Lauren Forrest

a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket . ALT: a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .

So... I did some analysis of grants that did receive noncompetitive renewals.

In particular, I looked a those award where the title of the grant changed.

Warning: The results are just what I expected, but oooph...

1/4

Risk Factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder: What We Already Know From Scientific Evidence | Defend Public Health With Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to announce what he believes are the causes of autism this month, Defend Public Health is preemptively warning the public not t...

RFK Jr. is going to release a report on what he thinks are the causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

There is reason to believe it won’t be trustworthy, so @defendpublichealth.bsky.social has released our own evidence-based report of ASD risk factors to the public.

Vaccines aren’t one of them.

Stoked to read this handbook.

Also, my new life mission is to piss off the right people by the doing ethical, principled, rigorous science that they're going to dislike. We *must* keep shining a light on LGBTQ+ people, trans people specifically, Black and Brown people, and women. Lfg.

CDC headquarters windows with visible bullet holes

I took this picture myself at the CDC protest today. These are among the hundreds of bullet holes in CDC headquarters windows, visible from the street. I heard today that the admin has no urgent plan to fix these windows.

Imagine being a CDC employee going to work under these conditions

NEW: Don't ask too many questions, but...

NIH may not re-terminate the 900ish grants at issue in the main NIH lawsuits after all.

To the PIs of reinstated grants, SPEND NOW!

🧵 Here's what NIH is probably thinking. Bear with me:

Screen shot of a Just The News article saying: “National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, meanwhile, is fending off a mutiny by nearly 500 self-identified staff — some perhaps laid off in reduction-in-force plans — based in part on an alleged "list of banned words" in grants recommended for funding, especially those related to diversity, equity and inclusion. "This one is really frustrating," Bhattacharya told Just the News. He informed representatives of the "Bethesda Declaration," named after NIH's Maryland home base, at their July 21 meeting that "I ordered there be no banned list" to his staff months ago, but some program officers "took it upon themselves" to create ad hoc, unofficial lists. “

Wow! So Bhattacharya is now saying in right leaning rags that it’s been rogue program officers that created banned words lists at NIH. 🤣

What a sad, small person he is!

“Program officers ‘took it upon themselves’ to create ad hoc, unofficial lists…”

The Black maternity mortality crisis comes to the Hill Your definitive guide to women, politics and power.

I spoke to @politico.com about the Black maternal mortality crisis. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.

NEW: In an unprecedented move, the NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding.

NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and told to expect placements by political appointees.

EPA places staffers who signed ‘dissent’ letter on leave The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is placing staffers who signed a letter of dissent against the Trump administration’s actions and policies on leave. The EPA says it has placed 1…

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

Brave #EPA employees who signed the #DeclarationofDissent are now facing administrative leave after speaking out.

NOW MORE THAN EVER THESE EPA EMPLOYEES NEED YOUR SUPPORT & SOLIDARITY!

stand with them publicly now by adding your name here ➡️ zurl.co/6MReq

zurl.co/XiAxu

Judge Young states that there must be a permanent injunction for the racial discrimination present in the NIH terminations. But he says that b/c of Skrmetti, there is no federal remedy for NIH's LGBTQ+ discrimination??? Skrmetti wasn't about sexual orientation though. Can law people please explain?

Medicare for All - "That's socialism!"

Social Security - "That's socialism!"

Debt free education - "That's socialism!"

Universal childcare - "That's socialism!"

$1 trillion+ in tax cuts for the wealthy...

"That's just how it is."

Robert F Kennedy Jr is not a vaccine skeptic. Reporters and editors who’ve decided it’s somehow more fair to call him one instead of the anti-vaccine activist and lawyer he is should stop mischaracterizing him so… in the pursuit of accuracy.

Just in: NIH staff have been instructed to REINSTATE these ~900 grants to comply with the court order, per sources. This comes after staff were also directed to cease any further terminations.

You can see the lists grants to be reinstated in my post below.

Stay denied by Judge Young in APHA v NIH and State AGs v Kennedy cases.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

1/n

BREAKING: In a unanimous decision, a federal court of appeals has ruled that Louisiana's law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms is unconstitutional.

We’ll keep saying it: Public schools are not Sunday schools.

I'm interested! And this is right up my alley. Would love to hear what you're thinking and how I can assist.

This is so despicable.

Know that you can still provide @trevorproject.bsky.social's direct number (866-488-7386 or text to 678-678) to folks who need it.

Given that this also cuts needed funding for this work, it's a good day to donate to The Trevor Project here:

although there are still uncertainties in how this ruling will play out, this is nonetheless important to celebrate. HUGE thank you to the many people who contributed so much of their time, expertise, and emotional energy to bring these lawsuits to fruition.

MORE YOUNG: "It is palpably clear that these directives and the set of terminated grants here also are designed to frustrate, to stop, research that may bear on the health – we’re talking about health here, the health of Americans, of our LGBTQ community. That’s appalling."

THIS IS IT! THIS IS HUGE!!

PLAINTIFF'S WIN!!

Judge Young rules that the NIH grant terminations at issue in these cases are illegal and therefore vacated. BOOM!

Finally. A person with (more) power calling these terminations what they are: discrimination. What an incredible moment to witness.

Huge thanks to @anniewaldman.bsky.social and @propublica.org for shining a light on these terminations. These terminations are a major blow professionally. But they'll wreak far more havoc on the health and livelihood of so many humans.

Please ask why the HHS National Strategy for Suicide Prevention states that suicide prevention strategies are needed for LGBTQ+ people, yet all NIH grants studying suicide in LGBTQ+ people were terminated.

Gold-standard maternal mortality database in limbo as CDC staff placed on leave As part of the sweeping layoffs that rocked HHS, the entire staff that oversaw an annual survey to better understand infant and maternal health was placed on administrative leave.

Entire CDC staff that oversaw an annual survey to better understand infant & maternal health was axed.
For 3+ decades, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, or PRAMS, surveyed moms pre/postpartum & has been used by researchers to study US’s disproportionately high maternal mortality rates

Why These Trans Teens and Their Families Risked Everything to Get Gender-Affirming Care It’s as simple as love.

When I heard the mom of a trans girl say the night her daughter came out to her was the first time she'd ever seen her child happy, I knew it was a story I needed to share.

These are the stories the public isn't hearing. An honor to get to report on 3 family's journeys for @teenvogue.com.

So sorry that you and your students are in this boat. Although not an exact comparison, my K was terminated (though not a diversity K mechanism). If seeing an example appeal could be helpful, I'm happy to share my appeal w/ you and your students.

PS @jeremymberg.bsky.social has done excellent tracking and conducted sophisticated analyses of how few new grants NIH has awarded in FY25, comparing current year to prior years, etc.

And I know that NIMHD has been hit especially hard. But still. Only 6 awards is shocking.

As a very rudimentary and unofficial comparison, NIMH has awarded n=241 new awards in FY25. Granted, Ns aren't directly comparable bc of different starting budgets, etc. But still. JFC.

NIMHD search: reporter.nih.gov/search/7j46b...

NIMH search: reporter.nih.gov/search/2CfxY...

I knew that NIH has awarded very few new grants. But I just searched how many new grants NIMHD has awarded in FY25. I selected NIMHD bc they are the IC for my now-terminated and pulled-from-review grants. The answer: n=6. Four are small biz grants, two are R01s. Holy shit.

A chart showing cancelled NIH grants

“I would like to cure brain cancer. I think that's not particularly controversial.” Be that as it may, the NIH terminated that scientist's grant. Here's a huge survey of the 2,500 grants that NIH has killed or delayed...so far. Gift link: nyti.ms/43Jz1yJ