Dr. Aurora Le, PhD, MPH, CIH, CSP

Will Texas Workers Ever Get a Break from the Summer Heat? A long-awaited hearing on a proposed OSHA heat protection rule is set for June 16, but workers are uncertain to get relief under Trump.

The administration is terminating leases for 11 OSHA offices, including the one in Houston, home to many of the nation’s largest oil and gas companies. While OSHA officials continue to conduct inspections, Trump has cut 10 percent of its workforce and more layoffs could be coming.

Here's the science behind the COVID vaccine in pregnancy Existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a COVID vaccine in pregnancy all points the same way: the shot is important for maternal and fetal health.

Existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a COVID vaccine in pregnancy all points the same way: the shot is important for maternal and fetal health.

Here are my top 10 graduation dogs!

How Vaccines are Developed and Approved for Use Learn how vaccines are developed and approved for use.

🧵1/
RFK Jr. says childhood vaccines weren’t tested and that COVID boosters need full trials every year.
That’s not how vaccines—or science—work. Time for a #FactCheckFriday!

Let’s talk about how vaccines are tested, and how this kind of talk puts real people at risk.

www.cdc.gov/vaccines/bas...

U.S. Government to Stop Tracking the Costs of Extreme Weather

Breaking News: The U.S. will no longer track the cost of the most expensive natural disasters, in the Trump administration’s latest move to restrict climate research.

Fired, rehired, and fired again: Some federal workers find they're suddenly uninsured Commerce Department employees caught up in a legal battle over their mass firings are now learning that their health care coverage was cut off weeks ago, even though they were paying their premiums.

Commerce Department employees caught up in a legal battle over their mass firings are now learning that their health care coverage was cut off weeks ago, even though they were paying their premiums.

Work at the Labor Center - UC Berkeley Labor Center The Labor Center is currently hiring for: Policy Researcher/Senior Policy Researcher, Green Economy Program (Associate/ Full Specialist); GSR, Green Economy Program, Summer 2025.

Our Green Economy team is hiring!
—Policy Researcher
—Graduate Student Researchers
Join us! Our work supports policymakers, businesses, unions & community stakeholders who are engaged in the design & implementation of green economy policies & projects.
laborcenter.berkeley.edu/about/work-a...

Health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker Pregnancy is one of the most common reasons for a hospitalization among non-elderly people. In addition to the cost of the birth itself, pregnancy care also involves costs associated with prenatal vis...

🤰$5K for having a baby? That’s cute.

Giving birth (with insurance) costs an average of $19K, with women paying $3K out of pocket. 💸

Caring for an infant in the first year costs $10-23K. 💰💰💰
(www.newyorklife.com/articles/bre...)

These are not serious ideas.

In the middle of a hepatitis outbreak, U.S. shutters the one CDC lab that could help All 27 scientists at this CDC lab were told their duties were "unnecessary," and now viral outbreak investigations have been halted

All 27 scientists at this CDC lab were told their duties were "unnecessary," and now viral outbreak investigations have been halted.

The measles outbreak in Texas shows no sign of slowing down. 🧵

A second child has died of measles in Texas. The child was unvaccinated. Tragic and preventable, this is a direct consequence of anti-vaccine disinformation.

NIOSH being gutted made me gasp.

Among other great things, NIOSH researches and approves things like, oh mask filtration. N95? That's a rating system from NIOSH.

Airtable | Everyone's app platform Airtable is a low-code platform for building collaborative apps. Customize your workflow, collaborate, and achieve ambitious outcomes. Get started for free.

New this evening (3/28): Major update in NIH grant termination numbers.

❌ 695 NIH grants now terminated (up from 429)
❌ 232 on HIV/AIDS
❌ 44 on cancer
❌ 28 on Alzheimer's
❌ 123 on Covid*

*And this doesn't count cancelled non-NIH Covid grants.

HUGE THANKS to @noamross.net for pushing the updates!

Measles is spreading. Here’s what experts say you should know The uptick in measles cases has left many people wondering about early signs of measles, whether they need an updated vaccine and treatment options.

As measles cases surge in the United States, leading to the country’s first two measles-related deaths in a decade, questions, worries and misinformation about the infectious disease are swirling. Here's what you need to know:

Newborn babies exposed to measles in Texas hospital Infants barely three days old are receiving antibody injections to help protect against the virus. Nearly 300 cases have been reported in the outbreak.

Tragic & preventable with routine immunization vs measles using a safe, highly effective vaccine.

Measles is so challenging because infected people can transmit the virus starting ~4 days before the characteristic rash appears.

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

#medsky

What you need to know about immigrant workers References American Community Survey (ACS). 1-Year 2023 microdata, Accessed via IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org. American Community Survey (ACS). 2019–2023 pooled microdata, Accessed...

Mass deportation plans will lead to massive job losses, increase the cost-of-living, and create a culture of fear in our workplaces and communities.

See how immigrant workers impact your state, from the Economic Policy Institute ⬇️ www.epi.org/what-you-nee...

A card reads: "These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration." A long list of words follows, including: biologically female; biologically male; BIPOC; Black; breastfeed + people; clean energy; climate crisis; climate science; commercial sex worker; community diversity; community equity; confirmation bias; cultural competence; cultural differences; cultural heritage; cultural sensitivity; culturally appropriate; culturally responsive; DEI; equity; feminism; genders.

Agencies within the Trump administration have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, according to a compilation of government documents. These terms appeared in government memos, in official and unofficial agency guidance and in other documents. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Vaccination as a cause of autism—myths and controversies Despite significant progress in the study of the epidemiology and genetics of autism, the etiology and patho-physiology of this condition is far from being elucidated and no curative treatment current...

Vaccines do not cause autism. If you need a quick reference to studies that disprove this relationship:

Commentary, how we got here: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Meta-analysis synthesizing the results from studies on almost 1.3 million children: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Now Hiring! [image of a megaphone] Digital Organizer Communications Team Based in Austin, TX texasaflcio.org/jobs

Now Hiring! [image of a megaphone] RGV Field Organizer Organizing Team Based in the Rio Grande Valley texasaflcio.org/jobs

NOW HIRING: We’re looking for both a Digital Organizer and RGV Field Organizer to join our team! Learn more & apply at texasaflcio.org/jobs

a tiny white dog stands on a tile floor and looks up at you. they’re wearing a big plush yellow star around their teensy noggin, like the world’s most congratulatory lion mane. we really needed to see her today.

We've been saving this little pup for when we thought you all might really need a gold star. And, given the current circumstances, here she is. 13/10

(WSJ) - The world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s unless the U.S. rows back on its plans to impose steep tariffs on imports, a senior official at the International Chamber of Commerce warned.

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

Who Is Al Green, the Texas Democrat Ejected From Trump’s Speech? The Texas Democrat, who was ejected from the House chamber for shouting at President Trump during his Tuesday address, also introduced the first articles of impeachment against him in 2017.

Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, who was removed from the House chamber for heckling President Trump during his speech on Tuesday to a joint session of Congress, has a history of dramatic political gestures.

Here's what to know about him.

2025 Study section tracking

Wondering if your study section cancelled? I update this sheet daily. As of today, 56/124 study sections that should have met since Jan 2, 2025 have "not met as scheduled." docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Happy to share my latest in press publication with my wonderful college, Dr. Hannah Rochford, looking at the relationship between earned sick leave policies (AKA paid sick leave) across industries in the U.S.
doi.org/10.1016/j.sh...

Medicaid is not for sale.
NASA is not for sale.
The Post Office is not for sale.
America is not for sale.

We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.

Given the measles outbreak in West Texas right now, I wanted to remind y'all of this free resource that I provide:

Justice Department deletes database tracking federal police misconduct The Trump administration has removed a nationwide database of federal police officers’ misconduct, launched by the Biden administration to keep bad cops from jumping from job to job.

The first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers has been shut down by President Donald Trump, deleting a resource that experts said improved public safety by helping to prevent bad officers from jumping to new agencies and starting over.

Exclusive: Tesla cited by U.S. regulators over worker's death Federal regulators have cited Tesla for violating workplace safety rules in connection with the electrocution of a worker last summer at its Austin, Texas, auto-manufacturing plant.

A worker at Tesla's plant in Austin was electrocuted and died last summer.

Now OSHA has cited Tesla for violating workplace safety rules.

But the department isn't disclosing the nature of Tesla's safety failures or whether any penalties were imposed.

www.reuters.com/business/aut...