Drew, PhD

Donald Trump’s proposed budget would gut American science It would slash cancer research, drug trials, space exploration, and so much more.

Cutting $20 billion to NIH over 25 years may save $500 billion on paper, but it’d end up costing $8.2 trillion in lost human health.

But NIH isn't the only thing being cut. The budget also slashes all NSF-funded science by 73 percent. NASA faces “the biggest single-year cut to NASA in history."

They are giving the middle finger to Kennedy, Makary, Prasad, Hoeg, and Bhattacharya.

Good.

The Trump administration is withholding funding for trailblazing breast cancer researcher with UW A trailblazing breast cancer researcher at the University of Washington has not received $1.8 million in promised funding from Congress that was due in January.

www.king5.com/article/news...

And now the Trump NIH budget proposal. Catastrophic.

They’re doing this as a political attack on universities and they don’t care who dies or how much the public is harmed. This is a Putin-esque budget designed to create oligarchy.

And on pages 11-12 on the MAHA report, they cherry-picked 🍒 SEER data about #ChildhoodCancer to fit their chronic disease narrative. We have the receipts 🧾 @alt-hhs.altgov.info @altnih4science.bsky.social

That's some effed up fascist b.s.

Here's Trump saying to Bukele that "homegrown criminals are next" and talking about how El Salvador will need to build "about five more places."

Yep. I am having trouble as well...

No federal employee should spend more than 30 seconds thinking about Musk's latest strutting "I'm in charge of you" email.

Delete it, don't reply, don't think about it, don't waste time talking about it.
Musk is not our boss, in no world. 🖕🧪 #NIH
Americans support science, not oligarchs.

18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people:
18f.org

If the market continues to trend down, and the Atlanta Fed turns out to be right, the midterms will be very interesting.

The battle between republican self preservation and MAGA will be intense

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

I have worked with many untenured staff scientists & PIs at NIH. They are incredible colleagues who chose science in public service over more lucrative careers. Devaluing their commitment & professionalism is among the most cruel aspects of the DOGE purge

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

Statement by Francis Collins, MD. PhD March 1, 2025 Yesterday I notified NIH Acting Director Matt Memoli, MD of my retirement from the federal government. effective February 28, 2025. The National Institutes of Health is the world's foremost medical research institution. It has been rightfully called the "crown jewel" of the federal government for decades. It has been the greatest honor of my life to be part of this institution in various roles over the last four decades. In the 1980s, NIH supported my work at the University of Michigan through a peer-reviewed grant. That led to the identification of the gene for cystic fibrosis. Thirty years later that has led to an almost miraculous treatment that allows most kids with cystic fibrosis to look forward to an almost normal life span. I was recruited to NIH in 1993 to lead the Human Genome Project - an extraordinarily bold initiative to read out the three billion letters of the human DNA instruction book. Funded by the U.S. Congress, the project completed its work -- two years ahead of schedule, and $400 million under budget. The success of the project, and the commitment to share all of the data rapidly and freely, has revolutionized every aspect of human biomedical research and medical practice. Subsequently I was honored to be asked to serve as the Director of the National Institutes of Health. I had the chance to serve three Presidents - Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joseph Biden. I also had the opportunity to work regularly with members of Congress in both parties. I loved those interactions and relationships. Throughout that time, investment

relieving human suffering, and contributing substantially to the U.S. economy. That consistent support made possible bold new projects in regenerative medicine, brain science, precision health, cancer, and solutions for opioid addiction, to name just a few. When the worst pandemic in more than a century arose in 2020, it was my job as Director of NIH to pull together partnerships with the FDA, academia, and the private sector to produce what only America's unparalleled biomedical sector could have: COVID vaccines in just 11 months, a staggering medical achievement that saved over three million lives in the U.S.alone. After a stint in the White House as the President's Acting Science Advisor, where I had the chance to organize a major initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in the United States, i returned to the intramural research program of the National Human Genome Research Institute in 2023. There I have been overseeing a research laboratory of a dozen highly talented and visionary scientists who are providing new insights into the causes and possible means of prevention of type 2 diabetes, as well as seeking a gene therapy cure for one of the world's rarest diseases - progeria, a premature aging disorder. NIH is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world. It is the main piston of a biomedical discovery engine that is the envy of the globe. Yet it is not a household name. It should be. NIH supports everything from basic science to clinical trials, providing the foundation of many breakthroughs. When you hear about patients surviving stage 4 cancer because of immunotherapy, that was based on NIH research over many decades. When you hear about sickle cell disease being cured because of CRISPR

gene editing, that was built on many years of research supported by NIH. It has also been the largest supporter of global health research in the world, winning us many friends and colleagues from across the globe. I have loved being employed by this extraordinary, life-giving institution for 32 years. I will continue to devote my life in other ways to seeking knowledge and enhancing health, to healing disease and reducing suffering, and to doing what I can to bring together our fractured communities around the shared values of love, truth, goodness, and faith. As I depart NIH, I want to express my gratitude and love for the men and women with whom I have worked side-by-side for so many years. They are individuals of extraordinary intellect and integrity, selfless and hard-working, generous and compassionate. They personify excellence in every way, and they deserve the utmost respect and support of all Americans.

Francis Collins, longtime NIH director with bipartisan bona fides*, retires as of yesterday.

He returned to NIH in 2023 to focus on research in his own lab, in the NIH in-house intramural research campus.

His letter seems to imply he wasn’t ready to leave. NIH is being torn down. 1/🧪 #academicsky

I currently have two fully-funded PhD opportunities in my lab - both providing a chance to work on the incredible LEAF data set that we have been collecting the last couple of years (220 children followed longitudinally from 10-30 months on measures of attention and early EF). Please share!

I know many universities are asking folks not to speak to reporters on the record.

If you have need for someone who will be effing glad to speak on the record, DM me!

🙏

Some examples of research USGS does that is at risk with RIFs and restructuring:
- earth quake and volcano monitoring and warnings
- landslide risk assessments
- water quality testing
- wildlife conservation
- wildfire prevention and post-fire rehabilitation
- invasive species tracking

NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science

"downsizes" is a weak way of saying "forced to cancel dozens of programs, which jeopardizes future STEM careers of talented undergrads" @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Another NIH grant rescinded -

The Epidemiology of Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias in Sexual and Gender Minority Older Adults: Identifying Risk and Protective Factors - 1K01AG056669

Thanks to all of the NIHers and their friends who reached out to me. I am still here (DM me or Signal jeremymberg.78)

I still have a very incomplete picture but based on what I have been told, the damage to NIH and to many wonderful people who work(ed) there is/was impossible for me to imagine

1/n

bsky.app/profile/altn...

Trump’s Power Grab Threatens Science: We Need Scientists’ Help Scientists & experts: Sign the open letter urging Congress to protect against unconstitutional power grabs and defend science and scientists in the federal government.

Sign open letter to Congress from concerned scientists: secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-trump...

Revised and Extended: What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF

Revised and Extended: What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/blog...

"A record-breaking 10,000 scientific papers were retracted in 2023 because of scientific misconduct, and academic journals are overwhelmed by AI-generated images, data, and texts."

Read more: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/01/how-...

The article below about barriers to healthcare accessibility for autistic people should be required reading for anyone in a patient-facing role. 🧪

The 'More Than Words' report is also an excellent resource: www.boingboing.org.uk/more_than_wo...

#ActuallyAutistic #HealthCare #Accessibility

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism Leaked internal documents show that the insurance giant is culling providers of applied behavior analysis from its network and scrutinizing the medical necessity of therapy. Advocates say the company’...

Leaked documents show UnitedHealth cutting costs by reducing treatment for thousands of kids with autism.

The company is limiting children’s access to applied behavior analysis, which they internally call the "gold standard treatment."

From @propublica.org: www.propublica.org/article/unit....

Yo Krystal! OG subscriber to BP. Love the show and spreading the good word.

Yo Saagar

Mid-30s checking in. Got my 1st grader into MCR. She calls them “Skeleton Band”. The kids are alright.

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