Paul T. Harrell, Ph.D.

Important to watch this. Despite top-line funding for NIH slightly increasing, actual awards being released are minuscule compared to prior years. @jeremymberg.bsky.social is providing weekly updates and this graph from @deniswirtz.bsky.social highlights the current devastation for U.S. scientists.

Well said. You can also see in this chart the beginning of the cratering in new funding that began in 2025. Sadly, 2026 is looking even worse. bsky.app/profile/jere...

Line graph of the number new and competitive renewal grants funded by NIH in fiscal year 2026 through February 20, compared to fiscal years 2020-2025. The fiscal year 2026 is well below the other curves.

New and Competitive Renewals

Only 803 grants have been made compared to ~2650 in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 through February 20.

All institutes and centers (include OD now) have made awards except NIAAA, NLM, NCCIH, and FIC.

3/4

I look up to you, Michael.

I have enjoyed your comments and posts here.

It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and tell your story. I can post graphs and numbers as much as I want but, even if I am thinking about the humans underneath, real stories matter a lot.

To add a personal note, the second renegotiation request came with a one-week deadline the week of my grandfather’s funeral. He died after a long battle with heart disease, one of the conditions my research involves.

I had to renegotiate my F99/K00 award twice in 6 months, and on both occasions I asked what specifically “DEI activities” means. I didn’t get clear answers, so I was hopeful the person that directive came from could specify (the NIH Director). I asked the on @whyshoulditrustyou.bsky.social podcast

This is a dramatic update to the NIH Data Management and Sharing Plan template, effective for applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2026.

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

How good are ecigarettes at helping smokers quit? Any radio discussion of ecigarettes inevitably attracts evangelical callers wanting to tell their story of the miracle they have experienced: “As a fortunate survivor of extended tobacco addiction,…

Vaping theologians invariably point to randomised controlled trials to argue vapes are superior to all other ways. In this blog, I summarise key limitations of RCTs & why longitundial cohort data are far better guides to real-world assessment of quit success simonchapman6.com/2019/01/09/h...

Virginia State University faces questions after firing six agriculture research experts • Virginia Mercury Virginia State University's Agricultural Research Station fired six professors in December, sparking outrage among farmers.

“These terminations intentionally disrupted ongoing studies that VSU had already committed to support, thus costing the taxpayers over $10 million in federal & state-funded projects with applications beyond the institution.”

#ReinstateTheFiredSix

New Report: Making Tobacco Industry Elimination Inevitable Author: Eline Goethals, The School for Moral Ambition The tobacco industry’s products kill 7 million people annually while generating $880 billion in revenue—more than Google, Meta, and Apple combined...

NEW REPORT OUT – ‘Making tobacco industry elimination inevitable’

The tobacco and nicotine industry's days are numbered.
Learn more in a new strategic playbook with 14 concrete recommendations for advocates from our allies @ash.org: ow.ly/53Hb50Yfkih
#TobaccoEndgame

JobsJobsJobs !!!

Quoted

New AI Agent Logs Directly Into College Platform Canvas to Do Your Homework for You The AI "homework agent," called Einstein, will even complete assignments while you sleep before you even realized they were assigned, the company

You are quotes and linked here futurism.com/artificial-i...

When others channel the Borg, look for the bagmen and the Borgias Inevitability is a common rhetorical ploy in education. To Thomas Edison, film would inevitably replace textbooks. In the 1960s, B.F. Skinner said that teaching machines were inevitably going …

Most of all, I’m in the anti-inevitability camp.

shermandorn.com?p=9781

https://companion.ai/einstein - Instructure Community Has anyone seen this yet: https://companion.ai/einstein Einstein is an AI with a computer. He logs into Canvas every day, watches lectures, reads essays, writes papers, participates in discussions, an...

Maybe yes, maybe no. It looks like some people are discussing it. But who owns Companion.AI? They should at least be publicly shamed about this type of activity.

community.instructure.com/en/discussio...

Einstein - AI Homework Agent Einstein logs into Canvas and does your homework automatically. He has his own computer — he can watch lectures, read essays, write papers, and participate in discussions.

Is this bad

A problematic stance from someone like @holdenthorp.bsky.social who has the position & privilege that comes with being Editor-in-Chief of Science Journals.

Yes, scientists need to continue to do science.

But science leaders can't leave the risk that comes with speaking up to others. 🧵1/8

N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up

BREAKING: NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will take on the additional role of acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two administration officials told @sherylnyt.bsky.social on Wednesday.

Bhattacharya will also continue to run the NIH, she reports for @nytimes.com.

A demand for Democrats to restore DHS funding be that they stop committing human rights violations by incarcerating children.

Our new paper in @addictionjournal.bsky.social: #Cannabis dispensary exposure and smoked, vaped, and edible cannabis use among young adults: Comparison of web‐scraped and government‐maintained registries. @iasatusc.bsky.social @keckschoolusc.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

$3K mini-grants available from Pew Research Center to prepare papers reusing their data on religion. Deadline to apply (not to write the paper) is March 2. www.pewresearch.org/2026/01/16/s...

In court, AAP argues Kennedy’s HHS made unlawful changes to vaccine policies After a day of oral arguments in a packed courtroom, a Boston federal judge did not rule from the bench on a lawsuit from AAP against HHS focused on vaccines.

In court, AAP argues Kennedy’s HHS made unlawful changes to vaccine policies. A federal judge delayed making a final ruling in the case, requested more information www.statnews.com/2026/02/13/r...

Ramadan Mubarak!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Laissez bon temps rouler!

Hodesh Adar tov!

Y'ALL

⭐

BREAKING: Second Positive Phase 3 for Compass’ Psilocybin, Though Modest Magnitude Raises Questions - Psychedelic Alpha Psychedelic Alpha’s Josh Hardman reports from Washington, D.C., where conversations with regulators, lawmakers, and insiders suggest a turbulent but potentially transformative period ahead.

'Modest' is a very good word to describe these results.

I think Compass has just inadvertently proved how much value there is in the psychotherapy part of psychedelic medicine, at least when dealing with psilocybin for depression.

New UNC policy allows University to record classes without instructor knowledge The policy states that instructors will not be notified in advance of class recordings in the event of “an investigation into alleged violations of University policy” or for “any other lawful purpose”...

A new policy went into effect at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill : the University can record a class without the permission or knowledge of the instructor.

"Students will self-censor if they know that their words in class can be recorded by administrators.”

—UNC - Chapel Hill AAUP

The record-breaking cocaine boom — and its deadly fallout Cocaine has made a roaring comeback, and it's having some big negative effects in the U.S. and around the world.

Cocaine has made a roaring comeback, and it's having some big negative effects in the U.S. and around the world. n.pr/4rSgD0R

My quote of the day

Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change.

Jesse Jackson

A line graph shown the number of NIH new and competitive awards funded for fiscal year 2026 (through 2/13/26) compared with fiscal years 2021-2025. The fiscal year 2026 is lagging well behind with only 569 awards made through 2/13/26 compared to >2000 for previous fiscal years.

New and competitive renewal awards.

The number of awards is 569 compared with more than 2200 through the same date in earlier fiscal years.

All ICs have now made awards except for NIAAA, NCCIH, NLM, FIC, and OD. NEI (Eye Institute) made its first award during the new period.

3/4

A line graph shown the number of NIH projects funded for fiscal year 2026 (through 2/13/26) compared with fiscal years 2021-2025. The fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind following a slow start due to a government shutdown during October and November.

My weekly NIH update (grants funded through 2/13/26)

All projects...

1/4

Australia takes off the gloves on illegal tobacco while ‘lower the tax’ fantasists plumb new absurdities Australia’s epidemic of illicit (untaxed) cheap cigarette shops is entering a new phase as Australian Border Force reports record seizures and three states (South Australia, Queensland and New Sout…

Big Tobacco's acolytes ramping up "lower tobacco tax" in run-up to budget. If ALL tobacco tax was scrapped, illegal (untaxed) tobacco would still be MUCH cheaper than illegal smokes. Serious enforcement (on-the-spot closures) as in Qld, SA & lately NSW is obvious simonchapman6.com/2025/12/09/a...