Therese Rajasekera, PhD

I'm starting to look into how inflammation is being misused by MAHA types in a way that very much distracts from chronic illness-inflammation problems people actually have. If you're an academic, doctor, immunologist etc with thoughts on this, please be in touch at jmetraux@motherjones.com

Quick boost: if you are troubled by RFK’s new remarks about AI in drug development, great news, there’s an open comment period on that very subject at NIH right now! Let *them* know your thoughts.

I learned so much 🤯 and appreciated the supportive environment for relatively new learners like me 🙋‍♀️🦠

I've spent the last few months examining the +1,450 grants terminated at the NIH, including reading hundreds of abstracts.

Many were studying how to solve or improve health disparities – not just identify or explain them.

Some of the terminated grants (h/t to @scott-delaney.bsky.social + team)

🧪Check out this great thread of resources, plus don't forget we have state-by-state info cards for you at bit.ly/NSF_bystate -- each card has your Senators & their phone # PLUS how NSF activities impact your state #SaveNSF #resist

Not the headline I want to post. But for everyone trying to understand what’s happening at UMass Chan, why things are so difficult, this is what’s happening. We are a service institution. We educate; we care; we give; we serve rural MA. We dont make money. Our own govt is crushing us. Link below

Folks, while much of the attention is on Harvard and Columbia's response to the Trump/Musk/RFK Jr. administration, I'd like to point out how #NIH terminations and funding cuts go far beyond this war with the nations' elite universities. 🧵🧪

If H5N1 starts spreading human to human, we need to detect it fast to stop a pandemic.

To detect H5N1 spread between humans, we need to test people at high exposure risk.

To test those people, we need to ensure they aren’t risking being permanently disappeared to a foreign torture prison.

Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE We all rely on science. Science gave us the smartphones in our pockets, the navigation systems in our cars, and life-saving medical care. We count on engineers when we drive acr...

Open letter from nearly 2000 NAS member scientists: "We see real danger in this moment. We hold diverse political beliefs, but we are united (...) in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry. We are sending this SOS to sound a warning: the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated."

Over 2000 protest in wake of student detainment - The Tufts Daily Students and local activists gathered on Wednesday evening at Powder House Park to protest the detainment of Tufts graduate student, Rumeysa Ozturk, by federal authorities on Tuesday. The protest...

Over 2000 protest in wake of student detainment at Tuft's www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025...

Last Friday, 1,000 more NIH biomedical research projects were defunded with no notice

Here’s a word cloud of canceled grants, based on their titles

The fed gov terminated grants addressing Black maternal mortality, which is 3 x's higher than the maternal mortality rate of Whites.
Here's the thing, the MAHA plan talks about addressing disparities. The implementation of policies shows us whose disparate health outcomes they don't care about.

Cancelled NIH grant information submission form Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NIH grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025. Data from this form will be used to update the Rescinded NIH...

We've been tracking unlawful NIH grant terminations for 3 weeks. Spread the word👇!

Fellow PIs: what can you do upon termination?
✅ Email PO + document questions
✅ Submit FOIA
✅ Advocate to your OCG/OSP for appeal + litigation
✅ Consider outside litigation
✅ Donate to state AGs + legal orgs

1/🧵

Three people in sky blue shirts and jeans climbing the steps of the US Capitol, including a young blonde girl wearing a red and white bandanna around her head and turning to look at the camera

Today is the 35th anniversary of the Capitol Crawl, in which disabled activists discarded their mobility aids at the foot of the Capitol steps to climb them in support of passage of the Americans with Disabilities Ac. Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, 8, told reporters "I'll take all night if I have to!"

I am so inspired by these students ✊🏾

NIH terminates ongoing grants for LGBTQ+ research Saying that "research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific," the agency wrote to scientists to cancel current grants.

Sharing for visibility www.statnews.com/2025/03/03/n...

Thank you @statnews.com

This is a serious immediate danger to abortion clinic workers and volunteer escorts. Anti-abortion activists spent decades conducting a campaign of terrorism, bombings and murder targeting doctors and abortion clinic workers. This is a green light from the administration

AUBURN UNIVERSITY RESEARCH STUDY VIRTUAL EATING DISORDER TREATMENT FOR LGBTQIA+ INDIVIDUALS The ACCEPT Lab at Auburn University is recruiting for a study evaluating a new virtual (Zoom) treatment for eating disorders that is specifically developed for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. This study will occur over the span of 9 months and is completely voluntary and confidential. YOU MAY QUALIFY IF YOU: Are 18-65 years old Identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or asexual Are experiencing problems with eating or body image (619) 594-1785 PRIDE@AUBURN.EDU Scan this QR code with your smartphone camera, Snapchat OR go to https://aub.ie/pridestudy EARN UP TO $250 L G B T Q A + IN E-GIFTCARDS

Please distribute widely! This is a great opportunity to receive a novel eating disorder treatment specifically tailored to the LGBTQ+ community and developed by an LGBTQ+ eating disorder research lab!

Ohio State University students protest decision to close diversity and inclusion offices Dozens of students and some faculty protested the decision by Ohio State University President Ted Carter to close the university's diversity, equity and inclusion offices. Many said Carter is closing ...

One of the main things keeping me going is feeling like these students deserve such a better world than the one we're giving them.

So.

It has officially happened. I have been officially let go from my position at CDC. I wasn’t a probationary employee. I had stellar performance reviews every year.

I’ll be ok. But please understand that many worked HARD to get into these positions and were doing great public health work.

PRAMS Surveillance project of CDC and health departments used to improve maternal and infant health.

For 38 years, PRAMS has collected critical data on maternal-child health with the goal to reduce infant morbidity and mortality. CDC has officially halted the 2024 PRAMS data collection for the participating 46 states and the future is uncertain.

Join us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠

sciencehomecoming.com

Over 650 political scientists who have dedicated our lives to the study of democracy & government, have signed this letter enumerating our deep concerns about this administration’s actions that undermine the Constitution and the rule of law. Please share.
urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=htt...

Join 50501 in a National Day of Action on Monday, February 17th. We are reclaiming President's Day - a day that is supposed to be celebrating the Presidency. Unite to limit executive overreach. Find your protest at https://buff.ly/417VjtT, or create one.

This is a venn diagram showing how 69 Trump actions map onto domains covering: undermining democratic institutions; suppressing dissent and media; dismantling social protections; attacking science and education; destabilising the global order. A table version is available here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LZN7QnbSyFfUZJG8Sn1MWpK0VnfBtb0OSyZ1jxP3xBk/edit?usp=sharing

🧵"So this is how liberty dies..."

Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.

I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9

🚨 Ohio reports its first probable human case of influenza A(H5).

An adult male farm worker, exposed to deceased poultry—but no details on clinical status or virus sequencing.

With bird flu spreading, this is a terrible time to defund public health and halt research.
odh.ohio.gov/media-center...

Graphic with a picture of a microscope and text: We're suing the Trump Administration for defunding critical medical and public health research

Massachusetts is home to universities and research institutions that lead our country in saving lives and creating jobs. Trump's NIH cuts put them at risk.

We won't allow this Administration to play politics with our public health or undermine our economy.

We're suing.

6th grade social studies. And then we watched The Wave en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wav...