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philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
Philadelphia Science Action
@philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com
580 followers 1.3K following 250 posts
Championing science, diversity, and fact-based policy in the city where American democracy was born. 🧪🦅

Learn more about us: https://linktr.ee/phillyscienceaction
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Philadelphia Science Action @philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com · Mar 27
📢 We are Philly Science Action – a group of passionate organizers that came together in 2017 for the Philadelphia March for Science and came back together with renewed resolve in 2025 for the Stand Up for Science rally in Philly on March 7th, 2025.

🧵1/n
The logo for the organization Philadephia Science Action. Features an icon of an atom with the Liberty Bell as the nucleus.
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: Federal judge rejects DOJ's effort to subpoena the names and medical records of children who have received gender-affirming medical care from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA IN RE: SUBPOENA NO. 25-1431-014 : MISCELLANEOUS ACTION : : NO. 25-39 MEMORANDUM KEARNEY,J. November 21, 2025 Our elected Congresspersons granted the Department of Justice limited authority in 1996 to investigate federal health care offenses involving the labeling and distribution of prescription drugs. The Department of Justice is now investigating the labeling and distribution of prescribed clinically authorized puberty blockers and hormone therapy. It subpoenaed fifteen categories of records from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia including billing and insurance records, communications with manufacturers and sales representatives, and the names and complete medical and psychological records of children receiving gender-affirming care. The Hospital agrees to produce most of the requested materials. But it objects to producing the identities of its child patients and their families along with their confidential medical files. Its objection requires we study two questions: whether Congress authorized a subpoena for the children's confidential medical records, and, if so, whether the children's privacy interests outweigh the Department of Justice's need for these confidential medical records under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. We find the answer to both questions is "no." We strike the three requests for these child- identifying and treatment and disclosure records as beyond the authority granted by Congress. We also find, even if this private information could be relevant, the heightened privacy interests of children and their families substantially outweighs the Department's need to know the children's names, addresses, and treatment along with disclosures for gender-affirming care at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
November 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
minakimes.bsky.social
Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia.

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers; slashed billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest sponsor of medical research; and threatened to oust the panel of medical experts charged with recommending preventive cancer screenings. Hundreds of N.I.H. grants and clinical trials were cancelled, affecting thousands of patients. I worried about funding for leukemia and bone-marrow research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I worried about the trials that were my only shot at remission. Early in my illness, when I
November 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
karenswilcoxphd.bsky.social
No more paylines gang..#NIH ..
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
November 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
ejwillingham.bsky.social
Facts and evidence are not “orthodoxy”
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 4d
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 22, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
luckytran.com
ICYMI Dept of Education will no longer considers these professional degrees:

Nursing
Public health
Social work
Physician assistant
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Audiology
Speech-language pathology
Social work
Counseling & therapy
Health Admin

A smaller health workforce makes us all sicker
November 21, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
This is tomorrow for the UPenn people out there!
pennmindcore.bsky.social MindCORE at the University of Pennsylvania @pennmindcore.bsky.social · 14d
We are excited to host Philly's own doyenne of community science communication, Dr. Sarah McAnulty!

Friday, Nov 21, 1:30-3PM
Hands-On Science Zine Making Workshop

Registration for the workshop is limited by room size. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/hands-on-s...

@sarahmackattack.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
theeduledger.bsky.social
The American Association of University Professors (@aaup.org) released a new report documenting an escalating assault on faculty governance structures across the country, with state legislatures in multiple states moving to strip faculty senates of their authority and independence.
AAUP Report Warns of Growing Legislative Threats to Faculty Governance Nationwide
New analysis highlights attacks on faculty senates in Texas, Indiana, Ohio, and Utah as undermining academic freedom and institutional integrity.
www.theeduledger.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
davidmluebke.bsky.social
United Academics of the University of Oregon -- the faculty union at UO -- stands up to the Tr*mp administration's war on knowledge and education.

#WOKE
#UAUO
#edusky

www.opb.org/article/2025...
Oregon colleges say no to Trump administration higher ed compact
Higher education advocates say the compact equates to a loyalty oath and infringes on the academic freedoms that are inherent to many universities' missions.
www.opb.org
November 19, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
gavinyamey.bsky.social
RFK Jr & his loyal henchmen (the Great Barrington Declaration dudes Jay Bhattacharya & Martin Kulldorff; Martin Makary; Dr Oz; Vinay Prasad) have been successfully dismantling the US vaccination system & achieved the return of deadly vaccine preventable diseases. This is the world they worked for...
apoorvanyt.bsky.social Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 8d
SCOOP: CDC officials on Monday linked for the first time the measles outbreak that began in Texas with another in Utah and Arizona, a finding that could end America’s status as a nation that has eliminated measles.
(Gift link)

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/h...
C.D.C. Links Measles Outbreaks in Multiple States for the First Time
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
rubinallergy.bsky.social
Here is a thorough breakdown of RFK Jr’s misleading statements on vaccines and food allergies.
drrubin.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-is-...
RFK Jr. Is Wrong About Vaccines and Food Allergies
Why his claims collapse under real immunology, real epidemiology, and real evidence.
drrubin.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
Teaching is a public commitment, what the actual fuck is he thinking?
November 18, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
wamsleylab.bsky.social
Universities can win against fascism when faculty, students and staff come together to take action.

This decision is huge for not just UC, but all of us.

It was driven by faculty with #AAUP, and wouldn't have happened if they had waited for administration to save them.

#edusky
#academicsky
aaup.org AAUP @aaup.org · 10d
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"

— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.

#DefendHigherEd
Judge Orders Trump Not to Threaten University of California’s Funding
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
washingtonpost.com
A new study found the Trump administration’s cuts to NIH grants disrupted more than 380 clinical trials, affecting over 74,000 participants.

The cuts disproportionately impacted trials on infectious diseases and minority communities.
Federal cuts upended clinical trials. A new study reveals the toll.
Grants for 383 clinical trials were terminated and the funding disruptions affected more than 74,000 trial participants, according to new research.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
mcopelov.bsky.social
Again, this is an existential crisis for the entire financial & academic model of 🇺🇸 public universities, but the public doesn’t understand this, in part because our leaders have been on this issue. It’s maddening:

bsky.app/profile/mcop...
November 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
miriamelder.bsky.social
Could argue the misogyny Summers expressed both publicly while president of Harvard and in emails to Epstein says more about the culture at our most elite institutions than any of the frontpage freakouts over academia in the past few years but hey
November 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
markabraham.bsky.social
New feature article from TNJ (nation's best student magazine): Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI thenewjournalatyale.com/2025/10/insi...
By the end of the spring semester, Gwen reached a breaking point with AI. “I felt like I didn’t deserve to be a Yale student,” she said. She thought that she was throwing away her education and the scholarship paying to support it. She decided to quit using ChatGPT altogether. She didn’t ask AI to help her sentences flow or to strike the right tone. She didn’t even use it to brainstorm. “I think that’s a skill you need to have on your own. That’s the core of being original, anyway.” Gwen recalled completing her final assignments without AI, sitting in the middle of a crowded library so that she felt watched. “I struggled. And they weren’t very good.” It was only then, she said, that she started to understand just how much learning she had missed out on. ∎
November 16, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
drrabbithole.bsky.social
While the government was shut down, 379 NIH study section meetings (containing 24,380 grant applications) were postponed. NIH is committed to getting these reviewed, but please be patient and understanding with staff, as this is a complex and heavy lift.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Deepest coverage of the administrative leave for @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social from @aniloza.bsky.social at STAT

www.statnews.com/2025/11/14/n...

1/4
NIH abruptly places outspoken critic of Trump administration on leave
Jenna Norton, a vocal critic of Trump administration actions at the NIH, was abruptly placed on administrative leave this week.
www.statnews.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
brenttoderian.bsky.social
Climate knowledge has been taken hostage to prevent climate action.

“It didn’t happen by accident. It’s the product of a deliberate and systematic assault on knowledge by some of the richest people on Earth. Preventing climate breakdown means protecting ourselves from the storm of lies.”
Dark forces are preventing us fighting the climate crisis – by taking knowledge hostage | George Monbiot
The fundamental problem is this: that most of the means of communication are owned or influenced by the very rich, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
miriamposner.com
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
veenadubal.bsky.social Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 11d
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!

We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
veenadubal.bsky.social
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!

We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
alt-nihscience4all.altgov.info
“If it gets funded…”

Millions of people are waiting on scientific progress to help them live normal lives.
apnews.com The Associated Press @apnews.com · 17d
Autoimmune diseases affect as many as 50 million Americans and millions more worldwide. They're hard to diagnose and treat, and they're on the rise. Now, scientists are decoding the biology behind these debilitating diseases in hopes of eventually treating the causes, not just the symptoms.
Disease of 1,000 faces shows how science is tackling immunity’s dark side
It's one of medicine's biggest mysteries — why sometimes our immune system attacks our own bodies. Autoimmune diseases affect as many as 50 million Americans and millions more worldwide.
bit.ly
November 9, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
aft.org
TOMORROW: Join AFT & @aaup.org for a higher ed day of action to push back against Trump’s attacks. Students, faculty & staff are rallying on campuses across the country to stand up for higher ed as a democratic, accessible & transformative public good.

Find an event ⬇️
www.studentsriseup.org/map
Event Map
Find an event near you!
www.studentsriseup.org
November 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
pauljbelcher.bsky.social
🇺🇸 Political #censorship of #Science: Scientists forced to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding

"They are trying to make people afraid to use the word ‘ #equity.’ They’re trying to make people afraid to use the term ‘ #transgender.’"

www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
Scientists had to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding. Health disparities researchers fear what’s next
The titles of more than 700 multi-year NIH grants have been changed this year, according to an analysis by Jeremy Berg, a former agency official
www.statnews.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Philadelphia Science Action
madhupai.bsky.social
OMG

Some US doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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 22, 2025 at 4:57 PM