab (among many, many other labs).

www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

‘This is bull——”: National Science Foundation employees protest HUD's takeover Dozens of National Science Foundation employees crowded the agency’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, Wednesday to protest the news that the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, w...

Another day testing the limits of resilience.

The Alexandria NSF building was designed for the NSF merit review process (gold standard), complete with a floor devoted to panels.

Now we aren’t allowed to have in person panels.

The loss of US science leadership will haunt this country for decades.

The Continuing Crisis, Part XV: The Horrendous Trump Budget

The administration’s budget proposal is a disaster in so many ways, but it is most certainly a direct assault on US science.

Nothing like it has ever been seen before, and it means that we will have voluntarily stepped aside from a leading role in the scientific progress of the entire human race.

Update to https://scienceimpacts.org to include terminated grants

Major update to #SCIMaP visualization of impacts of cuts to federally supported health research. Map now includes information on future economic losses (impact of proposed reduction of NIH IDC to 15%) and current economic losses (impact of terminated NIH grants).

scienceimpacts.org

You have 2 days left to comment (by May 23 at 11:59 pm)!

Go to the link if you don’t want your NSF or NIH program officers who took an oath to the constitution (not a political party) to instead be subject to the whims of a president and fired if they don’t “conform”.

We begin reviewing applications next week!

More great work by J. Weitz and colleagues.

Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.

An important story that needs more attention. Cuts to the National Plant Germplasm Repository (e.g. the nation's living crop seed bank) are increadibly short-sighted. This is NOT a money-saver. Plant diseases never sleep, and nor should we.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

A promotional graphic for Botany 2025, themed "Botany Without Barriers," taking place in Palm Springs, CA, from July 26-30. The graphic features Aaron David, smiling outdoors against a mountainous backdrop with blooming flowers. He is identified as the Program Director of Plant Ecology at Archbold Biological Station and will be delivering the Emerging Leader Lecture. The design includes a QR code for more information and the website "www.botanyconference.org."

We’re excited to announce that Aaron David, Program Director of Plant Ecology at Archbold Biological Station, will deliver the Emerging Leader Lecture at #Botany2025 in Palm Springs, CA!

To learn more about Aaron, and all of the featured speakers, visit: www.botanyconference.org/speakers.html

A child has died in the Texas measles outbreak – the first US measles death since 2015 The death, confirmed as a school-age child, is the first measles death in the U.S. since 2015.

First measles death from the west Texas outbreak
www.usatoday.com/story/life/h...

Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research In response to Trump science policies, universities are accepting fewer graduate students than normal and freezing positions, STAT has learned.

If the admin wanted more US-born scientists, telling them at the last minute that they can't come to graduate school is probably not the best way to do it. www.statnews.com/2025/02/19/t...

USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is trying to rehire them In a statement, an Agriculture Department spokesperson told NBC News that officials are "working to swiftly rectify the situation."

A sign that the Trump admin is taking your egg price concerns very seriously www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...

NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by giving grants. In a $10B budget request, NSF asked for $500M in 'Agency Operations and Award Management', so that's already HIGHLY EFFICIENT... >95% of funds go to research and STEM education programs nationwide.

nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00_NSF...