We've been focused on childhood vaccination lately due to RFK Jr.'s crusade against them, but vaccines given in adulthood are crucial too. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/h...

I see people lecturing others that @schumer.senate.gov & @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social cannot do much in the minority. But leadership doesn't end in what you can get through Congress. It's their refusal, inability to speak clearly about what is happening, defaulting to poll-tested messages that irk.

Here’s that speech from Raskin. Everyone should watch it. And especially every scientist should watch it, given the posture of the Roberts Court on administrative law principles that create the foundation on which #NIH and NSF are built. @altnih4science.bsky.social

I’ve read a couple of books written by Dr. Peter Hotez — 👍🏼👍🏼

Absolutely!

A thread from an #AltCitizen. It’s not like Jayanta ever says anything different. It’s been the same shtick since day one. It might be nice if JAYANTA actually listened to staff and extramural scientists.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK JFC FUCK FUCK FUCK www.cnn.com/2026/01/03/a...

My quote of the day War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace. Thomas Mann

Some good things happened in 2025. Some highlights! 1. Huntington's disease has a treatment. 🧪2. FDA approval of antiviral drug Lenacapavir to prevent HIV 3. Brazil reduces deforestation by 32% 4. Columbia declares that the Amazon is off limits 5. India increases its tiger & lion population

🧪More good news on science advances in 2025: 1. A small clinical trial harnessing gene therapy caused a 75% decline in Huntington's disease progression. 2. The ozone layer may be healing. Scientists at MIT & Cal Tech confirmed this retrospectively. 3. We are close to removing forever chemicals.

An interesting read, most especially if you can’t accept that SARS-CoV-2 was a natural spillover event. I am pretty sure that @jimalwine.bsky.social wrote a piece about the increased tempo of pandemics at one point.

If RFKJ truly wanted gold standard science and innovation, he would use the power of the govt to end the pay-to-play scientific publishing. Go ahead Bobby. We dare you. #aaronsw

Up until this year, the US invested $10bn in mRNA technology. HHS canceled $500m (22 projects) on mRNA research. The advent of the Covid vaccine was just the beginning of next gen vaccines. It will be expanded to HIV & cancer. Life goes on while leaving us behind. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Genuinely beside myself that @microbetv.bsky.social thought it would be a good idea to do a show with me ranting about my dim view of most things Danish...but, as always, he was right! If you want to see more of me over at MicrobeTV, take a look & let us know what you think. Thank you, Vincent!❤️

Let’s hear it for some of the heroes of 2025!!! www.motherjones.com/politics/202...)

Love it. A must-read from @joho.bsky.social, reminding Prasad, Bhattacharya, Makary et al., reminding us that the U.S. is facing several disease outbreaks, so they have a great opportunity to show the rest of us how their way is “better”. We’re waiting…

My quote of the day My belief is in the chaos of the world and that you have to find your peace within the chaos and that you still have to find some sort of mission. Ta-Nehisi Coates

BTW, we tried launching Science Fight Club on our own, months ago...It's still around, it's not on Substack. It's $5 a month. You'll get a weekly newsletter and other content emailed to you. We also have a great free blog on the site. Fewer than 100 people signed up for SFC in 2025.

We made a group of photos to showcase the great work we did this past year. We’re looking forward to a strong 2026 and happy to look ahead! Posting the text thread below ❤️❤️ thanks for a great year 🧵🧵🧵🧵

This Monday marked one year since the loss of Jimmy Carter, who established #FEMA in 1979. Carter was explicit about his intent. One of his founding promises was to ensure FEMA “would not become part of a larger agency.” 1/9

As we enter 2026, we’re grateful for the people across academic medicine who continue to advance health, education, and discovery. Wishing our community a healthy, hopeful, and impactful New Year!

My quote of the day Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress. Charles F. Kettering

Happy New Year, everyone. Let’s gird ourselves for 2026.

On a podcast today, NIH Director Bhattacharya said NIH would not renew grants reinstated under the APHA vs NIH ruling by District Court Judge Young - as reported by @aniloza.bsky.social at @statnews.com. This means the studies yet again will be cut off midstream. www.statnews.com/2025/12/31/n...

So here’s to making 2026 a better year. For science. For our country. For the American people. We have the momentum. The resistance is growing. Let’s make 2026 the year we turned the tide.

This is such a thoughtful piece. It really shines the light on the significance of resistance inside the govt. While he talks about the alt-gov accounts on Bsky, there’s also a whole parallel alt gov contingency (separate from us but doing the sane work) on Instagram too. #altgov

As we close out the no good, horrible, very bad year that was 2025, we honor the NIH staff and extramural scientists who have stood up against the lawlessness of the current regime. So many people, some known, others faceless, care about the health of All Of Us.

Having been a part of the Altgov Onboarding process for several years now, I can unequivocally confirm that I have personally seen their qualifications with my own eyeballs. If you see the altgov[.]info ext on a bluesky account, that tells you we have confirmed the bonefides.

Director Bhattacharya spending more time on podcasts, this time taking about not renewing grants NIH was forced to restore. Good reporting from @aniloza.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/12/31/n... 1/3

Well sure. Same thing with Trump’s assault on the NIH, FDA, and CDC led by his minion Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which is basically Lysenkoism 2.0, but on a grander scale than Trofim Lysenko could ever have imagined.

This is what is lost when #RFKjr cuts funding and ends experimentation on animals. Help impeach him now: www.standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr @alt-nihscience4all.altgov.info @altcdc.altgov.info @alt-hhs.altgov.info @altfda.altgov.info @cdelawalla.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

I don’t have the energy to do a year-end thread right now, but this series is our attempt at analyzing the impacts of this year on biomedical research … and what could come next The series tackles everything from diversity grants, a brain drain, lack of comms, and plenty more

Yet again it pays to speak up & fight back! NIH has agreed to “evaluate each application individually and in good faith” for plaintiffs whose applications were unlawfully held in fiscal year 2025. In return, the plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit. www.aclu.org/press-releas...

My quote of the day It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things. Theodore Roosevelt

I hate that instead of celebrating this, I'm deeply suspicious. But maybe this is good? Let's watch and see.

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-...

As we prepare for another year of MAHA eugenics, we are reposting a thread about the history of disability and eugenics in public health. We have been here before.

Another Institute Director ousted. We need scientists and non-scientists alike to help us stand up to RFKjr and his brain worm. Help us, please! www.statnews.com/2025/12/27/n...

A relatively random thread about the degrees of NIH Directors. Not surprisingly, almost all NIH Directors have been straight MD holders. However, there have been two MD-PhD holders (actually one PhD, MD and one MD, PhD, but no combined MD-PhD holders) 1/13

Nothing to see here Just the NIH Director trashing, um, one of the world’s best respected journals, Science It makes sense really—power-hungry, power-consolidating autocrats love to criticize the media, it’s one of their favorite tactics

My kids and grandkids have returned to their homes. Back to the real world. I just emailed NIH Director Bhattacharya. My last email of the year (I hope). 1/13

Of course, people could just get the damn vaccine and we could use this tech to solve new problems.

Happy Belated Birthday to Anthony Fauci! Without truth, Democracy falls apart. For Christmas I want 1. #NIH & CDC to use evidence based science 2. RFK Jr Impeached 3. MAHA dismantled 4.To not politicize science 🧪 We can't give up & get discouraged. Do not accept the normalization of untruths.

Food can be one source of joy during the holidays. Those special recipes that elicit memories of holidays past.

Former FDA Dr. @scottgottliebmd.bsky.social on childhood vaccine schedule overhaul: Dr. Gottlieb reminds us that a move to the Danish schedule means more children hospitalized and dead, and counters other anti-vaccine claims. youtu.be/e8CJr1IgGPw?... via @cnbc.com

Merry Christmas 🎄🧪! Here's a video I made of the predicted structure for the protein MERRYCHRISTMAS. I used AlphaFold to predict the structure and then colored the backbone (green), amino acids by index (rainbow), and noncovalent interactions (dotted lines). #sciart #science #MolBio

My quote of the day Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store. Dr. Seuss

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate the holiday. For me and mine- family time, movies, and good food. See you soon-ish!