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Reposted by Pranay Sinha

Devex @devex.com · Jun 26

U.S. aid cuts and withdrawal from WHO are a terrible blow for global health, but also an opportunity for the European Union to step up as a superpower: Together, EU member states spend nearly twice as much as America on ODA.

Opinion: The EU is an aid superpower. It just doesn’t know it yet

www.devex.com

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

14/
The Senate can still stop this.
And doctors-turned-senators like Cassidy, Marshall, Barrasso, Tillis, and Paul know:
Every cure starts with a question.
Let’s not make the next generation of questions go unanswered.

Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

13/
But we are worth it.
This system works.
It yields discoveries, cures, jobs, and dignity.
We don’t need to reinvent it—we just need to protect it.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

12/
Young scientists are already struggling to stay in the field.
Cutting NIH now sends a clear message:
“You’re not worth the investment.”

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

11/
The NIH isn’t just a funding agency. It’s a pipeline—for ideas, talent, cures.
Cutting its budget isn’t trimming fat.
It’s severing the roots of a garden that took generations to grow.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

10/
We would never willingly hand over our semiconductor or defense sectors to strategic rivals.
Why would we cede biomedical leadership, which touches every corner of our health and economy?

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

9/
Speaking of brain drain:
EU countries and China are already courting U.S. researchers facing budget chaos.
China increased science funding by 10% last year.
In 2022, they surpassed the U.S. in top-tier scientific publications.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

8/
And this isn’t just about science. It’s about jobs.
NIH funds:
👩‍🔬 21K+ jobs in PA & NC
👨‍🔬 30K+ in TX
🏥 It’s the largest private employer in New Hampshire.
A sudden cut = layoffs, brain drain, broken local economies.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

7/
These cuts would devastate not just individual labs, but entire ecosystems.
Studies like Framingham and the Women’s Health Initiative would be derailed—along with decades of investment.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

6/ Getting an NIH grant isn’t easy.
It took me 3 submissions over 4 years.
Now that I have one, every dollar is tracked, reviewed, and justified.
Most of us are relentless stewards of public trust—and yes, we often spend our own money to keep projects going.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

5/ NIH is also efficient:
📈 $1 → $2.56 in economic activity
💡 $100M → ~76 patents + $600M in follow-on R&D
🌱 NIH funding undergirds the entire biotech sector.
Industry may reap the profits—but NIH grows the seeds.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

4/ What have we gotten from this investment?
Well, if you took a pill today, there’s a good chance NIH-funded research helped make it possible.
Not just health advances—but also economic growth, jobs, and longevity.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

3/
Its model is simple but powerful:
🔬 Investigator-driven
📋 Peer-reviewed
🇺🇸 Federally funded
And it’s been so effective that other countries copied it.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

2/
The NIH isn’t some bloated bureaucracy.
It’s the engine of American discovery.
Founded in 1930, it’s supported nearly a century of breakthroughs—from chemotherapy to mRNA vaccines.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

1/
The House just proposed slashing NIH funding from $42B to $27.5B.
A cut this deep wouldn’t just hurt—it would uproot American biomedical innovation.
As a physician-scientist whose career depends on NIH funding, I can tell you:
The panic is real.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 25

The House just proposed slashing NIH funding by more than a third.

I wrote about what this means—not just for science, but for America’s health, economy, and future.
🧵👇
ps7uy.substack.com/p/we-lead-th...

We Lead the World in Medical Research. For Now.

Funding cuts will cause irreparable harms

ps7uy.substack.com

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Reposted by Pranay Sinha

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jun 13

An advance look at “On Parade,” David Plunkert’s cover for next week's issue. #NewYorkerCovers

870 6.4K 25K

Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

Thank you to our funders for their extraordinary support.

@niaidnews.bsky.social
@bwfund.bsky.social
@icmr.bsky.social
Indian Department of Biotechnology
Warren Alpert Foundation

Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(10/10)
Key takeaway:
Premorbid undernutrition dramatically worsens TB severity. Integrating nutritional support into TB management is vital for better outcomes and fewer chronic complications.

@kncvtbplus.bsky.social @tbproof.bsky.social @tb-lshtm.bsky.social

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(9/10)
Clinical implications:

Nutritional interventions could serve as a "nutritional vaccine," significantly reducing TB incidence and severity.

Improved nutritional support may act as host-directed therapy, enhancing outcomes.

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(8/10)
Our innovative modeling (GAM) revealed a potentially exponential increase in cavitation risk at BMI below 17 kg/m², suggesting a critical threshold for severe disease.

@cfmcquaid.bsky.social

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(7/10)
Possible reasons undernutrition exacerbates TB severity:

Dysregulated immune response —> undernutrition is a pro-inflammatory state, but specific response to MTB is weaker

Delayed disease containment

Greater susceptibility to severe lung damage

@draaron.bsky.social

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(6/10)
Alcohol misuse further increased severity:

Undernourished individuals misusing alcohol had nearly a 4-fold increase in cavitation risk and faster bacterial growth.

@zahedul-islam.bsky.social

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(5/10)
Women were disproportionately impacted:

Risk of cavitation doubled (aOR 2.20).

Lung involvement increased by ~10% in undernourished women.
@kerrymillington.bsky.social

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Pranay Sinha @tbtakenseriously.bsky.social · Jun 13

(4/10)
Key findings:

14% were moderately-to-severely undernourished before developing TB.

These patients had an 80% higher risk of lung cavitation and ~5% greater lung involvement.

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