meanwhile
The future of foreign subawards at NIH
Historically, American researchers have been allowed to direct some portion of their NIH funding to international collaborators through what’s called a foreign subaward. The practice was helpful in building international networks for studying conditions like childhood cancer, rare genetic disorders, or illnesses like malaria and tuberculosis that are more prevalent in other parts of the world. But it has come under intense scrutiny since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Citing concerns over a lack of transparency in how foreign subawards are managed, the NIH announced this spring that it would no longer allow them. The abrupt restrictions were billed by agency leaders as a temporary measure while the NIH transitioned to a new structure better equipped to track how dollars are spent. Last week, the NIH quietly released the outlines of this new structure, but its brief announcement lacked key details about how researchers should submit proposals under this new policy or when it will go into effect.
STAT’s Megan Molteni spoke with Jon Lorsch, the NIH acting deputy director for extramural research, NIH grants officials, and outside experts about the plan. Read more on what this could mean for international research collaborations.
mental health
Trump wants more involuntary commitment. But does the public?
In July, President Trump signed an executive order that, among other things, aimed to expand involuntary commitments as part of a plan to end homelessness. But how do Americans feel about forcing people to be medicated or hospitalized against their will?
A new survey study, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, found that a sizeable minority of people across political affiliations are supportive of such policies. Out of nearly 1,500 respondents, 40% supported policies that make it easier to force a person to take medication against their will, 42% supported mandatory and involuntary long-term hospital stays, and 45% supported short-term involuntary commitment. On the other hand, 72% support policies to expand community services and 65% support expanded peer-led services.
“The overwhelming support for noncoercive policies presents an opportunity for bipartisan policymaking,” two researchers write in an accompanying commentary.
find my
Where in the world is David Geier's laptop?
All these meetings yesterday, but one got cancelled. Abruptly taken off the schedule was a discussion between Kennedy, anti-vaccine campaigner David Geier, and leaders of the country’s most robust database tracking vaccine safety. The group was likely going to discuss using the database to investigate if there’s a link between autism and the national childhood vaccine schedule, according to somebody invited to attend.
Geier and his father had access to the database about twenty years ago, but quickly lost it after managers learned they were pursuing a different research question from what had been approved. Since Kennedy hired Geier in March to reanalyze that data, he’s regained access to the old numbers. To use it, Geier had to visit the CDC’s Atlanta campus, which has a terminal through which researchers can securely access the data. Then, a former CDC official gave Geier a laptop to remotely access VSD data from anywhere. Right now Geier only has access the old data, but it’s unclear what might happen if the meeting is rescheduled. Read more from STAT’s Rose Broderick.
