Max Kozlov
@maxkozlov.bsky.social
science reporter covering biomedical research at Nature | proudly Ukrainian 🇺🇦
maxkozlov.com
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Max Kozlov
@maxkozlov.bsky.social
· Mar 6
Exclusive: NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants
Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by Nature.
www.nature.com
NEW: The NIH has begun terminating grants for active projects studying gender identity, DEI, environmental justice, climate change, among other topics.
At least 16 termination letters have already been sent — and hundreds more are coming, people inside NIH tell me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
At least 16 termination letters have already been sent — and hundreds more are coming, people inside NIH tell me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Ozempic, MRI machines and flat screen televisions all emerged out of fundamental research decades earlier — the very types of study being slashed by the US government
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
7 basic science discoveries that changed the world
Ozempic, MRI machines and flat screen televisions all emerged out of fundamental research decades earlier — the very types of study being slashed by the US government.
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Ozempic, MRI machines and flat screen televisions all emerged out of fundamental research decades earlier — the very types of study being slashed by the US government
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Got a new story about a little-known HHS agency with a massive job: the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
ASPR gave us Operation Warp Speed.
Now it's being run by a conspiracy theorist who calls those vaccines “genocide.” www.msnbc.com/msnbc/meet-a...
ASPR gave us Operation Warp Speed.
Now it's being run by a conspiracy theorist who calls those vaccines “genocide.” www.msnbc.com/msnbc/meet-a...
October 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Got a new story about a little-known HHS agency with a massive job: the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
ASPR gave us Operation Warp Speed.
Now it's being run by a conspiracy theorist who calls those vaccines “genocide.” www.msnbc.com/msnbc/meet-a...
ASPR gave us Operation Warp Speed.
Now it's being run by a conspiracy theorist who calls those vaccines “genocide.” www.msnbc.com/msnbc/meet-a...
Madison is a close friend and has a touching personal story about IVF:
"Just before my 25th birthday, I hooked my feet into stirrups on an icy exam table, ready for a doctor to retrieve my eggs. I’d been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and learned chemotherapy might make me infertile.
"Just before my 25th birthday, I hooked my feet into stirrups on an icy exam table, ready for a doctor to retrieve my eggs. I’d been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and learned chemotherapy might make me infertile.
Everyone should be able to build a family-affordably- if and how they choose. In a time of Medicaid restrictions and rising premiums, healthcare equity is critical. I discuss that in my new op-ed for TIME Magazine, out today.
time.com/7329085/trum...
#IVF #fertility #eggfreezing
time.com/7329085/trum...
#IVF #fertility #eggfreezing
Trump’s IVF Plan Won’t Deliver
The President’s proposal stops short of ensuring access to fertility care for millions, writes Madison Champan.
time.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Madison is a close friend and has a touching personal story about IVF:
"Just before my 25th birthday, I hooked my feet into stirrups on an icy exam table, ready for a doctor to retrieve my eggs. I’d been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and learned chemotherapy might make me infertile.
"Just before my 25th birthday, I hooked my feet into stirrups on an icy exam table, ready for a doctor to retrieve my eggs. I’d been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and learned chemotherapy might make me infertile.
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Fewer grad students means less science, but many STEM PhD programs in the US are cutting back on admissions this year due to federal funding uncertainties. Words by me for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold
Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.
www.nature.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Fewer grad students means less science, but many STEM PhD programs in the US are cutting back on admissions this year due to federal funding uncertainties. Words by me for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
Reposted by Max Kozlov
People being treated for certain deadly cancers lived longer if they had received an mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19 than if they hadn’t
go.nature.com/4hkqZma
go.nature.com/4hkqZma
People with some cancers live longer after a COVID vaccine
mRNA vaccines seem to boost the effectiveness of an immune therapy for skin and lung cancer ― in an unexpected way.
go.nature.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:38 PM
People being treated for certain deadly cancers lived longer if they had received an mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19 than if they hadn’t
go.nature.com/4hkqZma
go.nature.com/4hkqZma
A vaccine that helps to fight cancer might already exist: People being treated for deadly cancers lived longer if they had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
People with some cancers live longer after a COVID vaccine
mRNA vaccines seem to boost the effectiveness of an immune therapy for skin and lung cancer ― in an unexpected way.
www.nature.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
A vaccine that helps to fight cancer might already exist: People being treated for deadly cancers lived longer if they had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
Reposted by Max Kozlov
A must-read @politico.com piece about the man behind the Great Barrington Declaration & the Brownstone Institute, two groups that were foundational and central to RFK Jr’s rise and to his MAHA agenda (I was interviewed for the piece; there’s a quote from me)
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Meet the man who built RFK Jr.’s kitchen cabinet
Jeffrey Tucker, who elevated Covid contrarians now working for the health secretary, is building support for Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
www.politico.com
October 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
A must-read @politico.com piece about the man behind the Great Barrington Declaration & the Brownstone Institute, two groups that were foundational and central to RFK Jr’s rise and to his MAHA agenda (I was interviewed for the piece; there’s a quote from me)
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Powerful @maxkozlov.bsky.social interview with Susan Monarez, who was fired from the CDC for standing up to Robert Kennedy's demands. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Powerful @maxkozlov.bsky.social interview with Susan Monarez, who was fired from the CDC for standing up to Robert Kennedy's demands. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Read our exclusive interview by @maxkozlov.bsky.social with the ex-CDC director - Susan Monarez -
In which she talks about the importance of the job and the reasons why she was fired
🧪 #CDC #MedSky
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
In which she talks about the importance of the job and the reasons why she was fired
🧪 #CDC #MedSky
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Read our exclusive interview by @maxkozlov.bsky.social with the ex-CDC director - Susan Monarez -
In which she talks about the importance of the job and the reasons why she was fired
🧪 #CDC #MedSky
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
In which she talks about the importance of the job and the reasons why she was fired
🧪 #CDC #MedSky
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
"But whether or not I ever want to go back to the federal government — I just don’t know if I can. I know that there is greatness in health innovation in the United States...And I just don’t ever want to be put in a position where we don’t embrace that"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
"But whether or not I ever want to go back to the federal government — I just don’t know if I can. I know that there is greatness in health innovation in the United States...And I just don’t ever want to be put in a position where we don’t embrace that"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Powerful interview of recently fired CDC director by @maxkozlov.bsky.social . What unfolded is chilling and also sad to read in her words. The decimation of the CDC is a low point in global public health history because its impact extended beyond America.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Powerful interview of recently fired CDC director by @maxkozlov.bsky.social . What unfolded is chilling and also sad to read in her words. The decimation of the CDC is a low point in global public health history because its impact extended beyond America.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:15 AM
EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:15 AM
EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Staff members at the NIH seem to have done the impossible: spend the agency's $48 billion budget.
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NIH races to spend its 2025 grant money — but fewer projects win funding
Despite political obstacles, officials are on track to disburse all of the research funds allocated to US biomedical behemoth.
www.nature.com
September 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Staff members at the NIH seem to have done the impossible: spend the agency's $48 billion budget.
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
From an NIH source:
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
September 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
From an NIH source:
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
Staff members at the NIH seem to have done the impossible: spend the agency's $48 billion budget.
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NIH races to spend its 2025 grant money — but fewer projects win funding
Despite political obstacles, officials are on track to disburse all of the research funds allocated to US biomedical behemoth.
www.nature.com
September 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Staff members at the NIH seem to have done the impossible: spend the agency's $48 billion budget.
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Despite political obstacles, officials are on track to disburse all of the research funds allocated to the NIH
go.nature.com/46Mxycw
go.nature.com/46Mxycw
NIH races to spend its 2025 grant money — but fewer projects win funding
Despite political obstacles, officials are on track to disburse all of the research funds allocated to US biomedical behemoth.
go.nature.com
September 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Despite political obstacles, officials are on track to disburse all of the research funds allocated to the NIH
go.nature.com/46Mxycw
go.nature.com/46Mxycw
From an NIH source:
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
September 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
From an NIH source:
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
"The fact that it’s 8am on the day of a likely shutdown, and NIH personnel have received not one word about it from our leaders, from HHS, or higher, is gobsmacking.
Normally we receive shutdown preparations emails starting days in advance. Absolute silence except at IC level."
Several scientists have received letters from the NIH director disinviting them from their positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding, I'm told.
In July, I reported that NIH staff were told to select members aligned with Trump administration priorities.
In July, I reported that NIH staff were told to select members aligned with Trump administration priorities.
September 29, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Several scientists have received letters from the NIH director disinviting them from their positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding, I'm told.
In July, I reported that NIH staff were told to select members aligned with Trump administration priorities.
In July, I reported that NIH staff were told to select members aligned with Trump administration priorities.
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Recently I learned that civil servants have the First Amendment-protected right to speak out on matters of public concern.
Thurgood Marshall, in an 8-1 SCOTUS decision, noted that government employees know how the gov’t works, and the public has a special interest in hearing from them.
Thurgood Marshall, in an 8-1 SCOTUS decision, noted that government employees know how the gov’t works, and the public has a special interest in hearing from them.
September 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Recently I learned that civil servants have the First Amendment-protected right to speak out on matters of public concern.
Thurgood Marshall, in an 8-1 SCOTUS decision, noted that government employees know how the gov’t works, and the public has a special interest in hearing from them.
Thurgood Marshall, in an 8-1 SCOTUS decision, noted that government employees know how the gov’t works, and the public has a special interest in hearing from them.
Reposted by Max Kozlov
NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US NIH grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences
go.nature.com/4pBArFH
go.nature.com/4pBArFH
What research might be lost after the NIH’s cuts? Nature trained a bot to find out
We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US National Institutes of Health grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences of such action.
go.nature.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:49 PM
NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
Reposted by Max Kozlov
And THIS is interesting as a much more shall we say pointed counterfactual: tracing the impact of past NIH grants that specifically look like projects the Trump administration is currently trying to defund
bsky.app/profile/maxk...
bsky.app/profile/maxk...
NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US NIH grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences
go.nature.com/4pBArFH
go.nature.com/4pBArFH
September 25, 2025 at 9:51 PM
And THIS is interesting as a much more shall we say pointed counterfactual: tracing the impact of past NIH grants that specifically look like projects the Trump administration is currently trying to defund
bsky.app/profile/maxk...
bsky.app/profile/maxk...
NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US NIH grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences
go.nature.com/4pBArFH
go.nature.com/4pBArFH
What research might be lost after the NIH’s cuts? Nature trained a bot to find out
We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US National Institutes of Health grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences of such action.
go.nature.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:49 PM
NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
Reposted by Max Kozlov
Autism is rising. Or at least that’s how it looks. But is it really increasing? And if so, why? As President Donald Trump blames Tylenol, Nature examines the decades of research on the causes of autism.
Read more: go.nature.com/4ns6Rku 🧪
Read more: go.nature.com/4ns6Rku 🧪
Why is autism really on the rise? What the science says
YouTube video by nature video
www.youtube.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Autism is rising. Or at least that’s how it looks. But is it really increasing? And if so, why? As President Donald Trump blames Tylenol, Nature examines the decades of research on the causes of autism.
Read more: go.nature.com/4ns6Rku 🧪
Read more: go.nature.com/4ns6Rku 🧪
Reposted by Max Kozlov
GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump and RFK Jr’s claims about Tylenol and autism:
“Talk to your OB about it. But secondly, I was talking to a woman, she goes, ‘Oh, this is great. Two men telling me not to take the only thing I can take when my back's hurting and I'm pregnant.’”
“Talk to your OB about it. But secondly, I was talking to a woman, she goes, ‘Oh, this is great. Two men telling me not to take the only thing I can take when my back's hurting and I'm pregnant.’”
September 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump and RFK Jr’s claims about Tylenol and autism:
“Talk to your OB about it. But secondly, I was talking to a woman, she goes, ‘Oh, this is great. Two men telling me not to take the only thing I can take when my back's hurting and I'm pregnant.’”
“Talk to your OB about it. But secondly, I was talking to a woman, she goes, ‘Oh, this is great. Two men telling me not to take the only thing I can take when my back's hurting and I'm pregnant.’”