NEWSROOM

"As a grandmother, I want my grandchildren and every child to enter the classroom ready to learn, not vulnerable to preventable disease. As a nurse, I know that prevention is one of the most powerful forms of care we can provide." Defend Public Health member Teri Mills shares a heartfelt and science-based plea for parents to vaccinate their kids for the upcoming school year.

DPH member Gavin Yamey and co-author Boghuma K Titanji express frustration at the recent Senate hearing in which former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci was subjected to hours of hostile and accusatory questioning, writing, "Scientists are not beyond criticism, but any criticism must be grounded in evidence and not conspiracy theories. When politics replaces science as the arbiter of truth, the ultimate casualty is not Fauci: it is the health of the American public."

DPH's Connecticut team posed a question about hospital costs to a Democratic gubernatorial candidate at a campaign event, and the candidate responded by urging a public health insurance option and improved regulation.

Coordinating Committee member Gregg Gonsalves takes on recent suggestions by some pundits that public health advocates should ally with rank-and-file MAHA supporters, writing that this approach "excuses too much and pretends that the world of MAHA is something other than it is: a movement built to destroy and built on lies by its founders."

This mostly celebrity-driven magazine takes another shot at HHS Secretary Kennedy's new cooking show, mentioning our RFK Jr. Whopper of the Week and quoting Coordinating Committee member Bruce Mirken about the "surreal" experience of monitoring Kennedy's falsehoods.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has officially launched a new online cooking series, The Real Food Show, on YouTube. This article notes DPH's criticism of Kennedy's updated dietary guidelines back in January 2026, when our Whopper of the Week flagged his new food pyramid as "a cardiologist's nightmare."

New York City faces serious consequences if the proposed OMB rule on federal grants goes into effect. New Yorker and DPH member Dr. Oni Blackstock comments on the possible ramifications, noting that the rule has the potential to "destabilize the core functions of the Health Department.”

DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs write, "The United States has a dark history of eugenics targeting people of color and those with disabilities. Though it may be less glaringly obvious today, eugenic thought and policies have been empowered by the MAGA movement." They explain how this dark thread runs Trump administration policies.

In its latest push to overhaul federal research funding, the White House on Tuesday stated its intention to divert research grants away from universities and toward “individual researchers" -- with comments from DPH member Melinda Rostal.