Harsha Thirumurthy

STATUS List | Holly Fernandez Lynch Holly Fernandez Lynch, a bioethicist and lawyer, studies drug development and what happens when the needs of patients and pharma companies don't align.

Very proud of my brilliant and caring @pennmehp.bsky.social colleague @hollylynchez.bsky.social - she’s on the 2025 STATUS List of 50 influential people shaping the future of health and life sciences!
www.statnews.com/status-list/...

SCIMaP - Impacts of Federal Cuts to Science and Medical Research Developed by an interdisciplinary research team, this website shows how funding cuts reduce economic activity and employment nationwide

Across the US, cuts to federal funding for health research are projected to cause losses of $16B and 68k jobs. How will YOUR area be impacted? See SCIMaP, a website that my colleague Emly Falk and her team have created to communicate the impact of funding cuts. Learn and share at scienceimpacts.org

"China’s finance on a grant-equivalent basis was worth between $5–8 billion, compared to the United States’ roughly $63 billion" www.cgdev.org/blog/chinese...

The Longevity Hot Spots That Weren’t Our culture has become obsessed with “blue zones,” where people purportedly live longer. But does the underlying research stand up to scrutiny?

The Blue Zones Project claims to unlock the secrets to longevity, but does its approach hold up to scrutiny?

Dr. Atheendar Venkatarmani isn’t conviced: “I think any new intervention that’s trying to scale and is touted as promising should put it to the test”.

newrepublic.com/article/1883...

Hearing from all corners of HHS this morning about a total bloodletting — firings of scientists, analysts and many more as delayed RIFs take effect.

Many folks didn’t see early AM email and showed up, only to be turned away when badges didn’t work. Was sent this photo of long lines at one HHS site.

Opinion | For God’s Sake, Fellow Lawyers, Stand Up to Trump The time has come to defend the oath we took when we became officers of the court.

A perfect take: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/o...

"Lawyers and big firms: For God’s sake, stand up for the legal profession, and for the Constitution. Defend the oath you took when you became officers of the court. If we stand together and fight, we will win."

The Office of Research Integrity within the Dept of Health & Human Services is responsible for integrity of research conducted by, as well as extramural research supported by, HHS.

It's going to be an interesting and challenging few years for ORI.

ori.hhs.gov/about-ori

“It’s Unacceptable”: BU Mathematician Tracks How Many Deaths May Result from USAID, Medicaid Cuts The impact trackers update in real time based on the loss of international aid programs combating HIV and tuberculosis

Everyone should visit pepfar.impactcounter.com
"As of writing this article, over 23,000 adults and more than 2,400 infants would have died, because of the elimination of PEPFAR, according to Nichols’ findings. The numbers are published on a live updating impact tracker."
www.bu.edu/articles/202...

Visual Tools Improve Understanding of HIV Medication Bottles filled with beads representing the HIV virus in the body can improve understanding of living with HIV and the intention to take medication.

NEW FINDINGS: Simple visual aids, such as bead-filled bottles, may change attitudes and improve intent to take medication among people with HIV.

Read our research brief here: ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/res...

This is a beautiful paragraph, and essay, from David Remnick in @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

New Estimates of the USAID Cuts Last week we presented some estimates of the extent and distribution of cuts to USAID assistance. Since then, a list of active USAID projects has also been leaked. We recalculate our estimates of acti...

🧵Reviewing a list of canceled USAID contracts, @charlesjkenny.bsky.social & @justsand.bsky.social examine which sectors will be hit hardest.

They estimate that 46-65% of aid for TB could be cut. Learn more ⬇️
www.cgdev.org/blog/new-est...

PEPFAR's short-term, one-year reauthorization expires today. Here's why this isn't the biggest threat it's facing (and why the program continues).

Call for Nominations: The 2025 Paul Farmer Award for Global Health Equity

www.mcgill.ca/spgh/about-u...

We Need to Turn Our Outrage Way Up This is no time to sit idly by. People’s lives are at stake. We have to put our bodies on the line.

A long time ago my community was under siege & the reaction was to play nice. There were proper ways to channel your concerns & damn it we were nothing if not rule followers. Until Larry Kramer. He urged us to act up, not be polite. I wrote about him this week. 1/ www.thenation.com/article/acti...

Federal Cuts Prompt Johns Hopkins to Cut More Than 2,000 Workers The university, a leader in scientific research, has been hard hit by the Trump administration’s cuts, which will slash at least $800 million from its budget.

Terrible to read about these cuts to global health programs at Johns Hopkins - including programs I've worked with in India. and Uganda. “Stopping funding isn’t going to kill you today, but in six months you’re going to see an impact around the world.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

Boosting Health Through Economic Policy: Tax and Labor Policies to Improve Population Health Join Penn LDI to explore evidence-based economic policies that foster healthier, more equitable communities.

How can tax credits, paid leave, and other policies improve population health?

Join us on March 28 for our virtual seminar featuring experts Elizabeth Ananat, Bradley Hardy, Aparna Mathur, and LDI Fellow @atheendar.bsky.social.
ldi.upenn.edu/events/boost...

YouTube video by IAS-USA 40+ Years of HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must

A must-watch: Rebecca Denison, founder of Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD), delivers the Martin Delaney Presentation at #CROI2025

"40+ Years of #HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must"

Thanks to IAS-USA for making it publicly available.

if you've had an NIH grant terminated, I want to hear about it. Signal: katherinejwu.12

On the latest #PxPulse (@hivpxresearch.bsky.social) episode, KFF’s @jenkatesdc.bsky.social discusses American people’s knowledge about and experiences with foreign aid and the impact of President Trump’s foreign aid freeze on global health.

Listen to the full podcast: on.kff.org/41ruHmr

Slashing Mexico's landmark conditional cash transfer program caused teenage boys to drop out of school and take up work, from Fernanda Marquez-Padilla, Susan W. Parker, and Tom S. Vogl https://www.nber.org/papers/w33527

Hope to see you at City Hall in Philly today!

Damage Control in the Wake of Political Action That Threatens the Integrity of Medical Research | Annals of Internal Medicine

This piece, written by top medical journal editors, shows how the government has obstructed the normal publication process for medical research, slowing scientific progress. Many examples are included.

www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...

Join us at noon tomorrow for a discussion about the implications of rolling back US foreign aid. Registration details below.

Disease, Disparities, and Development: Evidence from Chagas Disease Control in Brazil Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Cool new paper by @eduardomontero.bsky.social and JD Denton-Schneider...

Eliminating Chagas disease in Brazil raised income by 11%! Larger gains for non-whites, reducing racial inequality. Public health interventions can address both development and inequality...

www.nber.org/papers/w3351...

U.S.A.I.D. Memos Detail Human Costs of Cuts to Foreign Aid (Gift Article) The world is likely to see millions more malaria infections and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio each year, according to an agency whistle-blower.

SCOOP: The world is likely to see millions more malaria infections and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio each year, according to a whistle-blower from USAID.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/h...

Potential Clinical and Economic Impacts of Cutbacks in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Program in South Africa: A Modeling Analysis: Annals of Internal Medicine: Vol 0, No 0 Background: Future U.S. congressional funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program is uncertain. Objective: To evaluate the clinical and economic impacts of abruptly sca...

So many organizations I’ve had the privilege of working with received termination letters from USAID this week. Here’s an estimate of how many lives may be lost as a result, in South Africa alone: >500k additional deaths, >500k new infections
doi.org/10.7326/ANNA...