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philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
Philadelphia Science Action
@philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
590 followers 1.3K following 250 posts
Championing science, diversity, and fact-based policy in the city where American democracy was born. 🧪🦅

Learn more about us: https://linktr.ee/phillyscienceaction
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philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
Philadelphia Science Action @philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com · Mar 27
📢 We are Philly Science Action – a group of passionate organizers that came together in 2017 for the Philadelphia March for Science and came back together with renewed resolve in 2025 for the Stand Up for Science rally in Philly on March 7th, 2025.

🧵1/n
The logo for the organization Philadephia Science Action. Features an icon of an atom with the Liberty Bell as the nucleus.
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
proftwolf.bsky.social
We want money for education not Palantir’s surveillance!

www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
AAUP Raises Alarm Over Palantir's Work for Ed Department
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is publicly expressing concern about the Education Department working with Palantir, a controversial artificial intelligence and data analysis company that serves the U.S. military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
www.insidehighered.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
jeremymberg.bsky.social
The story is based on data presented at the NHLBI Advisory Council meeting.

The data show that the Early Stage Investigator funding rate declined from

29.8% in FY2023
to
26.1% in FY2024
to a stunning
18.5% in FY2025.

2/4
A slide showing sharply declining success rates for NIH grant applications from Early Stage Investigators.
December 19, 2025 at 12:08 AM
philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...
CHOP faces threat as Trump administration proposes rules to stop gender-affirming care for minors
The sweeping measure proposes cutting off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children, among other new restrictions.
www.inquirer.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
colincarlson.bsky.social
Yesterday, we sent this message to the @viralemergence.org team, bringing a (hopefully temporary) end to our project three years into what started as a decade of planned work. /1
Hi everyone, I wanted to share some sad news about the future of the Verena program. As you know, in September, NSF delayed our annual payment indefinitely, and asked us to keep spending closer and closer to zero until they could “justify” another payment. We began to run out of funds at some universities this month, and will be fully spent out by late spring, so the goal was to get paid in December. We’ve been working with our program officer to make this happen, but sadly, we’ve learned we’re not getting an increment again, and there’s no clarity on when or how much we will be paid in the remainder of the grant (through September 1, 2027). Because of this, the Executive Committee has made the difficult decision to essentially shut the BII down until / unless something changes. What that means is an indefinite end to all programs (e.g., seminar), training activities (integration workshops, trainee corner), and evaluation. On research, what’s able to continue will have to be navigated by each investigator; our goal is to work together to push out all the impactful science we’ve spent three years collecting and analyzing data for, but we also know that priorities may shift around to keep people employed. If we’re lucky, Congress will pass a budget that lets us continue doing something like what we planned, and we’ll pick that back up when Zoe and Collin are back in April. Until then, Verena will continue to exist as a community where we can collaborate (and give and receive support!), and we’re working to find funding sources that can pick up from where the BII left off. On a personal note: it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work with all of you, and an unbelievably lucky thing to get to run an NSF center in my 20s. I’ve loved this project, and I hope it’s made as much of a difference in your lives as it has in mine. In case I don’t see you later: happy holidays, be well, and so long and thanks for all the viruses. Best, Colin
December 5, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
pccmdoc.bsky.social
I took care of numerous kids with fulminant hepatitis B in the 90s before the switch to getting the first vaccine at birth. I don’t recall having one since. I do not miss caring for that disease.
December 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
motherjones.com
He's not just a lunatic about vaccines. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
RFK Jr. blames pills—not guns—for school shootings
There is no credible evidence that antidepressants cause violence, but the health secretary now vows a “massive” effort to prove the failed theory.
www.motherjones.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
apoorvanyt.bsky.social
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
indivisible.org
Northwestern’s Trump deal harms students and faculty by gutting research, abandoning Gaza justice, and giving $75 million to the Trump regime. Throwing your campus under the bus isn’t leadership — it’s cowardice. Hold NU accountable and demand they stand with their community over Trump.
Northwestern settles with Trump administration in $75M deal to regain federal funding
The university will pay $75 million over three years to end the Trump administration's investigations into antisemitism on its campus and to have millions of dollars in federal funding restored.
www.npr.org
December 2, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: Federal judge rejects DOJ's effort to subpoena the names and medical records of children who have received gender-affirming medical care from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA IN RE: SUBPOENA NO. 25-1431-014 : MISCELLANEOUS ACTION : : NO. 25-39 MEMORANDUM KEARNEY,J. November 21, 2025 Our elected Congresspersons granted the Department of Justice limited authority in 1996 to investigate federal health care offenses involving the labeling and distribution of prescription drugs. The Department of Justice is now investigating the labeling and distribution of prescribed clinically authorized puberty blockers and hormone therapy. It subpoenaed fifteen categories of records from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia including billing and insurance records, communications with manufacturers and sales representatives, and the names and complete medical and psychological records of children receiving gender-affirming care. The Hospital agrees to produce most of the requested materials. But it objects to producing the identities of its child patients and their families along with their confidential medical files. Its objection requires we study two questions: whether Congress authorized a subpoena for the children's confidential medical records, and, if so, whether the children's privacy interests outweigh the Department of Justice's need for these confidential medical records under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. We find the answer to both questions is "no." We strike the three requests for these child- identifying and treatment and disclosure records as beyond the authority granted by Congress. We also find, even if this private information could be relevant, the heightened privacy interests of children and their families substantially outweighs the Department's need to know the children's names, addresses, and treatment along with disclosures for gender-affirming care at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
November 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
minakimes.bsky.social
Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia.

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers; slashed billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest sponsor of medical research; and threatened to oust the panel of medical experts charged with recommending preventive cancer screenings. Hundreds of N.I.H. grants and clinical trials were cancelled, affecting thousands of patients. I worried about funding for leukemia and bone-marrow research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I worried about the trials that were my only shot at remission. Early in my illness, when I
November 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
karenswilcoxphd.bsky.social
No more paylines gang..#NIH ..
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
November 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
ejwillingham.bsky.social
Facts and evidence are not “orthodoxy”
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · Nov 21
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 22, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
luckytran.com
ICYMI Dept of Education will no longer considers these professional degrees:

Nursing
Public health
Social work
Physician assistant
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Audiology
Speech-language pathology
Social work
Counseling & therapy
Health Admin

A smaller health workforce makes us all sicker
November 21, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
This is tomorrow for the UPenn people out there!
pennmindcore.bsky.social MindCORE at the University of Pennsylvania @pennmindcore.bsky.social · Nov 11
We are excited to host Philly's own doyenne of community science communication, Dr. Sarah McAnulty!

Friday, Nov 21, 1:30-3PM
Hands-On Science Zine Making Workshop

Registration for the workshop is limited by room size. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/hands-on-s...

@sarahmackattack.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
theeduledger.bsky.social
The American Association of University Professors (@aaup.org) released a new report documenting an escalating assault on faculty governance structures across the country, with state legislatures in multiple states moving to strip faculty senates of their authority and independence.
AAUP Report Warns of Growing Legislative Threats to Faculty Governance Nationwide
New analysis highlights attacks on faculty senates in Texas, Indiana, Ohio, and Utah as undermining academic freedom and institutional integrity.
www.theeduledger.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
davidmluebke.bsky.social
United Academics of the University of Oregon -- the faculty union at UO -- stands up to the Tr*mp administration's war on knowledge and education.

#WOKE
#UAUO
#edusky

www.opb.org/article/2025...
Oregon colleges say no to Trump administration higher ed compact
Higher education advocates say the compact equates to a loyalty oath and infringes on the academic freedoms that are inherent to many universities' missions.
www.opb.org
November 19, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
gavinyamey.bsky.social
RFK Jr & his loyal henchmen (the Great Barrington Declaration dudes Jay Bhattacharya & Martin Kulldorff; Martin Makary; Dr Oz; Vinay Prasad) have been successfully dismantling the US vaccination system & achieved the return of deadly vaccine preventable diseases. This is the world they worked for...
apoorvanyt.bsky.social Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · Nov 18
SCOOP: CDC officials on Monday linked for the first time the measles outbreak that began in Texas with another in Utah and Arizona, a finding that could end America’s status as a nation that has eliminated measles.
(Gift link)

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/h...
C.D.C. Links Measles Outbreaks in Multiple States for the First Time
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
rubinallergy.bsky.social
Here is a thorough breakdown of RFK Jr’s misleading statements on vaccines and food allergies.
drrubin.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-is-...
RFK Jr. Is Wrong About Vaccines and Food Allergies
Why his claims collapse under real immunology, real epidemiology, and real evidence.
drrubin.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
Teaching is a public commitment, what the actual fuck is he thinking?
November 18, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
wamsleylab.bsky.social
Universities can win against fascism when faculty, students and staff come together to take action.

This decision is huge for not just UC, but all of us.

It was driven by faculty with #AAUP, and wouldn't have happened if they had waited for administration to save them.

#edusky
#academicsky
aaup.org AAUP @aaup.org · Nov 15
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"

— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.

#DefendHigherEd
Judge Orders Trump Not to Threaten University of California’s Funding
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
washingtonpost.com
A new study found the Trump administration’s cuts to NIH grants disrupted more than 380 clinical trials, affecting over 74,000 participants.

The cuts disproportionately impacted trials on infectious diseases and minority communities.
Federal cuts upended clinical trials. A new study reveals the toll.
Grants for 383 clinical trials were terminated and the funding disruptions affected more than 74,000 trial participants, according to new research.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
mcopelov.bsky.social
Again, this is an existential crisis for the entire financial & academic model of 🇺🇸 public universities, but the public doesn’t understand this, in part because our leaders have been on this issue. It’s maddening:

bsky.app/profile/mcop...
November 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
miriamelder.bsky.social
Could argue the misogyny Summers expressed both publicly while president of Harvard and in emails to Epstein says more about the culture at our most elite institutions than any of the frontpage freakouts over academia in the past few years but hey
November 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM