Cases of respiratory syncytial virus are increasing, but vaccines and antibody shots can keep young children out of the hospital

NSF is open for feedback on their strategic plan, deadline is Jan 27!! www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...

The final LHHS bill with funding for Health and Human Services is out this morning! At first glance, it looks similar to the Senate bill with a roughly 1% increase in total funding for the NIH. While it doesn't match inflation, it avoids many of the problems in the presidential budget request. 1/n

After the proposed budget cuts to science, the recently released Congressional appropriations bills mean that "Congress is really starting to push back" according to @alesszimm.bsky.social. I'm not sure I agree that "science is doing OK," but it's certainly a big step in the right direction.

Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n... 1/3

Oink!

PLEASE SHARE 🧪‼️ Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

Never let a crisis go to waste. Every scientific field can benefit from collectively reflecting on where we are and what we want the future to look like. Interesting paper that's definitely worth a read.

While there has been major damage done (especially to early career researchers), this is a step in the right direction!

STATEMENT: Maryland’s childhood vaccine schedule will continue to follow the guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Read the full statement from Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani: bit.ly/3Nffp0B.

As always, you can find a great overview of the proposed congressional science funding bills from @alesszimm.bsky.social - updated today with the final bills for science funding for nsf, nasa, noaa, and some other agencies.

With today's announcement by HHS proposing changes to the US childhood vaccine schedules, it's more important than ever to be pushing states and pediatricians to commit to following data-driven vaccine schedules like the ones from @ameracadpeds.bsky.social downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP-...

RELEASE: Flu activity and hospitalizations are currently high in Maryland. Individuals over 6 months old are urged to protect themselves by getting a flu vaccine and practicing preventive measures against respiratory viruses. Learn more: bit.ly/4qDefdK.

Why should scientists write op-eds? It's tempting to say the facts ought to speak for themselves. But the facts are largely whispering among themselves in the scientific literature. They need us to give them a voice. How? Advice in my latest @natchem.nature.com Thesis rdcu.be/eJlGL #chemsky 1/3

Happy Saturday! A gentle reminder to be kind to yourself, on this first Saturday of 2026. You are MORE than one in a million. Of all the parental combinations of DNA, you, as you are, made it on this earth. We are not meant to be caged in imaginary boxes. Art by Andrea Olivari #Pinks

This is a great and timely data-rich piece on kindergartener vaccine rates against measles in the US from @caitlingilbert.bsky.social and @laurenweberhp.bsky.social. Key takeaways: 1) Strong vaccine mandates matter 2) Some districts need better data collection 3) Schools need enforcement support

It's great to see vaccination rates remain high in MD! It's a good reminder that state and local vaccine policies and outreach matter.

The top medical advances of 2025 www.statnews.com/2025/12/31/2... via @statnews.com

Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research. A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans. futurism.com/health-medic...

On delayed application review, the NIH grant terminations lawsuit appears to be headed for a settlement. Both plaintiffs and defendants have submitted a joint document outlining their agreement. Judge Young must sign off on it before it takes effect. Here's what it says and what all this means 🧵

ACLU: NIH Agrees to Evaluate and Complete Review on Stalled Scientific Grant Applications Parties resolve claims on behalf of applicants harmed by unlawful directives bit.ly/4jg5SSW @aclu.org @apha.org @aclum.bsky.social

It's great to see encouragement of young science journalists. Plus, the winning piece was even on my favorite sport! As a competitive runner myself, the bigger question is why did it take so long for super shoes to be invented? Have runners like me just been wasting money on shoes all these years? 🧪

Download our large database of postdoc fellowships in all fields of research. Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships. Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Today is the last day to submit comments

Immense progress in gene editing, drug discovery and conservation are just some of the reasons to be cheerful about 2025

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

🧵🎄Friendly reminder that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operates a 3-D, interactive website at www.noradsanta.org showing Santa 🎅 and his reindeer delivering presents around the globe. 1/6 #christmas #holiday

Fun science piece from @meghanbartels.bsky.social for the holiday season. I really want to know more about these peppermint mocha Christmas trees 🌲and what would be the weirdest scent to give a tree? 🧪

NIH funding is like pizza 🍕. Usually, the NIH gives many researchers a slice of the pie, but this year they decided to just give a few researchers the whole pie. The data show that, disproportionately, early career researchers went hungry. We need Congress to stop NIH multi-year funding mandates.

Multidisciplinary training, over time, produces the highest impact people www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Reading the Christmas edition of BMJ is one of my favorite things to do this time of year. It's especially nice to see a recap of some of the good things that happened this year.

NIH funding is like pizza 🍕. Usually, the NIH gives many researchers a slice of the pie, but this year they decided to just give a few researchers the whole pie. The data show that, disproportionately, early career researchers went hungry. We need Congress to stop NIH multi-year funding mandates.

An 🧪 #NIH peer review scientist was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2009. Stalling of clinical trials slows down the development of new drugs. New patients won't be enrolled. Patients already undergoing treatment are put on hold. The cuts affect future patients. via @savehealthresearch on IG

I'm so glad to see the NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP) come back this year after being canceled last year! It's usually one of the largest biomedical research internship programs in the country! It was also one of my first research experiences and convinced me to pursue a career in science.

Thanks to the efforts of many federal workers, the bill to restore collective bargaining rights targeted by the Executive Order earlier this year passed the House yesterday, HR2550 "Protect America's Workforce Act." This is a big win that many thought would be impossible. Now on to the Senate!

How does climate change harm people’s health? Here’s one important example… Extreme weather (and fire) disasters —which should no longer be called “natural disasters” because they are fossil-fueled—kill and harm health in the moment and for months & years to come. @docsforclimate.bsky.social

Huge shoutout to all the NIH scientific review officers and external academics who stepped up after the government shutdown to help reschedule hundreds of study sections. Thanks to this great community, my fellowship review was rescheduled within two months of its original review date 🧪

Great piece on the lasting impacts of the shutdown for science and public health. "When delays occur, these staff may lose their jobs. These dynamics create cascading disruptions across staffing, stall research progress and publications, and complicate long-term planning."

@aatishb.bsky.social got me on the record. “My colleagues did an outstanding job to work their butts off to approve things.” I swear it's true. It's still true at #NIH.

PSA - if you cook Turkey for your Thanksgiving meal, despite its unfortunate name, spatchcocking a Turkey is one of the most thermodynamically favorable ways to cook it. 🧪 🧵

Hearing a @jeremymberg.bsky.social rant is almost always a good time. A close second is a @cdelawalla.bsky.social rant. Sounds like fun. I'll be there @standupforscience.bsky.social . Who else wants to join me?

A great opinion piece on the damage being done to early career researchers and why we need to do a better job supporting them from Sophia Greene, an undergraduate at Vassar College, and Dr. Claudia Fernandes, an assistant clinical professor at Yale.

Thanks for the reminder, @dmgreene.bsky.social. Terps, I've got a challenge for you. From now until #GivingTuesday, I will match every signature with one dollar donated to the @univofmaryland.bsky.social. @mboudreaux.bsky.social claims he'll match me. @publichealthumd.bsky.social, what about you?

“If this administration thinks that summarily ousting NIH employees whose only offense is calling on the agency to respect science and academic freedom will go unnoticed, they can think again.” www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murr...

NEW: Jenna Norton, an NIH employee who is openly critical of Trump & RFK Jr, has been put on "non-disciplinary" administrative leave. She says the administration is trying to "scare and silence me." An HHS official, asked to comment, called her a radical leftist. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

Thanks for continuing to speak out @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social. We will not be silenced.

Yesterday, hundreds of scientists, physicians, health workers, patients, leaders, and advocates spoke together with one voice, RFK Jr. is not fit to lead HHS and has got to go. Thanks to @apha.org @standupforscience.bsky.social, and others for organizing.

🧵1/7. More blows to science. Dr. Rachel Riley, a 33 year-old DOGE staffer and former McKinsey consultant, replaced a Rear Admiral as the head of the Office of Naval Research. The ONR, with a budget over $2B, oversees Navy and Marine Corps research programs in science and technology.

@savehealthresearch.bsky.social writes, "99% of recent treatments are #NIH supported. Erica wants everyone to have the same opportunity she had to benefit from this new medicine. What treatments are we about to discover that could be lost, and who may have been given years more of life?"