NIH has lost another Institute Director today. Linsey Criswell was not renewed at NIAMS. 15 (of 27) Directorships are now unfilled, creating a leadership vacuum and opening the door for Trump to install more cronies like former JD Vance roommate Kyle Walsh. insidehealthpolicy.com/share/153675

#CMS has postponed the #VRDC requirement indefinitely. This is big for the CMS and #NIH data use agreement. #rstats #statsky #hpss #srms #hspr #healthecon #hpsr #healthpolicy #geronsky #federalstatistics

Prime time #zoomies. #catsofbluesky #WhiskerWednesday

An approved mRNA flu vaccine will undermine the $500M non-peer-reviewed research project that Bhattacharya gave to his buddies Memoli and Taubenberger to develop vaccines with an outdated, inactivated virus approach. Connect the dots.

Dr. David Satcher served as both CDC Director and U.S. Surgeon General, one of the few people to hold both roles. He elevates mental health, racial health disparities, and prevention as national priorities, pushing public health beyond disease control to well-being and equity. #BlackHistoryMonth

Honored to speak at the AFGE Congressional and DC Council Breakfast, hosted by AFGE District 14. Maryland is home to thousands of federal workers. While this Administration continues its witch hunt against them, I’ll keep fighting for our patriotic civil servants.

🧵1. Every time I hear some @cato.org argument against #federal agencies, we must revisit the Walking Dead. Every man for himself. Country full of walkers. Blow up the CDC. Dream come true. Government support does not crowd out private innovation.

When it's #Caturday, Ser Pounce and Misty choose purrs over hisses. #catsofbluesky

In light of Trump’s post yesterday, some history: “On Memorial Day 1927, 1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica neighborhood, eventually spurring an all-out brawl in which seven men were arrested. One of those arrested was Fred Trump.” www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix...

Re: Science Mag editorial celebrating mainly the inside/quiet advocacy done this year, I offer this in lighthearted response. 🧪 This is a Myanmar woman doing her usual, longstanding dance routine while black cars speed by to carry out a coup. 1/4

27 UNIHTED benefit concert, Barnstorm, Feb 15th with guest Dr. Francis Collins! 2 benefit concerts for 27 UNIHTED will take place at Bethesda Boards at 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM on February 15th. Tickets are 40$. Fired/displaced workers attend for free. Email [email protected] for more info, link in bio

There is no valid reason we're doing this. Federal data matter. #defenddata #defendresearch #statsky

As we start the think about F&27 appropriations, unpacking the FY26 budget may help set us up for next year. We need scientists to engage in the process now - to fight for appropriation law that doesn't just fund NIH but fights to protect science and democracy. open.substack.com/pub/sciencea...

Dr. @alesszimm.bsky.social has updated her R&D dashboard! #sciencesky #FY2026

🧵1. I'm thinking about how we honored Black History Month when I was a kid. One thing I felt teachers didn't do well was incorporate how the past and present affected the future. When I was in college, one of my favourite mentors was Dr. Danielle Carr. She brought light of how Black Mathematicians

The #NIH is awesome. We're proud to work with @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social . #BethesdaDeclaration #strongertogether #fedstrong #NIHStrong

This tweet which NIH Director Bhattacharya retweeted raises some interesting points (although perhaps not the ones that they intended). The tweeter notes how AIDS was treated when he started medical school in the San Francisco Bay area in 1988. This is misinformed. Sorry for a long 🧵 1/19

Ser Pounce takes #Caturday nap. #catsofbluesky

Things I love: Reading books from PIs! @mlheggeness.bsky.social's SwiftyNomics arrived this week. If you're at #PAA2026 in St. Louis, maybe I can get an #NIA colleague to take it for me for you to sign?

A sad day at NIH... The NIH Record was a great way for NIH folks to find out what was going on across NIH. Many important stories published there over the years. nihrecord.nih.gov/2026/01/30/n...

🧵Good news out of #NIH today. (1) NIH is extending #ESI and #K99/R00 eligibility to accommodate researchers whose eligibility would have ended during the previous shutdown. Take a look at NOT-OD-26-020. If your ESI status would have ended in 2025, you get an automatic extension through 2026/03/31.

I went to the vigil for Alex Pretti at the VA headquarters in DC last night. Despite the sad occasion, I was comforted to see hundreds of people (from different agencies and non-feds too) mourn our loss, remember others killed by ICE, and call for action against ICE and CBP.

Trust in science was destroyed not by scientists, but by the right and rightwing billionaires. I wrote a rebuttal to Douthat’s bad article on Tue w/out even seeing it. Bhattacharya did this. Putting an arsonist in charge of putting their fire out is insanity. 1/

I will simply never recover from reading this sentence: "Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people."

The stupidity, conspiracy, and influence sadly have encroached on mainstream job sites. Don't fall for this shit. #MAHA is eugenics disguised as science.

So #HIV/AIDS date change notice just went up on #NIH grants site...

The 2026 #Dementia Care Summit registration has opened. Take a look at the agenda and tune into the virtual sessions with us, March 17-19! #geronsky #ADRD

"WK: NIH is a little tricky now. You don’t know who’s running it. It’s hard to trust what’s coming down from on top.".... "It’s pretty clear to everybody in NIH that the executive branch may not value what we do." thetransmitter.org/science-and-...

“The ban on postings to the Fed Register also reflects a new and more ominous trend. For 80 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control.” “Congress, not the President, should set scientific priorities” Key takeaway for 🧪. 1/

There are lots of changes in the #NIH application process. A lot of it is in the biosketch information.

** Reposting We salute these VA workers for honoring #AlexPretti. As they say, "We are healthcare workers for veterans. We know what heroes look like."

Snow day reading. It's 2026, but we gotta fight Nazis like it's June 6, 1944.

Read the Save HHS open letter! www.savehhs.org/letter-we-wi...

Folks in chats have recommended some resources to support loved ones in Twin Cities. If you've got some for Portland, OR, post, and I'll share.

How's Vance doing these days failing up? Find it more on Veep History with @amannes.bsky.social .

DMV friends, let's keep this in mind if a #shutdown happens. Thanks, @antifaspecops.bsky.social .

I love the mathematical components of snowflakes and fractals. Here are some photographs of them on my arm and kiddo's arm back in 2021. #mathsky #snowday #sciencesky

Attached is the letter I sent this afternoon to State Secretary Belio (Spain), and Mrs. Roberta Metsola (President of the European Parliament) regarding recent events in the United States, asking them to take action to preserve the dignity and sanctity of human life and to preserve global democracy.

He was one of us. A civil servant. Someone who helped veterans. Committed to public service.

MAHA doctors elevated themselves, and RFK & Trump to power, by claiming that COVID mitigations would lead troops in the street. Now, they are part of an administration putting troops in the street. Remember those who enabled on the way. My latest for SBM.

Our continuing resolution is in its final week. Stay tuned and stay connected with the #NIH. We are here in our personal capacities. Our posts aren't necessarily the views held by NIH, HHS, or the Federal Government.

Dr. Stuart Levenbach appointed chief statistician of the US. #statsky #rstats #fedstats

If one were to decide to eliminate vaccines in the US, the first place to start would be to attack the flu and Covid vaccines, talking up the “scary” mRNA vaccines. Next, question the need and schedules of early childhood vaccines. This latest move goes after a disease we have forgotten. 1/2

MAHA. 😭🤢🫨🫠🤯

If you're a US citizen pursuing a science degree, consider this paid internship program. PIs, let your students know about this opportunity with #NIH.

“The idea behind DEI was very simple, that the composition of institutions should reflect the public they serve...But I think the left took it too far." I'd note how status threat and reaction often drives this feeling: "the left took it too far," and it serves to justify wrecking.

I'm glad this isn't my job. #rstats #statsky #mathjokes

Dr. Ginexi's #NIH post on FY2026 confirms bipartisan support. We can expect partial preservation with funding uncertainty, capacity uncertainty, and authority uncertainty.

The final LHHS bill with funding for Health and Human Services is out this morning! At first glance, it looks similar to the Senate bill with a roughly 1% increase in total funding for the NIH. While it doesn't match inflation, it avoids many of the problems in the presidential budget request. 1/n

I specialize in health systems. If you don't interact with the health system, your health outcomes are worse compared with those who do. This is effectively eugenics. Even for people with working visas, MAHA, MAGA, and ICE are out to get you.