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US grants Aurora exemption for self-driving trucks safety feature
The U.S. Transportation Department said late Wednesday it approved a five-year exemption for Aurora and other self-driving trucking companies from rules that require drivers to place warning devices around a stopped truck.
Hawaii Business Magazine features women leaders in Hawaiʻi's tech industry
Hawaii Business Magazine’s Jennifer Ablan and Grant Nakasone talk about their 2026 Wahine Issue focusing on women in the workforce.
USA TODAY Sports Plays of the Week: Vote for best Week 7 highlight
Landon Cook, Grant Van Raaphorst, Sara Barlett, and Mason Heinz headline USA TODAY Sports Plays of the Week. Vote now for the top highlight.
Four Ohio college basketball teams play Outdoor exhibition
CareSource Invitational event University of Dayton head coach Anthony Grant started four years ago after his daughter died by suicide.
EPA grant supports nature-based solutions and sediment science for North Bay marsh
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month announced that it selected the San Francisco Estuary Partnership and the Association of Bay Area Governments as awardees of a $13.9 million grant to restore and enhance some 1,500 acres of tidal wetland habitat known as Strip Marsh East along the State Route 37 corridor in Solano County.
‘Revive the business’: Candlelight Curated awarded $1 million state grant
12 weeks into production at Candlelight Curated in Lockport, the state has awarded the company $1 million in grant money as it aims to rebuild from the now-closed Candlelight Cabinetry.
USDA Rural Development Supports Rural Businesses Across Eleven Parishes with Grant to University of Louisiana at Lafayette
(Alexandria, La., Oct. 7, 2026) — U.S.
Community Clinic awarded $3 million federal grant
Springdale-based healthcare provider Community Clinic will receive $3 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration to expand rural substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery services in rural areas...
North Carolina invests over $17 million in mental health service grants
State officials said they are investing over $17 million to expand mental health services in North Carolina.
Editorial: Bend small business program challenged by being new
Bend’s new grant program for small businesses is a challenge for the city because it is new and because the city has to be careful when it is giving away […]
Downtown’s delayed women’s sports bar collects national grant
The Sports Bra still plans to open at 15 E. Maryland, although the first day of business is unknown, franchisee Eve Keller said.
State investing over $17M in mental health service grants
Governor Josh Stein and the state Department of Health and Human Services made the announcement today.
Rural Health Transformation Program Technical Assistance Hub
Get free technical assistance from KHI and partners to navigate Kansas Rural Health Transformation Program applications, requirements, budgets and grant management.
Adelphi awarded $982K for no-cost entrepreneurship program
Adelphi University secured a $982,000 grant to launch the Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience, a no-cost program designed to equip students and local entrepreneurs with skills to develop startups in high-growth and public service sectors across in the New York region.
VA awards $114K in grants for adaptive sports programs in Virginia
The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded $114,455 in grants to two adaptive sports programs in Virginia, including one in Roanoke.
Main Street Iowa businesses win $75k in Open 4 Business pitch contest
Five small businesses located in Main Street Iowa districts – including two in Eastern Iowa – have won a combined $75,000 in state grants after successfully pitching their business expansion ideas Monday night, Oct. 5, in the finals of the 2026 Open 4 Business Competition. The annual contest, housed within the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s […]
Plan for RV, boat storage business advances
Jefferson County Planning and Zoning recently granted preliminary approval for the development of a High Ridge RV and boat storage business.
The people of UTC: Get to know Center for Wellbeing Director Lucy White
Lucy White is back at the UTC with a new role and the same goal of helping students take care of themselves. White, the new director of the Center for Wellbeing, previously worked at UTC in 2022 as assistant director for education and suicide prevention. After the grant-funded position ended, she spent three and a half years at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center counseling medical students and residents.
$496,892 grant to expand student well-being initiatives
St. Bonaventure University has been awarded a grant to strengthen mental health promotion, substance use prevention and pathways to care for students.
Heatstroke ruined his health. Years before, it took the life of another farm worker at the same company
A farm labor contractor exposed laborers on H-2A agricultural visas to heat-related health hazards, but the contractor is still bringing hundreds of migrant farm workers to North Carolina
Hope Network awarded $600K grant to expand mental health training
Hope Network has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant to expand mental health and suicide prevention training statewide over the next three years.
Hope Network awarded $600K grant to expand mental health training
Hope Network has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant to expand mental health and suicide prevention training statewide over the next three years.
Hope Network awarded $600K grant to expand mental health training
Hope Network has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant to expand mental health and suicide prevention training statewide over the next three years.
Hope Network awarded $600K grant to expand mental health training
Hope Network has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant to expand mental health and suicide prevention training statewide over the next three years.
Hope Network awarded $600K grant to expand mental health training
Hope Network has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant to expand mental health and suicide prevention training statewide over the next three years.
Hope Network awarded $600K grant to expand mental health training
Hope Network has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant to expand mental health and suicide prevention training statewide over the next three years.
Trump wants to turn his West Palm Beach golf course into the new Camp David
The plan calls for the federal government to be granted part of the property, with the rest maintained as a private course.
ICE agents chase immigrants in front of Metairie business
ICE New Orleans say agents arrested three immigrants at a busy intersection in Metairie Tuesday morning and chased one of them on foot across Airline Drive.
Carteret County schools receives grant to expand mental health support
District to receive about $467,000 annually as part of five-year Project AWARE grant.
Arkansas Advocate on Ozarks at Large: Maternal health, Kentucky's governor and political debates
Arkansas Advocate Editor-in-Chief Andrew DeMillo joined Ozarks at Large Senior Producer Matthew Moore on KUAF this week to discuss recent grants for maternal health, Kentucky's governor rallying Democrats and the history of political debates.
Arkansas Advocate on Ozarks at Large: Maternal health, Kentucky's governor and political debates
Arkansas Advocate Editor-in-Chief Andrew DeMillo joined Ozarks at Large Senior Producer Matthew Moore on KUAF this week to discuss recent grants for maternal health, Kentucky's governor rallying Democrats and the history of political debates.
Health department requests F-16 crash response grant for exposure testing, staffing
The Grand Traverse County Health Department is requesting approval of a $134,145 grant to cover the response to the F-16 crash.
Local Farms and Food Businesses Receive Nearly $500,000 in Grants to Help Make Metro Chicago Food System More Equitable - Cook County Department of Public Health
Today, Cook County Department of Public Health launched Building Healthier Communities 2030, suburban Cook County’s Community Health Improvement Plan. The plan was announced together with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Department of Public Health, community organizations, healthcare providers and cross-sector partners. Building Healthier Communities 2030 serves as both a collective vision and a practical roadmap that will guide public health efforts across suburban Cook County through 2030.The plan aligns with President Preckwinkle's Policy Roadmap and reflects a shared commitment to advancing health equity through coordinated, community-informed action.
Local Farms and Food Businesses Receive Nearly $500,000 in Grants to Help Make Metro Chicago Food System More Equitable - Cook County Department of Public Health
Today, Cook County Department of Public Health launched Building Healthier Communities 2030, suburban Cook County’s Community Health Improvement Plan. The plan was announced together with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Department of Public Health, community organizations, healthcare providers and cross-sector partners. Building Healthier Communities 2030 serves as both a collective vision and a practical roadmap that will guide public health efforts across suburban Cook County through 2030.The plan aligns with President Preckwinkle's Policy Roadmap and reflects a shared commitment to advancing health equity through coordinated, community-informed action.
YouTube And Google.org Commit $2.5 Million To Expand Free Class CrunchLabs Science Curriculum
YouTube and Google.org have committed a $2.5 million grant to Class CrunchLabs, providing additional funding to expand the free STEM curriculum founded by Mark Rober.
Cherokee Nation Among Eight Communities to Receive Millions to Expand Mental Health, Substance Use Treatment Services, Housing Support
The Cherokee Nation is among eight sites in the country to receive the federal STREETS grant through the new Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), STREETS will provide $96 million […]
Poach Social brings health-conscious brunch to Summerhill
WANF ATL Live hosts Ava Braatz and Savannah Louie talk with Poach Social Owner Brian Mitchell about the new East Atlanta breakfast and brunch restaurant at 112 Ormond St. SE near Summerhill and Grant Park.
Cavaliers Granted High Win Total Prediction Entering Crucial NBA Season
The Cleveland Cavaliers are again being viewed as a top team in the NBA entering the season.
UAMS Receives Grant to Provide Telehealth Nutrition Services, Remote Monitoring in Clinics in Batesville, El Dorado
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will integrate telehealth nutrition services and remote patient monitoring at two of its clinics to help patients better manage their diabetes and chronic health conditions.
Data science professor awarded grant to support partnership with Internet Archive, preserve digital history
Alexander Nwala will develop AI models that automatically identify, archive and catalog web resources referenced in U.S. television news in a publicly accessible database.
YouTube and Google.org Commit $2.5 Million to Expand Class CrunchLabs' Free Science Curriculum
YouTube and Google.org deepen support for free, standards-aligned science education with a $2.5M grant to Class CrunchLabs
PRIO awarded funding for new research on the future of peaceful politics
PRIO Research Professor Håvard Hegre has been awarded a prestigious Hernes-CAS Mobility Grant to develop a new research project exploring whether the l ...
Myakka City studies whether it needs a health clinic at its elementary school
MCR Health and Results 1st have received a grant from the Bishop-Parker Foundation to assess the need for a clinic.
As federal grant cuts hit social sciences, McInnis ‘worried’ about funds
Yale’s federal funding declined by 1.5 percent in the last fiscal year, with cuts affecting social science fields — which the Trump administration has targeted. Yale President Maurie McInnis said last month that the government had been slow to disburse awards.
UCLA Health awarded $4M NIH grant to study why ulcerative colitis symptoms persist after inflammation subsides
UCLA Health gastroenterologist Lin Chang and Dr. Bruce Sands of Mount Sinai were awarded a $4 million federal grant to investigate why some ulcerative colitis patients continue to experience irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms even after inflammation has subsided.
DHS buys 2 more detention centers in California for $950 million
WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has purchased two immigrant detention facilities in Adelanto for $950 million, according to the private prison corporation that sold them. The sale by
Former ASU swimmer Grant House helped reshape college sports
Five years after becoming the lead plaintiff in House v. NCAA, former Arizona State swimmer Grant House reflects on the lawsuit that helped reshape college athletics, the leadership lessons he learned and his continued fight for athletes’ voices and collective bargaining with the Protect College Sports Act making its way through Congress.
Legends Radio spotlights JB Berkow’s lifelong art passion
JB Berkow is the founder of Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts in Lake Worth Beach. LEGENDS RADIO / COURTESY PHOTO This week's Legends Radio Local Artist Spotlight shines on accomplished artist and passionate advocate for the arts, JB Berkow. For more than five decades, JB Berkow has dedicated her life not only to creating art but also to making sure art has a place to thrive. Her work has been exhibited throughout the country in galleries, museums, and universities, and is held in permanent collections, including the Vatican’s Contemporary Art Collection in Italy, Boston University, and Palm Beach International Airport. Her passion for supporting other artists began early. At age 26, Berkow founded Touchstone Gallery in Washington, D.C., which became a highly successful cooperative gallery. She later brought that same entrepreneurial spirit to South Florida, founding Frenchman’s Art Gallery and Studios in Juno Beach in 1995. She opened Rosetta Stone Fine Art Gallery in 2003. In 2015, JB took her commitment to arts education even further by founding the nonprofit Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts. The 15,000-square-foot facility in Lake Worth Beach is home to Florida’s largest publicly accessible glassblowing hot shop and offers instruction in glassblowing, fusing, flameworking, and glass casting. The center also provides free classes to approximately 1,000 underserved children and young adults with disabilities each year. Its “Fragments Reimagined” art therapy program for veterans with PTSD recently received a $100,000 Impact 100 grant. In addition to her work as an artist and advocate, Berkow has authored four books, including Shades of Love and What They Didn’t Teach You in Art School. For JB, art has always been about more than creating something beautiful. It’s about opening doors, inspiring others, and making creativity an important part of life.That is why JB Berkow is in this week’s Legends Radio Local Artist Spotlight.
Physicians Committee Applauds New Guidance on Animal Use From the National Cancer Institute
In August, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published new guidance on grant applications for studies involving animal experiments. This guidance requires researchers to justify their use of animals in the publicly available abstract section of applications and encourages them to use human-based methods.
Now Open! APSA Teaching & Learning Conference Awards and Travel Grants | Deadline: November 16, 2026 -
Now Open! Apply for TLC Travel Grants & Awards Michael Brintnall Teaching and Learning Award APSA Award for Teaching Innovation | Travel Grants Deadline: November 16, 2026, 11:59PM ET Join political science teacher-scholars and students [...]
Now Open! APSA Teaching & Learning Conference Awards and Travel Grants | Deadline: November 16, 2026 -
Now Open! Apply for TLC Travel Grants & Awards Michael Brintnall Teaching and Learning Award APSA Award for Teaching Innovation | Travel Grants Deadline: November 16, 2026, 11:59PM ET Join political science teacher-scholars and students [...]
Senate Unanimously Passes the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act
A bipartisan bill that seeks to improve healthcare cybersecurity and resilience has been unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate. The bill - The Health Care The U.S. Senate has voted unanimously to advance the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act, which requires more robust cybersecurity measures for healthcare organizations and authorizes grants to help rural and under-resourced providers improve cybersecurity.
Yale School of Medicine On the Science of Childhood Anxiety, Say, Anxiety Disorders Are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges In Youth
Credit: Matt Bradbury October 5, 2026 - By Isabella Backman - Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenges in youth. Left untreated, they can disrupt the lives of both children and their families. The good news is that with intervention, most children will overcome these conditions. Across Yale School of Medicine, scientists are working to understand anxiety at every level, from common anxious behaviors to molecular biomarkers in the brain. They are using their findings to develop and disseminate new evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety. Today, the go-to treatment for childhood anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a form of psychotherapy that teaches children skills for confronting anxious thoughts and helps them practice managing situations that cause anxiety. While it is the gold-standard treatment backed by considerable scientific evidence, up to 50% of children will not see sufficient benefit from CBT alone. Wendy Silverman, PhD, Alfred A. Messer Professor in the Child Study Center, co-directs the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program alongside Eli Lebowitz, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center. One of their main interests is learning how to improve outcomes beyond CBT. “We’re developing cutting-edge, research-based knowledge that can reduce the suffering that anxiety causes children and their families,” says Silverman. Changing parent behavior YSM experts are investigating how to improve CBT outcomes for children by involving the parents. Silverman’s research has uncovered two main components of parent intervention that improve childhood anxiety: not enabling children to completely avoid the things that make them anxious and taking steps to enhance their autonomy. Parents may unintentionally reinforce their child’s anxiety by allowing them to avoid what makes them anxious. They also may unintentionally limit the children’s sense of autonomy by being overly intrusive. “One of the things that we take pride in is that we’ve focused on trying to understand what parents need to do, and to test our ideas and see if changing the parents’ behaviors is enhancing the effects of CBT,” Silverman says. “Our findings thus far suggest that they do." As much as CBT can be helpful, it can also be challenging to get one’s child to do the necessary steps for CBT to work. This is one important reason why Lebowitz created a novel intervention program for parents named Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Existing intervention programs often teach parents to act as therapists for their child, such as training them on how to practice breathing exercises. “It makes sense, but this doesn’t work very well in practice,” says Lebowitz. “And part of the reason, I think, is that it’s not easy to get your kid to do things, especially if they’re not excited about doing it.” SPACE is unique because it focuses entirely on parent involvement and changing parental behavior—children are not involved in the sessions. For example, parents learn how to use supportive messages that convey confidence that their child can tolerate and manage distress. “It might sound like a parent saying to a child, ‘I get that this is really hard for you, but I know that you can handle it,’” Lebowitz says. The program also works with parents to identify the ways in which they are accommodating anxious behaviors. “We’ll pick one thing that parents are doing that is an accommodation and help them make a detailed plan for how they’re going to change that,” Lebowitz explains. Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Much of the existing research on SPACE has focused on parents of children under age 14. Ongoing studies are now exploring its use with parents of older teens. “Both anxiety and accommodation can interfere with normative developmental shifts during the teen years, including increased autonomy and individuation from parents,” says Rebecca Etkin, PhD, associate research scientist in the Child Study Center. “In this sense, SPACE may be particularly well-suited for anxious teens and their parents. We want to see whether it is effective during this distinct developmental window.” Unfortunately, many families in need of CBT face barriers, including limited availability of services and geographic constraints. One way to improve access is digital interventions. Silverman and her team are developing an evidence-based digitized intervention program for parents that they can access directly from their computer or smart phone. “The work we’re doing will be one of the very few parent interventions that is digitized and importantly tested for effectiveness,” she says. Creating interventions for anxiety-related challenges Silverman and Lebowitz recently received a generous gift to develop and test other interventions that help parents reduce other child anxiety-related behavioral and emotional difficulties, such as restrictive eating and unexplained somatic symptoms. One of these projects in particular focuses on understanding the risks of social media and its potential benefits, including offering a sense of connection. “A lot of research has focused on the idea that social media is harmful and the less of it the better,” says Lebowitz. “But we actually see is that this is not quite right—there are negatives, but there are also positives. So, we’re trying to get a little bit more nuanced of a picture.” The team is working with teens with social anxiety and their parents over an extended period to better understand their social media habits and how their anxiety levels affect engagement with different platforms. The teens will answer questions sent to an app on their phones about mood and social media usage in an effort to capture emotional responses as they unfold. “We hope to develop interventions that can help make the best of social media while protecting against the more problematic effects,” Lebowitz says. The brain’s role in anxiety Researchers are also testing therapies to address anxiety at the neurological and molecular levels. In collaboration with Dylan Gee, PhD, professor of psychology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, Lebowitz and Silverman are using brain imaging to identify changes in a child’s brain before and after parents enroll in SPACE. In one study, children viewed anxiety-inducing images while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the researchers conducted scans with and without the children’s parents nearby. Before SPACE, children’s brains were better able to activate the regulatory circuitry needed to turn off an anxious response when their parents were nearby. But after SPACE, children could activate this circuitry even without the parent around. “As parents work on gradually reducing some of their accommodations, you can see a child get better at regulating their own fear system in the brain,” Lebowitz says. “It’s remarkable.” Research into the molecular underpinnings of anxiety can also inform new childhood anxiety treatments. In a recent study, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor in the Child Study Center, discovered that a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could be protective from the toxic effects of stress. FGF2 levels in children and their parents were linked to the children’s risk of developing anxiety and depression, the study showed. The findings could help explain why some children who are exposed to early life trauma such as poverty or abuse are more prone to developing mental health disorders. And FGF2 could be a target for treatment. “This is very novel because it starts to give a clue to what is the molecular chain that connects those lived experiences to the actual psychological outcomes,” Lebowitz says. New ways to study and treat childhood anxiety Michael Crowley, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center, collaborates with Silverman and Lebowitz to study the role that attention plays in development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. There is a large body of research that shows that anxious children, like anxious adults, are prone to focus on threatening stimuli such as angry faces compared with neutral faces. This has led to innovative interventions that involve attention retraining. The idea is that if experts train children to look away from threatening stimuli, it may reduce their anxiety—especially children with social anxiety who are most prone to attend to threats. The researchers have just completed a clinical trial for attention retraining with 10- to 14-year-olds with social anxiety disorders and are currently analyzing the findings. Besides this innovative attention retraining research, as Crowly notes, “I like to design tasks that are engaging to kids,” Crowley says. “My goal is to assess something without the kids knowing what we are assessing.” With this goal in mind, Crowley has created a virtual game, named Boom, to study threat processing in children with anxiety disorders. The game is similar to that of hot potato—the child and three digital players take turns virtually passing a ball to each other’s gloves. At some point, the ball turns into a bomb, and as the bomb lands in each player’s glove, the outline of the glove turns yellow. The goal is to avoid having the bomb go off in your glove. What isn’t obvious is that the game is designed to measure different types of threatening stimuli, both ambiguous and direct. In the game, the direct threat occurs as the bomb is traveling towards your glove. The ambiguous threat is the yellow outlined glove as it is unknown where the bomb will travel next. While children play the game, Crowley’s team measures their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). The researchers have discovered that in kids with anxiety, the brain reacts more strongly to ambiguous threats than it does in their peers, but less strongly to direct threats. They believe that the initial abnormally large brain response to not knowing where the bomb is going impairs the brain's ability to properly respond when the threat is actually traveling the child’s way. “The brains of children with anxiety are unable to differentiate between threats you need to do something about and those that are not your problem.” Michael Crowley, PhD, develops innovative games for studying anxiety in children and adolescents.Credit: Matt Bradbury Based on these insights, Crowley hopes to study whether interventions like attention training could restore appropriate threat processing. Crowley’s team is also working on a test called the Balloon Risk Avoidance Task, which evaluates risk-taking and avoidance behaviors. It features a digital balloon that is full of air and about to burst. Kids have six seconds to let air out of the balloon. The more air they let out, the less risk they face that the balloon will pop. But at the same time, the balloon becomes less valuable as it deflates. “The more air you keep in the balloon, the more points you get,” Crowley explains. So far, the researchers have found that when the balloons pop unexpectedly, teens with social anxiety show distinct brain responses. Studying these responses can help psychologists understand the underlying pathways driving the various manifestations of anxiety. The genetics of anxiety When Thomas Fernandez, MD, associate professor in the Child Study Center and of psychiatry, was still in training, there was a lot of excitement about understanding the genetics associated with autism spectrum disorder. Since then, scientists have identified around 250 genes associated with autism. The genetic contribution to anxiety disorders, on the other hand, has historically received less attention. Anxiety is less heritable than autism, but the genetic contribution for anxiety disorders that emerge in childhood may be higher than for anxiety disorders overall. While scientists estimate the heritability of anxiety disorders in general to be around 30% to 50%, some studies suggest higher heritability for certain childhood-onset anxiety presentations. “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism,” Fernandez says. “So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism. So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” Thomas Fernandez, MD Associate Professor In the Child Study Center and in Psychiatry Now, Fernandez and Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Child Study Center, are studying children and their parents to identify genetic changes that are present in the child but not the parents, known as “de novo mutations.” “All of us have some de novo mutations—maybe about 50 to 100 sprinkled throughout the genome,” Olfson says. “But when they occur within the coding regions of genes, they can be really disruptive.” Previous research shows that people with autism have higher rates of damaging de novo mutations than the general population. In 2022, Olfson, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Fernandez published a study on 68 children and their families that found that children with anxiety had similarly high levels of these mutations. Studying de novo mutations can help point the researchers to where they should be looking for genes associated with anxiety. “The end game is using the genes to steer us toward the right part of biology that we can then target to come up with better treatments,” Fernandez says. Building on those findings, the team is now studying more families to better understand how these de novo mutations, along with other genetic and environmental factors, shape pediatric anxiety disorders. They recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to enroll 750 new families over the next five years. Olfson is the principal investigator, with co-investigators Lebowitz, Fernandez, Silverman, and Shuangge Steven Ma, PhD, department chair and professor of biostatistics at Yale School of Public Health. Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, and Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab Joel Gelernter, MD, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, is interested in how different anxiety disorders differ genomically. “We are studying social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, working to understand why people differ in their risk to these specific anxiety disorders and evaluating various risk factors,” he says. Gelernter was recently involved in one of the largest studies to date of the genomics underlying anxiety disorder. The study included around 122,000 people with anxiety disorders and around 730,000 without. It found that some genetic differences associated with anxiety were linked to signaling that helps reduce overactivity in the nervous system. Many anxiety medications available today work by targeting this process. “It’s nice when the biology that you get out of a large genome-wide study ratifies things that we already know because that can help increase confidence in further findings from the study,” Gelernter says. Uncovering the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders John Krystal, MD, Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, is interested in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which anxiety is a major symptom. In the late 1980s, Krystal’s team discovered that the drug yohimbine activated symptoms in patients with PTSD. “This was the first time we could link a specific biological mechanism to the symptoms of PTSD,” Krystal says. At the time, he adds, this finding was highly controversial. “A lot of people felt that PTSD was a purely psychological syndrome that didn’t have an underlying biology.” Since then, Krystal has dived deep into understanding the neurobiology of PTSD to learn how to better treat it. His team is evaluating the use of ketamine and psychedelics. These would be among the first treatments to be developed specifically for PTSD. They may also be applicable for other disorders including anxiety disorders, Krystal adds. An important gap in PTSD treatment is the absence of biological tests that inform how to best help patients manage their PTSD symptoms. A doctor doesn’t diagnose cancer based on how they feel. Rather, they use tests of the biology of the cancer to determine the best course of treatment. “And we can’t do that in any psychiatric disorder other than Alzheimer’s disease,” Krystal says. “But now we are building a foundation for this approach to the treatment of anxiety disorders for the first time.” Source: Yale School of Medicine
$100 million Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America announces grants to Arkansas, Kentucky
Olivia Walton says maternal health is a solvable problem, with state governments "in the driver's seat."
How to get up to $10,000 for your farm stay startup
Airbnb partners with American Farmland Trust to provide grants to producers who want to add farm stays to their business. Learn more at Oct. 14 webinar.
US authorities detain Nicaraguan political exiles stripped of citizenship, raising fears of deportation
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday reported that US immigration authorities detained 8 Nicaraguan exiles who were previously granted protected status in 2023 after fleeing political prosecution. On Fe...
China buys time for its young scientists as US rations it
On September 19, Dou Xiankang, who heads the National Natural Science Foundation of China, described a grant that most young scientists anywhere would
Mobile area health systems receive grants from state rural health program
34 grants total nearly $55 million
$3.3M National Institutes of Health grant funds UH study of microplastics, infant brain development
Researchers will measure exposure through maternal blood, examine fetal brain development through ultrasound and collect cord blood and placenta samples. Infants will be assessed at 2, 6 and 12 months for neurological function, motor development, language skills and cognition.
Marin IJ Readers’ Forum: Vote no on Proposition 44 to protect community health
Also: Head Start education program helped young immigrant; Voting early helps avoid interference on Election Day
Column: Did Iowa miss chance to address kids’ mental health?
I question if the decisions made were the best use for the funds. What about designating more to school and community grants, which could hire more counselors and therapists? Or
San Diego Foundation Grants Nearly $1M in Binational Water Health Grants
The San Diego Foundation Wednesday granted nearly $1 million in the Binational Resilience Initiative for 10 projects ranging from addressing Tijuana River pollution to restoring coastal habitats in the California-Baja region.
How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy
Hey all, Jason here. Money20/20 is still two weeks away, but I’ve already started packing (not procrastinating for once!). My calendar is already filling up with various sessions I want to catch, meetings, and of course happy hours, dinners, and other side events. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to catch up, let me know by replying to this email, and we can try to find a time amidst the chaos of the Venetian. A big if not totally unexpected piece of news dropped on Friday: the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group that represents smaller U.S. banks, filed a lawsuit against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, arguing that the regulator’s move to grant trust bank charters to firms seeking to use them to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authorities granted to the OCC by Congress. I haven’t had time to fully digest the legal filing or speak to folks in my network about it, but you can expect to see coverage and analysis on it in next week’s newsletter. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading The NerdCon agenda just dropped. It’s stacked. Partner content: Nubank built an AI-first bank. Chime built its own banking core. Figure and Valon are rebuilding the mortgage stack. At NerdCon, you’ll hear from the people behind those bets: what they chose, what they learned, and what they’re still figuring out. The agenda is live, with leaders from Nubank, Chime, OpenAI, Remitly, Mercury, Figure, Valon and more. Follow the mainstage conversations, bring the problem your team is wrestling with to a hands-on workshop, or pull up a chair at a roundtable. Pick your quests. Meet us in San Diego, November 18–20. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% with code FBW20. Explore the Agenda Things To Know & Other Good Reads Federal Reserve Board finalizes changes to enhance the transparency and public accountability of its stress test and reduce volatility in its stress test-related capital requirements (Federal Reserve Board of Governors) FDIC Announces Conclusion of Independent Monitorship (FDIC) Modernizing Financial Regulation: Initial Observations from eSLR (Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman) The Data Version of Godzilla versus Kong: FRED Takes on AI (Fed Governor Christopher Waller) Financing the AI buildout (Brookings) Q3’26: Rules for Banks but Not for Crypto (Fintech Takes Banking) The Inevitability of Local Stablecoins (Lombard Notes) Delusions of AI Governance: The Human-in-the-Loop Comfort Blanket (Fintech Snark Tank) Stripe agrees to acquire Parafin to expand revenue opportunities for platforms and help small businesses grow (Stripe) Listen: Fighting Fraud in the Age of AI, with SEON’s Tamas Kadar (Fintech Business Weekly) How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy If there is one overarching theme across the economy and politics in the U.S. at the moment, it’s “affordability.” The term is vague enough to encompass a panoply of factors shaping Americans’ day-to-day lives: rising costs for the hallmarks of being “middle class,” including healthcare, housing, childcare, and education, inflation and rising interest rates, and a job market with the specter of AI hovering over it. At the same time, policy shifts under the Trump administration have resulted in reduced subsidies to those who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and new restrictions on qualifying for Medicaid and SNAP, the impacts of which have yet to be fully felt. These factors are contributing to declining consumer confidence and general dissatisfaction with the economy, despite continuing GDP growth and stock market records. This divergence is encapsulated in the idea of the “K-shaped” economy, in which a small proportion of Americans have seen their wealth balloon, while the majority of American households struggle to preserve the lifestyle they have. Perhaps the greatest determinant of which branch of the “K” a household is on is whether their wealth and income are primarily derived from employment vs. from assets. Nearly two decades of low interest rates and, more recently, elevated rates of inflation have benefited asset owners, while those whose income is primarily or solely derived from labor have largely seen real purchasing power stagnate or decline. This is reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor share of U.S. GDP — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — dropped to just 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In 1947, approximately 2/3rds of economic output accrued to workers; even as recently as 2001, labor’s share of GDP was 64.1%. Against this backdrop, we’ve seen the rise of more credit and credit-like products: cash advance apps, “no-fee” overdraft, earned wage access, and buy now pay later, which are often used as small-dollar short-term borrowing mechanisms to meet immediate consumption needs or pay other bills (eg utilities, cell phone, other debt payments). With the markers of a middle class existence and, increasingly, basic financial stability seemingly out of reach for many, it should be no surprise there’s been an increase in “financial nihilism,” something industry peers like Alex Johnson and Frank Rotman have discussed and analyzed the roots of. The explosion of gambling and gambling-adjacent products and services — often marketed under the guise of being an “investment” — is inextricably intertwined with the rise of financial nihilism. Crypto, sports betting, and, more recently, prediction markets offer an escape or even hope of sorts, like a contemporary, digital version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, while leaving the overwhelming number of people who use such products worse off. Share of Households That Are Financially “Vulnerable” Ticks Up The Financial Health Network’s 2026 Financial Health Pulse® report adds context on how American households are faring. (I linked to this report in last week’s newsletter, but wanted to take time to further unpack the data in the report this week.) The Financial Health Network publishes the report annually, providing insight into how Americans’ financial circumstances are changing over time. The 2026 report is derived from a survey fielded in April and May 2026. The report leverages survey responses to assess indicators of financial health across spending, saving, borrowing, and planning/protecting and to determine a zero to 100 “FinHealth” score. Those with scores between 0 and 39 are considered “Financially Vulnerable,” consumers with scores ranging between 40 and 79 are defined as “Financially Coping,” and those with scores of 80 to 100 are “Financially Healthy.” The report found that moderate improvements in 2025 were reversed, with the share of respondents considered financially “vulnerable” rebounding to 17%. The longitudinal data reflect the impact of pandemic-era programs, like expanded unemployment, cash stimulus payments, and pauses of federal student loan payments. The positive impacts of those programs, as reflected in the Financial Health Pulse reports, had largely disappeared by 2023. While pandemic-era inflation — to be fair, in part caused by the various support and stimulus measures — had come down from as high as 9% in 2022, it has rebounded since the start of Trump’s second term, with tariffs and energy market disruptions owing to the war in Iran pushing prices back up. Specific indicators in the survey that deteriorated from 2025 to 2026 include the share of respondents spending less than their income over the past 12 months, the share paying all bills on time over the past 12 months, the share that have a manageable amount or no debt, the share that are “moderately” or “very” confident their insurance is adequate to cover them in an emergency, and the share that “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that their household plans ahead financially. Unsurprisingly, lower- and moderate-income households are more likely to struggle to pay their bills on time and have any funds leftover to save. The share of low-income households whose income exceeded their spending dropped from 35% in 2025 to 31% in 2026, while the share of upper-income households whose income exceeded expenses remained unchanged at 63%. Households with student loans or revolving credit card debt reported having “a bit more” or “far more” debt than was manageable at rates far higher than those not carrying these types of debts. The share of those with student loan debt indicating their debt load was too high to manage increased from 50% in 2025 to 55% in 2026, while the share of those with revolving credit card debt saying the same ticked up from 51% in 2025 to 54% in 2026. Households that had student loans were markedly more likely to be financially “coping” or “vulnerable” vs. those without student loans. In 2026, 27% of households with student loans were considered financially vulnerable, a jump of 6% points vs. 2025. Households without student loans saw just a 1% point increase (not statistically significant) in those considered financially vulnerable. Households’ perception of the affordability of categories of goods and services paints a stark picture, with less than one-fourth considering higher education affordable, about a third deeming childcare affordable, and less than half viewing healthcare as affordable. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Democratic Senate Report Highlights How Iran Uses Tether to Evade U.S. Sanctions Iran uses stablecoins, specifically Tether, to evade sanctions, fund regional proxies, and to purchase military drones, a report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says. The report was authored by committee ranking member Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and the minority staff. Crypto and stablecoin proponents will often push back on criticism that criminals make use of these assets by arguing that, on an absolute dollar basis, far more illicit funds flow through traditional banking systems and payment rails than via crypto and stablecoins. And while that is likely true, it elides the reality presented in news story after news story: whether state actors — Russia, Iran, North Korea — or criminal groups, those looking to engage in illicit transactions increasingly favor stablecoins and, specifically, Tether (USDT). The report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last week adds context to how Iran uses Tether has a lynchpin in its shadow banking system. The report analyzed 846 wallets that have been sanctioned or targeted for seizure, finding that 84% of them transacted exclusively or primarily in Tether. The ability to create near limitless, anonymous wallets and to move funds effectively instantaneously and irreversibly have made crypto a favored financial mechanism for bad actors. Stablecoins solved key drawbacks of bitcoin, namely, the original cryptocurrency’s highly volatile value in dollars. And while Tether (the company) has the technical ability to “freeze” or destroy funds, the company is often limited and reactive in its approach to doing so, the Senate report argues. Tether, which is nominally based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, “has stated that its compliance with OFAC sanctions is ‘voluntary’ and that it follows ‘OFAC guidelines,’” the Senate report says. Owing to these favorable attributes, Tether “became a primary cryptocurrency for Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis beginning in 2023 and has expanded in scale since,” according to the report. Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking system, the report says, is enhanced by crypto exchanges like Bybit, Kyrrex, OKX, Gate, and Binance, and through “over the counter” exchanges and hawala networks. The consequences of these financial flows aren’t hypothetical. The Senate report links Tether as a funds transfer mechanism to Iranian proxies in the region, including Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Tether has also been used to make payments to secure components necessary to manufacture drones, the report says. The report concludes by arguing that “[s]tablecoin issuers with a significant nexus to the United States, particularly those that offer dollar-denominated stablecoins, should be subject to American sanctions law rather than being allowed to hide behind foreign jurisdictions.” Stablecoin issuers like Tether must be held accountable for repeated failures to prevent illicit finance and sanctions violations by law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and OFAC, the report argues. [Paying Subscriber Exclusive] OUSD Goes Live, Make Your Own Neobank, U.S. Sanctions Russia’s A7 Network As “Transnational Criminal Organization” OpenUSD, the stablecoin issued by the Open Standard consortium that includes Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, core providers, crypto firms, and numerous banks, went live last week. Social commerce platform Whop raised eyebrows in fintech by offering creators on its platform the ability to launch their own neobanks, which the company describes as “great businesses that are easy to run,” in just 15 minutes. And OFAC and FinCEN target Russia’s “shadow banking” A7 Network — more on these stories after the paywall.
Whatnot’s Founders Had a ‘Horrific’ Business Idea. Their Next Bet Became Worth $20 Billion
Whatnot co-founder Grant LaFontaine explains why pivoting quickly was the right move for his company.
Commerce awards grant to help Health Department speed up septic permit reviews
Awarded $70,000 to the Snohomish County Health Department to help it expedite reviews of on-site septic systems for new homes.
Munson receives $200,000 grant to support community arts programming
UTICA — Munson has received a $200,000 grant from MetLife Foundation to support access to community programming, including the Arts Festival, Art Alive! Family Days, and free summer Community Arts
Braves Face Dodgers Juggernaut After Wild-Card Revenge
The Braves survived the Phillies but now must topple a historic Dodgers trio. Can Grant Holmes and Chris Sale stop the run for a third title?
Florida Blue Foundation now accepting grant applications for maternal health initiatives
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The Florida Blue Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Florida Blue and part of the GuideWell portfolio of companies, now is accepting grant applications from nonprofits focused on improving maternal health outcomes in Florida. The foundation seeks to fund Florida-based nonprofits with innovative and actionable solutions designed to improve maternal […]
LA County Extends East LA Small Business Grant Deadline
Los Angeles County officials announced Friday that the application deadline for a grant program assisting small businesses affected by the Lineage Fire and East Los Angeles Oil Spill has been extended by one week, to Oct. 9. The Small Business Recovery Grant provides up to $3,000 to eligible brick-and-mortar businesses and up to $1,000 to […]
Former UCF F Keyshawn Hall Granted TRO, Gains Eligibility
A New York court ruling clears the path for the dynamic "Big Guard" to join Rick Pitino at St. John’s, bolstering the Red Storm’s offensive arsenal.
Timberfest Brings Two Days of Family Fun and Entertainment to Downtown Sheridan
The 42nd annual Timberfest is underway in downtown Sheridan, with two days of activities planned around the Grant County Courthouse Square Friday and Saturday. The annual Grant County festival began Friday, October 2nd, with arts and crafts vendors, amusement rides, a petting zoo and pony […]
Timberfest Brings Two Days of Family Fun and Entertainment to Downtown Sheridan
The 42nd annual Timberfest is underway in downtown Sheridan, with two days of activities planned around the Grant County Courthouse Square Friday and Saturday. The annual Grant County festival began Friday, October 2nd, with arts and crafts vendors, amusement rides, a petting zoo and pony […]
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
Nebraska education board approves funds for healthy food initiative, discusses grant process
After concerns about wanting funding to go to schools, the State Board of Education awarded $2 million in leftover funds to support healthy food in schools for additional projects for infrastructures and marketing.
$1M DOE grant to explore three elements in used nuclear fuel
Supported by $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program, a team of Penn State materials science researchers will investigate how certain elements — samarium, europium and tellurium — behave in molten salt-based nuclear fuel recycling systems.
Federal Agencies Lack Data to Track Small Business Research Awards
Federal agencies awarded $4.4 billion in SBIR and STTR grants, but missing commercialization data obscure results. See what GAO says needs to improve.
$1 million state grant awarded to SFM Skatepark in Rome
The SFM Memorial Skatepark in Rome has been awarded a $1 million grant through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, which will help push forward Phase 2 of the project to include more amenities such as seating, landscaping and a modified access road, according to Governor Kathy Hochul.
Throwback Dawg Day: Granthan vs. Franklin
Vanderbilt. To a lot of SEC fans, you almost felt bad for them most years. At least as far as football goes, the Commodores have spent many years languishing as a doormat. Being in Tennessee’s shadow does not help, neither does the fact that opposing fans can easily take over a game day over on […]
Marquette Bookshelf: ‘When Migrants Become Political Pawns: Decoding the American Migrant Busing Crisis’
Dr. Sumana Chattopadhyay discusses her new book, which analyzes the U.S. migrant busing crisis of 2022 as a case study.
Avon Science Education Institution Gets Massive Grant From NASA
It will upgrade the Talcott Mountain Science Center's planetarium, observatory, and data science facilities.
South County Health becomes first health system in Rhode Island to join Mayo Clinic Care Network
South County Health (SCH) and Mayo Clinic today announced SCH has become the first healthcare organization in Rhode Island to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a select group of independent healthcare organizations carefully vetted by Mayo Clinic and granted special access to Mayo Clinic's knowledge, expertise and resources.
KidsSTREAM Turns Science, Technology And Creativity Into Hands-On Learning For Charles County Kids
KidsSTREAM received a $32,592 grant to support summer camps, tutoring and parent workshops for children and families in Charles County.
Lubbock business news includes Optimum grant, openings, closings
Business Reporter Alana Edgin reviews recent Lubbock area businesses news and hints at upcoming articles in the Around the Hub column.
Olivier Martinez granted temporary restraining order against Halle Berry after accusing her of abusing their son
Olivier Martinez has been granted a temporary restraining order against ex-wife Halle Berry. He’s accused her of abusing their 12-year-old son, Maceo.
HHS awards nearly $250M in addiction treatment, overdose prevention grants
The U.S. | Projects supported include those to strengthen mental health support in schools, expand trauma treatment for families and children and more.
Many lawfully present immigrants in Georgia to lose health insurance under 'One Big Beautiful Bill' law H.R. 1
At least 2,213 lawfully present immigrant Georgians may lose access to Medicaid coverage as soon as this month. The state continues to work through Medicaid eligibility reviews as new federal immigrant restrictions roll out, a spokesperson for the Dept. of Human Services said.
Nearly $55 million awarded to boost healthcare access across rural Alabama
Gov. Kay Ivey announced that 34 grants totaling nearly $55 million are being awarded to healthcare providers and institutions throughout Alabama as part of the second round of the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP) funding for 2026.
Goodwill Arkansas to receive $850,000 from The BlackRock Foundation
Little Rock-based nonprofit Goodwill Arkansas will receive an $850,000 grant from an initiative of The BlackRock Foundation, the philanthropic arm of asset management firm BlackRock, to help workers pursue careers...
'It's a nightmare.' Former refugee, professor on Trump's new Medicaid policy
Starting Oct. 1, many immigrants who are here legally lose their Medicaid coverage because of the Republican budget bill passed last year.
Arkansas, Kentucky each awarded $10M grants for maternal health efforts
A nonprofit founded by philanthropist Olivia Walton announced Thursday it is awarding $10 million grants to Arkansas and Kentucky to improve maternal health in rural communities.
Alabama Awards Nearly $55 Million in Additional Rural Health Grants
Alabama Awards Nearly $55 Million in Additional Rural Health GrantsMONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Thursday that 34 grants totaling nearly $5
Governor Ivey Announces Additional Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program Grants Totaling Nearly $55 Million -
MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday announced the awarding of 34 grants totaling nearly $55 million to healthcare providers and institutions throughout the state as part of the second round of Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP) funding for 2026. … Continued
MTSU School of Ag receives grant for mental health initiative with Center for Health and Human Services
Middle Tennessee State University has been named Tennessee’s lead partner organization for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network South, or FRSAN South, with the MTSU School of Agriculture and Center for Health and Human Services jointly leading the statewide effort.
Supreme Court grants review of Trump administration's mandatory detention policy for immigrants
The case will test a key pillar of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration agenda.
How Washington Funded the Politicization of Science
Over the last half-decade, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on projects designed to influence academic policies, both in the sciences and other disciplines. The aim was to foster a progressive conception of social justice in these fields. In pursuit of this end, the foundation earmarked nearly a million dollars for a project titled “Creating Inclusive Scientific Societies through Policies and Practices,” over a million for a project on “Faculty Online Learning Communities for Gender Equity,” and over $2 million to foster “racial equity focused departmental change.” Through a public records request, I’ve obtained the proposals and progress reports for dozens of NSF grants designed to promote social justice. Although funding for these grants was eventually halted by the Trump administration, the projects illustrate an important facet of recent higher-education policy. Many of the university policies that promised “social transformation” didn’t arise in a vacuum. They were actively encouraged by outside funders—often by the federal government itself. Subscribe Accreditation—the peer-review process which enables universities to receive federal grants and student loans—has recently become a policy battleground, with accreditors wielding significant power over both universities and academic disciplines. In 2020, when Oregon Health and Science University’s medical school issued an extensive diversity action plan—which promised “consequences” for employees who failed to support “DEI, anti-racism and social justice”—it specifically pointed to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the medical-school accrediting body, to justify the overhaul. The NSF actively promoted DEI-focused accreditation policies. The proposal for a $1.2 million program on promoting “community engagement” in STEM, which I obtained through a records request, notes that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology was exploring changes to its criteria “that would incorporate JEDI [justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion].” The proposal promised to “support broader JEDI efforts in the general criteria for engineering.” Another grant funded a conference designed to “identify and share best practices and strategies to integrate IDEA principles in accreditation criteria”—referring to an acronym that stands for “inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.” Scholarly societies have become another flashpoint in debates over higher education. Critics argue that many of these societies, which have the power to shape entire disciplines, have become increasingly politicized. Again, through its giving, the NSF played a role in promoting this politicization. In one million-dollar grant that received funding in 2024, a group of psychologists proposed a series of social-justice reforms to the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The proposal, which I obtained via a records request, asserts that “[r]edistributing resources (such as moving different people into leadership roles) is not enough” and that the society’s “governance structures do not yet reflect its stated values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Its solution: review and rework the society’s criteria for leadership development, academic awards, conferences, and publications. Adjusting review criteria informed by “intersectionality” designed to fight “epistemic exclusion” is an easy way to introduce de facto ideological litmus tests into the peer-review process. For many of the grants I obtained, such litmus tests seem to be the point. “Academic departments are racialized social systems that produce and sustain the byproducts of systemic racism,” a proposal for a $2.7 million project funded in 2024 asserts, promising to develop “departmentally-focused change efforts that cultivate values, assumptions, and behaviors that advance racial equity.” The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s million-dollar “I-ADVANCE” project, which effectively created a small DEI bureaucracy on campus, promised to Embed 28 ADVANCE faculty fellows in STEM departments” to amplify its equity goals. Another $1.2 million project promised to create “faculty online learning communities,” made up of scientists at universities around the country, that would eventually build department-level diversity action plans. “Ultimately,” the proposal asserts, perhaps more perceptively than its authors realized, “both organizational change and intersectionality frameworks deal with power.” Indeed, such grants confer a great deal of power to administrators and scholar-activists, who can even use the mere availability of funding as a tool to advance their causes. That history is worth remembering amid today’s debate over federal involvement in higher education: Washington has been shaping university priorities for years, including by financing efforts to instill progressive ideas about race, gender, and equity into academic institutions—and many of the policies those grants encouraged remain embedded within universities long after the federal money has stopped flowing. John D. Sailer is the director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. Share
Missouri S&T researcher receives joint appointment with Savannah River National Laboratory
Dr. Michael S. Moats, a professor of materials science and engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, has been granted a joint appointment with Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). “Savannah River National Laboratory has assembled an exceptional team of researchers advancing critical minerals and materials technologies that are vital to our nation’s energy security...Continue Reading Missouri S&T researcher receives joint appointment with Savannah River National Laboratory
Republicans’ New Health Care Budget Cuts Take Effect Today, Stripping Lifesaving Health Coverage from Lawfully Present Immigrant Children and Families
Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, issued the following statement in response to the new H.R. 1 restrictions.
Supreme Court to review Trump admin's mandatory detention policy for immigrants
The high court will consider whether immigrants have a right to a hearing to determine if they should remain detained while challenging their possible deportation