Dr. Kyle A. Floyd

On Monday, RFK posted a rambling video on the HHS X account showing a series of graphs and directly stating that vaccines have had minimal impact on human health and saving lives.

Today, in response, we brought our own graphs.

We will not let his dangerous nonsense go unanswered.

Dear people who are saying that the CDC directors who quit yesterday should have “stayed and fought”,

With all due respect, you do not grasp the magnitude of the problem of RFK Jr.

He is asking them to do unethical and immoral things that will actively harm the people of the United States. 1/3

Dear Colleagues: I am sending this memo to clarify our priorities and ensure efforts to fulfill our mission are aligned across the agency. I want to start by expressing my gratitude for your advice and input thus far, and I look forward to our continued collaboration. I have had the opportunity now to visit labs and meet with teams across the agency, and I am constantly impressed. It is a privilege to work with such a dedicated and talented staff. I recognize that several new initiatives and policies have been implemented in a short period of time, and there has been some confusion due to inaccurate media reports and rumors. Therefore, I have outlined select agency priorities at the end of this note to ensure you have a clearer picture of our rationale and objectives. I do not mean this memo to be an exhaustive list of all agency priorities, but rather a select list of topics that require our particular attention and focus while continuing the other important work you are all doing. This memo will help to ensure NIH supports only high-quality projects selected based on the merit of the science and that are aligned with our mission to generate data that can improve the health of all of the American people. I ask each of you to use this guidance when reviewing your intramural and extramural research portfolios and making decisions about your future programs. In recent weeks, it has come to my attention that some at NIH and in the scientific community believe that there are “banned words” or some level of censorship of science ongoing or planned. This is simply untrue. I have advocated for academic freedom throughout my career, with a particular public focus in the last five years. My position has not changed; scientists must be allowed to pursue their ideas free of censorship or control by others. They must be able to express their scientific opinions and challenge scientific dogma.

Here is the Priorities document (long thread)

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Important note from inside NIH

New grants policy terms may lead to terminations after October 1st.

Don't panic, but do realize that this is a possibility.

What to expect at the ASM Biofilms Conference #ASMBiofilms

“Grant review by political appointees will further impede the work of the scientific community to provide solutions and fight public health threats. With strong and responsible oversight, we need to harness—not suppress—all perspectives and approaches in the effort to solve these problems.”

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

Well, this is a huge Executive Order power grab...

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

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Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.

Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.

Senator Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Mark Up of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Bills | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Public pressure works. The Senate proposed FY26 funding for the NIH that is being voted on today includes a $400 million increase. Keep up the great work everyone, call your house representatives and make sure this passes through the full Senate.

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"

Just a reminder - The abstract submission deadline for the 10th ASM Conference on Biofilms (11/09-13) is August 6! Get yours submitted soon! #ASMBiofilms

Protect the integrity of the US National Institutes of Health Letter to the Editor

These members of the NIH Council of Councils are voicing serious concerns about NIH grant terminations, restructure, and budget cuts

go.nature.com/46Vr8t2

NIH announces end to funding for animal-only studies - Drug Discovery and Development Drug Discovery and Development covers strategies and technologies related to pharmaceutical research and development and drug formulation.

Well, this happened yesterday...

www.drugdiscoverytrends.com/nih-announce...

I assume that this pertains only to applications that focus on therapeutic development and not those addressing fundamental biology or mechanism.

But I am wary about making assumptions...

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NIH-funded science must now be free to read instantly: what you should know US biomedical agency’s public-access policy kicks in on 1 July. Nature talks to specialists about how to comply.

Starting July 1, researchers funded by the US National Institutes of Health will be required to make their scientific papers available to read for free as soon as they are published in a peer-reviewed journal. Nature asks experts what researchers need to know about the NIH policy. #Academicsky 🧪

.............. 🧪

Unsung hero of WWII

Harvey Milk served his country honorably — first in uniform, then in public office.

Taking his name off this Navy ship sends a clear message, and it’s one of disrespect and cruelty.

ASM maintains the critical need for a budget agreement that supports funding levels that will allow the U.S. to maintain its position as a scientific leader and address the public health needs of the American people. Read our statement: asm.org/press-releas...

commemorating pride from the clinical microbiology lab

Cutting the NIH—The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe This JAMA Forum discusses the recent budget cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the effects of these cuts on scientific research and health of individuals in the US, and the prospects for cha...

JAMA Forum on the proposed NIH budget…

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Representative images showing DAPI, and rbmA, rbmC, bap1, and vpsR smFISH fluorescence signals and heatmaps of per-cell-volume fluorescence signal as a function of x, y position for n = 5 replicate WT V. cholerae biofilms with the largest biovolumes. Scale bars represent 5 µm.

Bacterial biofilms are important for disease development. This study develops imaging tech to probe spatiotemporal patterns of #Vibrio cholerae #biofilm gene expression, showing that temporal & spatial patterns are established by QS & c-di-GMP, respectively @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3Fga1GX

OMG, this. One thing I keep saying, as a department chair with like 10 untenured faculty to support, is that telling people to spend their very limited time applying for grants they have near-zero chance of getting is cruel and suggests a lack of empathy.

There’s been some “advice” coming from some quarters for scientists not to focus on DEI-related funding cuts.

I wholly reject this concept.

Cutting programs designed to reduce science and healthcare disparities is as detrimental to science as anything else, both morally and functionally.

Thank you for pushing me consistently, to think, to learn and execute. Everything that I know today is because of you My Guardian Angel, My BOSSS! Thank you for the incredible mentorship. You are the best!!!!
@lifeofpili.bsky.social

Love it!!! Where can I get one for my students??!!??

Well this is truly insane...

Trump freezes ‘gain of function’ pathogen research ― threatening all US virology, critics say An executive order suspends the use of federal funds for certain experiments on pathogens with pandemic potential. Critics say low-risk science could be affected too.

Who saw this coming? 😐

"The lab-leak narrative is now the justification used to shut down infectious-disease research"

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

The ASM Biofilminar which was held on Wednesday April 23 was recorded, and this is now freely available on the ASM Biofilms website. #ASMBiofilms
Fantastic biofilm talks from our 4 guest speakers, Akos Kovacs, Juliet Johnston, Raphael Dias Teixeira, and Boo Shan Tseng. asm.org/events/asm-b...

@lifeofpili.bsky.social Deeply grateful to you, BOSS, for not only the science but also for being my anchor during life's storms. Your mentorship has been invaluable. 3yrs of building the lab from scratch to having 3 manuscripts in pipeline now, Floyd lab has come a long way!

A very big CONGRATULATIONS to the first alum of The Floyd Lab. Anindita Saha successfully defended her MS thesis today!!! Wishing her all the best as she moves forward in her science journey!!! #greatvibs #floydlab #ISU