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melinblue.bsky.social
Epidemiologist, but this is my account for parenting and extracurricular interests. Immigration policy/transit/urban planning/politics. Gymnastics, musical theater. Baltimore.
104 posts 63 followers 480 following
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Posts 15 Comments 35

what people seem to believe is that there is a large number of criminal, layabout immigrants who can be easily found and deported. they support doing so snd are dismayed by the deportation of otherwise law abiding people. the problem is that the criminal group is imaginary!

submitted 14 days ago • 327 comments

This is sort of what happened with DOGE. They were convinced there was a mountain of easily-detectable waste and fraud that a handful of folks equipped with "common sense" could root out & eliminate in a manner of weeks. And there wasn't. But they had promised headlines about big cuts...

submitted 14 days ago • 40 comments

Need an enterprising mayoral candidate to cost these ideas out, do a little feasibility work, and run on the top 5

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Ok folks, we know work requirements reduce benefits without increasing work (cc: @chloeneast.bsky.social) But who loses benefits and what happens if work requirements are reversed? New evidence from linked SNAP-Medicaid data and a natural experiment in CT tell a concerning story... Thread below 👇

submitted 21 days ago • 6 comments

cc @bmorecitydot.bsky.social @mta.maryland.gov

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

NEW: Researchers have sued the NIH and HHS, alleging that they have engaged in a "reckless and illegal purge to stamp out NIH-funded research that addresses topics and populations that they disfavor" by terminating hundreds of grants, violating the APA, Fifth Amendment and the Separation of Powers.

submitted 82 days ago • 28 comments

submitted 82 days ago • 0 comments

A note on JD Vance's repulsive response to the deportation of a Salvadoran in "error": The whole point of his stunt is to show that Trump feels free to remove people even when the law *doesn't* justify it. I spoke to the man's lawyer. Absolutely hair raising stuff: newrepublic.com/article/1934...

submitted 83 days ago • 63 comments

The entire #lab for CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis fired by today's reduction in force(RIF). Nobody else does this role for the US. 👉Jono Mermin, Director of CDC's NCHHSTP (HIV/Hep/TB/STI Division) put on leave. along w other division directors & so many others 😠 #CDC #LiverSky #IDSky #Medsky

submitted 83 days ago • 1 comment

Today, 23 states and DC sued the Trump administration to block $12 billion in cuts to public health funding. The funds were allocated to state and local health departments during COVID. States are aruging that the cuts will put people at greater risk for future pandemics.

submitted 83 days ago • 8 comments

This definition is deranged. They are calling basic public health messaging - which is based on actual evidence - “censorship”. We do it for vaccines, heart disease, nutrition, physical activity, tobacco, you name it. What’s next?

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

⬇️ I don’t think most people realize to what extent Trump/Musk’s attack on research will have devastating, long-term impacts on the US economy, beyond the immediate unemployment impact. Pharma, biotech, tech, energy, etc need university-trained PhDs and government-funded or conducted research.

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments

Today I lost an NIH grant training clinicians to do research about intimate partner violence with perinatal women. More women are murdered in the perinatal period than die of obstetric complications. I didn't just lose a grant. We lost an entire cohort of people building careers to prevent that.

submitted 94 days ago • 874 comments

What Vance is doing here is ENORMOUS disinformation. International students at the undergrad level typically pay full tuition, which subsidizes tuition for American students on financial aid by keeping tuition costs lower. At the grad level, domestic students are harder to recruit!

submitted 94 days ago • 90 comments

Request to journalists: please note the funding source when you’re reporting on studies. The information is always in the paper, usually in a Funding or Acknowledgements section. This work was funded by NIH. This is an example of the type of research that we stand to lose if NIH funding is cut.

submitted 98 days ago • 0 comments