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Marla Broadfoot

@marlabroadfoot.bsky.social

Freelance Science Journalist, PhD Geneticist, Contributing Editor at American Scientist, Adjunct Faculty at UNC, Board Member at NASW, Past President at SCONC, 2022-23 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow.

6,843 Followers  |  408 Following  |  56 Posts  |  Joined: 11.09.2023  |  2.0942

Latest posts by marlabroadfoot.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Postpartum Depression Gets a New, Fast-Acting Fix in a Pill Deep emotional distress after birth kills many mothers. A new kind of drug offers better, faster treatment

When I got this assignment, I was shocked to learn that suicide was one of the leading causes of death among new mothers. But there's hope, with the approval of the first pill for postpartum depression. @sciam.bsky.social

21.11.2025 22:02 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Have you registered for #SciWri25? SCONC's in the mix: @reunify.bsky.social on "Reporting Mistakes and Failures in Science" (Oct 23 online) and @shiplives.bsky.social moderating the plenary w/ @michellejewell.bsky.social (Nov 9 in Chicago). Registration closes Oct 22.

sciencewriters2025.o...

21.10.2025 23:25 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

As a historian, I can certify that we are in the bad times. But bad times eventually end.
In the meantime:
β€’ Figure out a small way to help someone
β€’ Figure out a small way to fight back
β€’ Figure out a small place to find joy
β€’ Figure out a small way to grow and thrive

And do it often.

15.10.2025 21:40 β€” πŸ‘ 4222    πŸ” 1566    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 71

As one of the lucky members of that book club, I can say it was amazingly fun to hear you share the backstory of that riveting story. I felt like such a fangirl.

17.10.2025 00:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Of genes, chromosomes and oratorios Jenny Graves has spent her life mapping genes and comparing genomes. Now she’s created a musical opus about evolution of life on this planet β€” bringing the same drive and experimentalism she brought t...

Profile or Q&A > Consumer
🎢 β€œOf genes, chromosomes and oratorios” | @marlabroadfoot.bsky.social

29.08.2025 16:42 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œWhy Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about β€œsilly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked β€œwhy are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
πŸ§ͺ🌎

17.06.2025 21:47 β€” πŸ‘ 1056    πŸ” 550    πŸ’¬ 34    πŸ“Œ 36

Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.

18.06.2025 13:59 β€” πŸ‘ 7923    πŸ” 4378    πŸ’¬ 252    πŸ“Œ 1298

Join us at 1 pm!

17.06.2025 15:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"I've sat on this bench now for 40 years. I've never seen government racial discrimination like this."

16.06.2025 19:48 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for a young science journalist - CASW

Applications are open for CASW'S (@sciencewriting.bsky.social) annual award to an outstanding under-31 science journalist. Deadline June 30. Winner gets $1,000 & expenses to attend ScienceWriters2025. I'm excited to organize judging this year. DM if interested in judging: casw.org/awards-fello...

12.06.2025 13:37 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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US Journalist Assistance Network - Committee to Protect Journalists In collaboration with U.S.-based press freedom organizations specializing in digital safety, physical safety, and legal rights, the Committee to Protect Journalists has compiled a list of resources to...

The Journalist Assistance Network β€” a collaboration between @freedom.press, @pressfreedom.bsky.social, @rcfp.org, @penamerica.bsky.social and IWMF β€” provides legal and safety resources and providers.

09.06.2025 21:55 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

Support the NIH! πŸ§ͺ

09.06.2025 14:12 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Newmark J-School Announces Inaugural β€œHow to Cover Aging” Awardees - Newmark J-School The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY has selected 10 working journalists from across North America to participate in its first β€œHow to

Excited to be headed to New York today for this new journalism workshop on aging.

04.06.2025 14:46 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Stealing this.

14.05.2025 14:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Happening today!

08.05.2025 11:56 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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N&O, Charlotte Observer named Pulitzer Prize finalists for Helene coverage The Associated Press and The Washington Post were also finalists in the category.

🧡 The News & Observer + The Charlotte Observer were honored as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for their joint coverage of Hurricane Helene + the aftermath in NC. The Associated Press + The Washington Post were also finalists.

www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a...

05.05.2025 20:59 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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Researchers slam HHS report on gender-affirming care for youth Critics say the report, which declines to disclose its authors, contradicts decades of scientific research

Experts share scathing reviews of last week's HHS report on gender-affirming care for youth: "...a rejection of decades of science, evidence, and direct experiences by young people, their doctors, and their families.”

@phiejacobs.bsky.social's story for @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

05.05.2025 13:50 β€” πŸ‘ 92    πŸ” 31    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
Post image Post image

The President’s entire budget proposal destroys the state as we know it, and not in any kind of liberatory way. Here are the proposed NIH & NSF cuts. There will be no coming back from this.

02.05.2025 16:02 β€” πŸ‘ 715    πŸ” 312    πŸ’¬ 27    πŸ“Œ 35

The Human Genome Project cost taxpayers $3 Billion.

Two decades on, it has generated a staggering return on investment of $1 Trillion, with benefits in medicine, agriculture, energy, the environment, & more.

If you want to boost the economy, funding science is one of the best things you could do.

02.05.2025 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 3782    πŸ” 1171    πŸ’¬ 54    πŸ“Œ 42
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ScienceWriters2025 to be held in Chicago November 7-9 The National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing are excited to announce that ScienceWriters2025 will take place in Chicago, November 7–9, at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare.

BIG NEWS: #SciWri25 has a new location and dates! Get ready to gather in Chicago Nov 7-9. The virtual portion will take place Oct 22-24. Thank you to everyone for your support during this journey.

Details: www.nasw.org/article...

30.04.2025 18:45 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 6
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CPJ Safety Advisory: Traveling to the US - Committee to Protect Journalists A stated policy goal of the Trump administration is to significantly change U.S. travel and immigration policies. Foreign nationals whose countries do not meet U.S. vetting standards may be barred entry. Journalists will not be exempt and should anticipate potential restrictions or questioning when traveling to or from the United States. Under a draft Trump...

RESOURCE ALERT: Our colleagues at @pressfreedom.bsky.social have issued travel advice and detailed checklists for journalists traveling to or from the U.S.

cpj.org/2025/04/cpj-...

22.04.2025 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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North Carolina Supreme Court throws out hundreds of ballots based on flawed data This is a special collaboration between Popular Information and Anderson Alerts, a newsletter about North Carolina politics.

1. The North Carolina Supreme Court just TOSSED 260 BALLOTS in a razor close election for a seat on the same court

The ballots were invalidated based on a claim by the Republican candidate that all of voters were "never residents" of North Carolina

But that claim is false

We have receipts

15.04.2025 12:40 β€” πŸ‘ 2075    πŸ” 893    πŸ’¬ 55    πŸ“Œ 34
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In contested Supreme Court race, NC Republicans test their ability to overturn an election NC could change the rules after the election is over, and throw out enough ballots to change the outcome. There are several ways that’s unprecedented.

NC could change the rules after the election is over, and throw out enough ballots to change the outcome. There are several ways that’s unprecedented. #ncpol

✍️ A special report by @kyleingram.bsky.social

www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

11.04.2025 16:38 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
Fighting censorship of government data: How STAT archived data.cdc.gov

Facilitated by Emory Parker

As rumors began swirling near the end of January that federal websites would be taken down entirely if they had not yet fully complied with Trump's executive orders, STAT downloaded and archived all available files from data.cdc.gov. We made that archive publicly available shortly after that along with a comprehensive analysis of what datasets had been deleted and which had been censored.
This session will cover the methods STAT used to archive this data, analyze changes between snapshots, and automate monitoring and logging of changes using Github actions and the CDC's API. We'll discuss trends STAT identified and also what else media outlets in general can be doing to preserve access to government datasets and other records.

Fighting censorship of government data: How STAT archived data.cdc.gov Facilitated by Emory Parker As rumors began swirling near the end of January that federal websites would be taken down entirely if they had not yet fully complied with Trump's executive orders, STAT downloaded and archived all available files from data.cdc.gov. We made that archive publicly available shortly after that along with a comprehensive analysis of what datasets had been deleted and which had been censored. This session will cover the methods STAT used to archive this data, analyze changes between snapshots, and automate monitoring and logging of changes using Github actions and the CDC's API. We'll discuss trends STAT identified and also what else media outlets in general can be doing to preserve access to government datasets and other records.

I'll be presenting a session this year at SRCCON on how I backed up data.cdc.gov and tracked changes to it. I also hope for this to be an interactive session where we can collaboratively think about what else we can all be doing to save data.

2025.srccon.org/program/ @opennews.bsky.social

03.04.2025 16:38 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer's Research Could Be Lost Forever Days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 10,000 HHS staffers would lose their jobs, a message appeared on NIH research repository sites saying they were "under review."

Petabytes of critical government research that is marked for possible deletion cannot be archived because of technical and legal restrictions, meaning it is very likely to be lost forever:

www.404media.co/nih-archives...

04.04.2025 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 4383    πŸ” 2799    πŸ’¬ 188    πŸ“Œ 537
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NC Court of Appeals gives over 60,000 challenged voters 15 days to prove eligibility The majority wrote that, even though they have the authority to completely throw out the contested ballots, they decided to instead mandate a cure period for most of the challenged voters.

North Carolina's never-ending Supreme Court dispute is still going on. Now, those whose votes were challenged must prove their eligibility within 15 days. The latest from @kyleingram.bsky.social. #ncpol

04.04.2025 17:07 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 7
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NIH’s impact on research, public health, and innovation - SciLine Discover how the NIH shapes global health research funding and its impact on drug development. Join SciLine's briefing for insights from leading experts.

Pleased to share that SciLine will hold a special briefing for journalists on Monday with scientists who can explain what's at stake with the sweeping changes underway at the National Institutes for Health. www.sciline.org/public-healt... @realsciline.bsky.social

03.04.2025 13:37 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Apply by April 1 for the 2025 NASW Diversity Summer Fellowship Making ends meet on an intern’s salary can be hard. Stipends don’t always cover the full costs of temporarily relocating to a new city or making ends meet while working remotely. Sometimes, prioritizing steps to advance your career can mean putting off other income opportunities that would otherwise serve more immediate financial needs.

DUE DATE TODAY April 1: The NASW Diversity Summer Fellowship, providing $3,000 in financial aid for trainees pursuing summer internships. Instructions: www.nasw.org/2025Div... πŸ§ͺπŸ“°

01.04.2025 13:00 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

White House says no one will be fired over the Signal scandal because no one involved was trying to cure cancer.

24.03.2025 21:54 β€” πŸ‘ 14439    πŸ” 3040    πŸ’¬ 193    πŸ“Œ 84
NIH_since_1_20_25

Many hundreds (perhaps up to 1000) of additional NIH grants appear to be have been terminated on Friday.

I have updated the data from the HHS TAGGS site (and converted it from a pdf to an Excel file) on the dashboard but many hundreds are still missing.

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

23.03.2025 16:37 β€” πŸ‘ 417    πŸ” 248    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 19

@marlabroadfoot is following 20 prominent accounts