iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

“Solidarity is our best immunity.” This is the kind of good hearted and honest leadership we need in the world at this moment. Thank you @drtedros.who.int and @who.int

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Exciting milestone for the #ATTIS study. The first 6 volunteers were screened for TB in KZN, South Africa! This marks the culmination of a huge amount of work to obtain this grant and set-up the study. It’s also just the beginning. 6 participants enrolled and 89,9994 to go! 1/2

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

We are hiring! Please circulate in your networks. Join us in beautiful warm and wonderful KZN to answer some important questions about asymptomatic / subclinical TB. #TBsky #IDsky 🧪

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Here is a link you can blast out to all of your networks to ask them to consider signing on in support of our NIH heroes. actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na... We are at 5000 folks who have signed on. But we can do better Only for people who have ever been sick or knows someone who has been.

actionnetwork.org

ADD YOUR NAME: Sign the Open Letter in Support of NIH Staff

Join the courageous and committed National Institutes of Health (NIH) public servants by adding your name now.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

This is a research ethics emergency 🚨 on the scale of those we know from history - the Tuskegee syphilis study, Nazi “scientific”atrocities. The impact on the global clinical research field is immense. Will we (scientists, participants, communities, ethics committees) ever trust funders again?

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 14/05/2025

At the end of this summer, the future of U.S. science and research will be decided. From weather alerts to cancer breakthroughs, science shapes every part of our lives. We need everyone in this fight. The Summer Fight for Science starts now. Are you in? The fight starts here: bit.ly/4ddiuqU

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Watching our field get torn apart in a matter of months makes me sick

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Peter van Heusden (he/him) 🗿 @pvanheus.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

"TAG, MSF and the SAMRC have appealed for “alternative funds to sustain TB and HIV research in South Africa”. - VITAL VITAL VITAL - the USA failure is happening in the context of global shifts towards arms, away from health/research/etc

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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

This is truly sad nearly every single federal grant terminated at one of the largest schools of public health

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

More sad news for 🇺🇸 science. Trying to keep steady in these times, but it’s hard. Difficult to give hope to early career scientists.

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Molly Franke @mollyfranke.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

All 4 of my NIH research grants are terminated. These were grants on MDR-TB treatment & strategies for supporting adolescents living w/ HIV. This is a massive waste of resources. I am heartbroken for my Harvard team, my partners in Peru, the next generation of scientists & our country. Shame.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Thinking about cool science makes me happy these days. Also art, music and writing (all only if made by humans, not machines). Congrats to @oehlerslab.org and look forward to thinking about the human relevance of this finding.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Congratulations @jaynesutherlandtb.bsky.social - very exciting results for Xpert HR and a 3 protein biomarker!!

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Being involved in this #TBsky “moonshot” program has been one of the high points of my career. Through the IMPAcTB contracts our 🇿🇦 team has into discovered insights into asymptomatic TB from #Vukuzazi in rural KZN and worked with the best and most fun scientists from around the 🌎. Targeting 🧪 is 💔🤯!

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Jason Andrews @jasonandrews.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

My sincere thanks to Jeanne Marrazzo for her service as NIAID director. She delivered the Merigan lecture last year & then kindly met w/our trainees & faculty, listening openly to ideas & suggestions for how to make NIAID stronger. A brilliant yet humble physician-scientist. This is such a loss

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Thank you for giving us a glimmer of hope on this grim day @booker.senate.gov

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

💔This is a sad & scary day. Jeanne Marrazzo is so smart & such a good leader. With her at the helm our field could sleep a little easier. Losing her leadership is devestating to #IDsky 🧪 & 🌍 health. These ✂️ to NIH workforce put us in grave danger. Now & for a long time. www.cnn.com/2025/04/01/h...

cnn.com

‘It’s a bloodbath’: Massive wave of job cuts began at US health agencies | CNN

A massive wave of job cuts began at US health agencies early Tuesday, with some employees receiving early morning emails that their jobs were eliminated and some unable to access the building when the...

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

5 alarm fire 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨

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Jim Woodgett @jwoodgett.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Unless the medical research community unites to come to the aid of the NIH staff, who are the only hope for stopping the descent of the whole system, that community itself will be shredded. There is no plan B to defunding NIH. Business cannot go on. Stop normalizing.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

I have been continuously funded by the NIH for HIV/TB research in 🇿🇦 since 2008. Fogarty fellow & mentor x 3, T32, K08, R21, R01 subs, IMPAcTB subcontracts. I am proud of this body of work. My 💔’s for participants, colleagues, the next gen of scientists and my family. bhekisisa.org/health-news-...

bhekisisa.org

[BREAKING] SA research grants potentially on hold, says leaked memo - Bhekisisa

A leaked memo for grant management staff of the US government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), dated March 25, instructs officers to hold “all [research] awards to entities located in South Afri...

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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Yes. The situation at NIH is worse than the public realizes. The #NIH is on track to be effectively ended as a funder of evidence-based research within a year. That is not an exaggeration. The firings and consolidation announced today will create a new, MUCH worse NIH. 1/

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Katy Stephenson @kstephensonmd.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

This article expresses all of my concerns. The ethical principles of human subjects research were born from the Nuremberg trials. We cannot experiment on people against the terms of their informed consent. And monitoring people’s safety are part of those terms. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

theatlantic.com

The NIH’s Most Reckless Cuts Yet

Ending clinical trials with no warning can put patients at risk.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

We really spoke from our hearts today. It was painful but cathartic to talk with my friends & comrades from UKZN and CAPRISA. We ended up inspired to join together and to fight! If you want to hear my raw response to the current crisis start at 45 minutes ✊🏽🇿🇦 www.youtube.com/live/5QF7GVu...

youtube.com

World Tuberculosis Day 2025

YouTube video by University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa

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sarasuliman.bsky.social @sarasuliman.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

It's world TB day. The last two months have been a series of attacks on global health, infectious disease science and vulnerable populations. The damage will take decades to undo, and we are heading onto a steep global health disaster. We can't stay quiet. #tuberculosis #TB #WTBD2025

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Today in the midst of a man-made crisis for science and health we mark #WorldTBDay. The irony is that because of the gem of 🇿🇦🇺🇸🌍 TB science we have better tools than ever and with sustained commitment and funding we coule actually #EndTB. Join us as we discuss the state of TB today at 1pm SAST!

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

And yet the refrain I hear from the 🇿🇦 🧪community is that we are resiliant. We have survived difficulty before. We won’t stop fighting for our people. We won’t compromise our commitment to equity equality diversity evidence science health rights. We choose solidarity. We stand up to bullies. #IDsky

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Haven’t received a letter yet myself but this is a heartbreaking and infuriating period for all of us in the 🇿🇦🇺🇸🌍 HIV & TB research communities. Everything we have worked towards - and HIV-free generation and the end of TB - is under assault. Man made tragedy.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Quite a chilling thread…

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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

More political advice for Democrats, liberals, and the left: Trump is lying about supporting teachers because the public cares about teachers. (Check the chyron) Harming teachers and kids, harming cancer research: the public hates this stuff. Our mission now is to tell everyone it’s happening.

trump:%20WE'RE%20GOING%20TO%20LOVE%20&%20CHERISH%20OUR%20TEACHERS%0ATHE%20FIVE%0ASPECIAL%20REPORT%0ALINDA%20MCMAHON%0ATONIGHT

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

A sad day for Columbia and for our democracy. "Additionally the school believed there was considerable overlap between needed campus changes and Trump’s demands" has got to be one of the most depressing sentences ever written. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

wsj.com

Exclusive | Columbia Yields to Trump in Battle Over Federal Funding

Columbia’s agreement is a significant moment in the intensifying battle between Trump and elite universities.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Thank you both for leading. I’ve been hoping to see an Americans pouring out into the streets in protest and your leadership is making it happen @aoc.bsky.social and @sanders.senate.gov. Thank you!

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Don’t we all know that the only way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them? When you let them win they just push you down harder and move on to the next victim. But when you unite and stand strong in solidarity they often fold. Stand up to bullies!

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Yes! I stand in solidarity with these history professors. We need to listen to them and stand together to “reject such efforts to dominate colleges and universities.” Listen to the historians!!!

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Kelton Minor @keltonminor.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

There are days in life that shake you. I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University & academic career... 1/🧵

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

“Yet, far from acting in courageous defiance, many scientists and administrators now seem to think that the best response to the war on DEI is to keep their heads low and wait out four hard years.” Hell yes, Art Caplan. More courageous defiance, less quiet cowardice. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Don’t wait out four hard years: speak truth to power

The importance of diversity in science is an unshakeable reality that the scientific community must stand by.

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Crystal Fleming is on sabbatical @alwaystheself.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

No, this is not a normal state of affairs, this is not something we’ve lived through before, no this is not exactly the same as the rise of other authoritarian regimes. There are elements of the past and precedents for sure but no one has ever experienced the collapse/capture of the United States.

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Jason Andrews @jasonandrews.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, Asst Prof at Brown & transplant nephrologist was detained & appears to have been deported in defiance of a court order. There is no excuse for this cruelty, and we must stand up for our colleagues. www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025...

browndailyherald.com

Brown University professor held by customs officials at airport after travel to Lebanon

Serving the Brown community since 1891

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Barb McQuade @barbmcquade.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

From interview of Lee Bollinger, 1st Amendment scholar who served as dean of @UMichLaw, president of @UMich, and president of Columbia University. www.chronicle.com/article/were...

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Paul Belcher FRCP HonMFPH 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

🌍 #GlobalHealth – “things have changed” By Professor Ilona Kickbusch "Clearly the golden age of global health is over. The global health hegemon has become a global health risk. We saw it coming – but we did not really prepare." www.medicusmundi.ch/en/advocacy/...

medicusmundi.ch

Global Health – “things have changed”

'People are crazy and times are strange' is a line from Bob Dylan’s song 'Things Have Changed' released in 2000. It applies fully to what the global health community is experiencing now. Clearly the g...

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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

I am heading home after 2 days in Washington DC I've heard so many heart-breaking stories from my American scientist friends and colleagues... Their pain, distress and anxiety cannot be put in words They truly deserve better

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

We will keep trying to understand asymptomatic TB! #TBsky #IDsky Thankful for funding from @niaidnews.bsky.social @gatesfoundation.bsky.social @bwfund.bsky.social Very aware that the work of so many colleagues has been unjustly, illegally, tragically halted. We will press on as long as we can.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

In the midst of severe threats to our patients, funding & career prospects, we keep working on TB science bc the problems are important & we are curious & able. Collaborating 🇿🇦🇺🇸 & the trust it requires is an act of resistance and hope. The next generation of scientists is my motivation and hope.

A group of smiling scientists outside the Africa Health Research Institite

A group of smiling scientist eating dinner together.

Scientists, doctors and nurses outside a rural TB clinic.

A nurse wearing a mask and carrying a cooler and a bag.

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Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley @pressley.house.gov · 11/03/2025

Mahmoud Khalil should be at home with his pregnant wife. Instead, he's been illegally abducted & had his constitutional right to free speech & due process stripped. We're demanding his immediate release and we cannot allow this abuse of power to go unchecked. #FreeMahmoudKhalil

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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Defend the liberty of a stranger as you would defend your own, or that of a loved one, because that is what's actually on the table—whether we are a society that will sit still as our neighbors are snatched in the night, and disappeared into darkness, or a society that will fight for each other.

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Ben Lorber @benlorber8.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Right now there is clear, overwhelming opposition to Mahmoud Khalil’s abduction across the moderate, liberal, progressive & left spectrum. This kind of loud unity is what authoritarians are afraid of. To keep it up we need every institution & public leader to join the chorus.

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Emily Wong @emilybethwong.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

We must reject the whole premise of censorship. We must also reject the idea that some of the words are more essential than others. “Transgender” is as essential as “transgenic.” And “women” as critical as “trauma, bias or diversity.” We will not stop using any of these words. We reject censorship!

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 09/03/2025

FREE MAHMOUD KHALIL!!!!!

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