Grok the CSAM AI chatbot???!

The high proportion of US scientists among those recruited by France shows that “enthusiasm and morale for doing science is low” in the US, says Sharon Milgram, who led early-career researcher programs at NIH for nearly 20 years, until she retired in December. By @lizziegibney.bsky.social and me

Buried in this story (which focuses on a researcher connected to Epstein, which is newsworthy for obvious reasons), is coverage of two prominent research centers in line with “MAHA agenda priorities” closing. www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke...

we’ll give the patriots two drives before we ask for bad bunny back

Duke went out incredibly sad, I can’t keep living like this!!

It will be important to watch how this rule affects staff at NIH. People are already afraid to speak up inside NIH. This policy works against the academic freedom the administration claims to value.

I wish I could tell people like me, who first came to Bluesky and felt pummeled by performative scolding, that now it feels a lot less like that and a lot more like that brief window when Twitter was pretty good: useful, occasionally ridiculous, a place to discover new thinkers & writing

We would like to recruit a stellar junior faculty member in the Division of Child Health Research and Policy @deptpopmed.bsky.social at Harvard. Please circulate this announcement widely! www.populationmedicine.org/divisions-ce...

An attempt to summarize why evidence based medicine and public health are not opposites (in a short space!). www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/a...

My latest: A look inside the secretive immigration prisons at Guantanamo—and the ethical questions that doctors and nurses face to treat those inside.

Great initiative!!

9/14 (64%) healthcare reporters lost their jobs at the flagship paper of the city at the center of the upheaval of our nation’s healthcare policy. There’s no effort to encourage any moderation on social media and “new media” platforms. Journalists have a standard for integrity. This is a huge loss.

This is the endgame 😭🥀

First they came for DEI and I said nothing for I hoped my success rates would improve. Then they came for gender identity research and I said nothing for I hoped my success rates would improve. Then they came for the NPRCs, and I said nothing for I hoped my success rates would improve.

This desire to decimate the white collar workforce is also driving the billionaire class's efforts to cut, curb, and control higher education. Because academia is the machine that produces the white collar class. bsky.app/profile/loui...

The billionaire class wants to decimate the white collar workforce. Because white collar workers are expensive. And because white collar workers—who historically sided with billionaires—are questioning that alliance. Which makes their knowledge and resources a huge threat to billionaire power.

Clearly companies are also a part of the anti-DEI crackdown. Still a great opportunity to publicly announce that DEI programs align w/ your values and are a good thing! Let’s see how this goes! Federal Agency Investigates Nike for Discrimination Against White Workers www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...

Cool new paper!

Given the incredible network effects of going to schools like this (ask me how I know!), the SFFA ruling accomplished EXACTLY what it was meant to

My weekly update on NIH funding. This is for all projects. The breakdown for competing and non-competing awards will follow. 1/4

Grants are being flagged for 'African American,' 'Hispanic American,' 'People of color,' 'racial/ethnic minorities,' and similar -- but never for 'European American' or 'white American' I would love to ask Jay Bhattacharya: what about these groups of people are "misaligned" with his priorities?

Still digging through this thorough report from @sanders.senate.gov. I want to flag this screenshot of what program staff receive when studies include "terms potentially associated with misalignment with agency priorities" (Newspeak for 'banned words')

Accountability can be a bother when leadership prefers acting with impunity. Of course, accountability is the good stuff; it's what ensures that NIH is supporting expert-driven science that can lead to new discoveries, devices, technologies, therapeutics, and improved health outcomes.

I’ve been told that there are no “banned words” for grants at #NIH. What is this at the end of this document then?

This is very noble. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people give advice that does not meet the moment. It is important to be candid about how your experience compares to present day. Clear eyes and candor go a long way!

Is this what you want your taxpayer dollars going to? Alongside the legal fees on cases attempting to justify termination and “renegotiation” of these awards?

I'm on Capitol Hill watching NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya testify to the Senate HELP committee. Thankfully I haven't been escorted out of this event (yet). Here's what I'm following. You can also watch live here: www.help.senate.gov/hearings/mod...

I had to watch this 3 times to make sure I wasn’t tripping. Implying that we will replace Medicaid dollars with a competition for who can create the best “agentic AI-Avatar” is INSANE 😭😭

🧵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

In my view, institutional censorship looks like placing someone on leave for speaking about the day-to-day function of their job (as a public servant) on their own time. Kudos to @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social for showing integrity in this moment. (Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Phil, READ THE ROOM! We have suffered enough already 🥀🥀

“Will there be more money for [my research]?”

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university. The Anthropology of Health and Illness Health Care in American Society Video Art Science and Technology Writing Racial Geographies Wrote A LOT. Read great lit. Mainly lead quant work now, but grateful for my Anth background.

Important thread about how changes at NIH are harming research and researchers:

🧵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.

This must be that radical transparency I keep hearing about.

I'm at the Willard Hotel where I've been denied entry and kicked out of the Reclaiming Science event with NIH director Bhattacharya & other top agency leaders. @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social and I registered for the event months ago yet were told capacity was full, even as they let in dozens of others.

Just to be clear: Both independent journalists arrested by the authoritarian Trump regime for doing their jobs in Minnesota — Don Lemon and Georgia Fort — are Black.

Oof

Please reshare! Here's the first in a series of science writing resources I'm posting to my website: A list of science writing/communication internships & fellowships. brittanytrang.com/science-jour... #sciencejournalism #scicomm #scicommjobs #journojobs #sciencewriting #sciwri #stem

There was like 2 inches of snow and ice in North Carolina 3 days ago. I haven’t seen a functional piece of produce in the grocery store since last Wednesday. I cannot survive on shallots! 🫩🫩🫩

~1 yr into the NIH Director’s term, he mentioned the same talking points from his ongoing media tour. Disappointed that these talking points were not supported with programs or operational updates from the past year in this role. Moreso claims about ideology. www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke...

~1 yr into the NIH Director’s term, he mentioned the same talking points from his ongoing media tour. Disappointed that these talking points were not supported with programs or operational updates from the past year in this role. Moreso claims about ideology. www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke...

As an early career researcher one of the most jarring parts of this moment is the disconnect between rhetoric about science (the words themselves are frankly promising) but the actions and programs have been incredibly disruptive. Opportunities shrinking and uncertainty do not promote innovation.

It’s never the wrong moment to do the right thing.

The “moat” for some of these companies is quite interesting to me. From my understanding, you need the computational power to provide the live answers and run an effective training run for the foundation of your model. At the same time, you need experts for validation and to source the right info

Let’s goooooooooooo ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

Trump has been in office for one year. We at @nature.com did a deep dive looking at the administration's disruption of science in numbers. Take a look—the numbers are staggering. By me, @dangaristo.bsky.social, Jeff Tollefson, @kimay.bsky.social, & help from @noamross.net @scott-delaney.bsky.social

I interviewed 5 groups of parents w/ children with 1 of the forms of severe congenital heart disease. These interviews took place during the summer/fall of 2020. Many stories of medical marvels but also some of the most complicated struggles with the health system journals.plos.org/mentalhealth...

[On losses at NIH] “The effects emerge gradually. Programs become less coherent. Decisions feel more risk averse. Mistakes that were once avoided begin to recur. People spend more time interpreting rules and less time thinking strategically. Opportunities are missed because no one recognizes them.“