Rachel Romeo

Jacobs Foundation Research Fellows - Jacobs Foundation

I am so honored to be selected for the 2026-2028 cohort of @jacobsfoundation.bsky.social Research Fellows! I think this is my greatest example of perseverance -- this was my *7th* application and *3rd* time as a finalist!😱 Applications now open to join next year!
jacobsfoundation.org/fellowships/...

The @umdleadlab.bsky.social and the world lost a bright star this week. Victoria was such a kind, dedicated, and passionate person. She was one of my first students, helping me set up my lab from scratch, and I am honored to have worked with her. There aren't words for how much we will miss her. ❤️

This is so concerning. I believe it is our responsibility as developmental scientists to warn about the dangers of AI with young children. (And no I'm not a luddite -- Claude is my buddy! But I deeply think this is alarming for developing brains.)

Exploration is associated with socioeconomic disparities in learning and academic achievement in adolescence - Nature Communications Children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds often show lower academic achievement, commonly linked to limited resources. Here, the authors show that reduced exploration–a behavior tuned for learning...

Thrilled to share our new @NatureComms
paper: "Exploration is associated with socioeconomic disparities in learning and academic achievement in adolescence." www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵1/7

We are looking to hire a new post-bac MRI tech! Great opportunity pre grad school! umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UMCP/job/Uni...

Alert! ... for the child development world!

@fluxsociety.bsky.social @fitngin.bsky.social ‪

The Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study has released its first data wave - it’s massive.

Check here:
docs.hbcdstudy.org

and here:
nbdc-datahub.org

Here’s why it matters 🧠🍼

@angelicaalonso.bsky.social, @rachelromeo.bsky.social, and I wrote one of the top 10 papers (by citations) published in Child Development Perspectives in 2023! 🎉✨ How parent-child brain-to-brain synchrony can inform the study of child development: doi.org/10.1111/cdep...

must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away

Yesterday I had the immense honor of hooding my first PhD graduate! I only cried twice. Somehow I think this will never get old. Congrats Dr. McDorman @alexamcd.bsky.social !!

Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually Economists find public R&D drives a quarter of U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself

🧪 Basic science boosts the economy:

"The proposed dismantling of NSF [and NIH] raises an urgent question: do these cuts actually save money or merely delay spending until the bill gets larger?

The answer is clear: these cuts will cost the economy billions."

When the government cancels your research grant, here’s what you can do The mass cancellation of US federal grants marks yet another escalation in political interference in science, but there are ways to keep crucial research going.

There are ways to keep crucial research going

https://go.nature.com/3GWY3m3

Two woman walking and embracing each other in front of an ICE detention center. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress and heels. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. Members of the press are in the background.

Two women standing, smiling, and embracing each other with grass, water, and the sky in the background. The woman on the left is wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. The woman on the right is wearing a black dress.

Two woman stand next to each other and hold onto one another. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. In the background is the fence of an ICE detention center.

Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies.

📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro

Despite everything going on, I may have funds to hire a postdoc this year 😬🤞🧑‍🔬 Open to a wide variety of possible projects in social and cognitive neuroscience. Get in touch if you are interested! Reposts appreciated.

I had a great time sharing my work today at the @upenn.bsky.social Center for Neuroscience and Society! I forgot to take a picture so instead here’s my freshman dorm that I passed on my way over from the train station. 😂

I spend a lot of time disparaging those who are failing us in this moment - but today I want to shine a light on all of those who are helping to make the threats to science and universities legible for other scientists and the public🧪 1/

The dinner ended with lots of fire. Mixed reactions 😂

So proud of the @umdleadlab.bsky.social (and GARD lab adoptees) for crushing their #SRCD2025 presentations! I’m so lucky to work with this amazing team!!

Have been moving full steam ahead and trying to take action since the first round of NSF grant cancellations hit on April 18th and I just finally broke down in front of our dean of research when talking about the early career researchers affected by these terminations 😭

So good to see you!

Amidst all the turmoil, I’m excited to be heading to #SRCD2025 to see friends and share the joy and fascination of working in our field. Can’t wait to see folks!

In 100 days in office, US President Donald Trump has destabilized eight decades of government support for science.

This has included terminating more than 1,000 grants in areas such as climate change, cancer, and HIV prevention.

Will US science survive Trump 2.0?

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

Sending lots of support to the NSF and NIH program officers who have been serving the science community in so many ways. Thank you 🙏

🧪 Tip: You have the right to contest a grant termination, even though NSF says you don't. 🧵

On Friday, NSF terminated 402 grants (per Musk's DOGE).

The notification letters had one of the most egregious violations of fed regulations I've seen so far in these cases:

"not subject to appeal"

this is infuriating! I'm so sorry Linda.

oooh thank you! (fyi, calendars still say 2024... though I do still have incomplete goals from then 🫠)

I’m heartbroken not just for this grant and our research, but for what this says about our values as a country. Information and knowledge should be prevalent, accessible, and celebrated. Without it, we are doomed. 7/7

The IMLS used an infinitesimal fraction of the federal budget, yet host programs and services that serve 1.2 billion people a year. They provide education, job training, internet access, community services, cultural outreach, and so much more. Libraries improve the lives of the public. 6/n

While I file an appeal and search for other funders to help us finish the project and get this program out there, I can’t help but wonder if there will even be libraries to implement it in 3 years. The IMLS and their funding for state libraries around the nation has been absolutely decimated. 5/n

Despite just kicking off after my maternity leave, we were already making outstanding progress in holding focus groups throughout the state. We were so excited to dig into the data. What grant is ever actually ON TIME?? 4/n