Michelle Oyen
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michelleoyen.bsky.social
Michelle Oyen
@michelleoyen.bsky.social
Women's Health Engineering researcher and leader. All things pregnancy, preterm birth, and the placenta. Ex-expat who spent many years in Cambridge, UK. #teamplacenta
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
🌸 Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day 🌸
💡 Let's continue to create supportive environments that help mothers thrive.

To all the incredible mothers balancing it all: We see you. We support you. And we're here for you. 💜
May 7, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Every engineering student should watch this video. Ethics, mechanics, mistakes, and so many lessons!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q56P...
The Most Dangerous Building in Manhattan
YouTube video by Veritasium
www.youtube.com
May 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Yes, this is all horrible. But I really wish people in the US would stop and think "Maybe we can build something better, not just recreate a system that had a lot of problems." Sincerely, someone who spent 12 years overseas where things were organized very differently...
“However bad everyone on the outside thinks it is, it is a million times worse. They’re dismantling and destroying everything.”

Read, share, respond. Call your representatives.

The health and well-being of Americans & America's innovation economy are at stake.

www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH insiders: Trump is ‘dismantling and destroying everything’
After just 100 days, agency scientists say U.S. health institutes are demoralized and have lost essential staff and funding
www.science.org
May 2, 2025 at 11:46 PM
New podcast interview on the placenta!

open.spotify.com/episode/0rnA...
The placenta: A disposable organ we can’t live without
Tiny Matters · Episode
open.spotify.com
April 30, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Could be interesting to put the various male- and female-leaning diseases into this a la the Mirin 2021 paper to see how little NIH has been spending on women's health... (8% according to the recent NASEM report...)
Ever wonder how many lives have been saved by NIH-funded research - including your own? Enter any medical condition and instantly see how your tax dollars transformed science into survival.

www.ourhealthroi.com
Our Health ROI
Explore how your tax dollars fund life‑saving medical research.
www.ourhealthroi.com
April 22, 2025 at 12:47 AM
So important for maternal health in much of the US right now... www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Scramble to Save Rural Health Care From DOGE
Can an Alabama health clinic survive Musk’s “chainsaw for bureaucracy”?
www.theatlantic.com
April 22, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
A generation of scientists could be lost through the axing of various programs designed to help young people find a path into basic and applied research. www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates
Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science
www.science.org
February 28, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Cutting out STEM clubs for girls is NOT what the world needs right now...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/u...
Defense Dept. Schools Pause Pride Clubs and Remove Books
Clubs for Hispanic and Asian students were also among the student groups put on hold as officials raced to interpret Trump administration orders.
www.nytimes.com
February 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
At least 12 universities now have hiring freezes and nearly 30 have cut PhD admissions this year

If you hear of other places you can add them to this google doc:
I created a brief spreadsheet of reductions I've heard of so far. Any additions you know of (especially if you have the links/receipts) would be great: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Graduate Reductions Across Biomedical Sciences (2025)
docs.google.com
February 23, 2025 at 1:16 AM
"CARD has been at the cutting edge of advances not just for Alzheimer’s but Parkinson’s disease as well."
These firings just hit NIH's Roy Blunt Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias. Yes, you read that right. It's named after a GOP Senator.

Yesterday afternoon employees were informed of layoffs, including its highly-regarded incoming director. Details:

newrepublic.com/article/1917...
February 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reminder, 42% of births in the US are covered by Medicaid. So like so many other things lately, this is a direct attack on women's health.
BREAKING: Trump just endorsed House Republicans’ plan to gut Medicaid, the program he said he would “love and cherish.”

Medicaid provides health coverage to 72 million Americans. Trump is trying to rip that away. Democrats are fighting to stop him.
February 19, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
Firings at FDA over the weekend taking out A.I. staff
www.statnews.com/2025/02/16/f... Note the subtitle.
FDA cuts hit AI division, even as Trump invests in the technology
Layoffs at the FDA appear to have hit the AI and digital health staff particularly hard. It also has a strained relationship with Musk’s company Neuralink.
www.statnews.com
February 17, 2025 at 12:54 AM
We are seeking an Asst. Prof. in biomedical imaging at my fantastic new location (Wayne State University) in rejuvenating urban Detroit: waynetalent.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Assistant Professor- Biomedical Engineering
Wayne State University's Department of Biomedical Engineering has an opportunity for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position for a candidate with ...
waynetalent.csod.com
February 16, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
WHO comments on United States announcement of intent to withdraw bit.ly/4hrbeJ7
January 21, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
The SRI Late Breaking Abstract Submission is OPEN! Share your groundbreaking research in women’s reproductive health with the global scientific community. #SRI2025

Submit your Late Breaking Abstract today!
www.sri-online.org/events/2025/...
January 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
Our very own Professor Ashley Moffett of Reproductive Immunology was awarded the prestigious CMP for Women’s Reproductive Health. The foremost international authority on the immunology of human reproduction, her work has helped explain high rates of pre-eclampsia and maternal mortality in Africa.
January 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Featuring comments from me about the HUGE potential for digital twins in pregnancy research!
In the future, engineers could create a digital model of your entire body that could help researchers and doctors figure out your risk of developing various diseases and determine which treatments might work best.
Digital twins of human organs are here. They’re set to transform medical treatment.
The models can be used to plan surgeries and in the future could be used to help trial new drugs.
www.technologyreview.com
December 23, 2024 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
Bioengineers are working on a virtual model for a pregnancy.

This could predict how a pregnancy would play out from a simple ultrasound scan.

Tune in to my interview with @michelleoyen.bsky.social to learn more:

open.spotify.com/episode/4hhs...
Michelle Oyen, PhD - Digital Twins for Pregnancy and Engineering The Female Experience
MOTHER-podcast with Karina Vazirova · Episode
open.spotify.com
November 20, 2024 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
For my colleagues in placental research, the November installment of the North American Placenta Lab Meeting is happening this Tuesday (Nov 19) at 9:00 am PST/12:00 pm EST over Zoom (mcmaster.zoom.us/j/96005378701). See details on our scheduled speakers below!
November 14, 2024 at 9:41 PM
I know I should be so excited and happy about this but... how can reproduction-related issues only represent 5% of women's health issues? I am getting worried that NONE of the new attention will be on endo, fibroids, CV disease post-pre-eclampsia, etc.

www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insi...
January 19, 2024 at 2:57 AM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
I hadn't noticed until I read this article, but a lot of astronomy language is violent and misleading, even misogynistic, when it could be elegant and inclusive 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
The Language of Astronomy Is Needlessly Violent and Inaccurate
Astronomy is beautiful and elegant. The language we use to describe its processes is anything but
www.scientificamerican.com
January 4, 2024 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
Because so many don’t believe the scientists anymore (if it doesn’t agree with their opinion), this is the possible impact of snake oil in the 21st century:🧪

www.politico.eu/article/hydr...
Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during COVID, study finds
Former US President Donald Trump said: ‘What do you have to lose? Take it.’
www.politico.eu
January 4, 2024 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
This one goes out to everyone with loved ones in Florida, where the state's surgeon general, yes the state's SURGEON GENERAL, claimed that mRNA vaccines contaminate people's DNA. You have a better chance of becoming Spider-Man than having your DNA harmed by mRNA vaccines 🧪
No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won't Damage Your DNA
You have a “better chance of becoming Spider-Man” than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines
www.scientificamerican.com
January 4, 2024 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
One underappreciated danger of electing anti-science conspiracy theorists is that they appoint anti-science conspiracy theorists to important positions.
Covid vaccines don't contaminate your DNA & it endangers public health for a surgeon general to say they do 🧪 by @tanyalewis.bsky.social
No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won't Damage Your DNA
You have a “better chance of becoming Spider-Man” than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines
www.scientificamerican.com
January 4, 2024 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Michelle Oyen
A little more on Evelynn Fox Keller. "Mathematical biologist, philosopher and historian of science who challenged the vision of science as a masculine activity"
#philbio #philsci
#hpbiol
#science
#feministsky
👩‍🔬|👩🏻‍🔬|👩🏼‍🔬|👩🏽‍🔬|👩🏾‍🔬|👩🏿‍🔬
#sts
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
and
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Evelyn Fox Keller (1936–2023), philosopher who questioned gender roles in science
Mathematical biologist, philosopher and historian of science who challenged the vision of science as a masculine activity. Mathematical biologist, philosopher and historian of science who challenged t...
www.nature.com
January 2, 2024 at 2:45 PM