Maggie Westwater
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maggieeastfire.bsky.social
Maggie Westwater
@maggieeastfire.bsky.social
300 followers 410 following 13 posts
Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoc @Oxford and @YaleMed. I study disordered eating and the brain. Reproductive rights = human rights.

bit.ly/2FdqFbg
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maggieeastfire.bsky.social
Congratulations @matt-rosenblatt.bsky.social et al. on this exciting new work, highlighting cortical expansion as a largely untapped neurobiological mechanism underlying psychiatric traits across development! 🧠

Check out the highlights here ⬇️
July 17, 2026 at 4:37 PM
maggieeastfire.bsky.social
New color palette just dropped for those of you who feel a deep kinship with waterfowl 🦆🐣
wakeworksleep.bsky.social Travis Mallard @wakeworksleep.bsky.social · Jul 13
Pleased to share duckmapR, an R package offering perceptually uniform, CVD-accessible color maps inspired by my namesake 🦆

This started as a bit of a joke but turned into a fun (multi-)weekend project. Check it out at travismallard.github.io/duckmapR/!
Overview of duckmapR, showing its sequential, diverging, and categorical color maps, key accessibility features, and installation code.
July 13, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
jenniecoughlin.bsky.social
The dean of Yale Law School and some members of its faculty are trying to stop a settlement between the university and the Trump administration, warning that an agreement could jeopardize Yale’s independence, according to two people familiar with the deliberations.
Yale Law School Fights to Stop Trump Deal
www.nytimes.com
July 7, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
nrarmour.bsky.social
The ban is heinous for what it does to transgender athletes. But if you think cisgender girls and young women won’t be caught up in the fallout, too, you are woefully ignorant
June 30, 2026 at 3:26 PM
maggieeastfire.bsky.social
That’s a wrap on #ohbm2026 - Au revoir, Bordeaux!
June 18, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Science story about today’s Bethesda Declaration report.

www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH’s destruction continues, Bethesda Declaration signers say
Follow-up report by current and former agency employees describes ongoing science censorship by political appointees and “culture of fear”
www.science.org
June 10, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
cdelawalla.bsky.social
THE OFFICIAL @standupforscience.net GUIDE FOR TALKING TO ANYONE ABOUT THE OMB RULE PROPOSAL!!

www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a...
How To Talk to Anyone About OMB-2026-0034 — Your Site Title
Written By: Colette Delawalla, PhD, CEO
www.standupforscience.foundation
June 5, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
jeremymberg.bsky.social
So... I got more information about this plan.

The most important points follow on the next posts.

1/3
A slide with recommendations about peer review scores.
May 27, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
sneuroble.bsky.social
So glad to finally share work years in the making! What started with fMRI effect size benchmarks ended up showing that conventional study planning detects ~half of expected brain effects, suggesting more distributed processes than the lit shows

(+ new methods for mass univ effect/power estimation)
May 25, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
carlbergstrom.com
The NIH is demanding that it's grantees cease collaborations with foreign scientists.

Wait until NIH director Jay Bhattacharya hears about this! His stated top priority in the director role is to prevent government interference with or censorship of scientific researchers.
U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators
NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication
www.science.org
May 24, 2026 at 3:29 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
coreyhorien.bsky.social
Pumped to be a part of this--check out this awesome paper from Brendan D. Adkinson and @dscheinost.bsky.social!

"Feature selection leads to divergent neurobiological interpretations of brain-based machine learning biomarkers"

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1/2
April 26, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
karenattiah.bsky.social
My latest.

I’ve been watching the media coverage of the murders of Dr. Cerina Fairfax and Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer.

One way media can fight back against male violence:

If you kill your wife, you don’t get to be called a “husband” any more.

You’re her killer.

open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...
If you kill your wife, you don't get to be a husband anymore
Some lessons from the media coverage of Dr. Cerina Fairfax and Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer's murders.
open.substack.com
April 18, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
Ilhan Omar is an American hero. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Ms. Omar, visibly shaken after the assault, insisted to her staff and security that she would continue. She asked for a napkin and told them: "Just give me 10 minutes. I beg you. Please don't let them have the show." Ms. Omar then turned the crowd. "Here's the reality that people like this ugly man don't understand," she said. "We are Minnesota strong, and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us." Someone in the crowd later thanked Ms. Omar for staying and continuing after the assault, which had shaken not only her but the entire room. "I learned at a young age you don't give in to threats," Ms. Omar said.
January 28, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
jeffrueter.bsky.social
Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."
Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.
January 25, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
matthewcort.land
Minnesota has jurisdiction over killings that occur on Minnesota soil. Minnesota has evidence: eyewitnesses, video, expert testimony. Minnesota has a grand jury with subpoena power. Minnesota has prosecutors.

USE THEM🧵
January 24, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
atrupar.com
AOC: "How rich is it that she is saying showing up to the scene of a protest with a legally owned weapon should be grounds for a person's death, execution at the hands of the state, by the same party and administration that praises Kyle Rittenhouse."
January 24, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
originalsp.in
Per his colleagues: The victim’s name was apparently Alex Pretti and he was an ICU nurse caring for severely injured veterans at the VA Hospital. He was acting as an observer, filming the raid. Any suggestion that he was there with violence on his mind is horrific gaslighting.
Alex Pretti, VA ICU nurse, murdered by ICE while observing
January 24, 2026 at 7:49 PM
maggieeastfire.bsky.social
Writing a 20-page response to reviewers while your country faces a hostile government takeover
January 23, 2026 at 1:07 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
maggieastor.bsky.social
Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
Ensures that all the diseases covered by the previous immunization schedule will still be available to anyone who wants them through Affordable Care Act insurance plans and federal insurance programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. Families will not have to purchase them out of pocket. Among peer nations, the U.S. will continue to offer the most childhood vaccines for free to those who want them.
January 6, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
northernthrux.bsky.social
See Jim’s comments and the whole thread.
jimthommo.bsky.social Jim Thompson @jimthommo.bsky.social · Jan 5
@jtheriault.bsky.social did a better job than I, but a few thoughts: first this doesn't move us any further than Raichle, Fox etc in the 90s showing diff effects of rCBF, rCMRO2, rCMRGlu, OEF etc. Second, for all the talk of neuronal activity, no neuronal activity was measured
January 5, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
portlandken.bsky.social
During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.
January 4, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
simonwdc.bsky.social
Some polling:
Invading Venezuela - 19% approve, 60% disapprove
OK to go w/o Congressional approval - 11% yes, 74% no
👇
simonwdc.bsky.social Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · Dec 23
Invading Venezuela is a close second:
19% approve, 60% disapprove.
January 3, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
moiradonegan.bsky.social
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
JAMES MERRILL CHRISTMAS TREE From loes torn hamin Had been fed, looked after, kept still, Meant, I knew— of course I knew - That it would be only a matter of weeks, That there was nothing more to do. Warmly they took me in, made much of me, The point from the start was to keep my spirits up. I could assent to that. For honestly, It did help to be wound in jewels, to send Their colors flashing forth from vents in the deep Fragrant sables that cloaked me head to foot. Over me then they wove a spell of shining — Purple and silver chains, eavesdripping tinsel, Amulets, milagros: software of silver, A heart, a little girl, a Model T Two staring eyes. Then angels, trumpets, BUD and BEA (The children's names) in clownlike capitals, Somewhere a music box whose tiny song Played and replayed I ended before long By loving. And in shadow behind me, a primitive IV To keep the show going. Yes, yes, what lay ahead Was clear: the stripping, the cold street, my chemicals Plowed back into the Earth for lives to come — No doubt a blessing, a harvest, but one that doesn't bear, Now or ever, dwelling upon. To have grown so thin. Needles and bone. The little boy's hands meeting About my spine. The mother's voice: Holding up wonderfully! No dread. No bitterness. The end beginning. Today's Dusk room aglow For the last time With candlelight. Faces love-lit, Gifts underfoot. Still to be so poised, so Receptive. Still to recall, to praise.
December 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
awaisaftab.bsky.social
Cool study in JAMA Psychiatry confirms what many have suspected for a while: PHQ (depression questionnaire) instructions are widely misinterpreted by patients. It is unfortunate that a questionnaire as shitty as PHQ-9 has become so ingrained & ubiquitous

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Interpretation Issues With the Patient Health Questionnaire Instructions
This survey study assesses whether responses to the Patient Health Questionnaire reflect symptom frequency and severity.
jamanetwork.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
kcklatt.bsky.social
Wildly unethical and grotesque to damn African children to lifelong chronic liver disease so some pseudo-'evidence based' medicine advocates can push fairy tales about a lack of placebo controlled trials.

Another sad chapter to come in Medical Apartheid.
angierasmussen.bsky.social Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · Dec 18
On the same day he stripped AAP of millions in grant funding in retaliation, RFK Jr awarded $1.6M to Tracy Høeg's Danish friends for a grossly unethical study that will expose African babies to hep B for no reason than it's politically expedient.

Steal from American taxpayers, give to MAHA cronies.
lizszabo.bsky.social Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · Dec 18
CDC awards $1.6 million for new hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau. Although the award recipients aren't named, the grant seems tailored to Danish researchers whose work is championed by anti-vaxxers but challenged by mainstream scientists.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
December 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM