Maggie McConnell
@maggieismad.bsky.social
Associate Professor @ Harvard Chan School
Maternal and Child Health Researcher
Economist
Maternal and Child Health Researcher
Economist
It was a fantastic speech — she pulled no punches.
In Boston, @celinegounder.com is giving a fiery convocation address at Harvard School of Public Health talking about #misinfo in public health:
“The current administration is waging a war on science, and that can be seen most clearly on the issue of vaccines.”
#IDsky 🧪
“The current administration is waging a war on science, and that can be seen most clearly on the issue of vaccines.”
#IDsky 🧪
May 29, 2025 at 2:09 AM
It was a fantastic speech — she pulled no punches.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
NEW: Judge Burroughs GRANTS Harvard's requested TRO against the Trump administration, blocking it from revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students during early court proceedings.
![ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S
MOTION FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
For purposes of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b), the President and Fellows of
Harvard College ("Plaintiff") has made a sufficient showing that it has provided notice to
Defendants Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, Todd Lyons, Department of Justice, Pamela Bondi, Student and Exchange Visitor
Program, Jim Hicks, Department of State, and Marco Rubio (collectively, "Defendants") and that, unless its Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO"), [ECF No. 4 (the "Motion")],
is granted, it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear
from all parties. Thus, a TRO is justified to preserve the status quo pending a hearing and the Plaintiff's Motion is GRANTED.
Accordingly, Defendants, their agents, and anyone acting in concert or participation with
Defendants are hereby enjoined from:
A. Implementing,
instituting, maintaining, or giving effect to the revocation of
Plaintiff's SEVP certification;
B. Giving any force or effect to the Department of Homeland Security's May 22, 2025
Revocation Notice.
It is so ordered
May 23, 2025
/s/Allison D. Burroughs
ALLISON D. BURROUGHS
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qrllvid7s54k4hnwtqxwetrf/bafkreia7vrbgysbi63xvkk4tgae3i44rjcziklvgi5dxoj2y7liaquhydy@jpeg)
May 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
NEW: Judge Burroughs GRANTS Harvard's requested TRO against the Trump administration, blocking it from revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students during early court proceedings.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
This is not a game, this is affecting people's lives... I can only imagine what it's like to be a student at Harvard right now -- not to mention that this hangs as a threat over every single international student in the US.
May 22, 2025 at 6:24 PM
This is not a game, this is affecting people's lives... I can only imagine what it's like to be a student at Harvard right now -- not to mention that this hangs as a threat over every single international student in the US.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Fact Sheet: Maintaining student status when an SEVP certified school closes or loses its certification to enroll F-1 nonimmigrant students
www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis...
www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis...
www.ice.gov
May 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Fact Sheet: Maintaining student status when an SEVP certified school closes or loses its certification to enroll F-1 nonimmigrant students
www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis...
www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis...
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
How about a joint lawsuit by a group of universities?
Stand together, folks
Stand together, folks
Breaking News: The Trump administration halted Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, a major escalation in its battle with the school.
Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 5:59 PM
How about a joint lawsuit by a group of universities?
Stand together, folks
Stand together, folks
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
About 4 in 10 students at the School of Public Health — the school most affected by terminated federal grants — are international.
May 22, 2025 at 5:50 PM
About 4 in 10 students at the School of Public Health — the school most affected by terminated federal grants — are international.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
All 4 of my NIH research grants are terminated. These were grants on MDR-TB treatment & strategies for supporting adolescents living w/ HIV. This is a massive waste of resources. I am heartbroken for my Harvard team, my partners in Peru, the next generation of scientists & our country. Shame.
May 15, 2025 at 8:59 PM
All 4 of my NIH research grants are terminated. These were grants on MDR-TB treatment & strategies for supporting adolescents living w/ HIV. This is a massive waste of resources. I am heartbroken for my Harvard team, my partners in Peru, the next generation of scientists & our country. Shame.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
CBP quietly revoked protections for at-risk people in custody—including pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and those with serious medical conditions—calling them “misaligned” with enforcement priorities. The rules required basics like diapers, formula, and water.
www.wired.com/story/cbp-re...
www.wired.com/story/cbp-re...
US Customs and Border Protection Quietly Revokes Protections for Pregnant Women and Infants
CBP's acting commissioner has rescinded four Biden-era policies that aimed to protect vulnerable people in the agency's custody, including mothers, infants, and the elderly.
www.wired.com
May 8, 2025 at 10:07 PM
CBP quietly revoked protections for at-risk people in custody—including pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and those with serious medical conditions—calling them “misaligned” with enforcement priorities. The rules required basics like diapers, formula, and water.
www.wired.com/story/cbp-re...
www.wired.com/story/cbp-re...
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
New study shows that state #EITC programs reduce food security among families with kids, adding to evidence base on this key poverty policy. www.ajpmonline.org/article/S074... @douglivingston.bsky.social @cdf1973.bsky.social @mdrc-news.bsky.social @itep.org
State Earned Income Tax Credit and Food Security: Results among Economically At-Risk Households with Children
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a key program to reducing US child poverty.
Approximately half of US states have augmented the federal EITC leading to wide variation
in state EITC access and ge...
www.ajpmonline.org
May 2, 2025 at 4:44 PM
New study shows that state #EITC programs reduce food security among families with kids, adding to evidence base on this key poverty policy. www.ajpmonline.org/article/S074... @douglivingston.bsky.social @cdf1973.bsky.social @mdrc-news.bsky.social @itep.org
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
I love this from
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social, @meganranney.bsky.social & others
#MAHA has some correct critiques. A lot of what they say they want is Public Health 101😊
But then the policy’s exactly the opposite.
I’m still puzzling over what to do with that…
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social, @meganranney.bsky.social & others
#MAHA has some correct critiques. A lot of what they say they want is Public Health 101😊
But then the policy’s exactly the opposite.
I’m still puzzling over what to do with that…
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
A meeting with the MAHA grassroots
What I heard and how I’m approaching this moment.
open.substack.com
May 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I love this from
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social, @meganranney.bsky.social & others
#MAHA has some correct critiques. A lot of what they say they want is Public Health 101😊
But then the policy’s exactly the opposite.
I’m still puzzling over what to do with that…
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social, @meganranney.bsky.social & others
#MAHA has some correct critiques. A lot of what they say they want is Public Health 101😊
But then the policy’s exactly the opposite.
I’m still puzzling over what to do with that…
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
I've been asked about silver linings, and I can't see any. It is a terrible waste of talent, and a betrayal of social contracts. By the time this loss is felt by the public it will be hard to recover. It makes me so sad.
NIH grants plummeted $2.3 billion in Trump’s first months, as federal-academia partnership crumbles
www.statnews.com/2025/04/24/t...
www.statnews.com/2025/04/24/t...
NIH grants plummeted $2.3 billion in Trump’s first months, as federal-academia partnership crumbles
The NIH has scaled back its awards of new grants by at least $2.3 billion since the beginning of the year, a STAT analysis shows.
www.statnews.com
April 29, 2025 at 8:09 PM
I've been asked about silver linings, and I can't see any. It is a terrible waste of talent, and a betrayal of social contracts. By the time this loss is felt by the public it will be hard to recover. It makes me so sad.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Average person may not realize what a big deal this is. #Data tracking maternal/child health (PRAMS), drug use & mental health (NSDUH), etc are being shuttered or severely restricted. These are often only national data on these health conditions, meaning we can't study helpful & harmful policies.
Important column by the brilliant Ninez Ponce at our sister center at UCLA on federal changes and disappearances to key public data.
www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...
www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...
Data Democracy in Crisis: How Changing Federal Data Reshapes Research and Representation | Milbank Memorial Fund
Recent political events have data custodians and users across the country asking an important question—if the federal government is backing away from its historical role as a leader in advancing data ...
www.milbank.org
April 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Average person may not realize what a big deal this is. #Data tracking maternal/child health (PRAMS), drug use & mental health (NSDUH), etc are being shuttered or severely restricted. These are often only national data on these health conditions, meaning we can't study helpful & harmful policies.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
A disconnect I've been struggling to articulate is that there are few things in academia that have a more "market-style" sensibility than NIH funding, in which researchers go through hyper-competitive expert peer review to fund their work *and often their salaries*
April 23, 2025 at 7:10 PM
A disconnect I've been struggling to articulate is that there are few things in academia that have a more "market-style" sensibility than NIH funding, in which researchers go through hyper-competitive expert peer review to fund their work *and often their salaries*
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Oh my god this is insane - I’m struggling to find a comparison but it’s something like “the Navy cancelled all submarines”
Well the NIH has cancelled the Women's Health Initiative, the largest study of women in history
It has been running continuously since 1991 and has provided massive key knowledge about diseases in women
Unreal
www.science.org/content/arti...
It has been running continuously since 1991 and has provided massive key knowledge about diseases in women
Unreal
www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH cancels its first and largest study centered on women
The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings
www.science.org
April 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Oh my god this is insane - I’m struggling to find a comparison but it’s something like “the Navy cancelled all submarines”
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Also, universities aren't 'dependent' on federal funds. It's a partnership between the government and universities to fund pathbreaking health, scientific, engineering, and countless other innovations, and just as importantly, to train the scientific workforce. We're all sunk if this collapses.
Ok so yeah, this has quickly become the #1 misunderstanding about the canceled grants
the grants are not “subsidies” or “entitlements” to Harvard or Princeton or whatever
they aren’t going into universities’ endowments
they are competitive contracts won by these universities to do research
the grants are not “subsidies” or “entitlements” to Harvard or Princeton or whatever
they aren’t going into universities’ endowments
they are competitive contracts won by these universities to do research
There is a PR narrative quickly emerging about “entitlement” of elite universities, as if this $ is some sort of subsidy
Harvard & others must counter this quickly
The $ doesn’t flow into Harvard’s coffers - this is grant money, most of which goes to research the govt has agreed has social value
Harvard & others must counter this quickly
The $ doesn’t flow into Harvard’s coffers - this is grant money, most of which goes to research the govt has agreed has social value
April 18, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Also, universities aren't 'dependent' on federal funds. It's a partnership between the government and universities to fund pathbreaking health, scientific, engineering, and countless other innovations, and just as importantly, to train the scientific workforce. We're all sunk if this collapses.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
"'Instead of cutting red tape, they are strangling grantees with it,' said Robert Gordon, who served as the HHS assistant secretary of financial resources during the Biden administration."
DOGE is killing NIH. They froze the panels that determine funding. Then they froze funding announcements. Then they cancelled 100s of funded grants. Now they're freezing the remaining funded grants by making it impossible to actually access the funds
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
DOGE begins to freeze health-care payments for extra review
DOGE is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal grants, requiring officials to manually review and approve payments that were previously routine.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 18, 2025 at 12:15 PM
"'Instead of cutting red tape, they are strangling grantees with it,' said Robert Gordon, who served as the HHS assistant secretary of financial resources during the Biden administration."
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
DON’T LOOK AWAY! The Trump administration is catapulting us into a data black hole and the consequences could be massive. Halting data collection on drug use, maternal mortality, climate change, more, by @alecmac.bsky.social
Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More
By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose con...
www.propublica.org
April 18, 2025 at 12:43 PM
DON’T LOOK AWAY! The Trump administration is catapulting us into a data black hole and the consequences could be massive. Halting data collection on drug use, maternal mortality, climate change, more, by @alecmac.bsky.social
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
This new study, which found that PM2.5 from wildfire smoke increases mental health emergency department visits, was funded by a grant from NHLBI. And the disparities it uncovered are just the kind of thing that would make obviously important research a target now.
Wildfire Smoke Makes Mental Health Conditions Worse Too
Splinter is your home for news and opinions that challenge power in our political and economic system that's becoming more unhinged each and every day.
www.splinter.com
April 4, 2025 at 3:18 PM
This new study, which found that PM2.5 from wildfire smoke increases mental health emergency department visits, was funded by a grant from NHLBI. And the disparities it uncovered are just the kind of thing that would make obviously important research a target now.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
April 17, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Ah yes. Let's stop research on perhaps the most brutal disease in existence, the one without any really good treatments.
"David R. Walt, a professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens’ Hospital...received an immediate stop work order from a Health and Human Services grant supporting ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease."
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Stop-Work Orders Roll In For Harvard Researchers After $2.2 Billion Pause in Federal Funds | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard-affiliated researchers have begun receiving stop-work orders on contracts worth tens of millions of dollars less than one day after the Trump administration announced a $2.2 billion pause of f...
www.thecrimson.com
April 15, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Ah yes. Let's stop research on perhaps the most brutal disease in existence, the one without any really good treatments.
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
BREAKING: Last night, the Harvard faculty chapter of the AAUP and the national AAUP filed a lawsuit & TRO to block the Trump administration from illegally demanding that we keep quiet and change how we teach and research at the point of a financial gun.
actionnetwork.org/user_files/u...
actionnetwork.org/user_files/u...
April 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
BREAKING: Last night, the Harvard faculty chapter of the AAUP and the national AAUP filed a lawsuit & TRO to block the Trump administration from illegally demanding that we keep quiet and change how we teach and research at the point of a financial gun.
actionnetwork.org/user_files/u...
actionnetwork.org/user_files/u...
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Bending the knee just makes it easier for them to kick you in the head: Columbia example number 104
April 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Bending the knee just makes it easier for them to kick you in the head: Columbia example number 104
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Even with federal policymaking on the #childtaxcredit potentially paralyzed, states have the opportunities to take action to address #healthequity for low-income families. @povertyscholar.bsky.social describes variation in state CTC policies in her latest piece: www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...
State Child Tax Credits Are a Crucial Lever for Equity | Milbank Memorial Fund
As we enter a new Presidential administration, the health and well-being of low-income families hangs in the balance. Many of the policies that offer
www.milbank.org
March 28, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Even with federal policymaking on the #childtaxcredit potentially paralyzed, states have the opportunities to take action to address #healthequity for low-income families. @povertyscholar.bsky.social describes variation in state CTC policies in her latest piece: www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...
Reposted by Maggie McConnell
Timely rapid review out in Health Affairs: "Increasing benefits without imposing nutrition restrictions for cash-like food assistance programs has the strongest evidence for improving food security and has mixed evidence for dietary outcomes."
#SNAP #SNAPMatters 🛟
#SNAP #SNAPMatters 🛟
Understanding And Comparing Economic Assistance Models To Improve Food Security And Diet Quality: A Rapid Review | Health Affairs Journal
Food insecurity and poor nutrition afflict millions of Americans with low incomes. Three policy approaches to address these challenges are widely debated: modifying existing cash-like food assistance ...
doi.org
April 9, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Timely rapid review out in Health Affairs: "Increasing benefits without imposing nutrition restrictions for cash-like food assistance programs has the strongest evidence for improving food security and has mixed evidence for dietary outcomes."
#SNAP #SNAPMatters 🛟
#SNAP #SNAPMatters 🛟