iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

More shit coming down:: "The White House has begun drafting a new executive order that could further cement President Trump’s ability to control billions of dollars in scientific grants and expand the administration’s pressure campaign against elite universities." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/s...

nytimes.com

White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants

Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/09/2026

“The arrangement would give Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a direct role in determining how NIH distributes its $48 billion in congressionally-appropriated money.” Bypassing the many checks and balances at NIH on grant funding decisions.

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HHMI @hhmi-science.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Calling all 2nd- & 3rd-year PhD students in the biological/biomedical sciences: #GilliamFellows applications are NOW OPEN! Robust research support, an incredible scientific community, & professional development for you & your mentor. But don’t just take *our* word for it: bit.ly/gilliam26. 🧪

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Reese Richardson @reeserichardson.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

A massive update: At least ~15 companies~ are selling scientists antibodies using faked validation data. We've documented 18,000+ manipulated images on 17,000+ products sold by leading laboratory suppliers including Thermo Fisher, Abcam, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Millipore Sigma and Bio-Techne. 1/🧵

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elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

On Aug 14, NIH held a webinar assuring researchers nothing was changing under the new funding strategy. Hours later, NIH proposed hiding peer review scores from program staff and investigators. My latest essay lays it out. formernih.substack.com/p/nih-direct...

formernih.substack.com

NIH Directors Decide, Except When HHS Says No

A June 2026 Nature report revealed that mandatory reviews by top officials, checking for a list of 235 disfavored terms, have left hundreds of meritorious NIH applications in administrative limbo (Koz...

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I-75 Scientist @flscitriguy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Here’s the proposed changes to summary statements. 60days to comment.

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Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This paper was a LONG time coming! We functionally mapped excitatory and inhibitory inputs onto dopamine neuron dendrites using spatial optogenetics.

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Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This paper was a LONG time coming! We functionally mapped excitatory and inhibitory inputs onto dopamine neuron dendrites using spatial optogenetics.

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I-270, Exit 1 @i270exit1.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

🚨🚨 FEDS and everyone else 🚨🚨 🧵Tomorrow is the last day to comment on the Office of Personnel Management rule, “Promoting Employee Accountability" at www.regulations.gov/commenton/OP... This rule eliminates employee protections and rights, and hastens the firing process. Specifically, it... 1/4

regulations.gov

Regulations.gov

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Ariel Levine @ariellevine.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Meeting Location and Transportation: Georgetown University Medical Center New Research Building Auditorium Room WG10 3970 Reservoir Rd. NW Washington DC, 20057 4/4

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Ariel Levine @ariellevine.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Talks will be selected from abstracts and we encourage submissions from early career researchers. Please use this link (forms.gle/Czs4S6NP8vxB...) to register and submit abstracts. The deadline for abstract submission is October 5 and selected speakers will be notified by October 19. 3/n

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Ariel Levine @ariellevine.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Meeting Scope: This meeting has a traditional focus on spinal and brainstem circuits for motor control and recent meetings have expanded to include sessions on sensory circuits, descending and ascending pathways, cortical motor control, development, motor system injury and disease, and more. 2/n

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Ariel Levine @ariellevine.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Hi All! Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social, Kim Dougherty, and I are delighted to invite you to the 19th Annual Pre-SfN Motor Symposium, to be held Friday, November 13 at Georgetown University! 1/n

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Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

How does Parkinson's pathology affect dopamine neurons early in disease progression? Well first of all, it doesn't affect ALL the dopamine neurons the same way. In our newest preprint, we find that alpha synucein accumulation reduces t-type currents in only the most vulnerable neurons.

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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

The 80s saw the horror of AIDS. Science Magazine recognized Lenacapavir as the 2024 Breakthrough of the Year. These type of breakthroughs, w/ humble beginnings in academic labs, would not see the light of day if it weren’t for #NIH funding. 🧪 www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/lena...

thinkglobalhealth.org

Lenacapavir: the HIV Breakthrough Proving Why NIH Funding Matters | Think Global Health

Biomedical advances such as lenacapavir depend on years of publicly funded basic research

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Ths is flying under the radar, but Russ Vought is advancing a new scheme to give Trump's cronies total control of nearly $179B in federal grant funds. Billions for lifesaving disaster relief and medical research would be subject to Trumpian loyalty oaths. Make no mistake: this is fascism.

commondreams.org

Alarm Grows Over Vought Plan to Give Trump Cronies Control of Federal Grant Money | Common Dreams

"The test will be a simple one: Are you sufficiently loyal to the president? If the answer is no, it will result in the

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval of research grants These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

scientificamerican.com

White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final say on research grants

These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque

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Annika Barber @annikabarber.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Megathread about responding to new OMB grant funding rules (feel free to add/link more!) I was collecting these for me, but figured I'd round 'em up for everyone 🧪 What's the problem? arstechnica.com/science/2026... elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

arstechnica.com

Proposed new US funding rules: We can cancel any grant at any time

Peer review now optional, political staff would screen grants for forbidden topics.

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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

And my own take on some of the key points in what OMB/Vought is trying to do here: "If you wanted to cripple science research and were disappointed that Congress continued to fund it, this is the sort of document you would produce."

arstechnica.com

Proposed new US funding rules: We can cancel any grant at any time

Peer review now optional, political staff would screen grants for forbidden topics.

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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 31/05/2026

• Submit a comment opposing the destruction of 🇺🇸 science; • Pressure every org, professional body, association, uni, etc. you are affiliated with to submit the strongest possible comment opposing this calamity (highest ROI move for most of us) • Make sure your electeds see those comments 🧪

patreon.com

Trump's Russ Vought Is Trying To Kill American Science. We Can Try To Stop Him, | Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer by Matthew Cortland

Trump's Russ Vought Is Trying To Kill American Science. We Can Try To Stop Him, by Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer by Matthew Cortland on Patreon. Join Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer by Matthew Cortland...

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elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Calling all Scientists! Research Administrators! Deans! Fans of Science! No one is coming to save us. Here is your assignment. I have written a step by step, easy to understand "how-to" document to help you comment on the proposed OMB rule. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...

elizabethginexi.substack.com

What We Need to do NEXT: OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule (OMB 2026-10817)

What OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule Means in Practice

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

"The document itself is an odd grab-bag of micromanaging grant processes, assertion of presidential power, and airing of cultural grievances... Its lack of coherence, however, will not prevent it from causing staggering damage to the US scientific system." 👇 arstechnica.com/science/2026...

arstechnica.com

Proposed new US funding rules: We can cancel any grant at any time

Peer review now optional, political staff would screen grants for forbidden topics.

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Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Wow, this will sink science in the US

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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Well. This is startling. “At least one of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centres has lost so many GMSs that it has asked early-career researchers, including postdocs and graduate students, who work in the NIH’s own labs to consider working temporarily as a GMS on a volunteer basis”

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

The staffing crunch is so severe that the NIMH has asked its intramural grad students and postdocs to volunteer in this admin capacity temporarily. Also: the institute's acting deputy director - the second in charge - is devoting half of her time to grants management.

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

NEW: A serious staffing shortage — of the Trump admin's own making — is delaying the agency's ability to send billions to universities around the country, leaving labs reeling in the meantime. “I thought we were at rock bottom”, a senior NIH official said. “We are below rock bottom now.”

nature.com

NIH staffing shortage could slash number of new grants issued this year

Some units at the US funding giant are so understaffed, they are focusing on mandated grant renewals rather than new awards.

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

To cope with the lack of staff, institutes like the NHGRI are using multi-year funding, giving approved projects their money upfront as a lump sum rather than annually. This helps the NIH use up its budget more quickly, but it also means that fewer overall researchers and labs receive funding.

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Talia Lerner @talialerner.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

🚨Exiting new preprint from Lerner Lab postdoc AJ Miller-Hansen examining the thalamus as a physiological driver of local, acetylcholine-dependent dopamine release! 🚨 DA-ACh interactions have been 🔥but what’s really going on in vivo? We think we have some answers. #neuroskyence🧪

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Laura Grima @lauragrima.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Really pleased that this work with @dudman.bsky.social is now out in Neuron: A global dopaminergic learning rate enables adaptive foraging across many options

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Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Our newest preprint shows sex specific effect of exercise on motor coordination and dopamine neuron excitability! This was actually really surprising to us.

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 22/04/2026

Through March 31, the number of grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health is down by more than half compared with the same period last year, a Post analysis found. There are also fewer grants focused on women’s health, cancer and mental health, the analysis found. wapo.st/48dWJWX

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Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Down 70% (!!!) from the before times. We've plateaued and it's only April. So, so many labs will close this year.

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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The Trump administration is just getting started. They told us their plans for science in Project 2025. We should believe them. Then we should stop them. Part of their plan is death by paperwork. (Ironically, a complaint they latched onto to seize power in the first place. As Mike Lauer said...

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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

NIH is not okay. @nytimes.com highlights how grant-making & ability to obligate funding is at risk from staff shortages and time consuming screening processes designed to censor research to align with the administration's political ideology. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/s... Some highlights:

nytimes.com

Pace of N.I.H. Funding Slows Further in Trump’s Second Year

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Michael D. Green, PhD @michaeldgreen.phd · 22/04/2026

Setting the record straight to get an NIH grant, it is: 1) incredibly more competitive 2) more paperwork for arbitrary reasons 3) award amounts have STILL not kept up with inflation 4) also will be a shorter award because of how multi-year funding is implemented Sounds like the hunger games!

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Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

First up: F grants These support individual grad students and post-docs (and some college students). # of new grants issued through April 15 in FY2024 (the last “normal” year): 652 FY2025: 402 FY2026: 74

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Very informative post from Elizabeth Ginexi about NIH grant delays. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-execut...

elizabethginexi.substack.com

The Executive Orders Blocking Your NIH Grant

This image was generated by Google AI (Gemini)

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EARA @eara.eu · 26/03/2026

In a @fens.org article, based on an interview with @tvvde.bsky.social, neuroscientists Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler, the 2025 Brain Prize winners, made clear that animal research remains essential to their work. 🔗 www.eara.eu/news/brain-p... #AnimalResearch #Brain #BrainPrize #neuroscience #mice

eara.eu

EARA | News - Brain Prize winners assert animal research as irreplaceable

2025 Brain Prize winners, Michelle Monje of Stanford Medicine and Frank Winkler of Heidelberg University Hospital, made clear that animal research remains essential to their work. In an FENS…

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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

this is an out-and-out lie multi-year funding doesn’t give ANYONE more money up-front the money simply sits in different account at NIH no one gets money sooner

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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

This Russell Vought, trying to usurp the power of the purse. Congress and the people have made it abundantly clear that they want to fund science. But Vought keeps trying to steal those funds. www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Analysis: Why the research money isn’t flowing from NSF and NIH

White House review of agency spending plans for this year is causing delays

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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Oh wow. I know people here have THOUGHTS. Write them up & submit!! I love that all essays have to be public before entering. This is exactly the type of conversation we need more of. (Also cash prizes + philanthropy is listening) Now which on my list should I pick 🤔? astera.org/essay-compet...

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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

This is the work of 2-5 people, full time, for five years. Work that is trying to increase knowledge of the world, of human health and trying to create a healthier population. Which we somehow can’t afford. Because we need to kill hundreds of people in far off lands for reasons that are false.

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Rebekah Evans @cellularscale.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

This is because of Vought's multi year funding mandate, which wastes government money by having it sit dormant for years instead of being used for science. Its the opposite of efficiency. They are using the same amount of money to fund less science.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted. What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards. Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success.

Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds. New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October. (h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

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. 🧵👇

nature.com

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.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

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

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.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

New and competitive renewal awards. The number of awards is 569 compared with more than 2200 through the same date in earlier fiscal years. All ICs have now made awards except for NIAAA, NCCIH, NLM, FIC, and OD. NEI (Eye Institute) made its first award during the new period. 3/4

A line graph shown the number of NIH new and competitive awards funded for fiscal year 2026 (through 2/13/26) compared with fiscal years 2021-2025. The fiscal year 2026 is lagging well behind with only 569 awards made through 2/13/26 compared to >2000 for previous fiscal years.

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