David Margolis

New executive order puts all grants under political control All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.

All scientific grant funding must now be approved by a political appointee and "demonstrably advance the President's policy priorities."

I wonder where innovation will happen in the future? It won't be in the US

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

I really worry about the world the next generation or the one after it will be growing up to live in.

Congrats!

Integrating and interpreting brain maps | doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Imaging and recording technologies make it possible to map multiple biological features of the brain. How can these features be conceptually integrated into a coherent understanding of brain structure and function? ⤵️

Leading Scientific Societies File Amicus Brief With U.S. Supreme Court in Support of NIH Grant Recipients Washington, DC – August 4, 2025 – On Friday, August 1, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) jointly filed an expanded amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in American Public Health Association v. NIH. As some of the nation’s largest and most respected scientific societies, the amici submit this brief to emphasize the urgent need to safeguard federal research investments, protect early-career scientists, and uphold the integrity of the nation’s science ecosystem. The four leading life science organizations originally filed an amicus brief in the case on May 2, urging the court to find recent executive actions that led to the termination of NIH grants supporting early-career scientists—such as the Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) program—unlawful and to compel NIH to restore funding swiftly. MOSAIC grants support scientists from a wide range of backgrounds in transitioning to research careers. Today’s updated filing focuses specifically on the immediate and irreparable harm caused by the grant terminations and asks the Court to deny the government’s request for a stay pending approval. The updated brief includes new evidence and perspectives drawn from peer-reviewed articles and commentary published in recent months, which underscore the devastating consequences these grant cancellations have already had across the scientific community. Together, ASBMB, ASCB, ASM, and FASEB represent more than 150,000 biological and biomedical researchers whose work drives innovation, improves public health, and fuels the U.S. economy. Their members have long supported and participated in programs like MOSAIC, w…

While many institutions are capitulating to Trump, my favorite scientific societies are fighting back. Aug 1 @ascbiology.bsky.social, @asm.org, @asbmb.bsky.social, & @faseborg.bsky.social jointly filed an expanded amicus brief with the Supreme Court in American Public Health Association v. NIH 1/n

Screenshot from WSJ that says Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding The National Institutes of Health can't award grants to outside researchers under a new...

Screenshot from WSJ that says Trump Administration Scraps Effort to Pause Health-Research Funding White House officials intervened to force budget office to reconsider health-research funding pause By Liz Essley Whyte Follow, Nidhi Subbaraman

It was an incredible relief last night that this particular nightmare only lasted about five hours or 0.0189 Scaramuccis.

That said, if Russ Vought can insert a footnote somewhere else that kills NIH funding, he will attempt it again. Project 2025 demands it.

Republicans brush aside Trump plan to slash NIH funding - Roll Call Despite criticism of accusations of sexual harassment, controversial research, lawmakers say a 40 percent cut at the agency is too much.

Let’s hope 🤞

rollcall.com/2025/07/28/r...

James Joyce

‼️🚨‼️ Russel Vought just locked up the entirety of the remaining extramural NIH budget for this fiscal year, and part of intramural. $15 billion. ~a third of the NIH budget. THIS IS AN ALL-OUT ASSAULT.

All $$ is iced except intramural salaries, admin expenses, and clinical center. NO MORE GRANTS.

🧪

Odds of winning NIH grants plummet as new funding policy and spending delays bite Funding multiyear grants up front will sharply cut number of investigators receiving awards

New Science story about multi-year funding and it potential catastrophic consequences

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

1/n

This is a useful summary of how some major publishers are responding to the new NIH policy. We've just updated our policies at @biologists.bsky.social: @dev-journal.bsky.social @jcellsci.bsky.social and @jexpbiol.bsky.social will allow authors to deposit the accepted version with zero embargo.

This is unfortunate:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...
I wrote to the president of Harvard. I hope other faculty will speak their conscience, even if it means more struggle ahead.

Director Vought: We write to ask you to fully implement the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, including funds appropriated for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The continuing resolution supp011s NIH initiatives across a range of critical research areas­cancer, cardiovascular disease, rare pediatric disorders, and more. These vital efforts are not only necessary to Make America Healthy Again, but also have a direct impact on American families, biomedical innovation, our economy, and competing with Communist China. We are concerned by the slow disbursement rate of FY25 NIH funds, as it risks undermining critical research and the thousands of American jobs it supports. Suspension of these appropriated funds - whether formally withheld or functionally delayed - could threaten Americans' ability to access better treatments and limit our nation's leadership in biomedical science. It also risks inadve11ently severing ongoing NIH-funded research prior to actionable results. We share your commitment to ensuring NIH funds are used responsibly and not diverted to ideological or unaccountable programs. We are confident Secretary Kennedy and Director Bhattacharya are well positioned to uphold gold standard research by ensuring that NIH awards are grounded in transparency, scientific merit, and a clear alignment with national interests. Our shared goal is to restore public trust in the NIH precisely because its work is focused on results, accountability, and real-world impact. Withholding or suspending these funds would jeopardize that trust and hinder progress on critical health challenges facing our nation. Ultimately, this is about finding cures and seeing them through to fruition. We respectfully request that you ensure the timely release of all FY25 NIH appropriations in accordance with congressional intent. Doing so will ensure continued momentum in curing disease, supp011ing American innovation, and delivering result…

Sincerely, Katie Boyd Britt John Boozman Shelly Moore Capito Bill Cassidy Susan Collins Lindsey O. Graham David H. McCormick Mitch McConnel Jerry Moran Lisa Murkowski Thom Tillis Todd Young Dan Sullivan Tim Scott

From @aaas.org check-in with Sudip Parikh: a letter by 14 Republican senators urge the Office of Management and Budget to release NIH funding. If this includes your state (AL, ME, WV, SC, KY, KS, AR, PA, NC, IN, AK), Sudip recommends contacting & thanking them for being American science leaders.

For sure! Hope to see you again soon

Congrats Ish! and thanks for the fun time yesterday

harry potter is surrounded by a bunch of letters falling on the floor . ALT: harry potter is surrounded by a bunch of letters falling on the floor .

Some sweet people have been sending physical cards and letters to the Bethesda Declaration signers. This is so kind and meaningful.

It would be GREAT if they received more. Cards can be sent to

Ian Morgan
NIGMS
45 Center Dr, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200

Ian will share them with the signers.

World’s premier cancer institute faces crippling cuts and chaos | CNN The Trump administration’s broadsides against scientific research have caused unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute, the storied federal government research hub that has spearheaded ...

World’s premier cancer institute faces crippling cuts and chaos www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/h...

The ICE budget is now set to be approximately what the NIH budget was. We’re shifting money from solving real problems to solving fictitious problems.

Presynaptic and postsynaptic determinants of claustro-cortical connectivity The claustrum (CLA) is a thin and elongated brain structure that is located between the insula and lateral striatum and is implicated in a wide range …

Our new paper in Current Biology
"Presynaptic and postsynaptic determinants of claustro-cortical connectivity"
CLA→ACC projections are highly specific: defined by presynaptic identity, postsynaptic target, and cortical layer.
Check here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#Neuroscience #Claustrum

My NIH diversity supplement is on this list, along with several Rutgers training grants (IMSD & G-RISE)!

To Protest Budget Cuts, Young Scientists Try Letters to the Editor

Pushing back against science defunding: "Hundreds of people wrote to their hometown newspapers as part of a national campaign spearheaded this spring by graduate students and scientists who are just starting their careers." #science 🧪

The day started with tragedy with political violence in MN and instead of being scared, neighbors SHOWED UP to stand together at No Kings Twin Cities. We packed the Capitol Mall all the way to the Cathedral. Estimate 80,000+ right now. So proud of our state. #nokings #indivisible

Incredible turnout for the #NoKings protest in Los Angeles!

Is it true you use only 10 bits / s of your brain?
@andpru.bsky.social and I provide a motor systems perspective on a proposed speed limit for human information processing. Out today in
@natneuro.nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I received my continuing NOA today and I am deeply relieved. The lab, students and postdocs can continue for at least another year. These times have been so stressful. Sharing this just to say for those who are waiting, there is hope!

I received my continuing NOA today and I am deeply relieved. The lab, students and postdocs can continue for at least another year. These times have been so stressful. Sharing this just to say for those who are waiting, there is hope!

This is horrendous

This is worse than many appreciate because it is not merely a delay. Many institutions such as mine are TERMINATING these otherwise active grants if the NoA is delayed by more than a month because they cannot afford to keep the grant supported personnel on payroll

Exploring brain circuits, one cell type—or more— at a time This issue of Neuron, with accompanying papers in Cell, Cell Genomics, Cell Reports, and Cell Reports Methods, contains studies describing methods for access to neuronal and non-neuronal cell types wi...

Incredible suite of tools for labeling and manipulating specific cell types released by @alleninstitute.org

www.cell.com/consortium/b...

www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

FlyBase funding squashed amid Harvard grant terminations The team behind the Drosophila genetics database is now requesting donations from labs to keep the resource afloat.

FlyBase, a crucial resource for drosophila research, has lost its funding because its grant is awarded to Harvard. The team is scrambling to find other sources of funds, including donations from labs. Read more: www.thetransmitter.org/community/fl... @flybase.bsky.social