Dean of the School of Public Health Dr. Ashish Jha penned this column on the potential impacts of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

As Americans approach Independence Day, we should reflect on the foundational ideals of our country. A central ideal, laid out nearly 250 years ago in the Declaration of Independence, is our unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s a core promise of America, but one that cannot be fully realized without one of its key enablers.

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed secretary of Health and Human Services, some hoped that the responsibility of public office would temper his long-standing hostility toward vaccines. Instead, he is doing exactly what many of us feared: dismantling the systems that protect Americans from preventable infectious diseases.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer why he calls HHS Secretary Kennedy's reasoning for firing all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee "nonsense."

Of all the misguided decisions Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made as secretary of Health and Human Services, canceling Moderna’s contract to develop a bird flu vaccine may be the most dangerous yet. Dr. Ashish K. Jha is dean of Brown University School of Public Health and a contributing Globe Opinion writer.

The federal government announced Wednesday that it is canceling a contract to develop a vaccine to protect people against flu viruses that could cause pandemics, including the bird flu virus that's been spreading among dairy cows in the U.S., citing concerns about the safety of the mRNA technology being used. Ashish Jha and Jennifer Nuzzo comment.