Stephen V Mahler

Columbia. Harvard. UPenn. George Mason. UVA. UCLA.

One by one, universities are being attacked—financially, politically, ideologically.

Faculty & staff: don’t wait for it to hit your campus. Join the national movement defending higher ed.

standtogetherhighered.org (sign up on homepage)

Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism The Trump administration has frozen roughly $200 million in National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agency-funded research at UCLA, citing allegations the school d...

Suspension of all grants to UCLA www.latimes.com/california/s...

Apply for the early reviewer program--being at Study Section, writing reviews and watching the process unfold is exceptionally helpful

I think this is a consequence of information silos and other effects. Even folks I know ask me how NIH is doing these days with no idea of anything that has been happening. I don't think anyone can fairly say that I have been reticent in calling out what is happening.

Excited to have this little @npp-journal.bsky.social "hot topics" article out with my dear friend and collaborator @jbeehner.bsky.social. Even more excited for the opportunity to jump into field research and explore some of these ideas. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

14 Republican senators urge White House to release delayed NIH funds Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) is leading the letter making the ask of OMB director Russ Vought.

“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.”

www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

To give people idea of what this means- this is how they make it look like they are getting money out the door but they are doing this to make drastic cuts- instead of spending 1 year worth of funds spread out they are concentrating funds on fewer grants. Public science is getting decapitated

Absence of sex differences in serotonergic control of orbitofrontal cortex neuronal activity - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Absence of sex differences in serotonergic control of orbitofrontal cortex neuronal activity

5-HT-mediated depolarization of OFC PV neurons occurs via activation of 2A, not 2C, receptors. And 2A antagonism works similarly in males and females www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We are hearing NIH is hugely overloaded on peer review after the CSR review consolidation in the fall, and people are inside are panicking.

But here’s something important:
This was THE POINT. President Russell Vought WANTS to break NIH internally so he can cut the NIH budget…1/

Vought said he is “having fun” in his job as he maps out plans for massive cuts to federal agencies. He cited the National Institutes of Health, which is currently the premier biomedical research institution in the world, as one agency that “needs fundamental reform.”

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YouTube video by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Desk: The Future of Animal Models in Research | NIH’s Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer

A discussion of the use of animals in research.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSvk...

1/n

(Warning: Rant coming)

Estrous cycle stage gates the effect of stress on reward learning Neuropsychopharmacology - Estrous cycle stage gates the effect of stress on reward learning

Ever wonder how stress and the estrous cycle affects reward learning? Well we have answers for you in our paper led by @askaneuroscientist.bsky.social published in
@npp-journal.bsky.social

And huge thanks to the NIH and NSF who supported this research.

A biological blind spot in addiction research: hormonal contraceptives and adolescent reward seeking Neuropsychopharmacology - A biological blind spot in addiction research: hormonal contraceptives and adolescent reward seeking

Check out this NPP Hot Topic by @seemiller.bsky.social "A biological blind spot in addiction research: hormonal contraceptives and adolescent reward seeking".

Read it here: tinyurl.com/3hrbswkr

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...

1/2

I work for you…as you have repeatedly requested. In 2025 the political situation in the United States has raised the operations of the agencies that fund scientific research to common conversation. Research grants which have been issued the Natio…

I work for you...as you have repeatedly requested. tlneuro.wordpress.com/2025/06/26/i...

Here Is All the Science at Risk in Trump’s Clash With Harvard More than 900 research grants worth $2.6 billion are in jeopardy. So is the 80-year-old model of American science.

An 80-year-old model of American science is under threat.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NIH cuts quash $323 million for neuroscience research and training “I am frightened for the state of the future of our field if this isn't reversed rapidly,” says Joshua Gordon, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former director of the National…

Neuroscience research and training has taken a $323 million hit in the form of grants rescinded by the U.S. NIH, according to an analysis by @thetransmitter.bsky.social.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/funding/nih-...

The judge’s order will restore funding only to the scientists named in the lawsuits and in the 16 states that sued the government — or about 800 of the more than 2,400 projects that have been cut at the NIH.

There will be a huge loss to the training of new researchers, loss of opportunities to create new knowledge, loss of innovation and all of this will be very hard to measure.

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)

Remember folks, the budget cuts for NSF and NIH *can still be stopped*. That is a luxury not granted to our agency science colleagues who have or could still lose their jobs from the top down. So - Fight! Speak up! Pay attention!

Damn... I wonder why scientists wouldn't want to come to the US to compete at the highest levels for highly-restricted funding that then gets pulled surreptitiously for some imagined reason or no reason at all, all while being vilified by the federal government for their work? A mystery! 🤔

Not that it matters, but my MOSAIC was scored a 14. Reviewed in study section w non-MOSAIC K99s. I'm to write another grant that may not be funded, that doesn't provide transition to faculty funds, instead of doing the work that was reviewed so highly?

That's the best use of time & tax payer money?

Trump’s NIH Chief Lets Loose on Fauci, Vaccines and Covid Cover-Ups Jay Bhattacharya discusses pandemic fallout and his plans for American science in Trump 2.0.

New interview w NIH Dir Bhattacharya.

"I think that the idea that the US no longer supports science or scientists is laughable."

"Many, many people now think that mRNA is a bad platform."

Dismisses research on structural racism & health as "not a scientific idea"
www.politico.com/news/magazin...

The evolving neurobiology of early-life stress This review explores the effects of early-life stress on brain development and cognitive function, highlighting gaps in understanding perceived stress, vulnerable developmental stages, underlying mole...

Excellent review by @talliezee.bsky.social and Matthew T. Birnie on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the consequences of early life adversity. Highly recommended! www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

I appreciate the offers from other scientists to help Harvard (students, labs, etc) through this attack, but what would be most helpful is for you to use your position to contact your elected representatives and make it clear this fight isn't just Harvard, it will affect you, and their districts too

Shock at Harvard After Government Says International Students Must Go

“This will destroy the university as we know it. Harvard is situated in the US physically, but its students & faculty hail from around the world; that is fundamental to the work & mission of the institution. You can't take that away & have an institution left."
— Kirsten Weld, President Harvard AAUP

Given that we expect layoffs from the planned reduction in NASA's science budget, JPL doing this is akin to forcing people out now without paying severance.

The knowledge and expertise that will end up leaving JPL will set back research and projects decades. /1

Please comment. The Administration is trying to turn the NIH IC Directors and program staff roles into political appointees that serve at the whim of the President. Imagine if each change in administration brought sweeping changes in professional NIH staff across your favorite ICs.