Chris Hourigan

🔬 What if diagnosing and tracking AML could be done with one test? 

At #ASH25, NMDP is sharing new MEASURE study results showing whole genome sequencing (WGS) can identify key AML mutations and offer clearer, more consistent data—moving us closer to modernized diagnosis and monitoring.  ⬇️

Logging back into Bluesky to ask for current best practices for presubmission enquiry @natureportfolio.nature.com. We have a massive piece of team science we are turning into important resource paper that will be cited++ @naturemedicine.bsky.social website asking for a form - do it or email editor?

Thank you for organizing this Simon. Agree, was a lovely speech from Dr. Lancaster.

What does a 40% NIH budget cut mean for funding chances (now ~15%)?

You might think “60% of the money left = 9% success”

❌ NOPE!!!

1-3%

because 80% of the budget is for existing grants

New science? Starved
Ongoing grants? Slashed 😢

#FundingScienceSavesLives

FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders in Molecular Medicine FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders in Molecular Medicine

We have 2-3 group leader positions opening @fimm-uh.bsky.social !!

We are looking for outstanding candidates in human genetics and precision medicine.

This time we have a focus on population health data science. E.g. AI for EHR/health data       

Generous starting package 💰

shorturl.at/FAk6n

Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students

Breaking News: The Trump administration halted Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, a major escalation in its battle with the school.

Discussed this at a dinner yesterday with mild surprise that it hasn’t already happened - once in a generation discount on the opportunity to turn capital into legacy.

Appreciate shoutout to old literature

NIH Budget (2025 Dollars) Presidential Proposal -- Congressional Appropriation FY2026 Presidential Proposal Fiscal Year

Check this chart.
Purple line: NIH actual budget (as passed by Congress) after 2000.
This is in real (inflation-adjusted) dollars.

The Trump/Vought proposal for 2026 (yellow) is catastrophic, for US science and medical cures for Americans. That's a massive drop.

The hits just keep on coming...

Biotech shares today. What did I miss?

Current administration proposes 18 BILLION dollar cut (~40%) to NIH medical research for FY26 (closer to 45% if new budget 27B not 48.5B+inflation). National Science Foundation cuts of ~56% proposed. whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u.... @altnih4science.bsky.social @davelevitan.bsky.social

NEW: Per multiple sources, the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors has been entirely disbanded.

Any idea on what next? Similar boat.

old man yells at cloud is written on a newspaper ALT: old man yells at cloud is written on a newspaper

TFW you get an email from @ash.hematology.org and realize that you are about to age out of eligibility for the William Dameshek Prize...

bsky.app/profile/drch...

Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump’s proposed health cuts HHS would be asked to absorb a $40 billion cut, about one-third of its discretionary budget.

Taking from NIH research to create a new MAHA agency? wapo.st/42gLz0Z Summary: Proposal: $47B NIH budget split into $27B for NIH (now only 8 institutes, from 27) and $20B for a new "Administration for a Healthy America" (incl. primary care, childhood chronic disease).

Incredible

It’s stunning to me that the New York Times did not put the story on the bloodbath at the NIH, CDC, and FDA on its front page this morning.

The crazy thing about firing all of these federal employees is that they tend to be underpaid, super hardworking, in it for the right reasons, idealistic people who could’ve worked in industry or pharma and made way more money but they truly believed in the mission and the good they were doing.

Opinion | The free-living bureaucrat Michael Lewis on Heather Stone of the Food and Drug Administration.

Incredible story, very well told. At the intersection of purpose-driven scientific research, dedicated federal employees working tirelessly without credit for the public good, rare diseases under radar of the power of the market, and “healthcare” in the US. Sharing as a gift article: wapo.st/3DyAWgz

It is so depressingly pedestrian and shallow. This is how we end up with "centralize functions and merge institutes into 15" as a solution rather then the harder work it would take to maintain the incredible engine that has truly made America great. Federal research investment has phenomenal ROI.

Tell me you don't understand the research and innovation process w/o saying it. McKinsey report from DOGE staff now at NIH on "leading through change: preparing for government transition". I went to HBS specifically to think seriously about how federal research agencies could improve - this ain't it

Johns Hopkins to cut more than 2,000 jobs after $800M in federal cuts

Judge orders Trump officials to offer jobs back to fired probationary workers

All getting used in 2025

Vibes

a man with a mustache is standing in front of a crowd and says " be curious not judgmental " ALT: a man with a mustache is standing in front of a crowd and says " be curious not judgmental "

As I get older myself I’ve become less tolerant of the “more of a comment than a question” elders.