Center for Critical Public Health

_2026 Colloquium on Qualitative Health Sciences Research_ Event will be held in person (at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences) and virtually (via Zoom) on 04/10/2026, 11:30am-4:00pm CST. Registration & abstract submission deadline: 03/01/2026. For questions, email: contact-QMCOP@ouhsc.edu

Call for Abstracts: 2026 Colloquium on Qualitative Health Sciences
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For more information, visit: qmcop.ouhsc.edu/Annual-Collo...
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Submit abstracts at: bbmc.ouhsc.edu/redcap/surve...

New special issue of @cphjournal.bsky.social: Reproductive Vulnerabilities: A Critical Perspective
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
Guest edited by @laurasochas.bsky.social, Kaveri Qureshi & Philip Kreager

Blog What is the role of critical public health in crisis? by Tamar Antin If you’ve been reading the news, you know that public health in the United States is under direct threat from our own government…

"In times of crisis, the instinct to stay quiet can feel protective. But if we can’t speak freely or self-correct publicly, we lose the credibility we need most. And that ultimately harms the very communities we’re trying to serve moving forward."
cphn.net/blog/
by @tamar-antin.bsky.social

"The repair of trust will not happen through simply denouncing populists... Repair will require honesty around uncertainty and ignorance, compassion for those whose views are different, and a willingness to speak about uncomfortable dilemmas..."

"Stigma Is Not the Solution to the Drug Crisis" by Katherine Beckett & Craig Reinarman in @contexts.org
journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....

New article in Social Theory & Health, co-authored with
@judegreen.bsky.social, open access.

In a nutshell we argue that that lived-experience research is not the same as qualitative sociology in health research. The difference exists and matters.

Read here: rdcu.be/evZ7F

1/ The phrase “ #Doyourownresearch” has become one of the most polarizing phrases in public health, exposing deep divides in how people approach health info and trust experts. YLE contributor @kmpanthagani.bsky.social breaks it down in her most recent health (mis)communication post 🧵

Today is OABT-LA World No Tobacco Day Virtual Event: Serving Tobacco Prevention Realness for LGBTQ+ Community and Allies
via @calgbtqhealth.bsky.social

New on The BASIS: As part of our May Special Series, we review a study by researchers from @criticalpublichealth.org that explored how sexual and gender minority young adults perceive and engage in tobacco harm reduction strategies. basisonline.org/2025/05/27/i...

The Chilling Effect of DEI Crackdowns in Scientific Publishing Trump’s executive orders are affecting how federally funded journals operate. Some researchers have raised alarms.

How are executive orders affecting federally funded scientific journals? Read more about the tensions between political mandates and research integrity.

A meeting with the MAHA grassroots What I heard and how I’m approaching this moment.

"So, I’m focusing on three things: Fight for people, not institutions. Meet questions with empathy. Look for opportunity in the rubble—because it’s there, if we’re willing to see it. Even when it’s hard." - @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/a-meeting-...

Book in packing box

It's out! 5th edition of #qual #methods for health research now published, and in a library near you soon!

Researchers, ACLU sue over Trump's 'ideological purge' of NIH grants Scientific researchers on Wednesday sued to secure reinstatement of National Institutes of Health grants that funded research on topics like LGBTQ health, COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy canceled by Republican President Donald Trump's administration as part of an "ideological purge."

Grateful to those resisting political interference in science, not to mention the reckless cutting of research funding without cause.

www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Top scientists warn that Trump policies are causing a 'climate of fear' in research Some 2,000 scientists, including dozens of Nobel Prize winners, have signed an open letter warning that the U.S. lead in science is being "decimated" by the Trump administration's cuts to research.

When a journal seeks to remove accurate information related to gender and sexual orientation from a paper, that's
"a sign to us that they are not upholding principles of scientific integrity."
- @tamar-antin.bsky.social

www.npr.org/2025/04/01/n...

Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE We all rely on science. Science gave us the smartphones in our pockets, the navigation systems in our cars, and life-saving medical care. We count on engineers when we drive acr...

Read the open letter at:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

"A climate of fear has descended on the research community. Researchers... are removing their names from publications, abandoning studies, and rewriting grant proposals and papers to remove scientifically accurate terms... that agencies are flagging as objectionable."

FedFreeze.org Fight Trump's funding freeze to protect lifesaving care and research.

Unfortunately, there was another round of FUNDED grants cancelled yesterday. These illegal cuts stop projects that have been in progress for years, interrupt lifesaving research, and destroy the public good of science in the US.

If you were impacted, please share you story with us: fedfreeze.org

Cancelled NIH grant information submission form Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NIH grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025. Data from this form will be used to update the Rescinded NIH...

The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up.

If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.

Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.

We withdrew the paper from Public Health Reports, and will submit it to a journal that is not published by our federal government

Scientist speaks out after NIH terminates grants including study of LGBTQ+ teens' mental health Dr. Brittany Charlton is speaking out after the NIH terminated all of her grants studying how discriminatory laws impact mental health among LGBTQ+ teens.

good piece on last week's devastating cuts to queer health research: "This termination has broader implications ... It sets a concerning precedent where scientific inquiry is stifled by political rhetoric, potentially erasing entire communities from research agendas" - @britshmit.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/crit...

Researchers say the US government tried to erase sexual orientation from their findings Two California researchers say a U.S. government health publication instructed them to remove data on sexual orientation from a scientific manuscript that had been accepted for publication.

apnews.com/article/scie...

This kind of bias makes these no-longer-scientific journals until corrected.

"It appears that journals published by the federal government are subject to direct political interference at this time, compromising the principles of peer review and the integrity of all research published therein."

"But, let’s be clear. These are not editorial requests aimed at improving our science or clarifying our main arguments. Instead, they seek to obscure from view entire populations of people, such as sexual minorities, who experience tremendous inequities in health." 👏👏👏

More 'editorial comments': "Per the Executive Order, we cannot include language surrounding gender" - with data on sexual orientation deleted from our table showing aggregated demographic characteristics of the study sample

criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03...

Screenshot of manuscript with the word "equitably" highlighted, and the comment "Please use another word, in order to comply with the Executive Order."

'Editorial comments' from the official journal of the US Surgeon General & US Public Health Service: "Please use another word, in order to comply with the Executive Order."

criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03...

Resisting Attacks on Science - Center for Critical Public Health So it happened. We have officially withdrawn a paper accepted for publication in a scientific journal because of editorial requests to remove language deemed out of compliance with executive orders.

We were asked to change language and delete data from a paper that already been through peer review successfully - "in order to comply with the Executive Order."

This is from the official journal of the US Surgeon General and the US Public Health Service.

criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03...

Resisting Attacks on Science - Center for Critical Public Health So it happened. We have officially withdrawn a paper accepted for publication in a scientific journal because of editorial requests to remove language deemed out of compliance with executive orders.

For more context, we posted about this here:
criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03...

Do you have any insight on what other journals this might apply to and/or where we might find specific written policy/guidance that this journal is relying on?

@alt-hhs.altgov.info @altnih4science.bsky.social We recently got a paper back from a journal published by the US Surgeon General + US Public Health Service, where they asked us to change language and remove data "to comply with the Executive Order."