Jorge A. Rodriguez

Current NIH leadership want you to think they are using rigorous, consistent & scientific processes to screen studies to align them with agency priorities.

But the process that they have put down on paper is a sham.

It’s important to know NIH is not following its own guidance. Here’s why:

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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.

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Not only has the NIH terminated hundreds of grants, they’re also giving out far fewer grants than appropriate for their budget. Some researchers will have to close their labs or severely cut back their research. This is a self-inflicted wound.

Estimating Ascending Aortic Diameter From the Electrocardiogram:

In December we published a @jaccjournals.bsky.social Brief Report demonstrating that ascending aortic diameter can be partially estimated from the ECG.

4-panel comic: Astronomers asking researchers from different departments to help them identify the “little red dots” in JWST images: (1) Entomologists [Person 1 behind easel that is black with red dots on it, looked at by Person 2 with shoulder-length hair.] PERSON 2: Clover mites. (2) Computer Scientists [Person 1 behind easel that is black with red dots on it, looked at by Person 3 with beanie.] PERSON 3: Stuck pixels. (3) Dermatologists [Person 1 behind easel that is black with red dots on it, looked at by Person 4 with ponytail.] PERSON 4: Cherry angiomas. (4) Graphic designers [Person 1 behind easel that is black with red dots on it, looked at by Person 5 with short hair.] PERSON 5: No, those are vermillion, or maybe jasper. Can I see your color settings?

Little Red Dots

xkcd.com/3212/

Delays in awards and funding calls worry NIH-funded researchers Many programs may be pushed into the next fiscal year, and some could face funding gaps

These NOFO delays have created so many gaps in longstanding programs, including programs that are congressionally mandated.

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

You can 100% do high-quality, controlled research about patients’ perceived mistreatment in healthcare.

In fact, we should. It’s a major barrier to keeping all Americans healthy.

Watch Dr. Green’s video!

That's right. Worse than Pointless
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets: The administration has not yet released funding Congress allocated to multiple research agencies, so they cannot provide it to funded entities/people - including NIH and NASA. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Just published this article @thehill.com about the paradox of American wealth not delivering health.

@societygim.bsky.social #SGIM25 @ipham.bsky.social
@nuintmed.bsky.social

thehill.com/opinion/heal...

If that's what we need, it's odd that the Trump Administration is dismantling AHRQ, the main funder of health services research.

www.ahrq.gov

🗣️ Language access isn’t guaranteed.
Only 54% of U.S. primary care practices always offer services for patients with limited English proficiency—despite legal mandates. @stacy0chen rdcu.be/eTbj8 #JGIM

A screen shot of a spreadsheet with NIH research that needs remediation because it contains terms like "health equity" and "racial and/or ethnic disparities" and "pregnant individuals"

Still digging through this thorough report from @sanders.senate.gov. I want to flag this screenshot of what program staff receive when studies include "terms potentially associated with misalignment with agency priorities" (Newspeak for 'banned words')

In case it helps, you can use HTML code (e.g., <p> <b> <i> <u>) to format the text blocks on your biosketches in SciENcv

A line graph showing all NIH projects funded through January 23, 2026 for fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal years 2021-2025. The fiscal year 2026 curve lies substantially below the other curves.

My weekly update

(Grants with Notice of Award dates up to 1/23/26)

All projects

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Symbolic victories do not revive the slain or reunite families that have been torn apart by means of state violence.

Primary Care Clinicians Available for New Patient Visits Interview with Katherine Majzoub Morgan, MD, MPP, author of Primary Care Clinicians Available for New Patient Visits, and Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, author of A Different Lens on the Primary Care Workforce Shortage—Who Is Accepting New Patients? Hosted by Eve Rittenberg, MD.

Authors Katherine Majzoub Morgan, MD, MPP, and Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, discuss how evolving care models, payment structures, and workforce trends shape access to primary care with Eve Rittenberg, MD.

🎧 Listen now: ja.ma/4bIzGpt

Spring 2026 clinics dates: March 11, 2026 & May 13, 2026

New dates available for CAUSALab Clinics!

Free #causalinference consulting open to Boston-based, junior clinical investigators. Postdoc fellows provide guidance pertaining to #studydesign, data analysis and results for works in progress.

Learn more & apply:
hsph.harvard.edu/research/cau...

NIH funding rates for early-career researchers plunged in 2025, new data show A Trump administration change to how NIH awards grants has sharply reduced early-stage investigators’ odds of securing funding.

A Trump administration change to how the National Institutes of Health awards grants has sharply reduced early-stage investigators’ odds of securing funding, new data from the agency show. Teamed up with @aniloza.bsky.social for this @statnews.com story
www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/n...

Jenna has been an inspiring colleague I’ve been honored to work alongside this year. It needs to be known after putting us through the longest shutdown (they say in official emails, “democrat-led” like how desperate), on Day 1 back to work they are putting people on admin leave again.

N.I.H. Worker Who Criticized Trump Health Policies Says She Is on Administrative Leave

NEW: Jenna Norton, an NIH employee who is openly critical of Trump & RFK Jr, has been put on "non-disciplinary" administrative leave. She says the administration is trying to "scare and silence me." An HHS official, asked to comment, called her a radical leftist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

Scientists had to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding. Health disparities researchers fear what’s next The titles of more than 700 multi-year NIH grants have been changed this year, according to an analysis by Jeremy Berg, a former agency official

New story up on the non-existent banned words from NIH grants (based on my grant title, word cloud analysis)

www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...

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Just here to remind everyone that while the federal government is shutdown, all study sections at the NIH are currently on hold. Another blow to science and to early career scientists like myself with young labs and research groups. Very hard to remain positive about this career path.

Why some federal workers aren't scared by the threat of shutdown layoffs Some federal workers support the government shutdown, even as President Trump threatens to use this moment to lay off employees and cut funding to programs.

Some federal workers support the government shutdown, even as President Trump threatens to use this moment to lay off employees and cut funding to programs.

Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.

Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.

Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

a white cat is sitting on a box with the words where written on it . ALT: a white cat is sitting on a box with the words where written on it .

The fiscal year is over.

So how was the NIH appropriation committed?

A long thread with institute by institute results about where the money went.

Several scientists have received letters from the NIH director disinviting them from their positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding, I'm told.

In July, I reported that NIH staff were told to select members aligned with Trump administration priorities.

Looking for the latest happenings relevant to NIH science?

This is a great group to follow: go.bsky.app/LQZYUdE