Alex Psihogios, Ph.D.

NIH director orders new review of grants in outline of top research priorities Many topics on Bhattacharya’s list are familiar, but order to re-evaluate grants draws concerns

Jay Bhattacharya’s priorities do not consider the needs of patients, caregivers or frontline clinicians. They are not informed by researchers.

And they are problematic and unscientific in several places. 🧵 1/5

www.science.org/content/arti...

Curtailing funding for foreign components on NIH grants has real consequences. Broader participation in clinical trials means broader applicability of cures. And for rare diseases, there may not be enough eligible patients in the US alone. Ending foreign components will harm patients in the US.

I don't think the values of the Trump administration are the values of the Columbia medical faculty. In fact, I am certain they are not. We have made a deal with the devil. Those don't usually work out. 1 And far from all of them were on board with a deal. See the web page of CUIMC Stands Up, a group of medical faculty who have and continue to oppose any deal under these circumstances. They have even launched a satirical newsletter, check it out!

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves:

“I don’t think the values of the Trump administration are the values of the Columbia medical faculty. In fact, I am certain they are not. We have made a deal with the devil. Those don’t usually work out.”

We can confirm ‼️

"Every cut has a constituency".

In this case, Chicago and Illinois politicians will see their voters die from Trump cuts.

Stand up with us to fight back for all-things science, health and life itself in America.

#StandUpForScience

NIH froze funding for clinical trials at a major university. By fall, they’ll run out of funding | CNN Northwestern University hasn’t received any funding from the NIH since the end of March. Not only could patients potentially stop receiving treatments that trials provided, the research itself could b...

New CNN story about clinical trials damaged by the funding freeze at Northwestern.

www.cnn.com/2025/06/23/h...

1/n

🚨 After more than three months, Columbia University is no longer frozen out of NIH funds, per source.

Terminated grants will not (yet) be reinstated, but money should begin flowing otherwise, I'm told.

"We are speaking on behalf of hundreds of NIH staff who are standing up together to say: WE DISSENT.

I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up."

Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!

The federal government is telling you they cannot afford to house you, feed you, educate you or heal you — but that they do have enough resources and scale to criminalize, assault, deport and incarcerate your neighbors simply going to work or taking their kids to graduation.

ADD YOUR NAME: Sign the Open Letter in Support of NIH Staff Join the courageous and committed National Institutes of Health (NIH) public servants by adding your name now.

I signed this and urge others to consider:

A broad group of National Institutes of Health (NIH) public servants have taken action with the "Bethesda Declaration" that targets the NIH and HHS Leadership. Join these courageous professionals by adding your name now. actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na...

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding.

It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job.

unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

Note that NWU has received zero communication from the administration about this. No explanation, no rationale, no demands. Nothing.

They're not even paying on grants that were already awarded and budgeted. It's tyrannical

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

Northwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025

"He said researching the health effects of redlining... is a “completely legitimate kind of study” that NIH could fund... Yet he said structural racism cannot be studied because it’s “not a scientific hypothesis." One audience member pointed out that redlining is a form of structural racism."

What losing billions in federal grants means for universities, and the nation The Trump administration has so far frozen about $11 billion in research funding. University leaders say no other source can fill the void.

The Trump administration has so far frozen about $11 billion in research funding. University leaders say no other source can fill the void.

Among the most evil things an admin can do. If a prsn is willing to call 988, they are reaching out for help in their most vulnerable state. This is a prsn knowing their limits & needing help to stay alive. Cant overstate the imprtnce of a compassionate TRAINED counselor on the line. Call your reps

Researchers, ACLU sue over Trump's 'ideological purge' of NIH grants Scientific researchers on Wednesday sued to secure reinstatement of National Institutes of Health grants that funded research on topics like LGBTQ health, COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy canceled by Republican President Donald Trump's administration as part of an "ideological purge."

Efforts by the National Institutes of Health to shut down research that merely references LGBTQ people or people of color are a direct attack on public health — and illegal.

Woman with colorectal cancer at 35 had these signs of a ‘broken butt.’ Doctors dismissed her After being diagnosed with rectal cancer, Iona Woolmington learned she needed an ileostomy. Her experience led her to write and illustrate a comic about it.

Diagnosed with #colorectalcancer at 35, Ilona spreads awareness and dispels fears by creating a comic based on her experience. Lurie Cancer Center’s Mary Mulcahy, MD, shares insight with @todayshow.com www.today.com/health/disea... #ColorectalCancerAwarenessMonth #AYACSM #CRCSM

Depiction of the status of early career scientists. Instagram.

My friend from graduate school found out that funding for her NF1 project got pulled. From $25 mil to 0 with a stroke of a pen. NF1=Neurofibromatosis Type 1, an inherited genetic disorder. Both of us are early career scientists. 🧪🔬🧬 #Science #AcademicSky

www.wired.com/story/the-ch...

Good read. this moment affords an opportunity for us to “rethink the very basics of what the job of a scientist is, why we do our jobs, and what it means to do them well”

Stop blaming the loneliness epidemic on social media—digital communities help more than they hurt A prescription for the loneliness epidemic need not rule out the benefits of online communities.

"A prescription for the loneliness epidemic needs to incorporate digital experiences, with a focus on creating communities committed to fostering cohesion and connection, to not only treat the problem of loneliness but help people build satisfying lives—online and off."

fortune.com/2025/02/26/l...

Inside the Collapse at the NIH Administration officials pressured the NIH to avoid clear advice from the agency’s own lawyers to restart grant funding now.

Such a heartbreaking article
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

U.S. early-career researchers struggling amid chaos Uncertain funding, government firings, and distressed universities hit vulnerable groups especially hard

This hurts new and early career investigators (like me) the hardest. Most of us finished our postdocs & started our labs during the COVID-19 pandemic with shutdowns and supply issues at that time. Now we’re being hit with ::all of this::

www.science.org/content/arti...

🫠 -signed a NCI K awardee trying to make the K to R transition in the right place at the wrong time

A conceptual illustration of worried scientists at computers. Hedline reads: I'm an NIH-funded researcher, drowning in uncertainty

"How do you strategize around an unpredictable funding landscape?" #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/4gPIkBz

The millionth wild thing about America is a presidential executive order to "Make America Healthy Again", while the one major political reform that could single-handedly revolutionize health for all Americans — Medicare for All — is labeled a socialist policy and dismissed as impossible

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%.

I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Happening now! Drs. Williams, Figuero, & @karmacap.bsky.social: Digital health for All: Scaling & Implementing inclusive digital strategies for youth & families. #ThisIsPedsPsych