Amanda Therrien

Why Penn Must Reject Trump’s Higher Ed Compact By Amanda Rabinowitz Ph.D.

"Each concession leaves institutions more entangled with the federal government and more vulnerable to future coercion. Resistance must be strong, early, and sustained, or the space for resistance will vanish."

Read our latest blog post by @dramandar.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/philadel...

A flyer advertising Philly Science Action Social. Happy Hour for Philly's Science Community. Friday, Oct 3. 4:30-6PM National Mechanics. 22 S 3rd St #24, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Connect. Share. Build Community.

This Friday! 🍻🔬

Join us at National Mechanics for a science happy hour!
📅 Friday, Oct 3
⏰ 4:30–6:00 PM
🎉 10% off drinks
🤝 Connect with Philly’s science community

Then head to the FREE First Friday poster session at the Science History Institute!
🔗 tinyurl.com/3z8sh4ax

🍻 Join us for the Philly Science Action Social!
📍 National Mechanics | 📅 Fri Oct 3 | ⏰ 4:30–6pm
10% off drinks + connect with Philly’s science community.

Then head to the FREE First Friday poster session at the Science History Institute!
🔗 www.sciencehistory.org/visit/events...

Dr. Amanda Therrien speaks at a lectern in a lecture hall, presenting on the history of federal science funding in the United States.

Dr. Robert Dawley, Dr. Amanda Therrien, Dr. Amanda Rabinowitz, and Parlee Fellows Ashton Newswanger and Max Matalavage at the front of the lecture hall.

PSA was honored to speak at the Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good at Ursinus College.

@amandastherrien.bsky.social and @dramandar.bsky.social had an inspiring day speaking with and learning from students about the threats facing biomedical science—and what we can do to protect it.

Cuts to NIH & NCI would stall life-saving discoveries, devastate, patients, and harm Philly’s economy.

That’s why we joined @americancancersoc.bsky.social and a coalition of survivors, researchers, providers and advocates at Independence Hall to urge Congress: protect cancer research funding.

Congratulations to Postdoctoral Fellow, @jonathanwood603.bsky.social, & mentors @aaronlwong.bsky.social & @amandastherrien.bsky.social on receiving a prestigious NIH/NICHD F32 award for their project, “The role of subjective values and dopamine availability in incentive-based motor learning”!

🚨 Cancer research funding is under threat. Congress is considering cuts that would stall lifesaving progress.

📢 Join @americancancersoc.bsky.social + PSA at Independence Hall – People’s Plaza to oppose cuts & protect cancer cures.

🗓 Tues 8/26 | 10–11am
📍 530 Market St, Philadelphia

Senators are pushing back against Trump’s NIH cuts. Philly scientists say their advocacy is working. A Senate committee rejected Trump's proposed 40% cut to NIH funding. Philadelphia's medical research community says it means advocacy efforts are having an impact on Capitol Hill.

People 👏 power 👏 works 👏

“We’re particularly encouraged by the bipartisan nature of the recent actions. It does tell us we have support, that our advocacy efforts are working,” said Amanda Therrien of Philly Science Action

@amandastherrien.bsky.social

share.inquirer.com/x6FlEh

Let's please keep the remaining staff at NIH, NSF, etc in our thoughts even as you lose sleep over your own lab and scientific career.

They are enduring pure chaos to try to hold the fort.

See snapshot from wapo.st/4feKKuu (gift 🔗) saying they are "barely holding it together"

Happy to announce that my lab @ Yale Psychology (actcompthink.org) will be accepting PhD applications this year (for start in Fall '26)!

Come for the fun experiments on human learning, memory, & skilled behavior, stay for the best 🍕 in the US.

Please reach out if you have any questions!

well put.

A case so obvious it shouldn’t even need to be made: Biomedical research is an excellent investment By Amanda S. Therrien Ph.D. and Amanda Rabinowitz Ph.D.

The case for investing in biomedical science is so clear it shouldn’t need defending. Yet here we are.

Read and share our latest blog from @amandastherrien.bsky.social & @dramandar.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/philadel...

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert A Scientific Brain Drain Has Followed Trump’s Gutting Of The NIH - Dr. Francis Collins

Dr. Francis Collins speaks to the dire state of affairs at our government agencies.

"Predictions are that since the plug was pulled on USAID, 90,000 children have died unnecessarily... And yet, where is the outrage?..Where is our compassion?"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW9c...

Hey you! 👋

Are you a scientist with something to say? We want to hear from you!

The @philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com Substack is looking for contributors!

Bring your voice — let’s defend science together. 🧬✊

DM us if you’d like to write for us!

if you know someone who has been really active in speaking out against the Trump regime, and you've been wondering if they want your help or if they have it all handled, please go help them however you can. they are exhausted. I am exhausted.

Proposed science spending in FY26 House Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill.

House FY26 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill proposes a 23% cut to funding for the National Science Foundation.
Call your legislators and tell them no cuts to science funding!
appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

1/ ✊🔬 Introducing the Philadelphia Science Action Substack — your local hub for scientists & science activists fighting for truth, transparency & inclusivity in Philly and beyond. 🧵 philadelphiascienceaction.substack.com

A reminder from Mister Rogers we might all need right now.

“Some days, doing ‘the best we can’ may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn’t perfect on any front — and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.”

Sign our open letter to Penn condemning this capitulation and standing up for transgender athletes and truly inclusive sport. Add your name here:

open.substack.com/pub/philadel...

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT

Please watch the workshop video and COMMENT by 5:00 Monday 7/14

This is the source of the "no more model organism only grants in NIH-funded research" decree.

The Dubious Promise of Disability “Cures” By Amanda Rabinowitz Ph.D.

We should be wary of scientific priorities that frame disability as a problem to “cure” instead of a reality to support.

Read more on our Substack from @dramandar.bsky.social:

open.substack.com/pub/philadel...

Tapping the sign that says “NSF, NIH, and public investment into basic research are the real engines of US innovation”

The Biological Truth Is That There Is No Simple Dichotomy Between Male and Female By Amanda S. Therrien Ph.D.

Penn’s acquiescence to the Trump Admin last week is troubling. It condones scapegoating, revisionism, & transphobia.
It also condones an interpretation of biological sex that flies in the face of current biological science.

Here, @amandastherrien.bsky.social discusses the actual biological truth.

Schedule F by Another Name Is Still a Threat to Science Should this rule take effect, civil service protections would be stripped from much of the federal workforce, all but dismantling the merit-based system we’ve had for more than a century.

In June, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed a rule to implement a federal hiring classification that would reintroduce parts of “Schedule F,” a controversial hiring scheme. UCS’s Joseph Reed explains why we joined a group of orgs to submit a comment urging OPM to withdraw the rule.

Surprise Tax in G.O.P. Bill Could Cripple Wind and Solar Power

Extreme weather events, like heat domes, will become more frequent & dangerous with climate change. The Big Bad Bill includes severe roll backs of clean energy initiatives, which will worsen this trend.

Keep calling your Senators! Tell them to vote no TODAY!! 📞 202-224-3121.

Systems are Designed for the Outcomes they Create By Marion Leary PhD MPH RN

Through its cuts to Medicaid & changes to the ACA, the BBB is expected to cut health coverage for a staggering 16M Americans.

Here, @marionleary.bsky.social discusses this “break glass” moment that calls for our immediate action.

Call your Senators TODAY! Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.

Republicans “big beautiful bill” would devastate our seniors, worsening their care and limiting their access to care… all so the GOP’s billionaire buddies can buy another yacht.

Cutting Medicaid means costs are shifted to providers. When patients lose coverage, they turn to ERs for care they can’t afford. Hospitals eat the cost, pass it on to insurers, and your premiums go up.

Medicaid cuts mean a worse health care system for EVERYONE.

Overnight, Senate Republicans overwhelmingly voted to advance Trump’s deficit exploding Big Tax Bonanza for Billionaires — paid for on the backs of millions of Americans losing health care and SNAP benefits.

Fiscally irresponsible and morally indefensible.

It’s Time to Ditch the Script: Science Needs You to Tell Your Story By Amanda S Therrien PhD

American scientists must gear up for the coming federal discretionary spending debate, which will decide the fate of Trump’s proposed cuts to federal science funding.

In our latest article @amandastherrien.bsky.social, discusses the importance of storytelling in the fight for science.