Rachel Widome

They did seem like they were in disarray in my last few visits in recent months.

I mean does anyone know what the hellllllllllllll happened???

I thought you'd be on Team DST! You realize sunrise in MN in June would be at 4:30am without it. Who wants that (other than 85% of the Minnesotans we work with 😂 )?

Don't tell anyone I said this.

My official professional opinion is clock changes are bad and standard time is better for you than daylight savings.

But my personal opinion? Man, I love daylight saving time! ☀️🌅🌆

I need to know… what happened!

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

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.

11/ ...When people are being shot, detained inhumanely, deported, and abused for having the same identities we are removing from grants, it is abundantly clear we are participating in hate.”

- anonymous NIH program officer

7/ In reality, my colleagues still inside NIH tell me that their assessments are largely ignored.

Once a grant or application is picked up by the tool, they are almost never able to move the grant forward as is - regardless of the scientific justification.

5/ Right now, they are arguing in court that they have replaced the old, unlawful process.

But my colleagues inside say this is false.

NIH isn't actually following the new processes they laid out.

Changes to University of Minnesota Dental Care We are writing to announce the closure of the Boynton Health Dental Clinic and the transition of all patient services to the University of Minnesota’s School of Dentistry Dental Clinics and Faculty Dental Clinic. This decision comes as part of an ongoing review of the requirements needed to operate, repair and upgrade the Boynton Dental Clinic. Boynton Dental Clinic is the only Boynton Health clinic or program affected by this closure. As we move forward with this transition, the University of Minnesota is committed to ensuring a smooth transition for your dental care at an affordable cost. The School of Dentistry Dental Clinics and Faculty Dental Clinic: ● Provide patients with access to a multi-specialty team—ranging from expert faculty to the next generation of dental innovators—all within the same campus footprint. ● Accept the Student Health Benefit Plan, Graduate Assistant Health Plan, Minnesota Care, Medical Assistance, and most private insurance plans. Call your insurance provider to find out if your specific plan is accepted. ● Are located close to the Boynton Health Dental Clinic, offering an easy change for patients. ● Charges generally lower fees than other Twin Cities dental clinics. ● See both adults and children. If you choose to continue your dental care with the School of Dentistry Dental Clinics and Faculty Dental Clinic, you may contact them to schedule an appointment at 612-626-3233 and your dental records will be transferred. It may take longer than normal to transfer the record and your patience is appreciated during this transition. If you choose to see a dental provider outside the University of Minnesota, please contact Boynton Health at 612-624-9998 to transfer your dental record or complete Boynton’s Release of Health Information form and email it to bh-dent@umn.edu. For Boynton Health billing questions, please contact the Patient Accounting Office at 612-624-9998.

Niche UMN issue but nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody’s got their reasons for despising Markwayne Mullin and mine is him screaming at the dignified and brilliant former CDC Director Susan Monarez at a hearing.

He lied about a nonexistent recording and tried to bully her into submission.

She was a locus of zen. He lost his damned mind.

We’re having a few warm days in Minneapolis. Everything outside is moist and gritty. Additionally, Jay Bhattacharya is a really terrible NIH Director.

Was this in any part inspired by the new federal digital accessibility guidelines?

Their legacy

I’m surprised that this is surprising.

In 2022 (back when #Twitter was still a thing), I had made this #meme about the state of #urban #climate #research based on an #xkcd comic.

With all the recent changes in the #publication and #funding spaces due to the #AI + #machinelearning hype cycle, here is an updated version.

Today should be your 38th birthday.. When you lose your son you lose more than a child you lose a piece of your heart and your joy. Life is forever altered, and nothing can ever fill that space. Yet in my soul, he remains, my precious boy, forever loved. His laughter, his smile, and his love are woven into who I am. My love for him will never fade. Yor are my pride and my joy - you've made a change that cannot be broken..

Alex's mom on his 38th birthday.

A bunch of swirly choco buns.

Bunz

LOVE them!!

Elite Doctors Served Jeffrey Epstein While Treating His ‘Girls’

NEW: I and colleagues reviewed 15,000 documents to illuminate how Jeffrey Epstein used VIP doctors to control and manipulate young women* — and how the doctors helped him, treating his needs as more important than the patients'. Gift link.

*see next post in thread

Spooky-cute?

Bagel of bagels in background. In foreground is my hand holding a little guy made of bagel!

I ordered from the Mogi Bagel pop-up (awesome bagels BTW) and found THIS GUY in my cinnamon raisin bagel bag!! 😂😱🥯

It’s a difficult problem because I also don’t want these types teaching and mentoring, but they are still there, so…

The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds.

New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October.

(h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)

Whoa, where did you come from?

It’s happening right here @iamwbob.bsky.social!

I’m certainly no expert since I don’t use it and haven’t prob followed the right people but I feel like it’s all people just promoting their own stuff. Like an annotated CV. Yawn. And there seems to be no way to share a post (unlike twitter or here), so I don’t get lured in. 😂

I can’t bear to log into LinkedIn because it’s so boring and so broken (like why does it show you stuff from 3 weeks ago 1st?). I just assume there’s nothing interesting or entertaining there.

She also doesn't seem to understand the role of the Surgeon General. She keeps refusing to make "blanket statements" and wants everything to be a convo b/t patient and doctor. Great, but SG *makes blanket statements.* They've advocated against smoking, opioids, obesity, educated re AIDS. /1