Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD

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

In addition to politicizing 🧪 review of grants by inserting appointees, they’ve included language to justify their intent to redistribute $ to red states. “All else being equal, preference for discretionary awards should be given to institutions with ⬇️ IDC rates.” www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

How Many Times Can Science Funding Be Canceled? Whether or not Congress cuts NIH’s budget, the Trump administration has devastated its ability to operate.

A look at the chaos behind the scenes at the NIH - even if funds are unfrozen, the agency's ability to award grants is still compromised in many ways. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

Fantastic and well deserved! Congrats!

‘It’s really, really bad right now’: NIH scientists dismayed by Trump cuts Researchers say scientific community is in state of whiplash and accuse president of trying to ‘destroy’ vital work

“I think the core of it is that they want to destroy universities, or at least turn them into rightwing ideological factories.” -NIH official www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Amazing, thanks so much Needhi! Looking forward to digging in.

"Move fast and break things has not worked very well for Silicon Valley in health care. When you talk about reproduction, the things you are breaking are babies." -Hank Greely, Stanford

The quest to create gene-edited babies gets a reboot There's a fresh push to edit the genes of human embryos to prevent diseases and enhance characteristics that parents value. Bioethicists say just because it's possible doesn't mean it should be done.

In which they unironically name a genome editing company after the Manhattan Project on the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima: www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Warmest congrats, Roshni - Oregon is lucky to have you! always happy to stay in touch about future collaborations.

Oooh, I like the idea of papers that came out in the fast and furious time trying to wrap our minds around COVID.

@pracheeac.bsky.social @needhibhalla.bsky.social @jessicapolka.bsky.social Grateful for any input you can offer!

I have one, but it relies heavily on correlation and inference, so I'd prefer something more directly interpretable. I'm also looking for a nice pre-print and final paper pair that will help the students to make some suggested additional experiments and see how the paper landed in final form.

🧪 Hive Mind: I am looking to update some discussions in my mol bio / genetics grad class this fall, and I'm just not finding what I am looking for. Also, AI led me astray with invented references. Does anyone have a pair of recent papers that come to conflicting conclusions that they like to use?

PanelPicker | SXSW Conference & Festivals PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

In a "Why not?" moment, I decided to submit a proposal to participate in SXSW - please upvote my proposal to highlight my submission to the organizers. Thank you! participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sx...

Welcome to @bumedicine.bsky.social, class of 2029! Can't wait to see you in the classroom in three weeks!

Amid Fear of Retaliation, N.S.F. Workers Sign Letter of Dissent

This new whistleblower strategy just might have teeth… www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/s...

Call it genetic enhancement or liberal eugenics, but it's still eugenics at its core, even if it doesn't work as advertised...yet.

Inside the Silicon Valley push to breed super-babies Investors say genetic prediction services for embryos, used by Elon Musk and others, are a trust fund for future children. Many scientists are skeptical.

On polygenic screening & embryo selection: “conveying genetic information in # scores gives...the illusion of more control than they really have, & validates the feeling that 'one’s own genome must be special.'" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Accepting applications until August 18: The Human Genetics Scholars Initiative!

This program equips trainees, post-docs, & early-career researchers to make an impact through mentorship, funding, and exclusive access to #ASHG resources and events. Apply: bit.ly/40iRMIk

Longtime fan of your academic work, and this is just the icing on the cake! (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.) If burnout ever catches up with you, you can be part of the tradition of academics who go on to start bakeries, e.g. Treat Cupcake Bar here! But for now, you are needed in the resistance!

So jealous that my friend Chandreyee will be there with you! Next time I’m out there visiting the kid at Cal, I will cross my fingers for a tour date during my trip!

“Here’s what keeps me up at night: the students who will never get the chance I did.

First-generation college students. Black and brown students. Immigrants. Rural kids. People with drive, compassion, and potential, but without financial privilege.“

Will future med students like me get the same chances I did? Future doctors from underserved communities will have a harder time paying for med school under the new federal loan caps, one student writes.

🔥 Will future med students like me get the same chances I did? 🔥 “This is how systemic exclusion works. Not with one dramatic announcement, but through quiet policies, retracted opportunities, and laws like this one.” www.statnews.com/2025/07/11/m...

The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts

Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts - the ones who hail from the reddest parts of 🇺🇸 - "With the grant, 'I felt for the first time in my whole life that I’d earned my keep, I do belong here — then to have it ripped out from under me.'” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

Dr. Naomi Casselli stands in front of her poster describing her cancelled grant on family language planning.

Dr. Reichert standing behind his poster on his cancelled On-Ramp training program.

Drs. Casselli and Norton in front of Dr. Caselli’s poster.

Very grateful to have had the chance to attend the Science Fair of Cancelled Grants today.

As a program officer overseeing health equity research, I’ve heard far too many stories of lost science, lost careers, and lost jobs.

BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.

If you care about equal access to healthcare, you must also advocate for access to #MedEd. Why? People from minoritized groups are more likely to serve their communities of origin. These loan caps will gatekeep who gets into the profession & will disproportionately harm the health of BIPOC patients.

More of this please!

👀 👇🏾

Trump’s Executive Orders Seek to Erase Scientific Truth Opinion | By denying the realities of sex, gender, and race, the White House’s statements worsen inequity and cause harm.

Claims about using biological definitions are simply misstating the science. More here: undark.org/2025/02/20/o... and www.ucpress.edu/books/where-...

Penn Agrees to Limit Participation of Transgender Athletes

Penn Limits Participation of Transgender Athletes in Response to Trump Demands: “The 🇺🇸 people deserve a WH that is…making sure every student thrives. Instead, this administration is…scapegoating transgender people so they can attack independent institutions.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/u...