Kate Grabowski
@kategrabowski.bsky.social
Originally from Luzerne County, PA now in Baltimore. Infectious diseases epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University with a focus on HIV epidemic dynamics and control in Africa. Mom of two humans and one dog. Penn State grad.
Pinned
Kate Grabowski
@kategrabowski.bsky.social
· May 24
On the Cusp of Eliminating HIV | Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
The Rakai Health Sciences Program transformed global AIDS policies and cut new cases by 90%. How will its storied research and clinical legacy continue?
magazine.publichealth.jhu.edu
Very Hard times for our HIV team in Uganda. We’ve reduced incidence of new infections by over 90%. We know how to stop transmission and end AIDS. We were close to zero. What we need now is the will. @rhsp-ug.bsky.social #HIV #GlobalHealth #PublicHealth #Uganda #EndAIDS #PEPFAR
New preprint on #HIV suppression and resistance during DTG transition! Population-level analysis shows improving VL suppression w/minimal DTG resistance. However, we find emergence of S153Y, an integrase mutation linked to reduced DTG efficacy, w/evidence of transmission.
tinyurl.com/bu4n6erk
tinyurl.com/bu4n6erk
Patterns of HIV-1 viral load suppression and drug resistance during the dolutegravir transition: a population-based longitudinal study
Background: Data on the population-scale impact of dolutegravir (DTG)-based HIV regimens in sub-Saharan Africa are extremely limited. We used data from a surveillance cohort in southern Uganda to asse...
www.medrxiv.org
September 3, 2025 at 1:52 PM
New preprint on #HIV suppression and resistance during DTG transition! Population-level analysis shows improving VL suppression w/minimal DTG resistance. However, we find emergence of S153Y, an integrase mutation linked to reduced DTG efficacy, w/evidence of transmission.
tinyurl.com/bu4n6erk
tinyurl.com/bu4n6erk
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
New paper: we argue that a promising approach for studying mpox vaccine effectiveness in Central Africa to incorporate mpox vaccination + testing data into existing cohort studies, especially those for HIV/STIs.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
Clade I mpox vaccination: strategies for deployment and evaluation
Clade I mpox continues to spread in Central Africa with no sign of abating,1 however
very few doses of vaccine have been deployed. Mpox vaccination strategies using either
of the licenced vaccines, MV...
www.thelancet.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:50 PM
New paper: we argue that a promising approach for studying mpox vaccine effectiveness in Central Africa to incorporate mpox vaccination + testing data into existing cohort studies, especially those for HIV/STIs.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
New NIH rules on the use of AI in development of research grant.
But what exactly defines "AI generated"? Without clearly outlined processes for detecting suspect applications, seems like this could be used arbitrarily.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
But what exactly defines "AI generated"? Without clearly outlined processes for detecting suspect applications, seems like this could be used arbitrarily.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-25-132: Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications NOT-OD-25-132. NIH
grants.nih.gov
July 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
New NIH rules on the use of AI in development of research grant.
But what exactly defines "AI generated"? Without clearly outlined processes for detecting suspect applications, seems like this could be used arbitrarily.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
But what exactly defines "AI generated"? Without clearly outlined processes for detecting suspect applications, seems like this could be used arbitrarily.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
Gates Foundation asked me to underscore that its commitment remains steadfast to collaborative effort to make lenacapavir PrEP available to 2 million people in next three years. Question is: Can the collaboration do this without PEPFAR support? www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
The Drug That Could Revolutionize the Fight Against H.I.V.
World leaders are dismantling global health programs and cutting back foreign aid. Will an extraordinary new medicine be able to outpace the damage?
www.newyorker.com
June 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Gates Foundation asked me to underscore that its commitment remains steadfast to collaborative effort to make lenacapavir PrEP available to 2 million people in next three years. Question is: Can the collaboration do this without PEPFAR support? www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
I've seen folks talk about how "in four years" they'll be able to get back to their planned projects and I really don't think that's going to work out. People & projects losing funding now will not be able to hit pause and come back once funding is restored. Hard-won progress & capacity will be lost
I worry that not enough of a big deal is being made about how long-term the devastation of these budget cuts to our scientific and health agencies will be, beyond the absolute ruin they will cause in the acute period.
June 3, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I've seen folks talk about how "in four years" they'll be able to get back to their planned projects and I really don't think that's going to work out. People & projects losing funding now will not be able to hit pause and come back once funding is restored. Hard-won progress & capacity will be lost
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
A halt to foreign “subawards” disrupts ongoing global studies and has researchers scrambling to fulfill ethical obligations to trial volunteers. scim.ag/4dCzA1G
NIH funding policy deals new blow to HIV-related trial networks
Halt to foreign “subawards” disrupts ongoing global studies and has researchers scrambling to fulfil ethical obligations to trial volunteers
scim.ag
May 30, 2025 at 9:45 PM
A halt to foreign “subawards” disrupts ongoing global studies and has researchers scrambling to fulfill ethical obligations to trial volunteers. scim.ag/4dCzA1G
Difficult read.
Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From US Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations talkingpointsmemo.com/news/death-s...
Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From US Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations
This post first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign...
talkingpointsmemo.com
May 30, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Difficult read.
Very Hard times for our HIV team in Uganda. We’ve reduced incidence of new infections by over 90%. We know how to stop transmission and end AIDS. We were close to zero. What we need now is the will. @rhsp-ug.bsky.social #HIV #GlobalHealth #PublicHealth #Uganda #EndAIDS #PEPFAR
On the Cusp of Eliminating HIV | Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
The Rakai Health Sciences Program transformed global AIDS policies and cut new cases by 90%. How will its storied research and clinical legacy continue?
magazine.publichealth.jhu.edu
May 24, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Very Hard times for our HIV team in Uganda. We’ve reduced incidence of new infections by over 90%. We know how to stop transmission and end AIDS. We were close to zero. What we need now is the will. @rhsp-ug.bsky.social #HIV #GlobalHealth #PublicHealth #Uganda #EndAIDS #PEPFAR
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
Please consider a comment today if you are in the US. See the advice (shared from an email I received) in the follow-up posts below this one. Tomorrow is the deadline. This is an important part of scientific freedom in this country.
Time Sensitive: Public comment on Schedule F (removing civil service protections for many federal employees INCLUDING THOSE WITH AUTHORITY OVER GRANTS) ends tomorrow. Notice is here: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/... . Comment here (green button) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... .
www.govinfo.gov
May 22, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Please consider a comment today if you are in the US. See the advice (shared from an email I received) in the follow-up posts below this one. Tomorrow is the deadline. This is an important part of scientific freedom in this country.
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
This is completely false. Even the largest university endowment cannot sustain large-scale scientific research.
In my 25 years at my school, the most monumental research fund drive raised $325M in *total*. Federal research here costs $200M per *every year*.
This is an extinction-level event.
In my 25 years at my school, the most monumental research fund drive raised $325M in *total*. Federal research here costs $200M per *every year*.
This is an extinction-level event.
May 17, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This is completely false. Even the largest university endowment cannot sustain large-scale scientific research.
In my 25 years at my school, the most monumental research fund drive raised $325M in *total*. Federal research here costs $200M per *every year*.
This is an extinction-level event.
In my 25 years at my school, the most monumental research fund drive raised $325M in *total*. Federal research here costs $200M per *every year*.
This is an extinction-level event.
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
The NIH has dropped its research funding by $2.7 billion so far this year.
Cancer research funding has declined 31%.
And new NIH research grants fell to the lowest level in more than a decade.
Eye-opening findings in today's HELP committee minority report:
www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
Cancer research funding has declined 31%.
And new NIH research grants fell to the lowest level in more than a decade.
Eye-opening findings in today's HELP committee minority report:
www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
May 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM
The NIH has dropped its research funding by $2.7 billion so far this year.
Cancer research funding has declined 31%.
And new NIH research grants fell to the lowest level in more than a decade.
Eye-opening findings in today's HELP committee minority report:
www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
Cancer research funding has declined 31%.
And new NIH research grants fell to the lowest level in more than a decade.
Eye-opening findings in today's HELP committee minority report:
www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
Just imagine where Tesla stock would be right now if Elon Musk had used his wealth to end the threat of HIV rather than to elect Trump.
Ending the HIV epidemic has never been so achievable.
All that is needed is the resource to ensure that all people everywhere have access to testing and the security that if they test they will be treated.
It’s a challenge the richest man in the world could take on easily, if he chose to.
6/10
All that is needed is the resource to ensure that all people everywhere have access to testing and the security that if they test they will be treated.
It’s a challenge the richest man in the world could take on easily, if he chose to.
6/10
May 9, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Just imagine where Tesla stock would be right now if Elon Musk had used his wealth to end the threat of HIV rather than to elect Trump.
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
Defunding basic research in America may be politically expedient, but its bad for the economy. My thoughts at Forbes.com
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Forbes
Forbes is a global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle.
Forbes.com
May 9, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Defunding basic research in America may be politically expedient, but its bad for the economy. My thoughts at Forbes.com
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
Things are going from bad to worse at NSF; www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund
www.science.org
May 8, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Things are going from bad to worse at NSF; www.science.org/content/arti...
New NIH updates on foreign sub-contracts. This effectively means that all current grants with foreign sub-contracts are dead in the water.
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
New NIH Foreign Subaward Structure Enhances Integrity, Accountability, Oversight, and National Security of NIH Funded Research | Grants & Funding
grants.nih.gov
May 7, 2025 at 4:40 PM
New NIH updates on foreign sub-contracts. This effectively means that all current grants with foreign sub-contracts are dead in the water.
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
NIH to end all foreign collaborations at end of current grant award year. No new awards with foreign subcontracts. All current grants will not be renewed for the next award year unless all work can be done in USA.
13% of NIH awards had a foreign component.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
13% of NIH awards had a foreign component.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-25-104: Updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards NOT-OD-25-104. NIH
grants.nih.gov
May 1, 2025 at 11:37 PM
NIH to end all foreign collaborations at end of current grant award year. No new awards with foreign subcontracts. All current grants will not be renewed for the next award year unless all work can be done in USA.
13% of NIH awards had a foreign component.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
13% of NIH awards had a foreign component.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
A really rough morning for those of us working on US funded research abroad.
www.nature.com/articles/d41....
www.nature.com/articles/d41....
Exclusive: NIH to suspend funds for research abroad as it overhauls policy
Move by US biomedical agency threatens thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more.
www.nature.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:48 PM
A really rough morning for those of us working on US funded research abroad.
www.nature.com/articles/d41....
www.nature.com/articles/d41....
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
CDC finally updates HIV surveillance. It doesn't look great: ~39,000 diagnoses in 2023 vs ~38,000 in 2022 (higher than the 31,800 estimated new cases because some newly diagnosed people acquired HIV in the past). As expected, it no longer includes data for transgender people.😕
Some good news - the CDC released an HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report with data for 2023.
Unfortunately, there is no data presented on HIV incidence and PrEP coverage because...of RIF.
This diminishes our situational awareness re: where we are nationally in our work to end the HIV epidemic.
Unfortunately, there is no data presented on HIV incidence and PrEP coverage because...of RIF.
This diminishes our situational awareness re: where we are nationally in our work to end the HIV epidemic.
HIV Diagnoses, Deaths, and Prevalence: 2025 Update
Data on HIV diagnoses, deaths, and prevalence in the US.
www.cdc.gov
April 30, 2025 at 9:20 PM
CDC finally updates HIV surveillance. It doesn't look great: ~39,000 diagnoses in 2023 vs ~38,000 in 2022 (higher than the 31,800 estimated new cases because some newly diagnosed people acquired HIV in the past). As expected, it no longer includes data for transgender people.😕
Interested in identifying mixed #virus populations from #NGS data & then using for #epi analyses? See our lates @plos.org paper using #HIV as an example. Big congrats to Mike Martin and Olli Ratmann! Thanks @gatesfoundation.bsky.social for funding.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Quantifying prevalence and risk factors of HIV multiple infection in Uganda from population-based deep-sequence data
Author summary HIV exists as a population of genetically distinct viral variants among people living with HIV. People living with HIV can be infected with genetically distinct variants. Identification...
journals.plos.org
April 28, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Interested in identifying mixed #virus populations from #NGS data & then using for #epi analyses? See our lates @plos.org paper using #HIV as an example. Big congrats to Mike Martin and Olli Ratmann! Thanks @gatesfoundation.bsky.social for funding.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
I read @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social #Abundance and he notes operation warp speed as an example of what science can achieve when we dream big. We don't say this enough but US-supported #HIV txt development and expansion is another amazing example of American leadership. Millions of lives saved. #PEPFAR
April 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I read @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social #Abundance and he notes operation warp speed as an example of what science can achieve when we dream big. We don't say this enough but US-supported #HIV txt development and expansion is another amazing example of American leadership. Millions of lives saved. #PEPFAR
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
"The researchers from Oxford University and elsewhere found that half a million additional children will die of AIDS in the next 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa and nearly 3 million more African children will be orphaned by AIDS." www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Haunted by hopelessness: 12 Zambians share their stories as HIV drugs run out
Mothers and children, husbands and wives, doctors, truck drivers and religious leaders are all grappling with the fallout from the sudden U.S. cuts in aid.
www.npr.org
April 17, 2025 at 2:47 PM
"The researchers from Oxford University and elsewhere found that half a million additional children will die of AIDS in the next 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa and nearly 3 million more African children will be orphaned by AIDS." www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
I greatly appreciate everything that Christopher Eisgruber says in this interview, but, more than that, it's increasingly a relief to hear someone in a position of authority willing to be sane in public. #academicSky #eduSky
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/p...
The University President Willing to Fight Trump
Christopher L. Eisgruber of Princeton University talks about the administration’s move to freeze billions of dollars in funding to higher education institutions.
www.nytimes.com
April 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I greatly appreciate everything that Christopher Eisgruber says in this interview, but, more than that, it's increasingly a relief to hear someone in a position of authority willing to be sane in public. #academicSky #eduSky
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/p...
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
Reposted by Kate Grabowski
New pre-print modelling impact of US funding cuts on HIV, #TB, MCH and family planning. We estimate impact of termination of US funding to NTPs via #USAID & The Global Fund may lead to 2.2 (1.5-2.9) million excess TB deaths between 2025 and 2040, reversing over a decade of progress.
bit.ly/4lowp18
bit.ly/4lowp18
April 9, 2025 at 8:32 AM
New pre-print modelling impact of US funding cuts on HIV, #TB, MCH and family planning. We estimate impact of termination of US funding to NTPs via #USAID & The Global Fund may lead to 2.2 (1.5-2.9) million excess TB deaths between 2025 and 2040, reversing over a decade of progress.
bit.ly/4lowp18
bit.ly/4lowp18