A photo of Doc Brown from Back to the Future holding jumper cables labelled "Deranged Activist" with a grant of NIH funding curves below it.
My weekly update on NIH funding
This includes awards made through 2/27/26
Warning: This thread contains data compiled by a known deranged_activist™. Do not read while operating heavy machinery.
1/9
My colleague @alexwitze.bsky.social joined @scifri.bsky.social today to break down our reporting on how the White House is withholding funds from science agencies.
One researcher dials in to say her institution is waiting on $20 million in research funding.
Give it a listen ⤵️
Soon, we will be asked to give political talks and try to figure out how much science we can slip in without getting arrested.
The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s GOP started a group chat for conservative students — and within 3 weeks, it was filled with over 400 instances of the N-word, Nazi rhetoric and writings of "dozens of ways of violently killing Black people"
NIH Office of Extramural Research announcements of feedback sessions for NIH-wide strategic plan for March 16 and April 8.
IMPORTANT---IMPORTANT---IMPORTANT
NIH is seeking input for the NIH-wide Strategic Plan. Open to everyone but Registration is Required!
Your chance to listen and get your 2 or more cents in.
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
Line graph of the number new and competitive renewal grants funded by NIH in fiscal year 2026 through February 20, compared to fiscal years 2020-2025. The fiscal year 2026 is well below the other curves.
New and Competitive Renewals
Only 803 grants have been made compared to ~2650 in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 through February 20.
All institutes and centers (include OD now) have made awards except NIAAA, NLM, NCCIH, and FIC.
3/4
Federal funding for US biomedical research is moribund.
Since October 1 2025, NIH is -80% in new grants and -70% in values (total dollars).
Labs are closing down and researchers are leaving science.
To what end?
One of the many reasons why the NIH and biomedical health research are STILL in trouble.
Don’t be fooled into thinking everything in science is ok in 2026.
Continue to push back, document & call your congressional representatives! ✊
I had to renegotiate my F99/K00 award twice in 6 months, and on both occasions I asked what specifically “DEI activities” means. I didn’t get clear answers, so I was hopeful the person that directive came from could specify (the NIH Director). I asked the on @whyshoulditrustyou.bsky.social podcast
“Lorth Sim, a Cambodian national, died in ICE custody on Monday, the seventh since the start of the year and nearly the 40th since Trump took office. ICE has not updated its website to reflect this latest detainee death as of the time of this writing.”
@altfda.altgov.info challenged us to list #5Things that each of us Alts think have caused the most damage in our agencies over the past year. Each of the five items is chock full of sub-items…adding up to far more “things.” Here goes.
An international coalition has launched a flotilla in a bid to deliver 'urgently needed' humanitarian aid to Cuba amid an intensifying blockade of the island by the United States
A photo of 4 fingernails on my left hand, each hand-painted with a design to represent one of the scientists. The background for each is a translucent blue-green polish with tiny metallic flakes. On the index nail, I painted a termite with a yellow and orange abdomen, thorax, and legs, and a large brown head and mandibles. On the middle nail, a tiny white rocket slingshots around the moon, trailed by a dashed line. The ring finger nail features and large brown mite with yellow legs and head, and the pinkie nail has two black ants in a line.
A close-up photo of my thumb nail with the same background polish. Hand-lettered in all caps, rendered in dark blue nail polish, it reads COLLINS JOHNSON LUTTERLOUGH TURNER
Every Thursday night I live stream nail art. For my first stream of Black History Month I asked chat to choose between 4 Black scientists I’d pre-selected. Chat, in their usual fashion, said “all 4, please”. Hence: Margaret Collins, Kathrine Johnson, Sophie Lutterlough, and Charles Henry Turner.
This is disgusting
I’m not sure we’ve properly addressed how profoundly disturbing it is that America can largely shrug at the stashing of human beings in giant warehouses.
Have I ever mentioned how surreal it is to be an Editor-in-Chief of a journal called Vaccine right now?
www.science.org/content/arti...
It’s pretty wild, at least by typical academic journal editorial office standards.
Representation Matters, ESPECIALLY now. Huge shoutouts to Gelila Petros & Alex Washington (UNC PREP alumni), @drstarbird.bsky.social, Wiley, Hutch, and the entire committee! We did it!
(Yes, there’s actually a couple more Atlas projects in progress 🤪🤭🤫)
I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond!
www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
The arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort underscore the gravity of this moment. This has never happened before in our history. We shouldn't pretend it's normal.
More reason for us to hold the line and demand a DHS budget that stops funding lawlessness.
Thank you for saying this!
32 others died at the hands of ICE in 2025. Do not forget them.
2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 32 people who died in custody www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
hitting the streets
New: @cortezmasto.senate.gov is a no on the DHS funding bill.
An ICU nurse at the VA!! 🤬
ICE abolished NOW.
Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him.
White. Hot. Rage.
I did not have this on my bingo card 🧡
Dozens of clergy protesting in the Minneapolis Target corporate HQ singing ’We Shall Not Be Moved’ (four part harmony, no less!)
bsky.app/profile/isai...
Okay sorry one more shot:
Clergy are being arrested in Minnesota for peacefully protesting - 1/23/2026
A year ago, I was at WHO, Geneva, when the US government announced their intent to withdraw
It’s now done. With devastating consequences to WHO, the USA, and the entire world.
An entirely self inflicted disaster
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
