Newsroom | Defend Public Health

Health Affairs

When Executive Directives And Public Health Ethics Collide

DPH coordinating committee member Julie Scofield and two colleagues critique the ethical implications of recent executive orders, including those involving gender-affirming care for trans youth and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Arizona Daily Star, tucson.com

The danger to US health science research does not stop at RFK Jr.

DPH coordinating committee member James Alwine looks at two other sketchy Trump administration health agency nominees, Jay Bhattacharya and Dave Weldon (the latter since withdrawn).

The Critical Need for Science Funding

DPH member Aimee Bernard lay out the benefits of federal funding of scientific and medical research, all of which are being endangered by Trump administration cuts.

The Hill

The US is losing its next generation of health scientists

DPH coordinating committee members James Alwine and Elizabeth Jacobs on the devastating impact of cuts to NIH research funding.

Fluoride is safe and effective for dental health

DPH member Susan T. Cookson, MD, MPH, FACP, a Rabun County Board of Health Physician, was ahead of the curve in writing a piece about the importance of fluoride for dental health. It is on page 49 of the publication.

New York Times

When ‘Just Asking Questions’ About Science Turns Into 300,000 Dead

Yale epidemiologist and DPH coordinating committee member Gregg Gonsalves on how the sort of science denial embraced by RFK Jr. has left a trail of death.

defend public health

Statement from Defend Public Health on Senate Confirmation of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The coordinating committee of Defend Public Health, an all-volunteer network of physicians and other healthcare workers, scientists and public health advocates, issued the following statement in response to today’s U.S. Senate vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services:

48hills

Trump’s attacks on trans people and public health escalate into a war on reality itself

DPH coordinating committee member Bruce Mirken connects the dots between the administration’s unreal approaches to public health, trans Americans, climate, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Arizona Daily Star, tucson.com

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is dangerous for the health and economy of Arizona

Epidemiologist and DPH coordinating committee member Elizabeth Jacobs calls out RFK Jr’s dangerous anti-science beliefs

common dreams

Why the US Senate Must Reject RFK Jr.—A Lethal Broken Clock

Defend Public Health member & Harvard Professor of Social Epidemiology Nancy Krieger explains why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a dangerous pick to lead Health and Human Services.

GMA

RFK Jr. faces tough questions on vaccine, abortion stance in confirmation hearing

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the nation's most publicly recognized vaccine skeptics, faced sharp questions Wednesday as he went before a Senate panel for the first time as President Donald Trump's pick to become health secretary.

Axios

Trump's early actions on health agencies roil medical researchers

Axios, Jan. 27, 2025, President Trump's orders to freeze some work and communications at government health agencies and begin a U.S. pullout from the World Health Organization are rattling clinicians and researchers, who fear they're the leading edge of a broad anti-science agenda.