This is an amazing story & scientific accomplishment led by my colleagues at CHOP & Penn, with many others. But most important of the decade?
My votes:
--COVID19 pandemic
--mRNA vaccines
--last year's cuts to Medicaid funding
Nominate yours.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/o...
Perhaps all of us at Penn, Jews and non-Jews alike, should wear a yellow star.
Many Jewish faculty and staff also spoke up in response to EEOC's lawsuit demanding info about Jewish groups and members of the Penn community. www.thedp.com/article/2026...
TODAY, Noon EDT - #Bioethics Seminar: Anna Wexler, PhD, "Ethical and Social Dimensions of Implanted Brain-Computer Interface Research". Open to all, attend in person, lunch provided. @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social W1030. Link for more info: mailchi.mp/jhu/bioethic...
Highly recommend.
"... if it's civil immigration authorities doing what seems to be unlawful interference with First Amendment rights? Even if that's the asserted basis, is that constitutional? I think the answer should be clearly no." | ICE officers are taking DNA samples from protesters www.npr.org/2026/03/18/n...
Remarkable retraction notice.
Update: This paper has now been retracted.
cc @stevejoffe.bsky.social
Every Friday, I open the NIH Guide TOC to find multiple early cancellations of funding opportunities--and virtually never anything new.
How long before robots are trained to check the "I am not a robot" box?
News: Federal health officials are retreating from earlier endorsement of leucovorin as a drug that can treat autism.
www.statnews.com/2026/03/10/f...
CHIBE is hiring a Managing Director! See details below and share with your network. wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/u...
We showed a 72% drop in FDA advisory committees this past year from their 20-year average. Is this a problem? A lot of folks, incl former FDA leaders and CEOs of firms that prepped for canceled meetings think so. Link to @statnews.com article below (paywall) & free link to PDF in replies.
New pub w/ my fab Penn JD/MBE student, Tasneem Mohammad!
Prompted by an ALS drug sponsor's announcement that it was considering launching a trial before it had all $ in hand, we addressed the ethical role of IRBs in making sure studies have adequate funding.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
😆
Claude's response to this @postopinions.bsky.social op-ed about problems with review of early-phase clinical trials in the US seems just right. I'd especially worry about the loss of expert technical review that the change would involve. wapo.st/4b8xAxw
An unnamed FDA official agrees with you.
We all knew but here's confirmation the anon official is Prasad:
"You all know that as background, I’m a professor and I’m a practicing [hematology-oncology] doctor. I do miss my clinic and I miss teaching, and I miss being able to run my podcast and speak freely."
www.statnews.com/2026/03/06/f...
1. It is not *necessarily* unethical to run a sham surgery trial for a serious disease. It depends on whether it's necessary to answer the relevant scientific questions and if risks can be minimized enough for the benefits of answering those questions to outweigh them.
For kicks, I pasted your question into Claude, which really is amazing, and got this response. Is one of these the one?
I nominate for Headline Of The Year award.
www.npr.org/2026/03/03/n...
"Aside from the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans in the 1940s, such facilities have no precedent in American history..."
US Conference of Catholic Bishops statement on Trump's new mass prison camps.
Full statement at the link:
www.usccb.org/news/2026/th...
Why does cash save lives in Tanzania but barely move the needly in Texas? New piece in @theatlantic.com with @hthirumurthy.bsky.social:
We break down the conditions that make cash transfers improve health, and why SNAP gets closets to what works globally.
www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
🎉Introducing Dr. David Powell as a new Senior Fellow at Penn LDI!
Dr. Powell is a health economist with research on the opioid crisis, population aging, working conditions, and end-of-life care.
Learn more about his work: ldi.upenn.edu/fellows/fellows-director...
Good morning. On this *freezing* cold Atlanta morning, this news warms our hearts 💚
This is the most incredible footage of blue whales I’ve ever seen
