San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Research Institutions Try To Navigate Federal Funding Chaos. ‘They Don’t Know What To Do.’ 
It is a particularly confusing moment around Torrey Pines Mesa, the epicenter of San Diego County’s biomedical innovation industry, as researchers find themselves asked to exclude inclusiveness in response to a Jan. 20 executive order that deems diversity, equity and inclusion programs to be “discriminatory.” (Sisson, 2/9)

Stat: NIH Indirect Costs: Accounting Behind Research Cuts Explained
Science is complicated, and so are the rules that govern how it’s paid for by the federal government. An abrupt Friday afternoon announcement from the National Institutes of Health that it would slash support for indirect research costs paid to universities, medical centers, and other grant recipients left academics bewildered and deeply concerned that the policy change would grind scientific progress to a halt. Many universities get an extra 50% or more on each grant to cover overhead; starting Monday, that rate will drop to 15% for new and existing grants across all institutions. (Wosen and Chen, 2/8)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Nonprofits Scramble To Support Refugees After Federal Stop-Work Order
The administration’s orders have left Bay Area nonprofits scrambling as their funding to support hundreds of refugees who have already arrived has disappeared — and have left recently arrived refugees fearful for their futures in the United States. (Pender, 2/10)

The Washington Post: Farmers On The Hook For Millions After Trump Freezes USDA Funds
Farmers report missing millions of dollars of funding they were promised by the U.S. Agriculture Department, despite promises from the Trump administration that a federal funding freeze would not apply to projects directly benefiting individuals. (Wu, Gupta and Kaur, 2/10)

Los Angeles Times: Tying Federal Transportation Grants To Birth Rates May Hit Blue States
 Shortly after he was confirmed as President Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy circulated a memo that instructed his department to prioritize families by, among other things, giving preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average when awarding grants. ... The memo also calls for prohibiting governments that get Department of Transportation funds from imposing vaccine and mask mandates, and requiring their cooperation with the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. (McMurray and Haigh, 2/8)

AP: Veterans Affairs Deems More Than 130 Occupations Ineligible For Trump's Deferred Resignation Plan
Most nurses, doctors and other staff caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs are not eligible for the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer, according to an email sent Friday by VA leadership to staff. ... The new email, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, included an attached letter from VA’s human resources department and a spreadsheet with a list of more than 130 occupations labeled “VA EXEMPTION REQUESTS.” (Johnson, 2/8)

Los Angeles Blade: Local Organization Aims To Support And Assist Black LGBTQ+ Community
REACH LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization aimed at working with youth of color, is stepping up their prevention resources during Black History Month to support the LGBTQ+ community of color. ... This month, the organization is amplifying its mission to support Black LGBTQ+ youth by offering free HIV testing and care throughout February, offering a $25 gift card as incentive to get tested. (Palomera, 2/7)

Berkeleyside: Alameda County Launches Committee To Protect Vulnerable Residents From Trump Policies
In response to a barrage of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump aimed at immigrants, transgender people, and reproductive rights, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has formed a committee to secure protections for community members whose civil rights and safety could be impacted. The first public hearing of this committee — called Alameda County Together for All, or ACT for All — took place Thursday at the Alameda County Administration Building in Oakland. (Romero, 2/7)

The Hill: Trump's DOJ Changes Stance On Transgender Rights Case
President Trump’s Justice Department on Friday abandoned the Biden administration’s Supreme Court challenge to gender-affirming care bans for minors, but the new administration urged the justices to still resolve the issue this term. The Supreme Court has not yet issued a decision after hearing arguments late last year in the challenge against Tennessee’s ban, SB1. The Biden administration claimed the legislation amounts to unconstitutional sex discrimination. (Schonfeld, 2/7)

Los Angeles Times: For Transgender Americans, Passports Just Got A Lot More Complicated
The day after President Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Va., where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. ... Her family wants Mellow to be able to leave the country if things became unbearable for transgender people in the U.S. as the federal government increasingly moves not to recognize them. (Mulvihill and Hanna, 2/8)

Los Angeles Times: More GOP-Led States Seek To Follow Trump Lead In Defining Male, Female
Katherine Bartle said she spent her years growing up in Alabama trying anything to “fix” herself and exist as a man. Eventually she realized it wasn’t possible. “I am a woman. I assure you that this is not a costume, nor is it by my own choice,” Bartle, 24, of Huntsville, Ala., told Alabama lawmakers this week as they debated legislation that would define her and other transgender women in Alabama as men based on the sex they were assigned at birth. (Chandler, Hanna and Riddle, 2/8)

Los Angeles Times: Two Transgender Teen Athletes Navigate National Firestorm
When M.L. walks the halls of her Riverside high school, the fact that her life is the subject of a swirling national debate is never far from mind. It’s spelled out on the T-shirts of kids all around her. “SAVE GIRLS SPORTS,” read some. “WE’RE ALL EQUAL,” read others. The dueling shirts provide a stark visual of what her schoolmates think about her competing on the girls’ cross-country and track teams. It’s made her feel both proud and anxious, she said — and a bit like being in a fishbowl. (Rector, 2/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: Healthcare Leaders Must Look Beyond Their Own Borders, Cedars-Sinai Exec Says
Heitham Hassoun, MD, began his career as a vascular surgeon, excelling in academic medicine and earning numerous accolades. Yet, despite his success, he felt an undeniable pull toward international medicine — a shift many considered risky. In 2012, he took that leap, becoming global medical director for Johns Hopkins Medicine International. Looking back, he is confident it was the right choice. Today, Dr. Hassoun serves as chief executive for international at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai, overseeing international patient services, global strategy and operations for the system. (Bean, 2/7)

Los Angeles Times: A Leading Pediatrician Was Already Worried About The Future Of Vaccines. Then RFK Jr. Came Along
The best and the worst thing about vaccination, pediatrician Dr. Adam Ratner says, is that it “makes nothing happen.” A child successfully inoculated against a vaccine-preventable disease — the measles, let’s say, to name the most infectious of them all — doesn’t fall sick with that condition, doesn’t miss school, doesn’t go to the hospital. They don’t suffer life-changing complications. They don’t die prematurely. (Purtill, 2/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why Two US Senators Slammed An SF Telehealth Company’s Super Bowl Ad
A San Francisco online health company that recently faced local backlash over its donation to President Donald Trump’s inauguration is now in hot water over a Super Bowl ad. Hims & Hers, a telehealth firm, is promoting the compounded weight loss drug it offers in a provocative 60-second commercial that’s set to air during Sunday’s NFL championship and is already watchable online. The drug is similar to Ozempic, except the medications are custom-prepared by specialized pharmacies before being sent to patients. Compounded drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Morris, 2/8)

Los Angeles Times: During Fires, L.A. Burn Centers Braced For Crisis That Never Came
When the fires erupted Jan. 7, burn centers across the Los Angeles region braced for an influx of patients, updating one another on the beds and staff available for critically injured people. The Eaton and Palisades fires would ultimately claim at least 29 lives. Dozens of people would visit hospitals to seek care for minor burns or smoke inhalation. But fortunately, the mass casualty situation burn specialists feared and prepared for didn’t materialize. The vast majority of injuries were minor enough that patients could be treated and quickly released. (Purtill, 2/8)

The Washington Post: Elderly, Alone And Unable To Escape The L.A. Fires
Most of the victims of the Los Angeles fires were elderly. Their deaths offer a warning to the entire country about the threat climate disasters pose to society’s oldest and most vulnerable members. (Kaplan and Wax-Thibodeaux, 2/9)

Los Angeles Times: Asian Communities Faced Language Barriers During L.A. Wildfires, UCLA Study Says
A new UCLA study published this week found Asian communities affected by the recent fires in Los Angeles County had difficulty accessing information about emergency evacuations and recovery efforts because of language barriers. The study, which is part of a research series examining the impact wildfires have had on the county’s different racial and ethnic groups, found that more than 12,000 of the 50,000 Asian immigrants and their descendants living within four evacuation zones need language assistance. The fire zones are: Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Hughes. (Vives, 2/8)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Is Getting New Detox Beds For Homeless Residents As California Eyes Loosening Housing First Rules 
The second level of the Paul Mirabile Center in downtown San Diego is in the final months of a renovation that will turn the longtime homeless shelter into a detox and sober-living space. “We’re trying to fill in any cracks,” said Mary Jo Scarpitti, clinic director at Father Joe’s Villages. “It just takes a little crack for somebody to fall through.” (Nelson, 2/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Tracking San Francisco’s Drug Overdose Epidemic
Overdose deaths in San Francisco dropped in 2024 after reaching a record high the previous year. But fatal overdoses are still much more common than they were before the pandemic, and tackling the crisis will prove a major test of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s leadership. (Leonard and Jung, 2/7)

The New York Times: A California Battery Plant Burned. Residents Have Gotten Sick, And Anxious
Last month, a battery-storage plant went up in flames and burned for days, prompting the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents and shutting down local schools. The plant, located in Moss Landing, an unincorporated community in Monterey County, is the largest facility in the world that uses lithium-ion batteries to store energy. Residents have reported feeling ill, and many of them worry that the fire polluted the air, soil and water with toxins. (Mayorquín, 2/10)

The Desert Sun: Is Flu Rising In California? What's The Difference In Symptoms Between Flu A Vs. Flu B?
Cases of the flu viruses continue to surge across the U.S. and California, placing a strain on healthcare systems and causing tens of millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths each year. (Ward, Eduardo, and Comstock, 2/8)

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccination Saved More Than 5,000 US Lives In 7 Months In 2023-24, CDC Estimates
COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated late last week in Vaccine, although with considerable uncertainty. The investigators estimated COVID-related deaths ... using a novel multiplier model that used causal inference, conditional probabilities of hospitalization, and correlations between data elements in simulations. (Van Beusekom, 2/7)

The New York Times: 2 Million Baked Goods Are Recalled Over Listeria Risk
About two million baked goods, including some doughnuts and coffee rolls sold at Dunkin’, were recalled over concerns of potential contamination with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, federal safety regulators said. The manufacturer FGF Brands, which distributes baked goods in the United States and Canada, issued the voluntary recall because of the “potential for contamination with Listeria monocytogenes,” according to a report released on Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration. (Diaz, 2/9)

The Hill: Juice Cleanse May Harm Your Health, Study Finds
Many people undergo a juice cleanse in an effort to detoxify the body and improve health, but new research suggests they do more harm than good. Researchers from Northwestern and San Raffaele universities found a diet of only vegetable and fruit juice, even for just three days, can lead to shifts in gut and oral bacteria linked to inflammation and cognitive decline. The study, published in the “Nutrients” journal, looked at three groups of healthy adults following different diets. (Delandro, 2/7)

Times of San Diego: Mama's Kitchen Receives $255K Grant From Direct Relief's Fund For Health Equity
Restaurant Mama’s Kitchen is among awardees from across the country who received a special grant from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity, which mobilizes financial resources for organizations focused on non-clinical interventions that affect a person’s health. Mama’s Kitchen serves populations that are disproportionately affected by critical illness and malnutrition. (Sklar, 2/8)

Times of San Diego: California Families Will Face Major Care Challenges As Baby Boomers Age
For the first time in California history, older adults will outnumber those under 18 in five years, a harbinger of what most likely will be mushrooming demand for elder care services, both at home and in nursing facilities. But for many Baby Boomers and aging San Diegans, the choices may be limited, increasingly forcing family members into caretaker roles, say experts. (August, 2/9)

EdSource: California School Districts Are Weighed Down By New Costs Of Old Sexual Assaults 
School districts’ costs for compensating students victimized by sexual assault are escalating by billions of dollars. Many cases date back decades and were revived by a 2019 state law that widely expanded liability exposure of schools and other public agencies for past child sexual assaults. An independent analysis of that law indicates a severe impact. Litigation will siphon tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars from general funds. Adverse jury verdicts and settlements could cost districts millions, potentially forcing layoffs and program reductions. Most districts will face record assessments to sustain shared insurance risk pools they contribute to. (Fensterwald, 2/10)