Before panic sets it. The New NIH Director and Congress will want research to continue, so the machine will start up at some point. Keep writing papers and preparing proposals. AND educate the public about the key role peer review plays in science and the time and infrastructure investment needed
What no one wants to suggest - scientists must become politically active. Support of scientific research is based on a complex governmental (i.e. political) system that depends on mutually accepted norms. It is those norms that are under attack. Breaking them is a feature not a bug for this admin.
Sorry, I appreciate the hope, but there's no special reason either of these entities "want" research to continue, certainly with the appointees and the current make up of Congress. And unfortunately, there's no evidence that conveying more information alone will change anyone's opinion.
The INTENT is a wrecking ball. Putin wants the US to lose its leadership positions in the world. Grants diverted from science structures to ‘the states’ will nourish corruption and disrupt US research — intentionally. Shock doctrine tactics, drowning government and enrichment of a few are the goals.
They will: But they'll be pressured to lose any DEI in that research. And to only fund research for those in the least amount of need. They have pressure to defund research which helps those in the greatest amount of need.
There are few ways to get through the news silos, and as for engaging people, one-to-one conversation is best. However, where would be likely to meet and talk with them?
It had to be Bhattacharya to make up the trifecta of Kennedy & Weldon ( though the only good thing to say about Bhattacharya is that he’s not anti-vax, though I suppose there’s time).
Agree. Neither does the public and they certainly don’t care about peer reviews or scientific infrastructure investment, and they aren’t going to care anytime soon. Posts like this only show how continuously and extremely disconnected many academic researchers/scientists are from the general public.
I like this take a lot. Hopefully, at least, all these shutdowns will let people know how much these departments matter... at the researcher’s expense.
It’s a bit like shutting off oxygen to find out your lungs are important. Maybe the researchers suffering can file a Class Action down the road?
It doesn't matter what Congress wants, they don't control the executive, which actually disburses the funds and makes the grant decisions. Trump will use these grants to punish his enemies, with a particular eye towards anyone that mentions DEI.
Bhattacharya "wants to fire and replace 600 of the agency’s 20,000 employees and shift research away from infectious diseases and vaccines, which are at the core of NIAID’s mission to understand, treat and prevent infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases."
My reading of the article is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made that statement. The structure is that HHS oversees NIH (which contains NIAID).
Bhattacharya, I believe, is a MD whose science credentials are in Economics (PhD). He is less concerning than RFK JR but not great and a pure political pick.
The need for effective #sci-comm, helping the public understand the value of genuine research, has never been greater.
That's why the anti-science maga movement hates it.
And why we should do it, more and more.
Resist, like life depends on it.
Because it does.
People who won't suffer as much as others thanks to this oppressive administration want us to help keep them calm by not freaking out about what's coming down the pike. Many of them can afford to leave if shit gets bad. We can't.
I'd rather face reality now than pretend it's not going to be bad.
If it weren't for the research and studies done by the National Institutes of Health, I would know nothing about the autoimmune disease I have. Forty years later, there are still potatoes being published on it, peer reviews and new medications coming out for it.
It's absolutely Not normal but I think the scientific community is still pushing forward, and that gives me hope. I think we have to have hope or we tend to tune out.
I agree. NIH is at the bottom of political pyramid in a sense that party politics doesn't affect its work and NIH usually has bipartisan support. If Trump is willing to disrupt even NIH it is a big deal!
It is a huge deal. The fearful response will not ultimately help. I don’t want you to spend your energy and give others power that way. I think she’s saying that a well-disciplined approach is the best.
We need to get our big research universities and our professional academic bodies to start making a lot of noise. I'm National Communication Association, I call on each member to speak out.
This isn’t fear. This is anger. We need to stop acting as if it’s just a difference of opinion or strategy. None of this is in the best interest of the people or the country. We need to be loud.
I believe well-disciplined approaches resonate at a higher volume. I’m perfectly fine with your anger, it’s understandable. I don’t however believe it’s more effective.
Worse than a dead stop IMO. Depending on their intentions and how long this freeze goes on, scientists will leave. Our bills aren't going to wait for courts to decide this. Some of us will go to other countries, some to other careers. On a long enough timeframe, there won't be anything to restart.
It's not Trump so much as it is the Heritage Foundation. It is anti-science. Trump is the idiot they'll use to do what they've wanted to do for decades.
You seem to forget universities are one of the four pillars to destroy when attempting a fascist take over. Panic. This is real. Comments like this make it easier for the regime to remove all obstacles.
They are also a pillar in creating the elitist class and maintaining it. We're just going to shake the tree and see what falls out. You'll be fine. Unless you're in the tree.
Yeah, so you don't play by the rules. If they want to destroy this country and have blocked all acceptable methods of change, you get creative if you want there to be a world left.
In May 1933 books from university libraries were burned after they were deemed culturally destructive. In other words anything the left values will be attacked to make them fall in line and become a Trump saluter.
They have BEEN waging war on higher education, but mostly focusing on the humanities. I guess a lot of people are just now noticing bc they're targeting science now.
What chance that NIH management is doing a short version of the Good Soldier Švejk good-humored, simple-minded, middle-aged managers who appear to be enthusiastic to serve Trump in the war against the US.
It seems to be a deeply flawed system, I wonder what changes in process to award worthy and viable science in a way to promote long term reliable funding could occur.
The medical field went quietly along for decades as for profit corporations took over policy, facilities and providers.
Even as outcomes fell and costs rose. Now the leopard ate your face.
There’s nothing like to suggest things will go back to normal. People with grants right now may never get reviewed, never get money, and have to leave. It’s not even clear if papers can be submitted. Do papers count as communication?
This is a calculated move by the Trump administration. Whatever "machine" is left is going to be calling the shots on what is "allowable" research. This is not normal. If not fought tooth and nail by all those it impacts, there's going to be a new normal.
No he chose this Director for a particular reason. These folks are very strategic. Everyone on that admin is on board w/the plan. Health equity research esp will be affected bc they believe anything pertaining to racialized ppl is “DEI”🙄
I would reccomend many people in medicine simply sell out to China, or other nations where they’ll be appreciated. America doesn’t respect what you do? OK. Don’t give America your effort back
My brother in law is a PhD Neuroscientist. He is a research scientist at Duke University. Just texted him and he isn’t sure, yet, how it’s going to affect him but calls this “1938 all over again”.
Churchill’s words remind us of the courage needed to face challenges. Victory is worth every effort, even on a hard road. How do you see this resolve helping us overcome today’s trials?
This is the nominee to lead NIH. Jay was/is on Desantis’ public health integrity committee. He met with Trump in the Oval Office at the invite of Scott Atlas.
I'm honestly not sure I agree. The most likely NIH director is extremely antagonistic to research, while the proposed head of HHS has indicated that a large swathe of biomedical research will likely be defunded under his leadership.
I worry about this too but not all researchers are liberal so I (hope? assume?) someone will be able to bend his ear again around funding. Not everything will be re-funded, and the waiting is torture.
He has made it clear that at the very least, he plans to defund infectious disease and drug discovery. But this isn’t even him—this is Proj 2025 architects at work, and that calls for entirely replacing NIH with block grants to states, for states to administer. That would be a disaster.
Yes, Trump’s MAGA pick to lead HHS—which oversees NIH—says he wants to stop NIH from researching infectious diseases “for 8 years.” Trump’s MAGA pick to lead NIH says his chief priority will be to end “woke science” (I guess this means ending research on LGBTQ health & racial disparities in health?)
I can only imagine that most of the new research priorities will be very limited and probably only on things that are directly beneficial to private enterprise.
AND he (RFK Jr) has even stated he will prosecute major journals under RICO laws. And given who will head DOJ and FBI, that's a threat that should be taken seriously. So NEJM, JAMA, etc, will need to ensure their articles meet RFK Jr's standard for "science".
We are going to see a Brain drain in medical and biological sciences. Computer tech will be ok but true research will be dead. Not only biological research but things like chemistry and physics will be dead.
I don’t think this is true anymore. I believe the new NIH Director & those who control Congress want to weaken the masses to make us compliant tax payers who make them rich while receiving nothing in return.
They are invested in their theft of the US bank, & power, not wasting money on the masses.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Jay Bhattacharya is a do nothing talker who openly fantasizes about purging “Covidian” heretics and dedicating NIH funding to propaganda against public health. He’s a childish brat: https://www.panaccindex.info/p/covidians-and-cults-jay-bhattacharyas
Exactly. They've been busy pretending the ongoing pandemic is over for years, and now they'll punish those who dare to continue to demonstrate scientifically that it's not over
To the detriment of human health in the US and elsewhere
As a reminder, for the NIH, they want to make a drastic change to the core NIH mission.
As a result, Kennedy is one of the most concerning potential Trump appointees. It is also one that many Republicans are uncomfortable. Contact your senators, especially if they are Republican, and urge NO.
Unlikely to come back, president skid mark has surrounded itself with science, climate, etc., deniers and want to push religious ideology of God will fix that or he won't mentality on everyone. That and this will help pootin's agenda out swell into destabilizing the US.
Note: I believe the director of the NIH will also need to be approved by the senate. However, it is Kennedy as the HHS cabinet pick that appears most likely to be denied by the Senate if they get enough heat.
Neither Canada nor Mexico have the jobs to absorb that many researchers from abroad, nor working conditions that are as favorable as they are at R1 universities in the US. Nowhere else does, either.
I can't disagree. I was just making the point if the OP didn't like it here any longer, there are alternatives. Maybe not for everyone, but that's true here as well.
Surprisingly, one of my best research tools is Facebook.
I have a dedicated FB account (no friends) just so I can join expat groups in countries my wife and I go to visit. I chat with people actually there.
Isn't this how trump creates a crisis and then saves the day under new trumpian terms? I wonder what the new NIH Director will need to give in order to get.
What makes you so confident? Both the proposed HHS Director and NIH Director are anti-science ideologues. If the NIH ground to a halt they would be overjoyed
It's all "vibes" until the rubber meets the road and University presidents in deep red states are feeling it acutely. Hope it doesn't get that far, honestly, but who knows where this is going.
I know. But as someone who works in one of those red state institutions, I'd be willing to bet our state and congressional reps are getting an ear full. I hope it makes a difference.
Under a GWB, Romney etc I’d agree. Money rules. But the radicalization has advanced considerably since. Not sure the money men are driving this bus anymore. After all, the immigration crackdown is already having an economic impact on red state business…
So if you’re a scientist, there are plenty of beautiful countries that will fund your research if America won’t. I’m partial to Japan, but if a bunch of brilliant scientists get poached by China- that would be ironic
I don't want to ruin your 'protest party', but as someone with actual experience, I need to give you at least the most basic of tips: Lists that contain methods and instructions that actually work will come in plain text docs, in a small font so they fit on a single page and can be easily shared.
What about this? It won’t fit on a single sheet but it is just about a 30 minute read, is a pdf I frequently post, and it should scare the absolute shit out of you. Please identify better things to post along with snark. 😊
You know what, once I'm done with my tomorrow's episode, as a matter of principle, I'll write you a plan that'll actually make Elmo and the other cunt feel some pain. Because this shit? Yeah, they won't care. The real goal, which also can be achieved by you guys is make Tesla stock go down. A lot.
Why would any of that scare me? I'm a Latvian war correspondent that's also covered a LOT of conflicts. Snark is sadly unavoidable, as I've been to Ukraine, reporting from the front four times now. Have lost 22 people there. Also, I know how burned humans smell like. I'm also on YOUR side, dumbass.
I use Notepad++ like normal people. Also, I haven't slept all night, been translating Russian propaganda stuff, which is getting really interesting. Check out what pro-war vatniks are posting now, for example. And allow me to mistype some shit too sometimes. Also, shit, I have to write that plan now
Side note: I'm on YOUR side, folks. I'm just extremely jaded and cynical, because otherwise the PTSD takes over and I've got no time for that shit. I've been exploded, poisoned, shot at, lost a lot of close people in this war...among other things. Fuck. Snark will remain but you'll also get a plan.
The problem with applying FAFO is that the people who voted for him aren’t the people working with the NIH and affected by this. The Trump voters FO won’t come till years later because research for whatever disease or cancer they have was delayed by T’a petty bullshit. They won’t ever correlate it.
Not necessarily true. A lot of STEM folks never studied history or the humanities or social sciences in depth—so they were extremely vulnerable to his con job.
Remember that bit in Song of Ice and Fire about: How every time a new Targaryen was born, a coin was tossed and the world held its breath as it decided between greatness and madness?
No he does not. He has immunity with cabinet members for official acts. A federal judge will decide what is an official act and what is not. Like Judge Chutkan recently did.
I suspect that as the head of the Executive Branch, and NIH being part of it, this would be deemed an official act. It's not like this Congress is going to say, "Hey Prez, remember when we passed a law about this?"
Did you read the article? I'm not going to speculate, like the article does, why certain cancellations happened, but it seems this is not new and happens every time a new team comes in and takes over. I've stopped believing biased pieces using anonymous sources. This is pure sensationalism.
Project 2025 proposed to all but eliminate indirect costs on grants. Did you read it?
No prior administration, GOP or DEM, has proposed eliminating IDCs. And no prior administration has cancelled all study sections, groups of (volunteer) experts who evaluate grant proposals for scientific merit.
They didn't eliminate anything and this has been done before. The Omnibus Appropriations Act capped IDC's at 10% and way back in 1994, they capped the administration rate for universities at 26%.
I'm all for reducing wasteful spending and focusing more money toward research instead of admin costs.
To be clear, this has never happened in past federal administration changes of power. There are always changes that occur, but not this kind of disruption in the research ecosystem.
I understand. I just didn't agree with the approach the article took. It's surprising that already scheduled conference trips were canceled though. It's none of my business, but I am really curious if they canceld based on assumption or there was a valid reason given other than a blanket statement?
Lost a brother to Cystic Fibrosis. That anti-stem cell BS back in the day is something I will never forgive or forget. It was formative in shaping who I am now.
I’m so sorry. I interned at Boston Children’s Hospital. You don’t ever forget the look of a dying teen with CF who still finds hope in clinical research.
Thank you for the information. Trying very hard to focus on what is real, what is possible, and what is a flash bomb meant to distract from something else
Those with NIH grants relating to infectious diseases are most directly threatened, especially Blue states and liberal universities in Red states. Read about New College of Florida under assault for several years for a glimpse into the future if we don’t get young Democrats to vote!
Trump just "stopped" birthright citizenship with an EO--whether it holds remains to be scene but it's literally enshrined in the Constitution. So I'm going to say "of course he can" stop awards whether legal or not.
Have you read the latest SCOTUS rulings, though? It'll never hold up in court if and only if enough pressure is applied to the justices, both from the legislative branch (threat of impeachment) and from the people (threat of making their lives so miserable they can't show their faces in public).
But that process may take years. And during the interim there will be various orders to stop and start various processes. That's entirely the point. He's done exactly this throughout his business career, wearing his opposition down by using the courts. And then he can point to the chaos and croww
That see that system, regulation, group is poorly administered by poorly functional, we need to do something about it. It's a GOP play book 101, undermine and creste choas and use that as an excuse to revamp a service
I think there's an important distinction here: saying "he legally cannot but is going to try and ram it through anyway" is better, because forcing them to spend time, political capital, and resources on court and PR slows it down. Saying "of course he can" cedes ground. It's a minor point but still.
The very basic principle of yelling "what the fuck are you doing, you can't do that" changes the calculus because they KNOW they're doing shit they can't do, they KNOW it's unpopular, and they KNOW if it becomes too big an issue they'll have to back off b/c they can't do everything at once full-tilt
It's why they're blitzkrieg-ing all of these executive orders and trying make it seem a fait accompli, because they know they have a narrow window before the opposition realizes "oh wait our best move is loudly grinding as much of this to a halt as possible" and organizing some kind of defense.
To me it seems they don’t want the universities to conduct these projects and research. They want the mega corps to do all of this, so they will move that money to the corps. Undermine our education to benefit the rich and elite. Just my opinions on it.
And no one (Congress, courts) is willing to stop you in a timely manner. Sure, these things will be fought. And they'll drag out in the courts. But even if he loses, the damage will already be done. This is how fascists game the system.
How long is it likely that this will persist. We have an NCI site visit at the end of February. And I have several grants to be reviewed around the same time frame.
Yes. This is how the corruption will operate. Those who bend the knee will get funding. Those who don’t, won’t. Tariffs & exception to them will operate the same way.
This is incredibly short sited at best and potentially devastating if continued for any length of time. Once a lab is unfunded it takes years to reestablish. If continued you could lose a generation of upcoming research and investigators to everyone’s detriment.
Yes, it will. That's the point. Destroying the scientific community prevents science from contradicting their comforting delusions, which is heresy. Reversing the Age of Reason has always been a goal of the fascist community.
It’s so sad. We’re on the verge of medical revolution. Between genetics, regenerative medicine and neuroscience the opportunities are so close to changing things to everyone’s benefit.
Indeed. But the Reps read "everyone's benefit" and think Communism, then enter a state of rage. They've been trained very well that way. Anything that helps all the people is communism and thus heresy. And science keeps disagreeing with them, which is also heresy. Therefore, science must be banned.
Rublican Party = N*zi Party. Refer to them like this moving forward so ALL of them in office feel the hate. They’re the ones that made all of this possible. Keep them responsible.
Yeah anything he thinks is a waste of money he will terminate it. He doesn't want people to be educated and has already said that. If they were and had any common sense they wouldn't have voted for him.
Watching the USA undermine its technological edge because Musk etc. believe university is a waste of time and conservatives see them as ideologically dangerous is something else.
Every time I hear him or see him tweet “you are the media now” I reply “are you the surgeon now?” He’s perpetuating anti-intellectualism because he’s a failed physicist. Just like Hitler was a failed artist.
Personally, I believe it is because Leon, Suck and Betazos are on board with it because they want to take it for themselves. Did you see that Amazon is now pushing into the medical realm? They are pushing their new Amazon online doctor visits and prescription delivery services hard.
Yeppers. Though big tech has left the door open for skilled migrant workers who are more vulnerable to coercion and have none of that union stuff or "annoying ethical complaints".
Not quite, he wants "cheap" labor from Hi-B immigrants, and new top engineers and software grads-no green cards - exploitable.
But... Musk is still an annoying and dangerous "twat". The sooner he is off the public eye, the better it will be for the rest of us. BTW, what's with the Nazi salute?
I foresee a lot of bleeding edge research going overseas. The same thing happened when Bush blocked stem cell research. The bulk of it went to UK, EU, Australian & Asian universities.
At this point maybe it's not the worst idea to find another home where you're appreciated. I guess I'm just soo pissed my own countrymen are behind this that I want to see them pay. I want to see people scrambling to correct this major cluster&*^. When the talent is leaving in droves...
FREAKEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR NEW IGNORANT LEADER!
FROM,
YOUR FRIEND CANADA
( but not for long, cause your problems are and will become ours.. preventable diseases, more conspiracies, climate declining, just to mention a few)..
Just was part of a UG3/UH3 that went in just over a month ago. It’s supposed to be reviewed in March. Center grants are too huge and too much work not to turn in. :( I’m on the mentoring teams for two Ks going in this month and this makes me physically sick for those early career investigators.
Thanks. Luckily I only write them. Zero credit, which is good. After submitting, I move on to a manuscript project. I don’t need ANY glory. I’m pushing 58 and will retire some day. 😃
oh gee I'm sure disrupting American biomedical research won't have any consequences for our health and economic security. 😵💫 This idiot is really about destroying America.
I'm happy for California to do this, and use the rest to further build up our state fire insurance and emergency response capabilities. Time to play ball.
I agree. Trump said today he thinks states should just take care of themselves when they have disasters. Excellent. You hear that TX? FL? AL? NC? SC? Tornado states you listening? Us blue states will not bail you out anymore. Game on!
That may be true but both of your senators are red and only 4/14 of your house members are blue. Gerrymandered or not these are the people speaking and acting on your behalf so somehow you’ve got to find a way to turn this around.
It is. And if that’s what they want, I’m supremely confident that the states that actually make money and educate people will be more than adequate at creating a new union.
You can’t negotiate with the shameless. You need to cut them loose.
I agree. And am stuck in one of the worst, Texas. My place, while it is paid for, isn’t worth enough to sell and buy elsewhere. And I’m old so not enough years left to buy. Oh and I won’t have Medicare or SSI so it’s death or starve for me. My 401k won’t last long.
Holy crap. I wonder what this means for study sections that have just met but comments not complete/released? One of our grants was just reviewed Tues, comments to be released March. This I'd devastating news for hundreds of thousands of active researchers.
President Musk and mob boss Trump want America to be uneducated. The dumber we are the more they can control us. 77.3 million MAGA idiots voted for this mess, so we’re well on our way.
I hope there is room for them in Canada. Because we need to rethink how we work with the US now. We can never trust trade treaties. Rough time for Canada but I think we are stronger.
I phoned my senator, Catherine Cortez Masto. Her staff confirmed that NIH, CDC, HHS, and FDA must pause all external communications through February 1st. I asked my senators and my representative to oppose this strongly. Please phone your members of Congress and ask them to strongly oppose the EO.
I spoke about my concerns for for agencies to protect the health of everyone in the nation through timely health alerts and advisories, ongoing research on disease transmission, vaccine development, grad student support, research grant review, and budget support for ongoing projects.
I own property in two states and each week I call 1-2 per day Reps or Senators and give them my opinion on how all of T's weird stuff is causing a lot of problems and not fixing anything. Today was no on Pete H and J6 pardons were too much. NIH embargo and CDC are tomorrow.
I just followed you because I am glad there is another person who phones their reps and senators as often as I do. My senators and rep each have a file on me. When they see my phone number they already know who I am. 🤣
Same here. After I call and say my name and city (5-10 sec) and thank them for their service, the aid generally acknowledges who I am, address, etc. It's important to say something good at the start, then rant about the topic of the day. Keep it up! Be relentless!
That’s awesome. A staffer from my rep’s office called me about a communication I sent. I asked him to clarify which one because I send a lot of communications. He said, yes mam, I know. What a hoot. My rep is a waste of space, but I respected the call from his staffer and thanked him for his time.
Is that idiot blind? He killed 400,000 with his irresponsibility in his first term and now with H1N5 BIRD FLU raising its ugly head, he’s PAUSING!?!?!?! all external communications?!??!?!?!?!
WTH is wrong with that dolt?
Revenge for how he was "mistreated" during Covid. Always about him. Look no further every time. With regard to immigration, he probably had a nanny who was an immigrant who told him to pick up his socks one time. Always, always something personal. Period.
Agree. He thinks he has "superior genes" which will protect him. He wants poor people to die. Only the wealthy to get healthcare. It's eugenics. Fascism 101.
CIDRAP is a good source of infectious disease information and its director Michael Osterholm is an expert on a par with Dr. Fauci. It's associated with the University of Minnesota so it should be fairly well insulated from Trump fascist misinformation. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
What does transitioning have to do with failed parenting? It’s who his child is. He could’ve been parent of the year and the transitioning of his child would have been no different.
Sure but if he spent time with her then maybe he wouldn’t be deadnaming her, saying his son is dead, and he maybe would have empathy!
His war on trans kids is because he doesn’t know his own kid and has no clue what that’s like!
If he was around her to understand, he may not be such an evil POS!
Maybe I missing what you mean, but you're apparently saying that people are transgender because of 'failed parenting'. That idea is not at all supported by evidence. We may not know why some people are trans (or gay, or both), but a logical guess at this point would be: they're born that way.
God no, that’s not what I meant at all.
His daughter is who she is because that’s who she is!
He thinks the woke mind virus killed his son but he’s a none present parent who if he was present, would understand her struggle and support her!
Another data point for my science colleagues who keep saying "well maybe it won't be so bad...". Tell me again how you "just do good science and don't get 'political'"...
Anti-intellectualism and science denial is the GOP's policy.
If any of them voted for Trump, kindly inform them they are now "Pseudoscientists" and anything they say is to be taken as absolute nonsense from here on out.
Yeah, if you "don't get political" you end up supporting whoever is currently in power. And that happens to be a racist rapist felon. So that's their position.
There's no doubt anymore. USA is no longer a democracy. It's a bloating fascist country as imagined in dystopian Philipp K. Dick The Man's of The High Castle.
My husband has been in a neuroendocrine clinical res trial for 2 years. Stage 4, (metastasized) disease is in its 2nd year of stability due to research funded treatment.
The far reaching effects of Trump’s Project 2025 carnage may leave very few of us unscathed. https://www.vanderbilt.edu
Thank you for sharing that. We need more people these policies will affect to do this and put real citizen's faces on the implications of this. Wishing the best for you and your husband.
Not a chance.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is owned by News Corp, a media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch's family. News Corp owns Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the WSJ.
I hate to use the like button for this kind of information. There is nothing good that will come of this and translates to halting us by a decade or more. Do t they live to complain about how abortion might “kill” the next person who will cure cancer? Guess what they need? Research…
During that interview, Hayes predicted that since this NIH defunding fell upon the heels of getting rid of DEI, that the entire point, was to halt all research, until that research which would help disproportionately harmed sectors of the population, could be specifically targeted for defunding.
The NIH sweats their research design, so their research results are highly credible. They are a key source of info, for me. All free of charge. The NIH is the largest public funder of biomed research. See:
This is horrible. Of all the federal government divisions, the NIH has a long standing history of doing the most good. They openmindedly support research into all kinds of things. I've used them repeatedly, to find out about various supplements. They've always proven helpful and credible.
I am going to see if I can get medical research info from UK, Australia and other English speaking countries. So far, the CDC website is still functioning.
This is part of the Project 2025 plan. If you want to see the future of academia here, see how Victor Orbán dismantled the university system in Hungary. Inform yourselves. The brilliance of this as a specific point of attack is frightening, and it is effective. It has to be resisted now, not later.
A few months before Orban took over, I signed a contract to have my freshman college text on Argumentation translated into Hungarian. We were forging relationships with Hungarian scholars working on critical thinking curricula. So sad. I feel like my work is being erased now by my own nation.
They boasted days before the election that they'd already interviewed & approved 1000 people to replace positions in government on day two. This is a shock & awe takeover unless Americans come out against it in large numbers. Please find your people & get organized. Write your politicians directly.
Yes. Things we can do: contact our politicians, local newspapers, local media, and everyone in our sphere, personally, by name whenever possible and make our objections clear. Do it weekly. Organize. Network. Lobby. Boycott. Protest. Strike. This moment requires us all to be citizen activists.
Hungary is Europe’s authoritarian backwater because of the Orban regime. But America has been a leader in scientific research for decades. Trump and Elon are going to ruin that.
Here in Australia John Howard, the highly malignant former leader of our Conservative party (ironically named "The liberal party") and PM for far too long spent a lot of effort dismantling the university system, and then under the next two conservative PMs that continued. It was a disaster.
Unfortunately Labor are as spineless as social-democrat parties elsewhere and havent put much effort , and in fact, absolutely none, in repairing it, and have robbed the country of a whole generation of researchers, and boy does it suck.
He is a puppet of the Federalist Society. Stop tying these outrages to him: say "the Republican administration" as often as you can. Always say the GOP, not the individual: confirmation bias will defend T, but at lower levels its effect lessens. Let the GOP elected catch their deserved blame.
Well, the health industry and pharmaceuticals another commercial ventures should be enraged! No free research for them to profit from! How the hell are they gonna keep their margins? Oh that’s right he rescinded Biden‘s order.
Your prospects of access to effective treatment for a range of diseases (e.g., precision oncology)... just decreased. Not just in the short term, but if this goes on for very long, we'll lose a generation of researchers.
I am stunned. I knew when he wanted brain worm in charge of HHS it was going to be bad but this level of US self destruction - all his idiot choices today- is beyond insane.
I’m sad. Scared. Angry and disgusted.
Yet, some groups are still talking about doing new studies! I literally just bailed on one! No one gets this reality that shit is going to disappear, the Gestapo hasn't started but it will.
Yes, this is very serious. Our healthcare system is a mess and we need to analyze every last dollar that feeds it. Obviously, the current research output isn’t leading to cheaper or better outcomes. Are you happy with the current healthcare system?
This is right out of the Nazi playbook.
Intellectuals are the natural enemy of the dictators. Stopping grant income wrecks livelihoods. This creates Fear. Fear not finishing a degree, fear of losing the job.
They have shown you what they can do. Now you have to decide what to do. Flee or fight
Oh gosh yes, it’s awful. Friend of mine in a small college town got heckled (out of a pick-up truck) for the ‘liberal’ crime of… riding a bicycle to work. So awful.
If it doesn't affect you now, it will soon. It is their plan. People like RFK, Jr. really will be in charge. Your academic life will not continue as it is now. They are moving with speed and urgency before people realize what is happening. Find your leaders and get organized and active.
I was in an NIH study when it saved my life bc I developed cachexia manifesting as Gastroparesis where the stomach shuts down and I didn't digest food for most of 7 weeks!
A federal medical marijuana prescription for marinol restarted stomach motility.
Trump is an ignorant, evil narcissistic twit. He intends, like pol pot or other infamous dictators, to take all of us back to a time before the age of reason. Polio will be our new friend among others.
Trump and his advisers need to be stopped but how?!?! The insanity of it all. He will let people die but expect women to bring more children into the world to repopulate.
Become an active citizen. Find your leaders and get organized. Speak out. Inform everyone you know how this strikes at the heart of science as we know it. Consult with seasoned activists. Boycott and strike. Do whatever it takes to make noise & get attention. The time to act is today, not later.
Does anyone wonder if Chief Justice Roberts is having regrets about HIS courts‘ absolute Immunity’ ruling for FOTUS. The monster he created could ultimately be responsible for the demise of America & possibly the world. Asking for a friend.😔
Throwing this out into the internet ether - we have an @altnps.bsky.social and during first Trump admin they kept us abreast of important environmental/climate etc info.
Do we have an AltNationalHealthServices yet? An anonymous group of agency leaders to keep us in the loop? We may need it this go.
What’s particularly disturbing is they have tunnel vision and are only concerned with profit and power - we knew Trump et al didn’t really care about average ppl, we saw that during Covid, but this is…it’s sociopathic.
And it’s exactly what I would expect from an Authoritarian Regime…🫠
Trump’s plan is to decimate the health of Americans, and to decimate the institutions of government. This is Putin’s plan executed by his minion in Washington. If the Republican Party does not stand up to, and Democrats collaborate with, this regime, we are doomed.
The Iowa statehouse has been refusing to approve Iowa State University's proposed programs in climate science. I will never understand why an agricultural state insists on denying climate science. This is not the Iowa I grew up in that was a shining star in public education.
That ship sailed a long time ago. Rush Limbaugh convinced ‘em that college is for eggheads and feminazis, that public education is a broken money pit for welfare queens. Opened the door to MAGA politicians selling charters and vouchers. A colder, shittier Arizona.
There has always been a broad strain of anti-intellectualism in this country; the term egghead is, as you know, an old one. Limbaugh just exploited it. The Self-Made Man, Good Common Sense, Hard Work and Gumption, et al., have been the strains of America's ideas of itself since its inception.
My grandfather, who wanted more education, had to leave school after 6th grade to work in a factory. He made sure his children got high school diplomas. He was very feeble, but he was so proud during my PhD hooding ceremony.
Yes -- a lot of our grandparents worked their asses off so we could have access to a good education. I don't get the cultural love affair with ignorance.
Freezing NIH funding and withdrawing from the WHO isn’t just shameful—it’s deadly. Public health relies on research, collaboration, and preparedness. These actions leave us vulnerable, and lives will be lost. Shadows rise when we abandon the light of progress and care. 🌗✨
I suggest scientists back up and archive their research papers someplace safe. Conservative governments in other countries have been known to shutter libraries and destroy inconvenient books in the past.
it's a good question, although even generally from a risk perspective it's always best practice to use multiple vendors too! if the data is important, 3-2-1 adage holds true at the heart: make copies, don't trust a single medium(or vendor/only aws s3), keep a copy not on you/with your data generally
53 days was all it took for Hitler to dismantle German democracy.
There is no sensible reason why the Trump admin would completely stop all government communications about science, health and medicine unless to remove all factual sources from public discourse, further prepping for propaganda rule
Just downloaded, need to get used to. Most of my texting is just asking my husband to pick something up at the store, so haven't bothered, but will familiarize myself now.
There's an auto delete feature you probably want to use for sensitive things, but also an equal amount of non sensitive things so in case it gets cracked the garbage can't be used as a filter
Do you have a news article or a link? Have three grants pending review currently and meeting this week with my dept head to come up with a funding strategy for the rest of the year… may be time to polish up my barista game
Adjuncts are in servitude that should be illegal. Luckily, I'm nominally a pulmonologist, so I can barter PFT interpretation for goat milk and eggs. Well, maybe not eggs.
See my replies above- just emails from colleagues who were supposed to be on study sections next week. As division chief, I wonder what this is going to do to my budget if my faculty can't get grants....Luckily we got our NOA last Friday for March 1st start date
Thank you for sharing all this information- and if you hear about a concerted effort to speak with our local #Pittsburgh reps I would really appreciate you passing it along ❤️
Has anyone seen this posted on the NIH website? if it's true, it will be on the front pages of Nature and Science by tomorrow. If there are any sources to confirm this now, please post! My wife is in Research Development and for obvious reasons is very concerned.
Sadly, the story broke in Science a few minutes after I posted. This sends the Federal granting agencies into chaos. I hope for pushback tomorrow from the universities and advocates who can point out how many billions the U.S. is leaving on the table.
In theory, the President wants to dismantle DEI policies, but it doesn't stop there. He wants fear and obedience, and there will be further demands. This is classic "First they came for the..." material. He wants and rewards informers; despicable.
I have a February submission and wondering if it’s worth the effort. 😢 Also have a training grant; we’re getting ready to review applications for new trainees. Would hate to see our students put in the effort for a program that might not get funded for the next year or two or three. 😟
Commons was up when I checked. Grant its still supposed to be reviewed on March 6th. Of course, it a grant designed to provide research experiences for underrepresented undergrads so we will see how that goes
Thinking about the submission we’re collaborating on (that I posted about and then deleted due to paranoia!)… feeling a little sick. Not to mention some others I’ve been working on for a long time (incl an R01 f/up to a successful R34, so literally years of work…). 😢
That's intentional. Science refuses to entertain the delusions of fascists, therefore science must be banned. Medicine reduces suffering instead of increasing it, and is therefore against God's Will(tm).
Hello there! How are you doing? I hope you had the most amazing evening ever ☺️. Wishing you a prosperous new year filled with peace of mind, joy, and happiness. I hope you are still enjoying the new year's savor with your family 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣.
Can we prepare for the worst without giving into panic? Yes the news is bleak, I dont want to write my grants and review for a study section that may never meet. But that’s what they want. Don’t give up we will survive this. Contact/call your senator, congressman remind how many jobs depend on it.
Genuine question: Given the reliance of corporations on university research to reduce their R&D costs combined with the corporate strangle hold on the US government, how long do you think this will last?
Even a small disruption will be catastrophic for active laboratories. Living animal colonies can not be turned off. Students have rent to pay in order to stay at the university. Equipment needs to be repaired and refreshed all the time. This will be a catastrophe.
I understand. I haven't been in research for a while, but I have done it. The university in my town is going to be hit very hard. They have several animal and plant labs that can not simply be shut down. There's also a free ABA clinic that has active research.
Academic people do not get the money personally. They only get their university salaries and a small stipend for the summer. The money they get for research has to go to the laboratory needs. No one is getting rich off research grants.
I never suggested that they did. Corporations, however, DO get rich off of research output from universities. As I've said in a previous response, they save on R&D costs thanks to university researchers.
It's part of why I think they should charge much less for pharmaceuticals.
It’s NIH’s peer review system. They’re groups of researchers from around the country who read and then at meetings, discuss and rate grant applications that were submitted by other researchers. It’s how NIH decides which grant applications to fund.
I joined a research program called All of Us that was sponsored by the NIH. Through that, they discovered I have BRCA 2. I have been getting testing and will be getting necessary surgeries because of that. The NIH literally saved my life.
Hi there! I work with the PI who runs the All of Us study. It’s super rewarding to see the real world effects of this research. I’m also BRCA 2 positive, so holding you in my heart. We’re still submitting grants for the 2/5 NIH deadline so that’s something at least? lol? (Not really lol I know)
My son went to Pitt and that's who locally sponsored it with the NIH (I actually got testing done at the Pitt Greensburg campus lol). We are both scared everyone is going to lose funding.
This program is really amazing and I am sure I am not the only one who has benefitted from it.
It really is a great initiative. Precision medicine is the future, or will be, if we can get it funded 🫠🙃. I work with researchers submitting grants so we’re all working overtime to get as many applications in for the next deadline as possible. I’m sure most places are doing the same.
I have many colleagues who work on that study. It is heartening to hear of your positive experience with genetics research. I’m glad to hear you are able to get the relevant follow up care!
Come to Canada! @markcarney2025.bsky.social please find a way to create programs that solve two problems at once. Canada need for a stronger science, research medical and health systems and the atrocious way they are being treated in the states. This is a win win. Protect their research.
Thanks Heidi! I like your thinking. Health Sciences contributed greatly to revitalizing Hamilton ON after the steel and manufacturing jobs disappeared. We could be a haven for the best and brightest seeking to continue research in a less politicized environment. @markcarney2025
Agreed! My husband is from Hamilton and my daughter was born there. I think solving two giant problems with one solution is the best way to solve anything. We need to keep this idea growing and expanding. We can do it and @mcuban.bsky.social is looking for big ideas, this is a giant one.
As feeble as it might be, I made sure to reinstall BOINC so my PC could be used to assist in scientific research that might be affected by all this.
Fucking awful to see.
Scientists must start telling the public about how this impacts medical cures. Scientists are not traditionally good self promoters but this is important. I hope the larger schools can use their cash endowments to help faculty survive this upheaval.
Part of it is likely that many of the MAGA voters believe that the NIH was complicit in the creation of COVID and were trying to harm Americans with the vaccine.
My heart HURTS from this. I am in research administration for a major university, and this will be *catastrophic* - for jobs, science, and healthcare the world over. I contacted my senator as soon as I heard. 😭
Trump and his henchmen have declared war on medical research, women's rights, minorities, and immigrants. We need real pushback and large street protests. We need real leaders who can take the fight to them. Taking the high road is not going to cut it. Fight fire with fire.
Maybe the leftists should fight fire with water. Clearly, your California liberal policies didn't work. The LA Fire Chief, by her own admission, was more concerned that the person saving their life looked like them than whether they were qualified to save a life. Time to rethink your issues.
This is from Project 2025. Trump is signing the documents . He doesn’t have a clue what these agencies are and the devastation he is causing. Creators/brain-farts of Project 2025 are Libertarian ideology.
NIH cannot issue new awards without a meeting of their advisory councils, even for applications already reviewed. Non-competitive renewals may proceed, but all competitive awards and renewals are will be halted unless the advisory councils can meet.
My fear is multiple: 1. all research that appears to support climate change will be halted 2. all research that focuses on BIPOC health will be halted 3. all research focusing on reproductive rights will be halted 4. research that supports that climate change is not real will be funded
@indivisible.org is their anyway to protest the NIH loosing funds. I think its federal government job to protect our health. Also can they fund the departments but not communicate with the public?
WaPo (in two years): "Are Mexicans really even human?", "Why vaccines may not really be necessary", "Study finds ogling naked 15 year olds makes leaders more glorious".
Exactly. While an organisation has a DEI policy in place, everyone is a DEI hire. There could be any reason at all why their employers decided "this person has an edge because they bring a perspective that we're currently lacking".
Comments
Republicans love the uneducated.
The pressure involves control of the purse.
When you place your trust in Jay Bhattacharya, this is what you are enabling. This is the man who will lead the United States NIH if not stopped.
https://frankhan.online/2025/01/06/jay-bhattacharya-nih-appointee-jeopardizes-americas-scientific-leadership/
https://t.co/SNJmjijCnQ
It’s a bit like shutting off oxygen to find out your lungs are important. Maybe the researchers suffering can file a Class Action down the road?
https://www.propublica.org/article/nih-niaid-trump-kennedy-bhattacharya-vaccines-research
Bhattacharya, I believe, is a MD whose science credentials are in Economics (PhD). He is less concerning than RFK JR but not great and a pure political pick.
That's why the anti-science maga movement hates it.
And why we should do it, more and more.
Resist, like life depends on it.
Because it does.
I'd rather face reality now than pretend it's not going to be bad.
The lies from Florida Health Dept under Ladapo?
https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2024-09-16/floridas-health-department-advises-against-getting-the-new-covid-booster
It doesn't seem high on the priority list.
and they are literally laughing at you every day
I went to a university
We need concrete steps on how to move forward.
it's simple.
There are no longer any rules or guidelines. Reason has fled, replaced by conspiracy theories, lies, and disinformation.
You can't fight abstract stupidity with facts or concrete steps. The people in charge don't give a shit about the truth. It doesn't benefit them.
I'm making packers for pre-surgical trans men, cross-dressers, and cosplay fans. Fuck their transphobic ideology.
-> fake troll bot
Even as outcomes fell and costs rose. Now the leopard ate your face.
Have you forgotten his medical advice? He’s both the Scientist in Chief and Physician in Chief.
That prick was one of the most damaging figures in the early covid era.
Not just some random nutcase but like a Harvard bigwig. Very very wrong in big ways, would've gotten lots of people killed & maimed by the virus
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/stanford-university-will-host-a-conference-on-pandemic-planning-featuring-the-usual-covid-19-suspects/
But new NIH director was appointed because of fealty to Trump. He’s not interested in the long term beyond that.
This is not a panic.
It is a stone-cold realization that
Lysenkoism
is coming.
"The new NIH director" will want research to switch to Lysenkoism.
They are invested in their theft of the US bank, & power, not wasting money on the masses.
To the detriment of human health in the US and elsewhere
As a result, Kennedy is one of the most concerning potential Trump appointees. It is also one that many Republicans are uncomfortable. Contact your senators, especially if they are Republican, and urge NO.
Will research continue? Sure. But science will suffer for a host of reasons including unqualified leadership.
Certain areas of science will suffer disproportionately and be grossly neglected.
It was specifically introduced as a check on presidential power.
Proposed cabinet picks and status:
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2024/trump-cabinet-picks-2025-tracker/
History and process:
https://theconversation.com/why-does-the-senate-confirm-trumps-picks-for-key-posts-and-how-a-legal-scholar-explains-the-confirmation-process-and-the-constitutional-loophole-of-recess-appointments-243646
Tell your colleagues to leave this growing cesspool before the stench is overwhelming.
Tell them to go where people matter.
Stop rooting for the Home
Team.
It's the players that matter, not the team.
You are worth more in cultures that place a higher value on individuals than they do on corporations.
Good luck whatever you decide. 💙
Many of the Asian countries, and several South American countries.
A few of the Baltic and Caribbean nations have cultures that support and uplift the individual.
It's not hard to do research on this subject.
Surprisingly, one of my best research tools is Facebook.
I have a dedicated FB account (no friends) just so I can join expat groups in countries my wife and I go to visit. I chat with people actually there.
https://www.internationalcitizens.com/living-abroad/best-places/panama/
Anti-intelligence is a fascist strategy.
Spend wisely
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/guu-debate-politics-shop/id1295147058
And android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goodsuniteus.goods
It's a fantastic app and is very quick and easy way to inform how you shop so that you're not funding fascists.
https://ia804705.us.archive.org/10/items/on-tyranny-twenty-lessons-from-the-twentieth-century-by-timothy-snyder-z-lib.org/On%20Tyranny%20Twenty%20Lessons%20from%20the%20Twentieth%20Century%20by%20Timothy%20Snyder%20%28z-lib.org%29.pdf
Oh you're serious
Our elections feel that way.
No prior administration, GOP or DEM, has proposed eliminating IDCs. And no prior administration has cancelled all study sections, groups of (volunteer) experts who evaluate grant proposals for scientific merit.
I'm all for reducing wasteful spending and focusing more money toward research instead of admin costs.
The department of worthless piles of garbage has a policy of refusing to do its job. Literally.
And then uses political optics as an excuse to continue its dereliction of duty.
The doj is a pile of shit.
He will Executive Order a whole different way of life. I guarantee we’ll live in the United States of Trump within months.
I’m surprised he doesn’t want to rename the Gulf of Mexico after himself.
We done zealots!
But... Musk is still an annoying and dangerous "twat". The sooner he is off the public eye, the better it will be for the rest of us. BTW, what's with the Nazi salute?
This will slow down science and devastate research budgets in universities.
https://www.statnews.com/2025/01/22/trump-administrations-cancels-scientific-meetings-abruptly/
FREAKEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR NEW IGNORANT LEADER!
FROM,
YOUR FRIEND CANADA
( but not for long, cause your problems are and will become ours.. preventable diseases, more conspiracies, climate declining, just to mention a few)..
I imagine program officers for grants are receiving 100+ queries on this per hour, so--
https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiring
You can’t negotiate with the shameless. You need to cut them loose.
I’m pretty sure this is the plan
Big boost to research in other countries, particularly anglophone ones?
WTH is wrong with that dolt?
He’s following it to a “T”. He has no clue what he is doing but the Heritage Foubdation and Putin do
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
In fact Musk has convinced him that NONE of us are worth saving!
Rape the planet of its resources to help the multiverse exploration.
We’re all just in Musk’s way…..and with his daughter transitioning, he won’t accept his failed parenting and blames it on “woke mind virus”!
His war on trans kids is because he doesn’t know his own kid and has no clue what that’s like!
If he was around her to understand, he may not be such an evil POS!
His daughter is who she is because that’s who she is!
He thinks the woke mind virus killed his son but he’s a none present parent who if he was present, would understand her struggle and support her!
Like he’s, ya know, God.
Which is what he believes.
If any of them voted for Trump, kindly inform them they are now "Pseudoscientists" and anything they say is to be taken as absolute nonsense from here on out.
@georgetakei.bsky.social
@morgfair.bsky.social
@godpod.bsky.social
The far reaching effects of Trump’s Project 2025 carnage may leave very few of us unscathed.
https://www.vanderbilt.edu
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is owned by News Corp, a media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch's family. News Corp owns Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the WSJ.
Not giving up … the winds of change are blowing💗
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qndYSNfgnPA
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00231-y
And btw the left handed Trump the victory by selling out women’s rights for trans rights. Fix this
I’m sad. Scared. Angry and disgusted.
This sickens me the most of all the crap he’s trying to do
Universities are have lots of wealthy donors who should step up.
This cancer effects X children per year…”
#Clusterfocracy
Maybe a pause is warranted…
It’s very naive to say it doesn’t involve the healthcare system.
Intellectuals are the natural enemy of the dictators. Stopping grant income wrecks livelihoods. This creates Fear. Fear not finishing a degree, fear of losing the job.
They have shown you what they can do. Now you have to decide what to do. Flee or fight
A federal medical marijuana prescription for marinol restarted stomach motility.
Who is going to díé bc of this shutdown?
No
Taxpayer funded
Fuck trump
He is derelict in his duty.
This is helpful advice back from when the Washington Post was still an indepedently-minded paper.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2017/02/24/20-ways-to-recognize-tyranny-and-fight-it/
Let's see how you procreate then.
And don't think for a moment that Trump's agenda would have change one iota if that ruling had not been made.
Share. Share lots, especially with scientists in other countries.
Do we have an AltNationalHealthServices yet? An anonymous group of agency leaders to keep us in the loop? We may need it this go.
FYI
These actions are abnormal.
And it’s exactly what I would expect from an Authoritarian Regime…🫠
- 1984
This is chilling.
The result would be the same
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/that-s-no-way-to-treat-a-library-scientists-say/article_0093dddd-a58e-5419-9ddc-eb603c65eac3.html
There is no sensible reason why the Trump admin would completely stop all government communications about science, health and medicine unless to remove all factual sources from public discourse, further prepping for propaganda rule
That won't wash, in today's science.
So maga fascism will look to pervert it where it can, destroy it where it cannot.
It might be one of the few times all the money in politics actually works for us.
It's part of why I think they should charge much less for pharmaceuticals.
Maybe shake it a little.
This program is really amazing and I am sure I am not the only one who has benefitted from it.
Fucking awful to see.
https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiring
Semper Fi Sister.
2. Utter nonsense. Zero proof that is true.
3. Utter nonsense. Zero proof that is true.
4. We can only hope.
angle is just absolute bullshit