In a scathing review, the top US medical journal's editorial board warned that the "destruction that Kennedy has wrought in 1 in office might take generations to repair." n.pr/3N9Foa8
BREAKING: NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will take on the additional role of acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two administration officials told @sherylnyt.bsky.social on Wednesday.
Bhattacharya will also continue to run the NIH, she reports for @nytimes.com.
NEW: Another NIH institute director hasn't been renewed — the director of NIAMS (arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin diseases institute).
That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.
For example: if 84% of people already agree that scientific research aimed at advancing knowledge is usually a worthwhile investment over time...
Why are you so sure that the real problem is that people "just don't know enough about why research matters"
www.pewresearch.org/science/2026...
My quote of the day
All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.
Robert F. Kennedy
In brief, this maneuver:
- effectively converts employee status to "at-will" (meaning they can be fired for any--or no--reason),
- redirects whistleblower complaints to internal agency counsel,
& takes away these civil servants' rights to appeal adverse personnel actions.
Research in Action: How Dr. Samuel Sommers Exposed Unconscious Bias in Jury Selection
As part of an effort to celebrate scholars who apply their research in service of social change, SPSP is highlighting the late Dr. Samuel Sommers - who served as an expert in several cases on different aspects of the criminal justice system.
Learn more: https://ow.ly/wr7V50Y9sKA
I'm on Capitol Hill watching NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya testify to the Senate HELP committee.
Thankfully I haven't been escorted out of this event (yet). Here's what I'm following. You can also watch live here:
www.help.senate.gov/hearings/mod...
🧵Good news out of #NIH today.
(1) NIH is extending #ESI and #K99/R00 eligibility to accommodate researchers whose eligibility would have ended during the previous shutdown. Take a look at NOT-OD-26-020. If your ESI status would have ended in 2025, you get an automatic extension through 2026/03/31.
@sansmeeting.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social @affectscience.bsky.social
Basic Experimental Studies in Humans (BESH) Will No Longer Be Considered Clinical Trials by the NIH grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
HEAL Initiative, BRAIN initiative, Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, all now leaderless with Walter Koroshetz gone...
Yes, it has been.
Nearly half of the databases that the CDC used to update regularly — surveillance systems that tracked public health information like Covid vaccination rates and hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus — have been paused without explanation, according to new research.
Alex Pretti, 37, worked in the ICU at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and had assisted on scientific research
Thirteen of the US NIH’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members
go.nature.com/4r6TiIp
WHO removing Us Flag
"In St. Paul, at least one-fourth of students from Spanish-speaking homes have missed every day of school since Dec. 12."
Covers of the 2 leading science journals this week
@science.org and @nature.com
www.science.org/content/arti... www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
Delighted to be featured in @thetransmitter.bsky.social's Liftoff series: bit.ly/3ZkMQl8
Learn more about our lab's work at the intersection of social interaction, neural computation, & mental health. Reach out if you are interested in collaborating or becoming involved!
sinclaboratory.com
Congressional appropriators have largely pushed back on Trump's proposals for the NIH:
-Slight budget increase
-No changes to indirect cost payments
-Limits use of multiyear funding to FY25 levels (NOT FY24)
From @jonathanwosen.bsky.social & I
www.statnews.com/2026/01/20/n...
NSF building on Eisenhower Av. HUD now owns.
Destroying the NSF mural in the foyer. Of the Eisenhower building.
The National Science Foundation sign on our Eisenhower Av building is now gone.
The NSF mural in the foyer is removed and torn off in sheets.
We were supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the agency in May 2025. That never happened.
Tylenol during pregnancy is safe without increased risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability of offspring
A new review of the evidence just out
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
5 million-plus kindergartners now live in counties where schools don’t have “herd immunity” for measles, Washington Post reporters found.
WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county.
Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al.
(Gift link.)
Maryland families are doing a great job keeping kids safe and healthy! Last year, more than 96% of Maryland’s kindergarten students were vaccinated and ready to learn.* Keep up the good work in 2026, and stay vaccinated.
*Source: Maryland Department of Health Center for Immunization
Tatiana Schlossberg, daughter of Caroline Kennedy, has died at 35. In November, she wrote about receiving a terminal diagnosis following the birth of her daughter.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me/hsZC7S
A @statnews.com exclusive from me: Walter Koroshetz, director of NIH's neurological disorders institute, has been ousted. Yet another example of NIH leadership churn. His departure means that 13 of the agency's 27 divisions will have interim leaders.
www.statnews.com/2025/12/27/n...
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
