Alexandra Lee

With passage of the Big Bill, it is worth noting that this is the largest rollback in health coverage in history.

To date since WWII, and since the passsge of Medicare, Medicaid and ACA generally all legislation EXPANDED coverage, but this is the largest RETRACTION in health insurance coverage ever

Today, 139 EPA employees were placed on administrative leave for signing an email sent to their boss about concerns at their federal agency.

This is America, now.

I have always said that @standupforscience.bsky.social is about science AND DEMOCRACY. Here it is, in action.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

🧵

Until now, NIH Loan Repayment Program awards have seemed to escape scrutiny, possibly because they're small and relatively obscure, even if they make a huge positive impact on PIs.

But then I got this just now. I have 9 days to re-write my application. I'm out on holiday for 7 of them cool cool

NIH details how Trump budget would cut support for grants, training, and research centers President Trump's 2026 budget proposes cutting NIH grants to universities, academic medical centers, and other institutions by 43%

Paylines of 3rd percentile at NIA if current budget passes, plus non-renewals of multiyear grants!

www.statnews.com/2025/06/06/n...

Opinion | I’m Normally a Mild Guy. Here’s What’s Pushed Me Over the Edge.

Great David Brooks commentary today: “Trumpism can be seen as a giant attempt to amputate the highest aspirations of the human spirit and to reduce us to our most primitive, atavistic tendencies.”
I see public health and science as part of the “highest aspirations” that Trump is destroying.

4/20/2025

Women's Health Initiative defunded after 30 years and 5,000 publications

www.whi.org/md/news/whi-...

“Medication records from pharmacy chains, lab testing and genomics data from patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service, claims from private insurers and data from smartwatches and fitness trackers will all be linked together”

Crucial FDA drug reviews expected to be slowed by job cuts A former top FDA official said it’s only a matter of time before the chaos at the agency starts to impact drug reviews.

Across the health-and-science apparatus of the federal government, STAT reporters are hearing similar stories: Key processes required to accomplish basic tasks are not getting done because of cuts or new barriers to spending.

www.statnews.com/2025/04/10/f...

NYT page one:

@nytimes.com

🚨TUESDAY, APRIL 8TH🚨
In partnership @aaup.bsky.social @higheredlabor.bsky.social @uaw.org @aftunion.bsky.social (and others) we say:
KILL THE CUTS

Find and register for an event near you: www.killthecuts.org/action-near-...

#savescience
#killthecuts

And today it’s back on! Whiplash

The NIDDK conference on Real-World Evidence for GLP-1RAs that was to be hosted in May now no longer exists, apparently

www.niddk.nih.gov/news/meeting...

With all of the government websites down recently, here's a great tracker of government webpage status:

stats.uptimerobot.com/Zrqh8AhvKn

COALITION OF MAYORS ACROSS U.S. FILE AMICUS BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DRASTIC CUTS TO FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING Led by the City of Boston, MA, City of Cleveland, OH, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, TN, the Mayor of Gainesville, FL, and the Mayor of Salt Lake City, UT, over 40 mayors, cities, and counties argue that NIH cuts will cause job losses, economic disruption, and undermine U.S. competitiveness BOSTON - Thursday, February 20, 2025 - Late yesterday, Mayor Michelle Wu co-led a coalition of Mayors from across the United States in writing and filing an amicus brief in federal district court in Boston to stop the Trump Administration's drastic and illegal cuts to federal research funding and immediate job losses in cities nationwide. Over 40 mayors, cities, and counties from across the country joined the brief. These cities are home to universities and hospitals that employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in cutting edge medical and scientific research, and the federally-funded research in these communities has made the United States the global leader in scientific discovery. The brief seeks a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration, alongside the research universities, medical schools, hospitals, and 22 states that are plaintiffs in the three cases filed last week in federal district court. “For decades, Congress has made a clear choice to use federally-funded research to invest in cities, build a broadly-distributed infrastructure for scientific discovery, create jobs, and drive economic growth in communities across the United States,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “We join with cities across the country – in red states, purple states, and blue states – to stop this illegal action that will cause layoffs, lab closures, and undermine scientific progress in American cities. I thank Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell for her leadership on behalf of the research institutions of Boston.”

This amicus brief is in response to the abrupt February 7, 2025 announcement by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of an immediate reduction in funding for scientific and medical research institutions across the country. Under the NIH’s new policy, which temporarily went into effect on Monday, February 10, payments for indirect costs reimbursed to research universities would be capped at 15%, down from 30-70%. The brief makes clear that NIH funding cuts would devastate research institutions in cities across the county, cause job losses, create severe economic disruption, and undermine a critical pillar of strength and civic pride in cities across the United States. The cuts would also undermine critical medical and scientific research that residents are counting on, including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, and jeopardize the cities’ and country’s position of global leadership on scientific advancement. “The Gainesville community depends on this highly efficient, dependable investment of our tax dollars back into our city’s innovation economy,” said Harvey L. Ward, Mayor, City of Gainesville, Florida. “I’m glad to join other mayors in highlighting the vital role NIH funding plays in the lives of everyday hardworking American families.” “The breadth and diversity of this coalition highlights the devastating and widespread impact of these NIH funding changes, from Alzheimer’s research to cancer clinical trials,” said Jill Habig, Founder and CEO of Public Rights Project. “We’re proud to partner with mayors, cities, and counties in opposing this threat to critical federal funding and the health and vitality of our communities.” On Monday, February 10th, twenty two states and associations of medical schools, hospitals, and universities, filed three related cases, and secured a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump Administration from slashing the reimbursement rates. That initial order will be revisited this week in a hearing scheduled for Feb. 21.

The Public Rights Project served as amici counsel. The full list of mayors, cities and counties who joined the brief is below. Local Governments and Mayors City of Boston, Massachusetts City of Cleveland, Ohio Harvey L. Ward, Mayor, City of Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee Erin Mendenhall, Mayor, City of Salt Lake City, Utah City of Alameda, California City of Albuquerque, New Mexico Allegheny County, Pennsylvania City of Baltimore, Maryland Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Mayor, City of Burlington, Vermont Township of Canton, Michigan Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina City of Chicago, Illinois Sandra Welch, Mayor, City of Coconut Creek, Florida City of Columbus, Ohio City of Easthampton, Massachusetts Daniel Biss, Mayor, City of Evanston, Illinois City of Fairfax, Virginia Harris County, Texas Ravinder S. Bhalla, Mayor, City of Hoboken, New Jersey Quinton Lucas, Mayor, Kansas City, Missouri Indya Kincannon, Mayor, City of Knoxville, Tennessee City of Madison, Wisconsin Jeff Silvestrini, Mayor, City of Millcreek, Utah Anissa Welch, Mayor, City of Milton, Wisconsin Montgomery County, Maryland City of New Haven, Connecticut Dontae Payne, Mayor, City of Olympia, Washington Adrian O. Mapp, Mayor, City of Plainfield, New Jersey Sue Noack, Mayor, City of Pleasant Hill, California City of Pittsburgh and Ed Gainey, Mayor, City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City of Providence, Rhode Island John Clark, Mayor, Town of Ridgway, Colorado City of Rochester, New York City of Sacramento, California City and County of San Francisco, California City of Santa Monica, California Constantine H. Kutteh, Mayor, City of Statesville, North Carolina Lisa Brown, Mayor, City of Spokane, Washington Tishaura O. Jones, Mayor, City of St. Louis, Missouri City of St. Paul, Minnesota Dennis R. McBride, Mayor, City of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

The City of Boston is leading 40+ mayors, cities, and counties in an amicus brief against the Trump Administration's drastic and illegal cuts to federal research funding—cuts that will lead to immediate job losses nationwide.

Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep a funding freeze in place, leaving researchers in limbo.

So, if your study section hasn’t been posted to the federal register (you can search by the study section name on www.federalregister.gov , then sort by ‘newest’), then your study section isn’t happening at least for another 35 days
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

STAT is backing up and monitoring CDC data in real time: See what's changing STAT is backing up and monitoring CDC data in real time: See what's changing.

New from me: Here it is, everything I know about every change I've been monitoring on data.cdc.gov plus an archive of every file that's been removed or altered.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/t...

CDC source:

“We just had word that all our fellows and post doc staff are laid off effective immediately. The famous Epidemic Intelligence Service, aka the Disease Detectives, is no more. That’s 1260 staff.

They are calling this ‘Phase 1’.”

CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately.

This is insane, to immediately stop all scientific collaborations between CDC and WHO, including on ongoing infectious disease outbreaks:
www.statnews.com/2025/01/27/c...

I strongly support the NIH Diversity Supplement Program. Addressing the severe lack of diversity among biomedical researchers improves the quality of research. It's not a level playing field. This program helps restore equity through mentored training. Rescinding this program is a big mistake

Welp! NIH diversity supplement grants now have newly updated expiration dates dates of January 2025 revised from May 2026. 🤷‍♀️
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring Researchers facing

Cancellation of all study sections and NIH related activities. Devastating for science, universities, and researchers. I was expecting the worst and yet this exceeded my expectations www.science.org/content/arti...

Lauren Hunt demonstrated that slow inexorable functional decline in people with dementia can be punctuated by disruptive events such as hip fracture and hospitalization for pneumonia, leading to big drops in function. #geriatrics #hapc

agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Great presentation from Ellie Matthay at NYU showing how heterogeneous treatment effects are common in social policy evaluations, but studies do not often look for them. Challenges include small data sets and p-hacking. But policy implications are significant, to better target interventions. #IAPHS