A headshot of Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier on AIMBE's 2026 Annual Event page.
AIMBE is thrilled to host Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Professor at UIUC and former OSTP Director, for our policy lecture at our 2026 AIMBE Annual Event in DC on April 13.
"Shaping the Future of Federal Research Policy: Funding, Infrastructure, and Innovation."
👉 Register Today: annualevent.aimbe.org
Thank you to those who used AIMBE's advocacy letter template urging your Members of Congress to support SBIR/STTR reauthorization!
However, our work is not finished as the bill now heads to the House for final consideration.
✍ You can still send a letter here: takeaction.io/aimbe/sbir-s...
A headshot of Anindita Saha on AIMBE's 2026 Annual Event website.
Over a month to go until AIMBE's Annual Event in Washington, D.C. this April 11-13!
Don't miss Anindita Saha from the FDA, who will serve as the policy speaker for our Views by Two session on AI and Drug Targets for Therapeutics.
👉 Register today for AIMBE's Annual Event: annualevent.aimbe.org
Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.
The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇
Wake up babe, new BMES podcast just dropped!
Had a great time talking about the value of professional societies with my friend @lizwaynephd.bsky.social … Liz is the best in the biz and I was honored to share my experiences with BMES… give it a listen! 🎧🎙️🗣️
www.bmes.org/podcast/offi...
A headshot of Karl Leif Bates, a speaker at AIMBE's 2026 Annual Event.
Only 1.5 months until AIMBE's Annual Event in DC this April 11-13!
Karl Bates will give our inaugural SciComm & Public Engagement Lecture, providing attendees with the tools to make an effective argument for your science in the public sphere.
👉 Register for our Annual Event: annualevent.aimbe.org
It’s PhD admission season in the US and elsewhere. Is anyone collecting and sharing info about what admissions letters are saying this year, especially in the neuro/psych/bio space? Last year there were some (unfortunate) changes at some Unis, eg
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/03/08/u....
Advocate for science policy and research funding. Join ASCB’s Texas Virtual Capitol Hill Day on April 22. Free for ASCB members. No travel required.
Register: https://www.ascb.org/ascb-meetings/ascb-texas-virtual-capitol-hill-day-2/
SBIR and STTR programs lapsed on Oct. 1, 2025, halting new solicitations across federal agencies, including NIH and NSF.
Delays to their restoration will disrupt the commercialization of technologies that are foundational to America's leadership in STEM innovation and economic competitiveness.
🚨 AIMBE calls on the scientific community to take a minute to send our new advocacy letter urging Congress to support the immediate reauthorization of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs!
Please share 👇
takeaction.io/aimbe/sbir-s...
SBIR and STTR funding mechanisms are critical for tech transfer, but they've lapsed! AIMBE can help you quickly send a letter to your congressional representatives to ask that they be reinstated. See info below.
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.
A banner marking AIMBE's 35th anniversary.
🎉 AIMBE is celebrating 35 years at our Annual Event in DC, April 11–13!
Highlights include:
• Our President’s Circle Reception at the Library of Congress 🏛️
• Our largest-ever Congressional Hill Day 🧪
• Science communication sessions 🎙️
👉 Don't miss out, register today: annualevent.aimbe.org
Spoke with a PI whose postdoc is trapped abroad because of social media vetting. It appears the postdoc missed disclosing one account and it's unclear if they can come back… ever.
This is the country we live in now.
A word cloud from the titles of ~1100 NSF grants that were terminated. The most frequent words are STEM, ADVANCE, Student, career, and engines.
This a word cloud from the titles of ~1100 terminated NSF grants.
It is hard not to see these grant terminations as an attack on the training of the future United States scientific workforce.
Iowa closing the African American studies major during Black history month is diabolical.
This article is from 4 days ago, but it is now official. The minor will continue.
Holy shit: it's an RFP for the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Hello old friend www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
A number of our students got the following comment back on a rejection for the NSF GFRP. They are in an eligible STEM field. Is this something people in other places are getting too? Is it a quirk or targeted?
Anyone dealt with challenging an "Ineligible" determination on a GRFP proposal?
A student's proposed was DQ'ed stating: "Applicants must select research in eligible STEM or STEM education fields."
However, Ecology is clearly listed in the solicitation. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
Any wisdom?
A line graph of the number of NIH awards for new and competitive renewal grants made in fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal years 2021 through 2025. The curve for fiscal year 2026 appears to be essentially at zero on this scale.
New and Competitive renewals
These are still be made VERY slowly. Only 75 awards have been made through 1/23/26.
These are now from 7 institutes and centers (NIA (45), NINDS (16), NIDDK (5), NIDCR (4), NIDCD (2), NHLBI (1), and NCATS (1)).
3/3
The U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office.
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies. Read more: https://scim.ag/4boPkq8
Last month, AIMBE submitted a response to the OSTP RFI on "Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise": aimbe.org/wp-content/u...
Thanks to input from our members, we highlighted opportunities to strengthen public-private partnerships and accelerate research translation into real-world impact.
Listening to his wife screaming with fear and grief and shock, and I think for those of us who have paid attention to police brutality and American history more broadly, it is painfully familiar and so hard to hear
I hope he comes home safe and soon.
Alex Pretti "used to tell people off when they made sexist comments to female physicians. He bought me coffee when I had a really bad day as an intern...I laughed alongside him daily. He made a point to teach medical residents without judgement, but with a smile on his face and a joke."
Breaking NYT:
The FBI agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter, after leadership pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the officer.
Good news from NIH!
Michael Chiang has apparently been reappointed as Director of the National Eye Institute
www.nei.nih.gov/about/our-mi...
This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
A flyer of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering's workshop titled "A Collective Call to Action: The Importance of Advocacy and Avenues for Engagement in Biomedical Engineering" on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM ET at the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Speakers include Drs. Dawn Beraud (AIMBE), Anita Shukla (Brown University), Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert (University of Washington), and Michael Francis (University of South Florida and Asante Bio).
AIMBE is hosting a workshop titled "A Collective Call to Action: The Importance of Advocacy and Avenues for Engagement in Biomedical Engineering" at the SFB Meeting on 3/25!
Join @dawnberaud.bsky.social, @jasoncmarvin.bsky.social, and our AIMBE Fellows for this important advocacy conversation 👇
