Kidney transplant, livestock disease, Texas: Morning Rounds

Theresa is the lead Morning Rounds writer, and her stories focus on gender-affirming care, reproductive health, and mental health. You can reach Theresa on Signal at theresagaff.97.

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on Signal at hbranswell.01.

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Good morning. Here’s a poem for the first Monday of (official) summer. As Alex Dimitrov writes, “Unfortunately / for me and you, we have / the rest of it to get to.” Let’s get to it. 

A looming threat to health disparities research in NIH grant proposal

Since the Trump administration announced its plan to overhaul the federal grantmaking process to give more power to political appointees, researchers have expressed alarm at the potential impact such a change could have on American science. And within the 412-page proposal, there’s one particular section that health disparities researchers say could disqualify their work from federal funding — a change that poses perhaps the biggest threat yet to the future of their field.