Jonathan Wosen

5 lessons from Vinay Prasad's turbulent tenure at the FDA Vinay Prasad's unique ability to attract criticism — even when his bosses, including the president, wanted him to keep his head low — did him in at the FDA.

Vinay Prasad's unique ability to attract criticism — even when his bosses, including the president, wanted him to keep his head low — did him in at the FDA. www.statnews.com/2026/03/08/v...

Vinay Prasad, key Makary ally and a focus of controversy at FDA, is leaving the agency Prasad has been involved in several controversial decisions related to rare disease treatments.

BREAKING: Vinay Prasad is leaving the FDA for the second time. First reported by the WSJ
www.statnews.com/2026/03/06/f...

A month in, TrumpRx falls short of president’s grand promises Trump wants to focus on his efforts to lower drug prices, but the TrumpRx website is falling short of his promises.

A month in, TrumpRx falls short of the president’s grand promises for the discount medicines website, @danielpayne.bsky.social reports, with relatively few drugs listed and uneven savings www.statnews.com/2026/03/05/t... via @statnews.com

A new mystery emerges about Epstein's involvement in Harvard genetics study Someone seems to have altered the Personal Genome Project’s profile page believed to belong to Epstein to indicate he provided consent to join the study Jan. 31, 2026.

There’s a new mystery involving Jeffrey Epstein and a Harvard genome sequencing project that he participated in, @mmolteni.bsky.social reports in this @statnews.com exclusive www.statnews.com/2026/03/04/j...

2026 STAT Madness 2026 bracket Welcome to STAT Madness, a bracket-style contest to find the best innovation in science and medicine. Explore groundbreaking innovations from

It's time to VOTE!
#STATMadness is back! Our bracket-style contest to find the best innovation in science and medicine.
Help us crown a new champ! Vote now: www.statnews.com/feature/stat...

A titan of vaccine development sees his field’s achievements slip away Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," is watching his field’s achievements slip away.

Stanley Plotkin had a major hand in the development of a number of vaccines in use today; he designed the rubella vaccine. He remembers the world before widespread use of vaccines & knows what's coming as vaccine policy is rewritten & vaccine confidence is eroded. www.statnews.com/2026/03/02/s...

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary defends rare disease drug rejections, Vinay Prasad FDA Commissioner Marty Makary defended the agency’s recent rejections of rare disease drugs and one of his deputies, Vinay Prasad, in an interview with CNBC.

NEW: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary defended FDA's rare disease drug rejections, Vinay Prasad on CNBC this morning. He also appeared to disparage a Huntington’s disease treatment under review.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/26/m...

A rare disease drug was approvable, then it wasn’t. Inside a surprise rejection by the FDA Drugmakers thought they had the FDA's buy-in to approve a therapy to treat a type of cancer that can quickly turn deadly. The agency, however, rejected it.

A rare disease drug was approvable, then it wasn’t. Inside a surprise rejection by the FDA. Excellent reporting by @adamfeuerstein.bsky.social in this @statnews.com exclusive www.statnews.com/2026/02/25/r...

Jeffrey Epstein’s tissue samples ignited a furor in the Harvard lab of George Church Exclusive: Harvard geneticist George Church knew more about Jeffrey Epstein's activities than he has previously said, before accepting new donations from the sex offender.

Jeffrey Epstein’s tissue samples ignited a furor in the Harvard lab of George Church, reports @mmolteni.bsky.social in this @statnews.com exclusive. 13 years later, the whereabouts of the sex offender’s skin cells are a mystery
www.statnews.com/2026/02/24/e...

Nature Medicine to investigate study that found cancer treatment is better in morning Nature Medicine starts an investigation into inconsistencies in a study that found it was better to have immunotherapy in the morning.

A study suggesting cancer immunotherapy is more effective when given in the morning made headlines -- and raised concerns the findings were too good to be true. A scientific journal is now investigating the study, @angusrohan.bsky.social reports for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2026/02/20/c...

With federal research funding uncertain, states debate new science initiatives A handful of states are considering initiatives to increase funding for scientific research as uncertainty around federal dollars has grown.

amid uncertainty from the fed govt, states are toying around with the idea of implementing their own funding initiatives

the moves feel necessary to researchers in those states, but some policy experts cautioned it could feed rhetoric about not needing federal $

www.statnews.com/2026/02/20/s...

Key study of Grail’s cancer detection test fails in setback for company A blood test for detecting cancer early being developed by the diagnostics firm Grail failed to meet its main goal in a giant study being conducted with

A key U.K. study of Grail’s multi-cancer detection test has failed, a major setback for the company, @matthewherper.bsky.social writes for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/19/g...

N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up

Bhattacharya is set to be leading both NIH & CDC @sherylnyt.bsky.social reports

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

STAT wins fourth Polk Award for reporting on impact of Trump on health STAT has won its fourth Polk Award in five years for documenting the Trump administration’s shakeup of the FDA, scientific research, and public health.

STAT has won a prestigious George Polk Award for documenting the Trump administration’s shakeup of the FDA, scientific research, and public health. www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/s...

"Well that didn’t take long." @matthewherper.bsky.social for @statnews.com on why the FDA's abrupt reversal on Moderna's flu vaccine is one more sign of chaos at the agency.

FDA reverses course, agrees to review Moderna’s flu vaccine The FDA reversed course and told Moderna it would review its application for a new flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday.

BREAKING: FDA reverses course and will now review Moderna's flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f...

FDA rejects rare disease therapy from Disc Medicine, early recipient of commissioner’s voucher The FDA has rejected a rare disease therapy from Disc Medicine, an early recipient of a commissioner's voucher from the agency.

NEW: FDA rejects rare disease therapy from Disc Medicine, the first experimental drug to go through the commissioner's fast-track voucher program. STAT previously reported that top official Vinay Prasad became personally involved in this review.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/13/d...

“This is like asking, how do you think dropping an atomic bomb on New York City will affect the future of Broadway musicals? This is a generational loss of innovation, technology, and economic power.” Powerful reporting this week by @bostonglobe.com 👇

NIH redefines 'clinical trials,' dividing researchers In a long-debated move, the NIH will no longer characterize basic experimental studies involving humans as clinical trials.

The NIH's recent move to no longer consider basic experimental studies in people ‘clinical trials’ has divided researchers, @pharmalot.bsky.social writes for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20....

This story has now been updated with comments from FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and others:

Thanks for the note, and sure thing!

"There is not a word of ineligible [research] ... and I used to make these decisions,” said Susan Brennan, former director of NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Two students she mentors have had applications deemed ineligible, and they're not alone. My latest for @statnews.com 👇

☝️ Today's story on NSF GRFP applications returned without review drawns on interviews with students & faculty advisers, as well as former GRFP directors concerned by the agency's decisions. I also got a statement from NSF. Credit to @emfurd.bsky.social at Eos for covering this over the weekend

Students, faculty mystified as NSF turns back applications for prestigious fellowship program Applicants to a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship program say many submissions have been mysteriously “returned without review.”

Students and faculty have been baffled (and frustrated) as NSF turns back applications for its prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Those affected seem to mainly be in the life sciences. My latest for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...

Prasad overruled FDA staff to reject Moderna's flu vaccine application The rejection is the latest instance of Vinay Prasad overruling career FDA scientists to place vaccines under harsher scrutiny.

Scoop: Top FDA official Vinay Prasad overruled the agency’s reviewers when he refused to accept Moderna’s application for a new influenza vaccine, STAT has learned.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/m...

OHSU board votes to negotiate with NIH and possibly transform its primate center into an animal sanctuary The vote came as NIH looks to transition at least one of seven national primate research centers into an animal sanctuary.

The OHSU board of directors unanimously passed a resolution authorizing negotiations with the NIH that could end all experiments on monkeys and shift the federally funded Oregon National Primate Research Center into a sanctuary. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

Hims, other telehealth platforms push multi-cancer detection tests before evidence of benefit Test makers and telehealth providers say they want to give people a chance to catch cancers early and seek treatment.

Hims and other telehealth platforms are pushing multi-cancer detection tests before evidence of benefit. Important and timely story via @katiepalmer.bsky.social for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/t...

Vertex’s CRISPR treatment for sickle cell disease hits unexpected roadblock Vertex is running out of time to establish Casgevy as a transformative treatment for sickle cell.

Vertex’s CRISPR treatment for sickle cell disease hits unexpected roadblock: Collecting enough cells to create the therapy. Important reporting by @jasonmast.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/05/v...

If you (or a mentee) are a NSF GRFP applicant in the life sciences who had a submission Returned Without Review, I'd be interested in hearing your story. I'm a reporter at STAT News, and my email is jonathan.wosen@statnews.com. I'm also reachable via Signal (username jwosen.27) #journorequest

Junior scientists face a quandary when starting their own labs: How far to stray from the hive A new study argues that overlap between advisers and advisees on research topics helps rather than hinders young life scientists.

Junior scientists, the worker bees of academia, face a quandary when starting their own labs: How far to stray from the hive. My latest for @statnews.com is a Q&A with @uoregon.bsky.social researcher Christopher Liu about insights from a new study
www.statnews.com/2026/02/04/a...