Phew!!! Thank goodness we have a 2025 GRFP announcement!

If your state hasn't done this yet, call your governor's office as well as top public health official in your state, and request that they do this. If enough people start calling, they will hear us loud and clear!

New Mexico has issued a public health order that removes federal restrictions to COVID-19 vaccine access so that pharmacies in New Mexico can vaccinate people of all ages and risk profiles. Every state need to do this!

“A respected network of hospitals and cancer centers is halting enrollment in clinical trials for children with brain cancer after the federal government said it would no longer provide funding to the group”

Important.

Seeking scientist volunteers for this fall! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? I need collaborators for the next cohort of SciComm & Comics art and design students. All countries and scientific fields eligible.

Tomorrow (Thursday 8/21/25) at 1pm ET join IOS for a virtual office hour on... "Tips on Proposal Writing". Everyone can use some tips! See you there! You know y'all want to hear from me. 😆 www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-i...

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview. cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

The funds are approved! We're hiring a postdoc to build a CRISPRa toolkit to identify new aging mechanisms in C. elegans. Email or DM me to find out more. Please share & repost!

This is one of the best things I've listened to in a long time. Heroic team effort by Elizabeth Mynatt and @seanmcarroll.bsky.social to explain (with lots of examples) what the US is in the process of losing by gutting research. youtu.be/tm_EtHbqtQY?...

👇

Any updates on wormbase? We have been having trouble logging in for the past few weeks.

RFK Jr. has now officially stated that he will dismantle the United States Preventive ServicesTask Force (USPSTF). This is an independent body of expert scientists who volunteer their time to review data and provide guidance to Americans on important things like cancer screenings.

It breaks my heart to see the best scientific system in the world collapsing before our eyes. Bravo @wyomingwormboy.bsky.social ! Keep fighting the good fight.

Ten simple rules for faculty members building just and equitable environments in academic science | PLOS Computational Biology

And if you're wondering, "wait...I thought last week's Big Bill already codified these science funding cuts?" Nope! Those are completely separate processes. FY26 appropriations process is still early stages in Congress. Here's the best explainer I've seen so far on that:

Here are three pieces of life advice for survival under a government that hates you, from a Native. None of them are going to be the prepper bullshit I see currently circulating around- that's all bad advice, by the way, that one's free.

If you, like me, are confused about the relationship of the "Big Beautiful Bill" to the 2025-2026 Federal budget and its relevance to science funding and other issues, here is a GREAT explainer from my friend Kevin Wilson 🧪@ascbiology.bsky.social

Court invalidates NSF 15% indirect cost cap. Strong ruling. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I’m hearing this from many people - now is a REALLY GOOD TIME to submit proposals, to show there is persistent demand for grant funding

This sort of thing is Resistance catnip, but it's not true and didn't happen All the filings in the case are available for anyone, online here: iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/Docum... Also: the "Supreme Court" in New York is just their trial-level court, basically the opposite of everywhere else

Flood the CDC with public comments by 6/20 demanding that ACIP retain its independent expert advisory role to the CDC, be staffed by relevant biomedical experts not antivax pawns. open.substack.com/pub/peoplesc...

NIH APPLICANTS: Your application will be WITHDRAWN BEFORE REVIEW if you have an international collaboration and do not include a Foreign Justification. Normally this could be provided after review as JIT but NOT ANYMORE. You have been warned.

Relevant, as the National Day of Protest is coming up on Saturday. Know your free speech rights.

Senate Republicans want to sell off up to 3.3 million acres of federally owned land in 11 Western states. Their draft of the budget bill includes this massive and unpopular sale of public, federal land. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

This is a map of Los Angeles. The arrow points to a red dot. That red dot (roughly) represents the protest area seen on TV. To me, the gross mischaracterization of what’s happening in Los Angeles looks like an excuse to deploy the military—to protect government assets like ICE.

Fight the Empire.

Our global petition to save NASA science closes this Thursday, and we’re just shy of 15,000 signatures! Every name counts, this petition will be hand-delivered to members of Congress. Add yours today, Save NASA Science. planet.ly/petition

Please join the chorus of voices, including my own, in support of the talented, hardworking and dedicated scientists and staff at NIH. They serve their country by deploying their training and skills to improve the health and quality of life of all Americans 🙏 🇺🇸

VIVA! These are the courageous NIH staffers who have spoken out against what the Trump administration is doing to biomedical research in the US. This is incredibly brave and honorable. They need our support. Spread the word. www.cnn.com/2025/06/09/h...

This gift link needs to be shared far and wide. All of the NIH cancellations and delays in one place with several infographics for exploring them. 🧪

🪱C. elegans folks: If you can afford to keep this resource available for our fly colleagues, please help 🧪

FlyBase needs our help.

Damn... I wonder why scientists wouldn't want to come to the US to compete at the highest levels for highly-restricted funding that then gets pulled surreptitiously for some imagined reason or no reason at all, all while being vilified by the federal government for their work? A mystery! 🤔

“I was hungry” and you cut SNAP. “I was thirsty” and you cut funding to ensure clean water. “I was sick” and you cut medicaid. “I was a stranger” and you deported me. “I was in prison” and you just left me there to rot. “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me.”-Jesus

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

Behind every cure, every breakthrough, every treatment — is someone who needed it. If NIH funding helped you, your research, or someone you love, your story can help protect it. Share your “why” and help defend the future of NIH & science. Fill out the form here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Takes five seconds, and might mean you can still get COVID boosters.

Erin Cram @erincram.bsky.social and Javier Apfeld ‪ @javierapfeld.bsky.social, biology professors, are part of an elite group of scientists in the Boston area who study worms! But with the ongoing federal budget cuts can worm research survive? 🧪 Learn more: www.bostonmagazine.com/news/c-elega...

TANK vs TESLA "We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again" - ⁠WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank

Which FDA-approved vaccines had randomized, placebo-controlled trials? ALL OF THEM. Polio? Measles, mumps, rubella? Haemophilus influenzae B? Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis? Meningococcus? Varicella? Pneumococcus? Rotavirus? RSV? Hepatitis B? Influenza? HPV? COVID-19? Shingles? YEP. A thread🧵 1/

"These $25,000 grants are for activities to address immediate needs following grant cancellations, including completing a wave of data collection, analyzing already collected data or writing, thoughtful project closure with community partners, or preparing grant proposals to continue the research."

Love worms, molecular genetics, and big questions? We’re hiring a postdoc to build a CRISPRa toolkit to identify new aging mechanisms in C. elegans. Email or DM me to find out more. Please share & repost!

If I wanted to destroy what is good about the the US, diminish its prestige and import in the world, and increase the suffering of all people, these are the types of things I would do.

TELSEY begins tracking price increases over the past week. Some highlights: * Abercrombie jeans: up 33% * Amazon Echo: up 38.5% * Target / Barbie doll: up 42.9%

#MomSky Keep Reposting

ATTENTION: NSF GRANT RECIPIENTS We received a heads up from a trusted source that you should proactively download/print/screen shot any documentation on research.gov pertaining to your NSF awards, both those that are current and any that have closed in the last 5-6 years. 1/n

Any citizen concerned about biomedical research should comment. Care about #cancer, #Alzheimer’s, #Parkinson’s, #autoimmune diseases, #mental health, #vaccines, etc. ? Please comment! It could be as simple as “I don’t want unqualified political appointees controlling biomedical research projects”

ACTION ITEM-----ACTION ITEM Implementation of Schedule F This is what a lot of us have been worried about. This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs. BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD... 1/n

This is incredibly cool: if you search for a condition that’s affected your family, the site returns stats on how much NIH has done for that disease, *and* a contact form for reaching out to tell your Members of Congress why you want to see them defend NIH. Pass it on!