Amanda Heidt

Hey, I’m the writer of this piece, and I can’t help but feel you’re passing this off without appropriate credit.

Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures Beyond the crucial data they contain, these digital archives have provided an important space for academic communities to exchange ideas and resources.

🧪New from me for @nature.com: Nearly every model organism used in research has it's own database, called a MOD. These resources underpin decades of discovery, but they're collectively struggling amid funding cuts.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A screenshot of hud.gov, with the screen dimmed and a popup that says "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people." with a close button at the bottom.

A screenshot of hud.gov after clicking the close button on that popup, and it has a giant red banner at the top with white text on it that says "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people."

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH has anyone been on a .gov website yet today?

How many of them are like this??

Rush of Targeted Myasthenia Gravis Therapies Hit Once Sparse Market After decades without much movement, a handful of new treatments for this rare autoimmune disease are now approved, and several companies, including argenx and Regeneron, have recently released promis...

🧪Hearing about Myasthenia Gravis for the first time? I was too, but turns out there's lots to learn about this surprisingly common rare disease. So read on, in my latest for BioSpace.

www.biospace.com/drug-develop...

Draft agenda for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, scheduled for Thursday, September 18, 2025. The meeting begins at 10:00 AM with welcome and roll call by Dr. Martin Kulldorff (ACIP Chair) and Dr. Mina Zadeh (CDC). At 10:30 AM, Dr. Kulldorff provides work group updates. At 11:00 AM, the committee discusses measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines, with presentations by Dr. Arjun Srinivasan and Dr. John Su, followed by proposed recommendations. Lunch is at 1:00 PM. At 1:30 PM, Hepatitis B vaccine discussions begin, including presentations by Dr. Adam Langer and Dr. John Su. After a 4:00 PM break, agency updates from CDC, CMS, FDA, HRSA, IHS, and NIH start at 4:15 PM, followed by public comment at 4:30 PM. At 5:00 PM, votes are held on MMRV and Hepatitis B vaccines and Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, with Dr. Jeanne Santoli joining Dr. Kulldorff. The meeting adjourns at 5:30 PM.

The CDC has released the agenda for this week’s vaccine advisory meeting. The first item of business: MMR vaccines. 👀👀👀

www.cdc.gov/acip/meeting...

Update on Nathaniel B. Palmer

NSF: The vessel [US Antarctic research vessel NB Palmer] is planned to be returned to the operator after a final cruise in October 2025.  
www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/upda... @carlosmoffat.com

From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.

This story — which asks what happened to all of those newsroom DEI jobs, committees, and promises from 2020 — is the hardest one I've ever worked on. I hope you'll spend some time with it today.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...

Max always gets the best assignments. 😅

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

@maxkozlov.bsky.social coming in clutch with the worst thing I've ever heard.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I'm sorry, they do what now!? This is reaffirming my longstanding belief that myrmecologist are unhinged.

‘Brain dial’ turns food consumption on or off in mice Master-control area integrates information about hunger, a food’s tastiness and more — and can even drive intake of plastic pellets.

🧪We are so back! I have three deadlines this week, and here's the first to make it to pub. A new study in @cellpress.bsky.social identified the "key hub" that controls consumption. It's even got a link to semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy/Ozempic.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Still plugging away at this, but the farther we can share it, the better!

Florida plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for children to attend schools. Vaccination rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria and polio, decreased among US kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year from the year before, according to federal data reut.rs/4p6OUsC

Crisis within CDC is spilling into real world, experts say "I’ve never heard as many colleagues saying things like 'CDC is dead’ as I have today," an agency employee told STAT.

This is telling: People I spoke to are talking about CDC in the past tense.

www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...

Yes hello I will be moving here.

🧪Hey #CanSky #OncoSky, who's doing cool work in the nanobots space? Drug delivery, tumor detection and diagnosis, targeted therapy, minimally invasive surgery, etc. etc.

📌

DUE TOMORROW: Need a little financial aid to make the trip to Chicago Nov 7-9 or to participate in the virtual portion of #SciWri25? Apply for a Community Support Grant NASW membership not required to apply

Learn more and apply: sciencewriters2025.o...

Deadline to apply: Aug 28

🧪 #source request: Are you a PhD student from Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, South Africa, Germany, or China who *recently graduated or will soon graduate?* If so, I'd like to hear about your next steps for a story in @nature.com. Send me a DM, email me, or find me on Signal (aheidt.16).

I'll be keeping my head down and working hard for the rest of 2025 to make up for all this (much needed) time away, so editors, my world is your oyster!

How clinicogenomic data are reshaping kidney disease trials and drug discovery New genetic screening tools are advancing diagnoses and drug development for kidney disease, bringing nephrology in line with fields such as oncology and cardiology.

And lastly, for Nature Custom Media, I wrote about Natera's Renasight panel---a genetic screen of almost 400 genes associated with chronic kidney disease---and RenasightIQ, one of the largest commercial collections of kidney-specific genomic data in the world.

www.nature.com/articles/d42...

Tsunamis, Landslides and Asteroid Impacts: GeoClaw Models Deadly Flows Tsunamis, Landslides and Asteroid Impacts: GeoClaw Models Deadly Flows on Simons Foundation

For the @simonsfoundation.org, I reported this multimedia-focused feature on a program called GeoClaw, that for decades now has helped us model tsunamis, landslides and asteroid impacts. I've spent a lot of time in the PNW recently, where GeoClaw has been used in emergency management planning.

Class of 2025: five PhD students reveal realigned priorities in wake of COVID and cuts Scientists who began their doctoral studies in 2020 found their feet during a global pandemic and are graduating into an uncertain and chaotic future.

For @nature.com, I spoke to five early-career researchers who began their PhDs during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and are now planning their next steps. I won't lie, it's a bit of a downer at times, but there's also optimism and humor throughout.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

See how the herpesvirus reshapes our cells’ DNA in just eight hours New imaging tools reveal how within an hour of infection, the virus begins to alter our chromosomes to kick-start its own replication.

The day before I left, I published a piece for @scinews.bsky.social showcasing how powerful new imaging tools are allowing us to see how quickly and completely herpesvirus modifies our cells, beginning just hours after infection.

www.sciencenews.org/article/herp...

This image depicts a hiking trail along a mountain ridgeline. There are yellow and white flowers dotted across the landscape, and a few snowdrifts in the background. In the foreground, a golden lab with a backpack is standing with his tongue sticking out.

A woman's hand--sleeved in a red puffy jacket--holds up an almond scone against a backdrop of snowy, rocky peaks. This image was taken on the summit of Huron Peak in Colorado.

This image depicts a woman rock climber, taken from above her and looking down. She is several hundred feet up a wall of pale granite, smiling as she climbs up towards the photographer. Below her is a dense, green forest.

A woman rock climber balances on a slab of dark granite, slowly traversing her way across. Behind her is a dense forest and the ocean.

After two glorious months away backpacking in Colorado and climbing in Canada, I'm finally sitting back down at my desk. More on that eventually, but in the meantime, a few belated shares of stories that ran while I was away:

Class of 2025: five PhD students reveal realigned priorities in wake of COVID and cuts Scientists who began their doctoral studies in 2020 found their feet during a global pandemic and are graduating into an uncertain and chaotic future.

Tough PhD timing - the cohort that started in 2020 (Covid) and finished by 2025 (waves hands) speaks out about their career high's and low's, how they coped and what they are doing to navigate the chaotic job market. Reporting by @scattercushion.bsky.social.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Bringing men into conversations about parenting in academia A new campaign by the non-profit group Mothers in Science highlights the challenges and experiences that fathers face, providing actionable steps to becoming a better parent and ally.

🧪I've been following the work of @mothersinsci.bsky.social since their first event back in 2020. This week, they've launched a campaign giving fathers space to share their experiences and confront stigma. Read all about it!

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exhibit A - Spreadsheet – #147, Att. #1 in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Kennedy, Jr. (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10814) – CourtListener.com Exhibit A - Spreadsheet

There's a lot of confusion about which NIH grants will be reinstated after Monday's ruling.

Right now, we can say many grants from PIs who were members of either APHA or UAW OR grants at public unis in plaintiff states.

A partial list is available now. We'll update Grant Watch ASAP

How to Grill Meat Safely—According to Science Food microbiologists explain how to ensure different proteins, such as beef, chicken and pork, are prepared safely

🧪This is the third story of mine to make it into @sciam.bsky.social's Ask the Experts column that stems from a weird thought I had while talking to my friends or hiking or otherwise just living my life. I dunno about y'all, but I've been grilling up a storm lately.

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at a Crossroads In this Viewpoint, former members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) caution that the sudden change in the ACIP may reverse the achievements of US immunization policy, includin...

👀 Hot off the press: A scathing open letter co-authored by all 17 former ACIP members. It's a frank look at ACIP history and the hard truths America will grapple with in the upcoming months.
Turns out the former ACIP members have more spine than CDC leadership 🙄
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...