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Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.

@brookemckenna.bsky.social
92 followers 80 following 5 posts

Clinical Psychology Postdoc 🔬 epigenetics | trauma | disparities | development Mass General Hospital, Dept of Psychiatry Purdue University, Sociogenomics Center Emory University & UNC-Chapel Hill alum brookegmckenna.wixsite.com/my-site 🐕🏐🧘

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Brooke McKenna, Ph.D. @brookemckenna.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
“Ending a $5 million research study when it is 80% complete does not save $1 million, it wastes $4 million.” apnews.com/article/nih-...
apnews.com
NIH scientists publish declaration criticizing Trump's deep cuts in public health research
President Donald Trump’s National Institutes of Health director says some employees’ critical letter to him has “fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions the NIH has taken.”
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
🧪 The NSF grant terminations hit women, racial & ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities the hardest. E.g.: --Female PIs were 58% of canceled grants (but 34% of all active grants) --Black PIs were 17% of canceled grants (but 4% as base rate) A closer look shows this is structural... 🧵
science.org
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
You must watch the John Oliver show from last night about NIH. Oliver rarely breaks his comedy routine but he did about NIH, RFK, and HHS. Oliver stared the camera down after 30 minutes and just said with a grimace: “RFK needs to go, now. By impeachment if necessary.” 1/
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 25/04/2025
If you're wondering what the projected mortality and morbidity rates might look like in a future defunded of US investment in science and health, here's a preprint article of some very sobering findings. The truth is heavy. That’s why it matters. ⬇️ papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Screenshot of a research article titled “The Effects of Reductions in United States Foreign Assistance on Global Health,” posted April 8, 2025. Authors are John Stover and Emily Sonneveldt from Avenir Health. The abstract notes that in January 2025, the U.S. halted nearly all foreign health aid to low- and middle-income countries, creating uncertainty and making it difficult for national programs to adapt. The study estimates the impact on outcomes in four key areas: HIV, tuberculosis (TB), family planning (FP), and maternal and child health (MCH).
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 23/04/2025
🚨URGENT RESPONSE CALL🚨 You’ve seen the bad news. Now it’s time for us to flood the zone. Over 400 NSF grants — gone. Trump’s cronies are cutting science funding and betting we won’t notice. But we’re not powerless. We’ve got 24 hours to make noise. Here’s how 🧵(1/3) ➡️
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Brooke McKenna, Ph.D. @brookemckenna.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
The #social #epigenetics field has seen major accomplishments, yet we continue to face challenges that limit our understanding of #brain #health. Our ✨new paper✨ discusses these challenges & offers four areas of #innovation to propel this research forward: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Strengthening Rigor and Reproducibility in Epigenome-Wide Association Studies of Social Exposures and Brain-Based Health Outcomes - Current Environmental Health Reports
Purpose of Review Studies examining the effects of social factors on the epigenome have proliferated over the last two decades. Social epigenetics research to date has broadly demonstrated that social...
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale
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Noam Ross @noamross.net · 19/04/2025
🚨Report your NSF grant terminations! 🚨 We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely! airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
NSF Grant Termination Information Collection Form

Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NSF grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025.


We are tracking these grants to increase transparency, organize affected PIs, and facilitate responses, including via litigation. Please share the form as widely as possible with your networks. 


We are actively building a pipeline to organize these terminations and will soon have a tracker akin to our NIH grant tracker at https://airtable.com/appjhyo9NTvJLocRy/shrNto1NNp9eJlgpA


WE WILL NOT DISCLOSE THE IDENTITY OF ANYONE WHO USES THIS FORM TO PROVIDE INFORMATION. We will keep your identity confidential.


These resources are maintained by Noam Ross of rOpenSci and Scott Delaney of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, with input and support from additional volunteers. For any questions, please contact Scott Delaney on Signal (sdelaney.84).


THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE!
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 18/04/2025
🏥HHS ELIMINATIONS💀 We have created a list of all agency and program eliminations proposed in the HHS 2026 Budget. Feds: Please let us know if you have any clarity to share. The cuts are massive. Reach out if you would like a PDF or xlsx @alt-hhs.altgov.info @altfda.altgov.info
An image of all agency and program eliminations proposed for HHS. Reach out to altCDC for an accessible version or filterable PDF. The alt-text box does not fit all the text contained.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19/04/2025
A reminder that NSF is explicitly breaking the law if/when they attempt to cancel grants that focus on promoting participation in science by underrepresented groups on that basis, incl women in science programs like NSF ADVANCE. Congress expressly directs the NSF to grant funds for this purpose. 🧪
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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 14/04/2025
We’re proud to represent members of the public health and science community in suing NIH over its illegal, unscientific, and undemocratic cancellation of research on now-forbidden topics like gender identity and DEI. Here are 5 things you can do to #KilltheCuts & #SaveOurScience ⬇️ @apha.org
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Coinciding with it's "No" letter Harvard has refashioned its university homepage into essentially an advertisement for the social benefits of university research. This is the current front page.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
The NSF's flagship fellowship program typically gives offers to 2,000+ young scientists. This year, in the face of looming budget cuts, that number was halved: only 1,000 received an offer. Our story on what that means for the science talent pipeline: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half
US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme recipients in 15 years.
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Lianglong Sun @longonga.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Happy to share that our article “Human lifespan changes in the brain’s functional connectome” is now published online at Nature Neuroscience @natureneuro.bsky.social ! Many thanks to all collaborators & data contributors, and the editor team & reviewers! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Human lifespan changes in the brain’s functional connectome - Nature Neuroscience
Sun et al. report human lifespan changes in the brain’s functional connectome in 33,250 individuals, which highlights critical growth milestones and distinct maturation patterns and offers a normative...
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Erin Dunn, ScD, MPH @drerindunn.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Cultivating interdisciplinary research is more important than ever. The Dunn Lab at #Purdue is hiring: ▶️ Program Director ▶️ Data Analysts ▶️ Post Docs Make the #NextGiantLeap with us at the forefront of mental health research! Learn more & apply: tinyurl.com/885xpkec #SciJobs #neurojobs #HiSciSky
Hiring announcement graphic for The Dunn Lab at Purdue University, featuring images of Purdue’s Indianapolis campus building on the left and the iconic bell tower at the West Lafayette campus on the right. Central text reads: 'Hiring for Multiple Roles,' inviting exceptional candidates to join research positions in dental biomarkers and epigenetics, specifically Program Director, Senior Data Analysts, and Postdoctoral Researchers
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Science Magazine @science.org · 02/04/2025
Breaking news: A new lawsuit seeks to challenge the National Institutes of Health’s decisions to abruptly terminate hundreds of grants, totaling more than $2.4 billion, over the past month. scim.ag/3DZnylL
scim.ag
Lawsuit aims to broadly overturn NIH’s grant terminations
Multiple groups and NIH-funded scientists challenge agency’s decision as arbitrary and capricious
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Stand up. Today I join with >1900 members of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine signing this letter, as individuals, decrying the assault on #science by the GOP and Trump administration. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE We all rely on science. Science gave us the smartphones in our pockets, the navigation systems in our cars, and life-saving medical care. We count on engineers when we drive acr...
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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
🧪 NSF GRFP update! New graduate NSF fellowships will likely be announced this week for the GRFP (see bottom of 🧵 for why). First off, I'm *very* glad to hear of those going forward, given the otherwise bleak year so far for graduate training. Some observations... 1/12
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Heather Urry @heatherurry.io · 27/03/2025
Need to explain (or understand) linear mixed effects regressions, random intercepts, and random slopes? Look no further than "A Visual Introduction to Hierarchical Models" by Michael Freeman, 2017. It's a banger!
mfviz.com
A Visual Introduction to Hierarchical Models
A visual explanation of multi-level modeling
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs. Find out how your community may be impacted. Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org a 🧵
US map via scienceimpacts.org visualization of economic loss due to IDC cuts to 15% as part of Feb 7, 2025 executive order, with shading denoting intensity of cuts.
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Whitney Robinson @whitneyepi.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Last Friday, 1,000 more NIH biomedical research projects were defunded with no notice Here’s a word cloud of canceled grants, based on their titles
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Dr Slaughter-Acey @drslaughter99.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
🧵Yesterday, I received notice that my #NIH grant, on the social environment, lifecourse, epigenetics & #birthoutcomes in Black families, was terminated. This grant represented a critical effort to address the ⬆️ rates of maternal & infant mortality in the US, particularly among Black mothers & babies
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Brittany Charlton @britshmit.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
🚀 Big reveal! Introducing our interactive table on NIH grant terminations, supercharged from the original Google tracker! 📊👇 Help us uncover which NIH grants are tagged for termination and why! 🕵️🔍 1 / 🧵 #HealthEquity #MedSky #PublicHealth
airtable.com
Airtable | Everyone's app platform
Airtable is a low-code platform for building collaborative apps. Customize your workflow, collaborate, and achieve ambitious outcomes. Get started for free.
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Rebecca Fielding-Miller @rebeccafieldingmiller.com · 22/03/2025
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.
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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
If you have a federal grant, I *highly* recommend going to this Friday's webinar on responding to grant terminations. Lisa Brown, former general counsel at Dept of Ed, will present along with other lawyers. Friday, March 21, 2-3 pm. More info & register here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/regist...
March 21, 2-3 pm ET: What to do when your federal grant has been stopped or terminated
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Erin Dunn, ScD, MPH @drerindunn.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
🎉 Very excited to announce that The Dunn Lab website has a fresh new look to match our new home at #PurdueUniversity! Explore our research on preventing depression, meet our growing team & discover opportunities to join us at www.thedunnlab.com 🧬 #neurojobs #academicsky #publichealth #epigenetics
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Nature @nature.com · 10/03/2025
Abrupt cuts by the Trump administration to the US National Institutes of Health threaten progress in medical research globally go.nature.com/3FbZP1N
go.nature.com
How the NIH dominates the world’s health research — in charts
Abrupt cuts by the Trump administration to the US National Institutes of Health threaten progress in medical research globally.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 10/03/2025
The U.S. Department of Defense is ending all of its funding for social science research, stopping 91 ongoing studies related to threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation. scim.ag/4hqu6HA
scim.ag
Pentagon abruptly ends all funding for social science research
More than 90 studies on threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation are halted
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Alison Gemmill @alisongemmill.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Our two papers on abortion bans and fertility/infant mortality are now out. In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%. Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages. Links below.
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Susanne Ahmari @ahmarilab.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
🚨Amidst all the uncertainty at NIH Welcome Leap just launched an important new $50M program in Women’s Health👩🏻‍🔬🧠 CARE focuses on the link between Alzheimer’s and perimenopausal hormonal changes wellcomeleap.org/care/ Note: full indirects! Please share widely to support women’s health 🙏🏼
wellcomeleap.org
CARE Program Details | Wellcome Leap: Unconventional Projects. Funded at Scale.
NEW $50M Program in Women's Health care Cutting Alzheimer's Risk through EndocrinologyWe are pleased to announce the selected performers.Sabine Vollstädt-Klein, Central Institute of Mental Health ...
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Mitch Prinstein @mitchprinstein.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Happy to report that APA wrote this letter, gathered a coalition across science, and will now pay for ads for it to be disseminated in Science and Chronicle of Higher Ed to spread the word!! unitedsciencealliance.org
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
How to get 146% return on investment? The NIH. That's just the economic benefit. Biomedical research promotes human health.
the yield on NIH research for economic activity
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
HEY WE ARE OFFICIAL! GO FOLLOW US ON BSKY @standupforscience.bsky.social FOR UPDATES!!!! SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS
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Reposted by Brooke McKenna, Ph.D.
Mitch Prinstein @mitchprinstein.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Hey - please help save jobs and lives! Anyone who works at a university, who works on medical research, or could benefit from medical research is at risk! Please tell them to click the link below. Takes 2 seconds, literally. click.info.apa.org?qs=09c745fe0...
click.info.apa.org
Tell Congress to Stop NIH Cuts
Please take 2 minutes today to ask Congress to take steps to stop funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The administration's proposed cuts to federal research funding, particul...
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Alex Lussier @alussier.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
🚨New paper out in Nature Mental Health from my work with @erindunnscd.bsky.social at #MassGeneral! We found that childhood adversity leads to #epigenetic changes that can increase OR reduce risk for depression. Let me explain... 🧵(1/6) Read the paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
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