Deep dive into the forced leave of Dr. Jenna Norton from her position has a Program Director at NIH. Why this matters, and what you can do: theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com/p/deeper-div...

This week's news digest for extramural investigators theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com/p/the-princi...

Great discussion RE changes to student loan eligibility www.facebook.com/share/v/1BeY...

Update on a significant development NIH grant terms. On 10/1, a change to grant making regs went into effect that gives NIH more power to terminate grants for policy reasons. But to use this power, new grant terms must include specific language. See @aniloza.bsky.social w/ the story from July. 1/

"Don’t make my life and the lives of so many other cancer patients, along with the research programs we depend on, collateral damage." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/stop...

This is a travesty, eliminating #PublicHealth loans for PT, OT, MPH, DrPH and many other degrees. They are trying to kill us.

Make some noise, people. Share this. Comment on it. Tell others today, right now. Family, friends, colleagues, social media, news outlets, the legislature, make the noise. This is our task: to ensure the American public understands how far down authoritarian rule we’ve actually gotten

“An HHS official [] described Dr. Norton as a radical leftist and said she was put on leave because she was criticizing the administration when she was supposed to be working” So, the fed govt openly eliminates ppl for their personal beliefs, got it www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

teams that could have made revisions to build fundable applications will never get the chance to be mentored and grow because this administration hates knowledge this is how we never end cancer this is how we never end HIV this is how we never end any fucking thing except ourselves 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Holy crap. They're triaging 2 out of 3 applications that are submitted. 2 out of every 3 applications will not even have a chance for discussion.

Make this go far

I can further confirm that @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social is experiencing retaliation by “Free speech” Jay and the Trump administration. @standupforscience.bsky.social stands with her and will continue to support public servants who speak out against the harms of this administration.

This is an important explainer about one of the many ways that this administration is destroying NIH. Meritocracy? We are watching it go away. And what’s being done at NIH is just one example of the ongoing, lawless destruction of American democracy

Who is Jenna Norton? Jenna is a friend + program officer who chose to speak, in her personal capacity, about the destruction going on at NIH. She was just placed on administrative leave; no reason was provided. Free speech? Not in this country anymore www.instagram.com/reel/DRA3e8-...

Unreal, the impact this is having on scientists. I spent over 700 hrs writing 4 grants submitted Apr-Sept that *might* have been funded next Apr; 2 abt to be 3 apps missed review bc of shutdown. In normal times takes 9-24 mo to get a grant funded. No hope for labs like mine. Literally no hope.

Donald Trump just said he'll ask the Supreme Court to freeze SNAP payments AGAIN. His message to the 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP? Eat dirt.

Have to read it to believe it. "The opening sentence asserts that 'the district court's order threatens significant and irreparable harm to the government which outweighs any claimed injury to plaintiffs' " abcnews.go.com/US/snap-appe...

Sigh. NIH normally sends several hundred scientists to the SFN annual meeting to learn, exchange info, come up with new ideas, and advance science. (The exchange of ideas is the very core of the scientific enterprise.) This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.

I can’t believe that these two headlines actually co-exist, that we now live in a country where the federal government MAKES PEOPLE GO HUNGRY to score partisan leverage

With a title from w-h dot gov that says “Democrats are to blame for airport chaos”, I guess we just don’t even pretend to care about the Hatch act??

This is a great substack to check out. It's a weekly digest summarizing faculty-relevant news RE continued attacks on higher education and federal funding agencies + the general chaos

These substantial donations reveal a simple truth: billionaires and corporations have the financial means to support higher taxes.

What IS workforce development (WFD)? An example explains: from declaring premed to becoming a doctor can be anywhere from 8 to 20 yrs. WFD is not just abt medicine but abt all workforce: how do we ensure that there will be sufficiently trained ppl to support science + medicine in yrs to come?

What is it like inside your head?

“It’s bizarre when people arguing for viewpoint diversity declare any statement by an employee…must be the official position of an institution. You can’t have viewpoint diversity unless you…reject the belief that every writer speaks for the…college or org” www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

Just won an award 4 innovation in workforce development from NCATS RE engaging engineers with medicine. But grants that support these internship programs remain stuck in purgatory, 1 was to be reviewed 10/21! Nothing bc of shutdown. Attacks on our govt hurt everyone. Poster link tinyurl.com/36yh33t7

Want to stay informed on the continued demolition of NIH and ongoing attacks on academia? Check out this new resource, a weekly digest of current events and action items for scientists. Subscribe to the substack and share broadly! theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com/p/the-princi...

ICE assaulted a citizen journalist in his car, tried to bash in his window with a gun & it discharged shooting both the journalist & a US Marshall. The incompetence is the point. ICE are American shabiha or titushky, barely trained thugs who spread destruction & fear www.wfsb.com/2025/10/21/u...

On Nov 5 at 4 PM, join and support members of the healthcare, public health, and scientific communities in a march from the APHA Rally for the Public’s Health to the Capitol to deliver petitions to Congress demanding the resignation or removal of RFK Jr. www.911forhealthandscience.org

“If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart.” — Former First Lady Betty Ford

A democracy isn’t (just) an electoral system. It’s also a culture of deliberation, debate, sensitivity to public concern, attention to social movements and community leaders, respect for civil rights and minority interests, free expression and association and due process. How’s your country doing?

Add a third button: “try to prevent the destruction of democracy in America”

WOW: The White House says the president's MAIN PRIORITY is his BALLROOM. SNAP is ending. Subsidies for health care are gong to double and in some instances quadruple plan premiums. The government is shut down. The cost of living is through the roof. And his priority is his ballroom.

SNAP benefits are about to lapse for 42 million people, because nothing says “save the children” like starving them.

On Nov 5 at 4 PM, join and support members of the healthcare, public health, and scientific communities in a march from the APHA Rally for the Public’s Health to the Capitol to deliver petitions to Congress demanding the resignation or removal of RFK Jr. www.911forhealthandscience.org

That’s seven. @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/us/uni...

Been trying to caption this for like 5 minutes. I got nothing. Been there. Am there. So many of us are there. And history will tell the tale of the time America cut off its nose to spite the face. And it’s our kids and their futures who will be harmed the most.

Whew. This is a good read…

The WH steals people’s property constantly and never asks permission. Another example of Trump acting like a king.

When Fox News lies, people die | We explain on PBS Newshour how the antiscience disinformation spread by the Murdoch media empire and especially Fox News, likely lead to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the U.S. And that's just COVID-19. Their fossil fuel disinformation is as deadly.

It's really not the flex he thinks it is

October is #BreastCancerAwareness month. As of 2024, 2.4M women worldwide received Herceptin. It also helped scientists realize that #breastcancer is heterogenous, paving the way for more targeted treatments. The 5 yr survival rate went from 75% in 1980 to 92%. 🧪 www.breastcancer.org/news/cancer-...

That’s about 45 5-year R01 projects. For Noem to gallivant around the world for cosplay photo shoots.

Individuals have sacrificed so much to get to the U.S. - by boat, by foot, by whatever. Only to be lost on an NY Times headline. “Mass deportations continue” “X boat sunk at see” “Children suffer in immigration prison”

Touché

Medicare is indefinitely pausing physician payments due to the government shutdown, citing telehealth policies that have to be renewed. www.cms.gov/medicare/pay...