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Catherine Offord

@cofford.bsky.social
282 followers 111 following 16 posts

Journalist writing about life science, policy, and research integrity. Correspondent for Science magazine. www.catherineofford.com Send tips securely via Signal to cofford.24

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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Matthew Warren @mattbwarren.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
'The irony was obvious: CRANE had specifically solicited proposals for research on trust and autonomy in future cybersystems—yet it appeared to have used an opaque system of AIs to reject dozens of proposals outright.' Great story from @cofford.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
U.K. funder uses ‘AI triage’ to reject grant proposals—leaving researchers dismayed
The AI-based assessment, which wasn’t explicitly described in the funding call, has raised privacy and fairness concerns
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
“My biggest fear is we’re going to lose a cohort of researchers.” www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Overseas universities see opportunity in U.S. ‘brain drain’
But many U.S.-based scientists seeking to leave may struggle to find positions in countries grappling with funding issues of their own
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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Abdullahi Tsanni @sciwriabdul.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
africa is heavily dependent on foreign health aid. but the brutal loss of billions due to the freeze on U.S. aid has spurred calls for African self-reliance. i tried to piece together how the dependency arose, whether it can be broken, and the solutions: www.science.org/content/arti...
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Tariffs imposed yesterday could hit researchers by raising prices for scientific equipment. My latest for Science: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Sticker shock: New U.S. tariffs could raise cost of research equipment and supplies
China, Canada, and Mexico are major suppliers of essential scientific items
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
The Trump administration says it is "not possible" for it to comply with a court order to release hundreds of millions of dollars in aid funds by midnight tonight. This and more in Science's Trump Tracker: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Trump Tracker: Firings, lawsuits, and U.S. science in chaos
Follow President Donald Trump’s impact on U.S. research and science globally
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
The chaos at USAID has left many clinical trials in limbo. We spoke to the researchers now scrambling to protect the staff and volunteers involved. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Researchers face impossible decisions as U.S. aid freeze halts clinical trials
Organizers of USAID-funded studies grapple with ethical responsibilities to trial participants and collaborators
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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Meredith Wadman @meredithwadman.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Are you an NIH funded researcher with a frozen grant or contract? Find me on Signal: meredithwadman.13
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Last night, President Donald Trump’s administration announced it is immediately cutting by roughly half the so-called indirect cost payments that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) makes to universities, hospitals, and research institutes. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage
Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
“It’s sad and incomprehensible that things have come to this.” —Rachel Baggaley, HIV specialist and former team lead for testing, prevention, and populations in the Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI programs at WHO Our piece on how the USAID freeze has affected research: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
‘It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe
Dismantling of USAID could disrupt clinical trials and wipe away U.S. “soft power” in developing countries, scientists warn
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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
“USAID-backed studies have been shuttered, data streams have dried up, researchers and technical staff have been fired or put on leave, a system to predict food crises has been muzzled, and a USAID-supported global health journal has stopped reviewing manuscripts.” From our @science.org news team 🧪
science.org
'It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe
Dismantling of USAID could disrupt many clinical trials and wipe away U.S. “soft power” in developing countries, scientists warn
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 09/10/2023
Gender pay gap research wins economics nobel @NewsfromScience www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Gender pay gap research wins economics Nobel
Claudia Goldin honored for studies into women’s participation in the labour market over the past 200 years
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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 02/10/2023
Today's #ScienceAdviser kicks off with this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (of course), but there's lots of other great stuff from Science and science in there! Be sure to check all of it out: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 And you can sign up for FREE: science.org/scienceadviser
science.org
Science | AAAS
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 28/09/2023
Isaiah Hankel, CEO of Cheeky Scientist, is circulating a statement about our story. Just addressing the allegation it was "solicited by one of [CS's] competitors" for now: No. It's a journalistic article based on independent reporting, customer interviews, and more: www.science.org/content/arti...
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 18/09/2023
Some of its customers are $thousands$ in debt for services they say they haven't used and didn't want. Cheeky Scientist pays its salespeople well, though: $150K average, with "stars" earning $250K+, according to this job ad. Commission structure "rewards top performers."
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 13/09/2023
Careers firm Cheeky Scientist offers to help you transition from academia to industry. The catch? You might be looking at thousands of dollars of debt for services you don't want. I took a look at the company's practices for Science www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Science | AAAS
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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Shawna Williams @coloradan.bsky.social · 11/09/2023
Beginning today, I'm covering a maternity leave as a senior editor at BioSpace. If there's something going on in biotech or pharma that I should know about, you can find me at shawna.williams at biospace.com.
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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 06/09/2023
An immune-suppressing antibody could help ensure that life-saving transplants aren't rejected by the people that desperately needed them. That story and more from Science and science in today's #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
science.org
Science | AAAS
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 31/08/2023
A new Nat Med study that analyzed cognitive problems in more than 1,800 people bolsters the idea that blood clots contribute to Long Covid. Caveats are that this is in unvaccinated patients hospitalized early in the pandemic. More at Science Mag: www.science.org/content/arti...
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 30/08/2023
Calling PhD students and recent grads: Have you had experience with The Cheeky Scientist? If so, please email me at the address below. And please share with your grad colleagues! Thanks.
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Reposted by Catherine Offord
Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 28/08/2023
This is a fantastic read. Naomi Klein (the good one) on Naomi Wolf (the bad one) and how her doppelgänger turned into a right-wing conspiracy theorist. www.theguardian.com/books/2023/a...
theguardian.com
Naomi Klein on following her ‘doppelganger’ down the conspiracy rabbit hole – and why millions...
For years the writer laughed off being mistaken for fellow author Naomi Wolf. Then her ‘double’ drifted into a world of conspiracy theories and became a favoured guest of Steve Bannon and Tucker C...
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Catherine Offord @cofford.bsky.social · 24/08/2023
Just out: Expression of concern for 2022 paper describing breakthrough in neuronal imaging. It seems “the methods described in the paper are inadequate to allow reproduction [and] the results may have been biased by subjective data collection.” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Science | AAAS
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