not an exaggeration, I would not be working in science today if this had been the situation at NIH when I started my lab

Longer dive into the data, meaning, and consequences substack.com/home/post/p-...

Thank you for making today's Take Back our Science Rally a success! Online and in-person attendees, event organizers, speakers, Peacekeeprs and security, promoters, media, introverts, scientists, researchers, activists, and all who stand up for science. Gratitude. #StandUpForSceince #March7 #Rally

Tragic. Please pass this along to US Chairs and Deans, and consider it when you sit on promotion committees. This, combined with the review backlog, is dire - especially for our early career researchers.

I am focused on the Stand Up for Science events today, but I will dig into these data early next week. I was continuously funded from when I started my independent career in 1988 until I move to NIH in 2003, usually with multiple grants. 1/2

Good news today: @standupforscience.bsky.social is organizing rallies for science. 💪 Bad news: Funded science is way down. This is why I said wks ago the budget bill was “bad because it doesn’t go far enough.” How the science agencies are governed matters!!! This is killing labs. 🧪

This was predictable, and we did predict it last summer when the multiyear funding policy first emerged. This is how we know this admin is coming after science as a whole. Health equity, transgender health, mRNA vaccines… these areas are just the start.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, but we have this consolation: The more difficult the struggle, the more glorious in the end will be our victory. Rep. Raskin paraphrasing Paine @standupforscience.bsky.social

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted. What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards. Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

Update: Prasad out of FDA by end of April. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Grant Witness is hiring! We're seeking a full-time data scientist to join our team building data resources to support journalism, litigation, and activism protecting science, public health, and the rule of law. grant-witness.us/apply.html #rstats

The US army corps of engineers is considering, right now, what would be the largest destruction of coral reefs in US history. To make a port slightly bigger. People know this, right? www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 🧪🦑🌎

WASHINGTON D.C.!!! TOMORROW we are rallying on the National Mall to complete three goals: Save Science. Protect Health. Defend Democracy. Learn more by visiting this link! : zurl.co/9Rp7c #standupforscience #science #March7 #savescience #rally

"It is not a mild infection, it is not a mild virus; it is a severe illness. And they kept on telling me they wish they'd known beforehand how bad measles was, so that they could have protected their family," [Dr. Nolen] said. Degrading trust in vaccines comes with consequences.

This middle part of the thread points to specific examples of potential/ongoing automation of ideology-driven evaluation, i.e., using tools to screen for alignment with administration priorities. There are significant implications here for oversight of what is unfolding with NIH grants & reviews.

Real change takes a movement that goes into the public square, and as @cdelawalla.bsky.social explains, the public square has expanded & requires moving beyond business-as-usual engagement. More on @standupforscience.bsky.social and its strategic calculus: www.statnews.com/2026/03/06/s...

Just got off a mass call hosted by @50501movement.bsky.social that included @frankabe.bsky.social, @projectsaltbox.bsky.social, @sussexvb.bsky.social, @tifotter.bsky.social, me, & others. So incredible to hear from speakers unearthing plans and finding ways to fight concentration camps nationwide.

Wait, but RFK Jr & Drs Bhattacharya, Makary, Oz, Prasad, & Høeg kept saying that they would “rebuild trust.” They won’t like this survey showing that: “The public is differentiating the trustworthiness of career scientists in the CDC, NIH, and FDA from that of the leaders of those agencies.”

National Day of Action, this Saturday March 7, with dozens of events taking place in communities nationwide. New reporting via @meghanbartels.bsky.social with key quotes from @cdelawalla.bsky.social & @mtosterholm.bsky.social on the moment we face. www.scientificamerican.com/article/stan...

The next time someone hosts the NIH Director or HHS leadership on a podcast on trust, funding, or medical research, ask them why they are undermining early career researchers who drive science & discovery at NIH? 👇

PEPFAR, the program to stop hundreds of thousands of children and adults from dying of HIV/AIDS, was $6.5 billion a year.

Good news: Scientists were wrong about how bad sea level rise is. Bad news: It’s even worse than we thought.

Facts aren't up for debate, & science isn't a scam. @standupforscience.bsky.social with people across the nation on Saturday, March 7. 📢 Rally to safeguard science, protect health & defend democracy. More info on the National Day of Action: vist.ly/4trj5 

Looking forward to @standupforscience.bsky.social's National Day of Action, taking place on the National Mall in DC and in dozens of cities/communities across the US. Join in. The more you speak up, the more space you create for evidence, accountability, and the rule of law.

Loyalty oaths and political litmus tests won't lead to new discoveries, innovations, or breakthroughs. NIH, NSF, and other mission-driven agencies need to get back to their mission, free of political interference. Oversight needed yesterday, the longer this is delayed, the more damage accumulates.

Very excited to be speaking at the @standupforscience.bsky.social rally in Pittsburgh on Saturday. I am speaking just prior to Dr. Rachel Levine 1/2

Dr. “Measles outbreaks are the cost of doing business” Ralph Abraham left his role as Deputy anti-vaxxer at the CDC because of “unforeseen family obligations”. He’s now the campaign manager for a Republican candidate running against Bill Cassidy in the Senate primary in Louisiana.

A governance and rights crisis will get worse... compounded by a public health crisis unfolding in detention camps with inevitable outbreaks of disease in unsanitary, crowded conditions operated by private companies. Beyond just this tent camp, the system itself is untenable.

RFK Jr's non-expert #ACIP Has Scheduled a Meeting Next Month, looking to misrepresent the data on COVID-19 vaccines risks and ignore the fact that ACIP has already discussed vaccines risks and VAERS reports many times. vaxopedia.org/2026/03/01/r... via @aboutpediatrics.bsky.social

CIDRAP Op-Ed: The COVID vaccine myocarditis signal was real but is now resolved. ACIP's March agenda pretends otherwise, from @jakescottmd.bsky.social. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cid...

WELL, DORKS! @timothysnyder.bsky.social says there is nothing more important than science and no one more important than scientists to establish a decent society and politics...which is why we are STANDING UP FOR SCIENCE on MARCH 7TH across the nation! JOIN US! www.standupforscience.net/march7

"At a recent public meeting, [NCI] Deputy Director Doug Lowy noted the NOFO approval process now requires 16 steps. He joked that it’s now more complex than a 1929 Rube Goldberg design for a can opener." Remember: Gold Standard Science was meant to increase efficiency & let scientists do the work.

Major endorsement of @standupforscience.bsky.social's National Day of Action from @aaup.org... Stand Up For Science on March 7th in a community near you.

Only the best people... and not just from law schools.

Stand Up For Science this Saturday March 7 at dozens of rallies and pop-up protests in communities all across the US. @standupforscience.bsky.social www.standupforscience.net/march7

As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.

New opportunity via Simons Foundation... www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/pivot-...

What a read. I recognize it is behind a paywall, but even non-subscribers can access a limited number of STAT articles per month. For subscribers and non-subscribers alike, I recommend this profile of Stanley Plotkin as one to set aside for a quiet moment, read slowly, and share widely.

Honored to have this chance to stand up for science! Hope to see you there… or be together in spirit at National Day of Action rallies across the country.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26) Directorates to follow 1/10

A further reminder that top line FY 2026 budget numbers "wins" came with a significant caveat. Caveat: An administration that doesn't want to follow through will find ways to impede, slow, and stop the progress of science & medical research. Continued oversight and public pushback is required.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

Pay for however many newsletters you want, please, give all those writers money But you can't replace a whole journalism ecosystem with a series of freelancers, you just can't. There also needs to be support for serious papers, magazines, online newsrooms, and nonprofit reporting

A key point amidst a thread that resonates with what many in the science community want: *clear* answers and a return to evidence- and independent expert-driven decision making.

Yep. That’s why we are rallying around the nation to save science, protect health, and defend democracy on March 7th! @standupforscience.bsky.social Standupforscience.net/march7

BREAKING NEWS! Stand Up for Science is excited to welcome The Natural Resources Defense Council @nrdc.org as an endorser of our National Day of Action on March 7th! Together we're fighting to protect the earth and its people by saving science, protecting health and defending democracy.

Incredible story and reporting in @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/the-man-who-...

simple harassment of Blue States, continuing their war against the constitution.

'Updated Elements of an NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan' now out via NIH, effective *May 25, 2026* (see thread below for more context) grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...