Curtis Pickering

If you are overwhelmed by all of the attacks on science in this country and have trouble following it all, below is a new resource to digest it all. They will have weekly posts with key information. Subscribe and share it. It is run by scientists from across the country.

I have been thinking about "this is what NSF has meant to me" style posts and I want to talk a little about two sisters: one who had a chance to make a career in a country that had NSF/NIH and one who didn't.

Screenshot of the AACR GENIE cBioPortal website notice of being temporarily down to ensure compliance with US regulations.

Well, the AACR GENIE cBioPortal site is down to make sure it complies with the new regulations. Let’s hope it’s temporary.

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.

No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.

1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.

The Continuing Crisis, Part VII: An Overview

Another “Continuing Crisis” post, this one covering some larger principles and explaining why I’m doing these in general:

a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card

I am not going to call this a Bluetorial, because I do not want to sully that term (which, at least I, find joyful).

Let’s call it a Orwellial.

Did you know - the medicine that President Trump takes each day to lower his risk of having a heart attack is a direct result of NIH funding? Let me explain -

I think people both within science and outside science don’t fully appreciate the miracle that were the Covid-19 vaccines. How much courage it took to get the sequence out, how much work had already gone into figuring out the best viral antigen and how best to present it. 1/

Once upon a time, some villagers came across a large, ornate wooden box in the local woods. On the side of the box was a message:

“Whatever money you put in this box will, in future, grow to become 2.5 times larger.”

1/

A really important email from my friend Senator @chrismurphyct.bsky.social . As he says "this is a 5 alarm fire."

America is under attack right now.

The Trump administration’s attacks on scientific funding, restrictions on Federal scientist activities, and indiscriminate firing have caused chaos, panic, and harm. We need *specific* examples of harms caused by these policies to include in an open letter. Grants cut, projects cancelled, jobs lost. Feel free to send news stories, blog posts, or social media posts that mention these, as well as original contributions. Please send to WhySharksMatter @ gmail or DM me

Science (and science policy, and conservation) friends, I need your help!

We are collecting *specific, clear* examples of harms caused by the Trump administration's attacks on science, to be included in an open letter.

Can be links to news stories/social media posts. 🧪🦑🌎 #SciComm #SciPol

February 18, 2024 TO: Dr. Matthew Memoli, Acting Director, NIH CC: John Burklow, Chief of Staff, NIH Julie Berko, Director, OHR, NIH FROM: Nathaniel James Brought, Director, ES, NIH SUBJECT: Resignation Dear Dr. Memoli, On July 3, 2001, I stepped off a bus on Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot Perris Island. Scared out of my mind, I stood on a pair of freshly painted yellow footprints, raised my right hand, and recited the oath of enlistment: I, Nathaniel James Brought, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. For the last 23 years, 7 months, and 15 days, I like to believe I have faithfully carried out the duties of each office to which I've been appointed in my military and civilian service to this nation. That Service has taken me from the Marine Corps to 3 different federal departments, spanned 3 continents, included service in one war zone, and has included: • For the Marine Corps and the National Security Agency, I worked on intelligence operations at the highest classification levels using bleeding edge intelligence tools to ensure America's special operators put boots-to-asses on America's enemies overseas (including commendations crediting my work for the kill or capture of dozens of terrorists), ensuring America's policy makers were able to track the movement of dangerous dual

nuclear technology across international borders, and monitored the flow of terrorist financing across the international banking system. • Utilized information from all-source intelligence to ensure the continued security of America's homeland from international and domestic threats. • Worked with some of the finest lawyers in the world to ensure America's security operations were effective, while upholding the rights of all those who interacted with them. • Ensuring that America's rural communities had access to programs like rural development loans, farm aid, and that America's children wouldn't be hungry as they sat in their classrooms and tried to learn. • Most recently, and frankly most dear to my heart, working with each of you here at the National Institutes of Health to advance the future of science and medicine. Not for Americans. Not for any one group of people. But for ALL of humanity. I am unbelievably proud to be able to say that there are Americans who are alive, and terrorists who are not, because of the work I've done to serve this nation. I am proud to say that my service to this country has allowed me to ensure that my children have never faced the struggles of poverty that I grew up with. That service didn't begin because of some great altruistic impulse or drive. I didn't grow up saying "I want to do the great work that needs to be done to weave the fabric of America and ensure her people are not only safe, but healthy." Frankly, that service began because I was poor, and I was inspired. I grew up as a free lunch kid who lived in project housing. It was my fellow Americans who made sure I wasn't hungry in class and that I had enough food to excel academically the way I did. It was Americans who had more than we did that made sure I had good schools to attend where I could learn things that expanded my mind. As I approached the end of high school, I dreamed of going to college and figuring out how to make a living that would allow me to do more tha…

to go to college. I knew my grades weren't good enough to compete for scholarships with kids who were as smart as me but also had private tutors and didn't have to work after class to be able to drive their brand-new cars to our school each day. So, I gave up. I nearly failed my senior year of high school with an attendance failure, even though I only needed two classes to graduate. I didn't see the point. What was the point of learning calculus? So it would be that much harder when my dream of being a brain surgeon died not because I was incapable, but because I didn't have the means to make it come true? I resigned myself to being one of the working poor. I resigned myself to needing a spinal fusion before I was 50, like my father, because he literally broke his back trying to make his dreams come true. The example of my father didn't inspire me at that time. It reminded me of the futility of trying to escape the rung of the social ladder I had been born onto. No matter how smart or "gifted and talented" I may have been, I saw no path that led me to a place where I could realize my potential. So, instead I accepted that it would be wasted. Ultimately, the reason I find myself here today, rather than in the place I saw as my only end, is because of another young man who committed to serving his country. Shamefully, I do not remember his name, but there was a young corporal from the United States Marine Corps who had been assigned as a recruiter in Reading, Pennsylvania at that time. This man spoke to me about my plans for my future during lunch one day at school. I told him I planned to do what my father had done. Work hard jobs until my body broke down, maybe start a struggling business, and try to do what I could to stay above the poverty line and off welfare. I told him I hoped to be successful enough that my kids never had to watch me use food stamps at the grocery store. It had been hard to watch my mom go through that. How sad is that? I was a smart young 18-…

Over on LinkedIn, the head of the Executive Secretariat of the NIH -- a central part of NIH leadership 🧪🩺-- resigned with a lettter worth reading

www.linkedin.com/posts/nathan...

a man standing in front of a crowd with the words everybody panic Alt: a man standing in front of a crowd with the words everybody panic

Short update on NIH

The situation is very confusing, a not just to me. Folks who were told the were to be terminated did not receive any communication for a day and a half, people who were “on the list” have not received anything as of yet. Some folks who had been terminated have be reinstated

1/2

Captures it perfectly.

I am hiring for my lab at Yale. We study the translational genomics of head and neck cancer. I’m looking for a postdoc or scientist with experience in cell and molecular biology. Genomics or mouse experience is a bonus. No official posting is up, just contact me if interested.

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Bluetorial: The rationale for the “NIH” indirect cost “plan” is based on misunderstood (unintentional or intentional) accounting and math

The value of real government transparency

BREAKING: NIH admits funding freeze is illegal, will resume issuing grants An internal memo issued February 12 was obtained by Popular Information.

BREAKING

On Monday, Popular Information broke the news that the NIH had frozen virtually all grant funding in violation of 2 federal court orders

On Wednesday, NIH leadership distributed a memo, acknowledging that its funding freeze was illegal and directing staff to resume issuing grants.

Federal judge expands block on NIH indirect cost rate cut to institutions nationwide after additional lawsuits www.cnn.com/2025/02/11/p...

NIHTRO021025

NEW:

Federal judge in Massachusetts enters Emergency Temporary Restraining Order blocking Trump Administration from cutting health research grant money, including 15% cap on overhead costs.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

We also have an internal website with a timeline of events and guidance related to grants from different parts of the government.
Leadership here seems to be doing a good job so far in these uncertain times.

Another email from Yale mentioned their public declaration in the court filing today and their efforts with lawmakers. They also emphasized their commitment to research.

Sign the Petition Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify
Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk
"Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

BREAKING: 22 states sue NIH over Trump administration's new 15% cap on overhead for federal research grants. Suit filed federal court in Boston contends lifesaving research 'will grind to a halt' under the policy. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Part of the word from the Yale School of Medicine is, "Please know that leaders from Yale and universities across the United States are collaborating to respond to this guidance, exploring all avenues."
Hopefully that means something will happen soon.

I’m generally starting with the fact it is a cut, but I’m trying to be prepared for anyone who says that grants from foundations and drug companies get a lower rate.

The indirect cost cut at NIH is difficult to describe to non-scientists. Isn’t it appropriate to say that it is infrastructure (IACUCs, IRBs, etc), like roads and bridges? It builds and maintains research infrastructure so that small foundations can support research. Any downside to this framing?

People sitting in these study sections - ask why these applications are being taken out? If provided no answer by the SRO, ask bluntly if these applicants are being taken out on the basis of their race. If no answer, refuse to move forward with the review until an answer is provided...

Update: They were removed from our reviewer assignments completely. I'm so sorry to all those graduate students. Anonymous to protect the identity of the NIH employee I spoke to...I am on study section next month to discuss F awards. We were just instructed to put the F31-Diversity applications on the bottom of our priority list for review because there is a chance we may not be able to review them. My heart is breaking for the grad students and their mentors that put so much work into these just for them to be disqualified and thrown out.

Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.

Spoke to client whose 1.5 million grant from USAID was terminated on Monday. They were developing new HIV prevention approaches. Purely therapeutics/virology. All the money spent here in the US.

Well…let’s hope this is just temporary.