Martin Enserink
@martinenserink.bsky.social
Deputy news editor, Science magazine. Infectious diseases, global health, scientific integrity, science policy. Based in Amsterdam. Cat lover.
A momentous occasion: 'Java Man' is going back to Indonesia, along with more than 28,000 other fossils that Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois collected during the colonial era.
My story: www.science.org/content/arti...
My story: www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Thrilled’ Indonesian scientists celebrate return of fossil trove from the Netherlands
The items to be returned, which include Java Man, were collected during the colonial era
www.science.org
October 1, 2025 at 6:44 PM
A momentous occasion: 'Java Man' is going back to Indonesia, along with more than 28,000 other fossils that Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois collected during the colonial era.
My story: www.science.org/content/arti...
My story: www.science.org/content/arti...
The Dutch House of Representatives wants a major primate research center to end monkey studies in 5 years. Biomedical groups call the vote "far-reaching, ill-considered and harmful to public health."
My story:
www.science.org/content/arti...
My story:
www.science.org/content/arti...
Vote by Dutch lawmakers threatens major primate research center
In victory for animal rights activists, research on monkeys would end in 2030
www.science.org
September 3, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The Dutch House of Representatives wants a major primate research center to end monkey studies in 5 years. Biomedical groups call the vote "far-reaching, ill-considered and harmful to public health."
My story:
www.science.org/content/arti...
My story:
www.science.org/content/arti...
I grew up reading Dutch newspaper @trouw.nl, so I'm thrilled they're running a translation of my @science.org story about the breakdown of malaria control in Guinea today.
(The @pulitzercenter.org supported my trip; the amazing photos are from Marta Moreiras.)
www.trouw.nl/buitenland/i...
(The @pulitzercenter.org supported my trip; the amazing photos are from Marta Moreiras.)
www.trouw.nl/buitenland/i...
In Guinee stort de bestrijding van malaria in. ‘Ik smeek Donald Trump! Kleine kinderen gaan dood!’
De VS hadden een relatief groot aandeel in het terugdringen van malaria in Afrika. Nu er drastisch gesneden is in hulpgeld, dreigt de ziekte weer op te komen.
www.trouw.nl
August 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
I grew up reading Dutch newspaper @trouw.nl, so I'm thrilled they're running a translation of my @science.org story about the breakdown of malaria control in Guinea today.
(The @pulitzercenter.org supported my trip; the amazing photos are from Marta Moreiras.)
www.trouw.nl/buitenland/i...
(The @pulitzercenter.org supported my trip; the amazing photos are from Marta Moreiras.)
www.trouw.nl/buitenland/i...
Reposted by Martin Enserink
Community health workers in Guinea can be the difference between life and death when combating malaria.
Thousands of these workers lost their jobs after the Trump administration cut #USAID funds.
@martinenserink.bsky.social & Marta Moreiras report for @science.org.
👉 bit.ly/4fC6Irs
Thousands of these workers lost their jobs after the Trump administration cut #USAID funds.
@martinenserink.bsky.social & Marta Moreiras report for @science.org.
👉 bit.ly/4fC6Irs
August 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Community health workers in Guinea can be the difference between life and death when combating malaria.
Thousands of these workers lost their jobs after the Trump administration cut #USAID funds.
@martinenserink.bsky.social & Marta Moreiras report for @science.org.
👉 bit.ly/4fC6Irs
Thousands of these workers lost their jobs after the Trump administration cut #USAID funds.
@martinenserink.bsky.social & Marta Moreiras report for @science.org.
👉 bit.ly/4fC6Irs
“Can you say firing squad?” Online death threats trigger a debate about the aggressive tactics of the White Coat Waste Project, a US animal rights group. www.science.org/content/arti...
Story by @phiejacobs.bsky.social
Story by @phiejacobs.bsky.social
Deaths threats to NIH official spark debate over aggressive campaign to end animal research
White Coat Waste Project files complaint over government employee’s emails claiming it incited harassment against Nicole Kleinstreuer
www.science.org
August 11, 2025 at 10:25 PM
“Can you say firing squad?” Online death threats trigger a debate about the aggressive tactics of the White Coat Waste Project, a US animal rights group. www.science.org/content/arti...
Story by @phiejacobs.bsky.social
Story by @phiejacobs.bsky.social
Scoop from @cohenjon.bsky.social: NIH may massively increase HIV 'implementation science', to $1 billion annually, at the expense of basic research. Some HIV researchers are alarmed. www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH ponders overhauling HIV budget to capitalize on prevention breakthrough
Scientists warn $1 billion push for “implementation science” spurred by promise of lenacapavir will hurt research on new treatments and vaccines
www.science.org
August 11, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Scoop from @cohenjon.bsky.social: NIH may massively increase HIV 'implementation science', to $1 billion annually, at the expense of basic research. Some HIV researchers are alarmed. www.science.org/content/arti...
I traveled to Guinea to find out what U.S. budget cuts mean for the fight against malaria. Here's my story in @science.org - with powerful photography by Marta Moreiras. www.science.org/content/arti...
In Guinea, the United States helped beat back malaria. Now, the disease is set to soar
Foreign aid cuts are expected to cause a rise in malaria cases and deaths across sub-Saharan Africa
www.science.org
August 8, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I traveled to Guinea to find out what U.S. budget cuts mean for the fight against malaria. Here's my story in @science.org - with powerful photography by Marta Moreiras. www.science.org/content/arti...
The White House has concerns about allegedly risky research on viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. In response, the National Institutes of Health is cracking down on dozens of studies it was funding. By @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social and @cohenjon.bsky.social. www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: NIH suspends dozens of pathogen studies over ‘gain-of-function’ concerns
Trump executive order leads to pauses on U.S.-funded research into TB, influenza, COVID-19, and other diseases, dismaying some scientists
www.science.org
July 12, 2025 at 10:23 AM
The White House has concerns about allegedly risky research on viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. In response, the National Institutes of Health is cracking down on dozens of studies it was funding. By @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social and @cohenjon.bsky.social. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Martin Enserink
"Institutions must support transgender and gender nonconforming and other marginalized scientists by securing their safety and privacy; their access to legal aid and health care; and their opportunities in education, employment, and society," argues a new #LetterToScience. scim.ag/4kQCMtr
Protect transgender scientists
Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGnC) people are a primary target of the Trump administration. Multiple executive orders seek to erase TGnC protections; mandate denial of gender identity; and ba...
scim.ag
June 24, 2025 at 5:22 PM
"Institutions must support transgender and gender nonconforming and other marginalized scientists by securing their safety and privacy; their access to legal aid and health care; and their opportunities in education, employment, and society," argues a new #LetterToScience. scim.ag/4kQCMtr
How much expertise did a key vaccine panel lose this week when RFK Jr. fired its 17 members and appointed 8 new ones?
@meredithwadman.bsky.social and I looked at their publication records to find out. www.science.org/content/arti...
@meredithwadman.bsky.social and I looked at their publication records to find out. www.science.org/content/arti...
The members of RFK Jr.’s new vaccine committee have published little on vaccines
Purge at immunization panel represents a major loss of expertise, as measured by scientific papers
www.science.org
June 13, 2025 at 9:47 PM
How much expertise did a key vaccine panel lose this week when RFK Jr. fired its 17 members and appointed 8 new ones?
@meredithwadman.bsky.social and I looked at their publication records to find out. www.science.org/content/arti...
@meredithwadman.bsky.social and I looked at their publication records to find out. www.science.org/content/arti...
Scoop from @sarareardon.bsky.social about the erratic process behind NIH's grant cancellations. www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: NIH documents reveal inconsistencies in grant terminations as agency reviews 3200 more
Evidence of agency’s uneven guidance to employees and role of DOGE could play into legal case against cuts
www.science.org
June 13, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Scoop from @sarareardon.bsky.social about the erratic process behind NIH's grant cancellations. www.science.org/content/arti...
Have advocates of more rigor in science been "useful idiots" who unwittingly helped Trump's attacks on U.S. research? @cathleenogrady.bsky.social sheds light on a fascinating discussion. www.science.org/content/arti...
Science’s reform movement should have seen Trump’s call for ‘gold standard science’ coming, critics say
Efforts to improve the rigor of research may have unwittingly handed the administration a way to attack science
www.science.org
June 11, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Have advocates of more rigor in science been "useful idiots" who unwittingly helped Trump's attacks on U.S. research? @cathleenogrady.bsky.social sheds light on a fascinating discussion. www.science.org/content/arti...
Selling journal subscriptions is how scholarly societies have long made money. But that revenue stream is declining, putting the other work societies do at risk. www.science.org/content/arti... by @jeffreybrainard.bsky.social
Open-access revolution is squeezing scientific societies’ budgets, survey shows
Decline in journal revenues puts scholarships, advocacy, and other activities at risk
www.science.org
June 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Selling journal subscriptions is how scholarly societies have long made money. But that revenue stream is declining, putting the other work societies do at risk. www.science.org/content/arti... by @jeffreybrainard.bsky.social
Yesterday, Senators asked NIH director Jay Bhattacharya how Trump can justify a 40% cut to NIH's budget. He declined to say. www.science.org/content/arti... by @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social
Senators press NIH director on killed grants and proposal to slash agency’s funding
Jay Bhattacharya says NIH’s final budget will be a “collaboration”
www.science.org
June 11, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Yesterday, Senators asked NIH director Jay Bhattacharya how Trump can justify a 40% cut to NIH's budget. He declined to say. www.science.org/content/arti... by @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social
In the early 2010s, critics started pointing out that much of the psychology literature was unreliable. Now, a statistical analysis suggests the field is improving, @cathleenogrady.bsky.social reports. www.science.org/content/arti...
‘A big win’: Dubious statistical results are becoming less common in psychology
Fewer papers are reporting findings on the border of statistical significance, a potential marker of dodgy research practices
www.science.org
June 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM
In the early 2010s, critics started pointing out that much of the psychology literature was unreliable. Now, a statistical analysis suggests the field is improving, @cathleenogrady.bsky.social reports. www.science.org/content/arti...
“We dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH staff and biomedical community sound alarm about agency politicization, funding slowdown
In test of NIH director’s support of dissent, NIH staff sign Bethesda Declaration urging reversal of grant cuts and freezes
www.science.org
June 9, 2025 at 3:37 PM
“We dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
“It is a difficult time:” Mpox continues to spread in Africa but vaccination efforts are falling far short. www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cohenjon.bsky.social)
African countries fall far short of mpox vaccination targets
Continent faces a shortage of doses and distribution challenges
www.science.org
June 4, 2025 at 7:38 PM
“It is a difficult time:” Mpox continues to spread in Africa but vaccination efforts are falling far short. www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cohenjon.bsky.social)
Tiny Sierra Leone has seen more than 3000 mpox cases since January; the past few weeks, it accounted for more than half of all new cases in Africa. www.science.org/content/arti...
Explosive mpox outbreak in Sierra Leone overwhelms health systems
Rapid transmission through sexual networks raises fears of wider spread in the region
www.science.org
June 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Tiny Sierra Leone has seen more than 3000 mpox cases since January; the past few weeks, it accounted for more than half of all new cases in Africa. www.science.org/content/arti...
HIV control efforts are falling apart in Lesotho en Eswatini, which have the highest infection rates in the world.
This story by @cohenjon.bsky.social is the first in a series about Trump cuts' effects on global health, funded by the @pulitzercenter.bsky.social.
www.science.org/content/arti...
This story by @cohenjon.bsky.social is the first in a series about Trump cuts' effects on global health, funded by the @pulitzercenter.bsky.social.
www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. aid helped two African countries rein in HIV. Then came Trump
In Lesotho and Eswatini, treatment and prevention cutbacks are hitting pregnant women, children, and teens especially hard
www.science.org
June 2, 2025 at 7:25 PM
HIV control efforts are falling apart in Lesotho en Eswatini, which have the highest infection rates in the world.
This story by @cohenjon.bsky.social is the first in a series about Trump cuts' effects on global health, funded by the @pulitzercenter.bsky.social.
www.science.org/content/arti...
This story by @cohenjon.bsky.social is the first in a series about Trump cuts' effects on global health, funded by the @pulitzercenter.bsky.social.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Martin Enserink
Rubber hitting road: The elimination of US funding for programs that help countries fight neglected tropical diseases like lymphatic filariasis & river blindness is having & will have an enormous negative impact, @martinenserink.bsky.social reports. www.science.org/content/arti...
Crippling tropical diseases threaten to surge after U.S. funding cuts
Closing of programs that fought neglected diseases imperils drug donation and distribution efforts in 26 countries
www.science.org
May 23, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Rubber hitting road: The elimination of US funding for programs that help countries fight neglected tropical diseases like lymphatic filariasis & river blindness is having & will have an enormous negative impact, @martinenserink.bsky.social reports. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Martin Enserink
Scientists used to think diseases that jump from animals to people really took off when people started domesticating cattle, sheep and goats 11,000 years ago. A new look at ancient bacterial DNA in @science.org by @poojaswali.bsky.social and colleagues suggests the pivotal moment came much later.
Clothing—not agriculture—helped spread a tick disease 5000 years ago
New study of a pathogen’s Bronze Age spread challenges longstanding links between disease and early agriculture
www.science.org
May 22, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Scientists used to think diseases that jump from animals to people really took off when people started domesticating cattle, sheep and goats 11,000 years ago. A new look at ancient bacterial DNA in @science.org by @poojaswali.bsky.social and colleagues suggests the pivotal moment came much later.
The Trump cuts to USAID undercut hard-won progress against 5 neglected tropical diseases that don't kill large numbers of people but that can be debilitating and stigmatizing--and that trap people in poverty. My story at www.science.org/content/arti...
Crippling tropical diseases threaten to surge after U.S. funding cuts
Closing of programs that fought neglected diseases imperils drug donation and distribution efforts in 26 countries
www.science.org
May 22, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The Trump cuts to USAID undercut hard-won progress against 5 neglected tropical diseases that don't kill large numbers of people but that can be debilitating and stigmatizing--and that trap people in poverty. My story at www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Martin Enserink
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
ICYMI, @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social's short Q&A with NIH head Jay Bhattacharya was a wild ride: www.science.org/content/arti...
‘It’s been a tough period’: NIH’s new director speaks with Science
Jay Bhattacharya discusses staff morale, grant cuts, and “rumors”
www.science.org
May 8, 2025 at 11:03 AM
ICYMI, @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social's short Q&A with NIH head Jay Bhattacharya was a wild ride: www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump will tighten the rules on research that could make infectious agents more dangerous. What it means in practice is quite unclear. www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump moves to tighten rules on risky research on viruses, bacteria, and toxins
Executive order on gain-of-function experiments could chill research on infectious diseases, scientists say
www.science.org
May 8, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Trump will tighten the rules on research that could make infectious agents more dangerous. What it means in practice is quite unclear. www.science.org/content/arti...