Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Daphne Jackson Trust @daphnejacksontr.bsky.social · May 7

🌸 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. 💜

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · May 3

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

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · May 2

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...

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · May 1

“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

Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Apr 30

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

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Apr 22

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...)

Nihil Dev @nihildev.bsky.social · Apr 21

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

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Apr 22

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

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Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · Feb 28

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

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Feb 28

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

Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · Feb 23

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:

Carolyn Ibberson @cbibberson.bsky.social · Feb 22

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

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Feb 19

"CARD has been at the cutting edge of advances not just for Alzheimer’s but Parkinson’s disease as well."

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · Feb 19

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...

Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Feb 19

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.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · Feb 19

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.

Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Feb 17

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

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Feb 16

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

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

WHO @who.int · Jan 21

WHO comments on United States announcement of intent to withdraw bit.ly/4hrbeJ7

WHO comments on United States announcement of intent to withdraw

The World Health Organization regrets the announcement that the United States of America intends to withdraw from the Organization.
WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems, and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go.

The United States was a founding member of WHO in 1948 and has participated in shaping and governing WHO’s work ever since, alongside 193 other Member States, including through its active participation in the World Health Assembly and Executive Board. For over seven decades, WHO and the USA have saved countless lives and protected Americans and all people from health threats. Together, we ended smallpox, and together we have brought polio to the brink of eradication. American institutions have contributed to and benefited from membership in WHO.

With the participation of the United States and other Member States, WHO has over the past 7 years implemented the largest set of reforms in its history, to transform our accountability, cost-effectiveness, and impact in countries. This work continues.

We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe.

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The Society for Reproductive Investigation @sriwomenshealth.bsky.social · Jan 8

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/...

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Pathology at Cambridge @campathology.bsky.social · Jan 7

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.

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Dec 23

Featuring comments from me about the HUGE potential for digital twins in pregnancy research!

MIT Technology Review @technologyreview.com · Dec 19

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

Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Karina Vazirova @karinavazirova.bsky.social · Nov 20

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

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Keaton Smith @smithk63.bsky.social · Nov 14

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!

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Michelle Oyen @michelleoyen.bsky.social · Jan 19

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...

Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jan 4

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

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Basia @basia87.bsky.social · Jan 4

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

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jan 4

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

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jan 4

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

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Reposted by Michelle Oyen

Anne Fausto-Sterling @birdlady.bsky.social · Jan 2

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

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