🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year. That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027. A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications. A short 🧵

Dr. Mott is very good at her job, amazing work ethic, and thoughtfully protective of Congressional and scientific interests. A real hero, in my view... For background see www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/...

The conference (agreement between House and Senate) appropriations bill that includes HHS and NIH was released this morning. www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majorit... 1/5

This is an outstanding essay describing some of the important roles and influences of NIH program officers (from an insider perspective). Read! elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...

Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH. And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you. A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n

There is apparently no point in checking out the "preview" to get ahead of the Biosketch game because it warns you that everything you fill in will be lost and you will have to start over when the real thing is rolled out. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Confirmation of the new triage line at 65-70% of proposals. Introduction of a new “competitive but ND” class to permit exception pay pickups.

“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”

Gut microbiota protect against hepatic steatosis by degrading sorbitol derived from dietary glucose @gjpattij.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

6/ So what can you do? ✔️ Choose supplements that are third-party tested for heavy metals (USP, NSF, or Informed Sport). ✔️ Prioritize whole-food protein sources when possible. ✔️ Advocate for stronger supplement regulation as the industry has little oversight.

Excited to share our work on discovery of SLC25A45 as a mediator of mitochondrial methylated amino acid import and carnitine biosynthesis. @cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-metabol...

1/ RFK Jr.’s promised autism “report” landed this week. Instead of new science, we got headlines, a press conference, and far-reaching claims drawn from decades of existing research. Parents and pregnant people were left with overwhelming anxiety. Here’s what the evidence actually says 👇

The Washington Post did a great job of summarizing a complex topic. There is still so much to learn about the connections between the exposome and cancer. Thanks for including me.

Research in Scientific Reports suggests that blue-throated macaws can learn new actions by watching other macaws interact. The study indicates that this approach to learning is not exclusive to humans. go.nature.com/4g8p43m 🧪

defunding children's brain cancer research. @endpts.com

I have a first serious attempt to estimate the consequences of multi-year funding for July. For new R01s, the amount of additional expenditure was $135 M The number of additional R01s that could have been funded is 182 1/9

Here are some of the highlights of the appropriations bill that the Senate appropriations committee just approved: $48.7 billion for NIH, an increase of $400 million Rejects the proposal to cap indirect cost rates at 15% Includes a provision to prevent MYF that would reduce the number of grants

Even with flat funding for the NIH, under the current FY26 plan, there will be 60% less cancer research and much less research funded overall. We need to make sure Congress understands these tricks and protects against them in their budget plan.

1/ Since January, over 5,500 NIH-funded projects have been paused. That includes cancer trials, Alzheimer’s research, maternal health studies. This is work that directly impacts our lives. And people aren't talking about it enough. Let’s fix that 🧵

RIP Alan Marshall, one of the greatest mass spectrometrists ever, and a great human to boot. nationalmaglab.org/careers/meet...

Join ‪‪@drwendieberg.bsky.social‬ for this half hour of discussion of supplemental breast cancer screening for women with dense breast tissue.

"Gold standard science"

Mass Spec xkcd.com/3094/

Here’s what we have going on at #ASMS2025

A strong statement about the importance of NIH on @cbsnews.com.web.brid.gy Sunday Morning (Part 1)

"Protein may be hot, but it’s fiber that Americans need to eat a lot more of." "To get the full health benefits of fiber, it’s important to eat a variety of naturally fiber-rich foods and not rely on supplements...could actually lead to health problems..." gift link www.wsj.com/health/welln...

Video from the hearing yesterday www.youtube.com/live/_Szx0jJ...

Another good use of 5 minutes of your time.

I have previously posted about the slow issuance of NIH award in fiscal year 2025 compared to fiscal year 2024. jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... These data were across all of the institutes and centers at NIH. The results can be examined for each institute and center. 1/n

The Sable Award lecture at METPHYS2025 was really remarkable! Tremendous congratulations to this years exceptional member of our community Kivanc Birsoy

Deaths from heart disease down 75%, that’s NIH. Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH. HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH. 99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH. Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.

A beautiful day in Princeton @princeton.bsky.social to host our Ludwig Distinguished speaker Dr Kivanc Birsoy from Rockefeller @ludwigcancer.bsky.social

Here’s your chance to ask the new NIH director some questions. Don’t be shy!

A compelling letter from Nobel Laureate, William Kaelin, MD about the looming loss of US leadership in science and innovation. 🧪 www.amjmed.com/article/S000...

STAT story about freezing all payments to Columbia, Harvard, Brown, Northwestern, Cornell, and Cornell-Weill Medicine. www.statnews.com/2025/04/18/n...

Inside High Ed article about Advisory Council meetings resuming. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm... 1/n

Here is a key paragraph: The proposal would reduce the more than $47 billion budget of the NIH to $27 billion — a roughly 40 percent cut. It would consolidate NIH’s 27 institutes and centers into just eight. 2/n

More from the Washington Post (and this one is a doozy) regarding the President's Budget. Note that this is an aspirational document and Congress has to act (or ignore it). [Gift Link] wapo.st/42gLz0Z 1/n

Airborne microplastics enter plant leaves & end up in our food New evidence emerges for a previously overlooked route for microplastics to enter plant tissues & crops and has implications for ecology and human health Original work www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🚨🚨🚨 Now ALL GRANTS to Columbia are being frozen!!! 🚨🚨🚨 www.science.org/content/arti...

Science’s big problem is a loss of influence, not a loss of trust, argue Heidi Larson and David Bersoff Science & scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway 🧪 #AcademicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

NIH contributed to 354 of 356 drugs (99.4%) approved from 2010 to 2019.

A pie graph worth keeping in mind as the NIH budget plummets jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... for 356 new FDA drugs approved

theanalyticalscientist.com/business-edu.... Well said.

"The changes the current government is attempting to make to American science will greatly diminish our scientific standing in the world." Guess no questions there.. Period..

Researchers at the Crick have found that pregnancy in mice leads to the irreversible growth of their small intestine. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-03...

Thank you for the highlight!

“We are in a different era right now where nothing is normal” What’s in store for US science as funding bill averts government shutdown @nature.com 🧪 #AcademicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Interesting panelist discussion at #KSTumorMetab25 on communicating science effectively to combat misinformation in this era. Check out this #WorldView that we, @natrevcancer.bsky.social, published from @juliabauman.bsky.social who posts 60-second TikToks explaining recent papers. bit.ly/41trLps