Mark Johnson

Why this clinical trial is offering some young cancer patients hope Children’s National Hospital is poised to recruit patients for a new clinical trial that will take on an old, implacable foe: children’s solid tumors. Little progress has been made in 30 years.

A new clinical trial at Children's National Hospital in D.C. is taking aim at children's solid tumors an area with little progress to show for the last 30 years. My article in The Washington Post ran today: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

GIFT!
Study Finds mRNA Covid Vaccines Prolonged Life of Cancer Patients

By @markjohnpost.bsky.social

"Covid-19 vaccines, credited with saving millions of lives during the pandemic, set off a powerful alarm that rallies the human immune system against cancer and nearly doubles the median survival."

The origins of hallucinations are traced in specialized brain cells Researchers used lasers to record and stimulate the activity of neurons in mice to learn how the brain processes and interprets optical illusions.

Why do optical illusions work? The culprit may be a group of neurons in the visual cortex that help us fill in missing information.

@markjohnpost.bsky.social for @washingtonpost.com dives into the science and how it could help demystify visual hallucinations: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Study finds mRNA coronavirus vaccines prolonged life of cancer patients A study found that covid-19 vaccines appeared to awaken the immune system in lung and skin cancer patients, helping them live longer than those not vaccinated.

Two months after HHS eliminates almost $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development, a new study finds evidence that the covid-19 vaccine almost doubled median survival length in some cancer patients. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

The $1 billion wager riding on whether a human will live to 150 The leaders of China and Russia discussed medical advances and whether a human might reach the age of 150. Two experts in the longevity field have a “$1 billion” wager riding on the question.

Would Xi or Putin plonk down a $1 billion bet on someone living to the age of 150? Here's my story in today's Post: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

The potential key to upgrading toothpaste? Sheep’s wool and human hair. Scientists find keratin from hair can form a protective coating on teeth, potentially preventing tooth decay and promoting better dental care

New weapon in the fight against tooth decay may come from sheep's wool or human hair. I have a story in The Washington Post on research from King's College London. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Trump’s answer to numbers he doesn’t like: Change them or throw them away From D.C. crime rates to census collection to labor statistics, the administration has suppressed inconvenient data and conjured inaccurate statistics to bolster policy objectives.

Great reporting by my colleagues at The Washington Post on the administration's "war on data." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

After CDC shooting, its employees turn their anger to RFK Jr. and Trump Documents from the shooter’s home showed his discontent with coronavirus vaccines, authorities said. CDC workers want RFK Jr. to denounce vaccine misinformation.

I'm in awe of my colleagues' excellent work on the shooting at CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Read this terrific story by Lauren Webber and Lena Sun. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Research on reversing Alzheimer’s reveals lithium as potential key Years of investigation by scientists at Harvard has revealed that lithium is deeply involved in Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that could lead to new treatments.

Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered that the depletion of lithium in the brain leads to much of the deterioration in Alzheimer's disease. In a mouse model, they were actually able to reverse the damage. Here's my story in The Post: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

NIH director says cuts aim to reduce ‘ideological research,’ focus on health Science and American politics have become intertwined as perhaps never before.

Is NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya "not a politician" as he says? Here's my story in The Post. Let me know what you think:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Protecting his stock portfolio while ripping away health care from 17 million Americans.

This is Washington at its worst.

We need to ban Congressional stock trading.

Kilmar Abrego García’s lawyers describe ‘severe beatings’ in El Salvador prison In a rare account of conditions inside the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), Abrego’s attorneys say he and others deported there from the United States were beaten and forced to kneel fo...

What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvadoran prison: "guards, who had determined that he wasn’t a hardened gang member, threatened to put him in with real gang members who would 'tear' him apart."

Read story by Steve Thompson, of The Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

This is a terrible decision that threatens what has long been an indispensable resource for patients and their providers. The federal HIV guidelines have been a model for a living document that is constantly updated through a rigorous and collaborative process.

Administration to phase out NIH support of HIV clinical guidelines The National Institutes of Health will phase out its support of the clinical practice guidelines that advise doctors how to diagnose and treat HIV.

What next at HHS? My story on the phasing out of NIH support for HIV clinical practice guidelines.

www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Brian Wilson, singer-songwriter who created the Beach Boys, dies at 82 His early hits — “Surfer Girl,” “I Get Around,” “All Summer Long,” “Help Me, Rhonda” and “California Girls” — evoked a fantasy world of fast cars, beautiful youth, eternal surf and sunshine on an imm...

One of the greatest composers of the modern era. R.I.P.

www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

Tulsa announces reparations for the 1921 ‘Black Wall Street’ massacre It took decades of research by historians and journalists — and reports by state and federal commissions — to uncover the violence that claimed more than 300 Black lives.

Doing the right thing. Finally.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

White House proposes shutting down chemical safety agency Since 1998, the Chemical Safety Board has played a key role in probing the causes of major chemical accidents.

A bleak future for the government's chemical safety agency.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

You can't treat what you can't reach.

A new fleet of 1,000 "gene delivery trucks" could help bring more targeted gene therapies to the brain and spinal cord.

Dive deeper in this great article by @markjohnpost.bsky.social for @washingtonpost.com.

🧠📈 www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Trump’s clemency spree extends to ex-gangster, artist, former congressmen Trump said he also is considering pardons for men convicted in the kidnapping plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

Yet another batch of pardons. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A grim prognosis, a gamble and one patient’s fight to defy cancer After a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis and a prognosis of 16 months to live, Katie Doble didn’t know whether she should plan her wedding or her funeral.

We discussed this incredible article in lab meeting today from @markjohnpost.bsky.social in @washingtonpost.com

wapo.st/3ZDCj5d

Scientists develop gene delivery ‘trucks’ that could treat brain diseases Gene delivery systems can target specific brain cells, a breakthrough that could lead to treatments for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The Washington Post has published a story I wrote on important new discoveries made through the NIH Brain initiative. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Trump to pardon reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley The former stars of USA Network’s “Chrisley Knows Best” were sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, in 2022 for fraud and tax evasion.

More pardoning. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

These historians oversee unbiased accounts of U.S. foreign policy. Trump fired them all. An advisory committee of historians helps ensure the record of America’s history remains unbiased, transparent and thorough. Trump just fired the entire panel.

Historians purged. www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...

RFK Jr. says he may bar scientists from publishing in top medical journals Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at reputed journals such as the Lancet and said the agency will create “in-house” publications instead.

RFK Jr. continues his push to dictate what constitutes good science. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Trump oversight picks include scandal-hit ex-lawmaker, antiabortion lawyer Several nominees have clearly partisan backgrounds, including two with controversial histories and two with ties to the agency they would be investigating.

Great reporting by my Post colleagues raising questions about the President's picks to provide oversight. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Opinion | In defense of nationwide injunctions The Supreme Court has good reason to preserve this check on presidential power.

Strong editorial: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Trump pardons former Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery, fraud Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was found guilty of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes.

More pardoning by the Pardoner-in-Chief. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Supreme Court declines to stop transfer of Native American site for mining The justices left in place a lower-court decision that allows the transfer of land in central Arizona known as Oak Flat that is sacred to Western Apache Indians.

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch called the court’s refusal to review the case a “grievous mistake — one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Price tag for Trump’s military parade could reach $45 million Soldiers will be housed in U.S. Department of Agriculture and General Services Administration buildings for days, an Army spokesman said.

White House is planning a military parade that costs $25 million to $45 million. How many canceled research projects might that have paid for? How many RIFed government workers? www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

His great-grandfather enshrined birthright citizenship. Norman Wong is trying to save it. One hundred and twenty-seven years after Wong Kim Ark’s Supreme Court victory enshrined birthright citizenship, Norman Wong is fighting to protect that legacy.

The Washington Post's David Nakamura tells the powerful story of the man who's fight led to birthright citizenship. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...