Happy Friday the 13th, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents’ Day. What a trio!
This week we have some - frankly terrifying - news about climate-related regulation, recaps of the last year in science, another front on the administration’s dispute with Harvard, and the return of a pair of executive orders.
Before diving into it all, here are some science themed valentines from the Department of Energy…
Federal Research Update
According to reporting in Science and elsewhere, Oregon Health and Science University has voted to begin negotiations with the NIH to potentially transition their primate research center to an animal sanctuary.
Fresh off that Super Bowl commercial, Scientific American and The Hill both have extensive pieces about the changes at the Department of Health and Human Services over the last year.
The head of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Lindsey Criswell, has told her staff that her 5-year leadership appointment will not be renewed. By my count, 16 out of 27 NIH institutes and centers will soon be operating without a permanent director.
Public Health
The US Environmental Protection Agency has repealed the Endangerment Finding, a 2009 EPA statement that six greenhouse gases could be categorized as air pollution under the Clean Air Act because they threaten public health.
The finding was the basis for much of the government’s work to address greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.
The federal judiciary also cut a chapter on the science of climate change from its Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence this week.
According to reporting in Nature, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is expected to deemphasize “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness”. I could make a Contagion reference here or even a 28 Days Later joke here, but I won’t.
HHS just openly released a dataset containing Medicaid information aggregated from outpatient and professional claims. So far so good? Nope. Spoiler alert, it is already being used to justify what’s happening in Minnesota.
The New York Times has a piece on the Medical Freedom Act Coalition, which is out here trying to eliminate school vaccine requirements across the country. Measles for kindergarteners.
The FDA has declined to review Moderna’s mRNA flu shot.
Higher Education
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated an injunction against a pair of executive orders aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion practices in higher education. These orders are now no longer blocked.
The first order directed federal agencies to eliminate any “equity-related” grants or contracts “to the maximum extent allowed by law.”
The second order instructed agency leaders to include in federal contracts a provision requiring recipients to certify that they don’t “operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit today accusing Harvard University of failing to comply with federal investigations into their admissions process.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on social media that the DOD will be ending all of its professional military education, fellowship, and certificate programs with Harvard. At the end of the video he goes onto mention that the department will be reviewing all of its programs with other private institutions in the coming weeks.