iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I was an experiment for my postdoc. The first fellow in a brand new translational research training program.

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Worth a read. Many have taken note of the growing solidarity in the science community in opposition to the OMB proposed rule. But this must be just the start. For an example, we can look to @sekahn.bsky.social, Justin Ryder & co who spoke up at ADA and were removed for it. 🧵

314454

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

The concept behind this post is absolutely correct. We shouldn’t just focus on saving science, we should grow it. Every dollar toward research grows the economy too. Let’s innovate and make discoveries.

020

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Read this post! Oct. 1, 2026 will be the death of research in the US. This plan will allow the administration to make all grant funding political. Any grant can be cancelled or blocked for not supporting administration priorities. The science doesn’t matter. Now is the time to be loud about this.

010

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

@markhisted.org wrote an informative commentary about the damage being done to NIH and research. Every concerned scientist and citizen should read this and speak up to help stop it. Talk to your colleagues about it. Call your representatives. US research is being destroyed. We used to be the best.

14310

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

The Principled Investigator @principledinvestig.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Our digest this week is focused on the NIH budget in congress. There are lots of details to understand that we try to summarize. theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com/p/the-princi...

theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com

The Principled Investigator - January 23, 2026

Weekly digest

012

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

No it did not. The baseline I used was 0% MYF.

010

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

The number of funded grants can recover to normal levels, even with MYF in the funding mix. However, temporary MYF can induce large oscillations in the number of funded grants unless there are additional interventions to modulate the swings. 13/13

042

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In conclusion, introducing large amounts of MYF into NIH funding system will can cause dramatic reductions in the number of new grants, as we saw in FY25. Since biomedical research requires stable funding streams, these dramatic reductions are likely to cause labs to close. 12/n

187

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In this model, the oscillations don’t go away and average around 2000 new grants per year. In reality, the large oscillations could be moderated by surging larger numbers of shorter-term grants to get the system to stabilize around the usual 2000 new grants per year. 11/n

132

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Interestingly, if FY26 recovers from 39% MYF then large oscillations are induced in the system. If there are 2 years of 39% MYF before recovering to 0% MYF, then very large oscillations are introduced with swings from 1220 new grants to 3084 grants over 3 years. 10/n

Graph of new NIH grants modeling 2 years at 39% MYF and then 0% MYF for the remaining years. Very large oscillations are introduced into the system.

152

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Any level of MYF higher than 63% will push the total number of new grants lower than FY25 (year 1 in the plot) before rebounding and oscillating. 9/n

Graph of 39% MYF for 1 year and then 80% MYF for the remaining years. Total new grants drop for 2 years before recovering.

153

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

So, what might happen in the next few years? If the MYF level increases further to anything less than 63%, the total number of new grants actually increases relative to FY25, because the amount of already allocated funds keeps decreasing for each year of MYF. 8/n

Graph modeling 39% MYF for 1 year and then 50% MYF for the remaining years. An initial drop in total grants is followed by a recovery and oscillation in future years.

122

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

This modeling shows a 31% drop in grants the first year of 39% MYF. Nature reported that NIH grants dropped 24% from the 10-year average in FY25. The discrepancy is likely due to my modeling only including 5-year grants and NIH has other lengths in the mix. 7/n

142

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

What happened in FY25 at NIH was 39% MYF. If we keep a constant 39% MYF in this model, the new grants drop to 1376 in the first year before recovering and increasing by year 5. However, the system then oscillates on a 5-year timeframe with an average of about 1990 new grants each year. 6/n

Modeling a switch to 39% MYF. Total new grants drop in the first year before recovering and oscillating in future years.

175

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In this modeling, 100% standard system results in 2000 new grants each year. What happens during a transition between standard NIH funding and MYF funding? In a 100% MYF system, new grants drop to 400 in the first year before recovering to 2000 by year 5. 5/n

Plot of modeling new NIH grants after a switch to 100% MYF. There is a large drop in grants in the first year with a gradual recovery over 5 years.

183

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In a standard NIH system 80% of the funds each year go to already funded grants and 20% will go to new grants. In a fully MYF system 100% of funds can go to new grants, but because each year 1 is 5x as large, the total number of new grants is equal in both systems. 4/n

153

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

I modeled a consistent NIH budget of 10,000 arbitrary grant units. New grants come out of the funds not allocated to standard NIH grants from the previous 5 years. Standard grants are 1x each year for 5 years and MYF grants are 5x in 1 year. Year 0 is 100% standard NIH system. 3/n

142

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Let’s start with the modeling assumptions: A standard 5-year NIH grant, such as an R01, is budgeted at NIH as 20% of the total grant budget each year for 5 years. In contrast, a MYF grant is budgeted 100% in the first year and 0% for subsequent years. 2/n

152

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

There is a lot of talk lately about multi-year funding (MYF) at NIH. This is mostly a paperwork issue, but it can have a dramatic impact on the number of grants that get funded. I was curious how this would impact grant numbers over time, so I did some simple modeling. 1/n

22521

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

This is an important discussion about how NIH is being destroyed from the inside. Please contact your senator and representatives and let them know what is happening.

010

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

The Principled Investigator @principledinvestig.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Here is the Principled Investigator post for this week. We also plan to have a couple extra posts this week on particularly important topics, so stay tuned. theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com/p/the-princi...

theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com

The Principled Investigator - November 14, 2025

Weekly digest

001

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

@principledinvestig.bsky.social has a new post this week with lots of good information about the destruction going on at NIH, lost datasets, impacts to healthcare, and more. It's worth a read. theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com/p/the-princi...

theprincipledinvestigator.substack.com

The Principled Investigator - November 7, 2025

Weekly Digest

010

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

I saw it in the Principled Investigator Substack, and they reference a Science article that notes an NIH presentation. open.substack.com/pub/theprinc...

open.substack.com

The Principled Investigator - October 31, 2025

Weekly digest

011

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

There are reports that the goal is to get to 100% MYF by FY27.

011

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

If you are overwhelmed by all of the attacks on science in this country and have trouble following it all, below is a new resource to digest it all. They will have weekly posts with key information. Subscribe and share it. It is run by scientists from across the country.

010

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

AZ Faust @azfaust.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

I have been thinking about "this is what NSF has meant to me" style posts and I want to talk a little about two sisters: one who had a chance to make a career in a country that had NSF/NIH and one who didn't.

23412

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Well, the AACR GENIE cBioPortal site is down to make sure it complies with the new regulations. Let’s hope it’s temporary.

Screenshot of the AACR GENIE cBioPortal website notice of being temporarily down to ensure compliance with US regulations.

031

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. 1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.

9052799713787

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Another “Continuing Crisis” post, this one covering some larger principles and explaining why I’m doing these in general:

science.org

The Continuing Crisis, Part VII: An Overview

67026

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

I am not going to call this a Bluetorial, because I do not want to sully that term (which, at least I, find joyful). Let’s call it a Orwellial.

media.tenor.com

a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card

ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card

13544235

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Jason Sheltzer @jsheltzer.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Did you know - the medicine that President Trump takes each day to lower his risk of having a heart attack is a direct result of NIH funding? Let me explain -

162

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

I think people both within science and outside science don’t fully appreciate the miracle that were the Covid-19 vaccines. How much courage it took to get the sequence out, how much work had already gone into figuring out the best viral antigen and how best to present it. 1/

9768188

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Once upon a time, some villagers came across a large, ornate wooden box in the local woods. On the side of the box was a message: “Whatever money you put in this box will, in future, grow to become 2.5 times larger.” 1/

3236129

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Fred Guttenberg @fredguttenberg.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

A really important email from my friend Senator @chrismurphyct.bsky.social . As he says "this is a 5 alarm fire." America is under attack right now.

31875143874

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Science (and science policy, and conservation) friends, I need your help! We are collecting *specific, clear* examples of harms caused by the Trump administration's attacks on science, to be included in an open letter. Can be links to news stories/social media posts. 🧪🦑🌎 #SciComm #SciPol

The Trump administration’s attacks on scientific funding, restrictions on Federal scientist activities, and
indiscriminate firing have caused chaos, panic, and harm.

We need *specific* examples of harms caused
by these policies to include in an open letter.
Grants cut, projects cancelled, jobs lost.

Feel free to send news stories, blog posts, or social media posts that mention these, as well as original contributions.

Please send to WhySharksMatter @ gmail or DM me

25412336

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Jack Iwashyna @iwashyna.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Over on LinkedIn, the head of the Executive Secretariat of the NIH -- a central part of NIH leadership 🧪🩺-- resigned with a lettter worth reading www.linkedin.com/posts/nathan...

February 18, 2024
TO:
Dr. Matthew Memoli, Acting Director, NIH
CC:
John Burklow, Chief of Staff, NIH
Julie Berko, Director, OHR, NIH
FROM:
Nathaniel James Brought, Director, ES, NIH
SUBJECT: Resignation
Dear Dr. Memoli,
On July 3, 2001, I stepped off a bus on Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot Perris Island. Scared out of my mind, I stood on a pair of freshly painted yellow footprints, raised my right hand, and recited the oath of enlistment:
I, Nathaniel James Brought, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
For the last 23 years, 7 months, and 15 days, I like to believe I have faithfully carried out the duties of each office to which I've been appointed in my military and civilian service to this nation. That Service has taken me from the Marine Corps to 3 different federal departments, spanned 3 continents, included service in one war zone, and has included:
• For the Marine Corps and the National Security Agency, I worked on intelligence operations at the highest classification levels using bleeding edge intelligence tools to ensure America's special operators put boots-to-asses on America's enemies overseas (including commendations crediting my work for the kill or capture of dozens of terrorists), ensuring America's policy makers were able to track the movement of dangerous dual

nuclear technology across international borders, and monitored the flow of terrorist financing across the international banking system.
• Utilized information from all-source intelligence to ensure the continued security of America's homeland from international and domestic threats.
• Worked with some of the finest lawyers in the world to ensure America's security operations were effective, while upholding the rights of all those who interacted with them.
• Ensuring that America's rural communities had access to programs like rural development loans, farm aid, and that America's children wouldn't be hungry as they sat in their classrooms and tried to learn.
• Most recently, and frankly most dear to my heart, working with each of you here at the National Institutes of Health to advance the future of science and medicine. Not for Americans. Not for any one group of people. But for ALL of humanity.
I am unbelievably proud to be able to say that there are Americans who are alive, and terrorists who are not, because of the work I've done to serve this nation. I am proud to say that my service to this country has allowed me to ensure that my children have never faced the struggles of poverty that I grew up with. That service didn't begin because of some great altruistic impulse or drive. I didn't grow up saying "I want to do the great work that needs to be done to weave the fabric of America and ensure her people are not only safe, but healthy." Frankly, that service began because I was poor, and I was inspired. I grew up as a free lunch kid who lived in project housing. It was my fellow Americans who made sure I wasn't hungry in class and that I had enough food to excel academically the way I did. It was Americans who had more than we did that made sure I had good schools to attend where I could learn things that expanded my mind.
As I approached the end of high school, I dreamed of going to college and figuring out how to make a living that would allow me to do more tha…

461251641

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Short update on NIH The situation is very confusing, a not just to me. Folks who were told the were to be terminated did not receive any communication for a day and a half, people who were “on the list” have not received anything as of yet. Some folks who had been terminated have be reinstated 1/2

media.tenor.com

a man standing in front of a crowd with the words everybody panic

Alt: a man standing in front of a crowd with the words everybody panic

212430

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Captures it perfectly.

436376569733

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

I am hiring for my lab at Yale. We study the translational genomics of head and neck cancer. I’m looking for a postdoc or scientist with experience in cell and molecular biology. Genomics or mouse experience is a bonus. No official posting is up, just contact me if interested.

11211

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Bluetorial: The rationale for the “NIH” indirect cost “plan” is based on misunderstood (unintentional or intentional) accounting and math The value of real government transparency

media.tenor.com

a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card

ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card

719680

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

BREAKING On Monday, Popular Information broke the news that the NIH had frozen virtually all grant funding in violation of 2 federal court orders On Wednesday, NIH leadership distributed a memo, acknowledging that its funding freeze was illegal and directing staff to resume issuing grants.

An internal memo issued February 12 was obtained by Popular Information.

361261027730

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

NEW: Federal judge in Massachusetts enters Emergency Temporary Restraining Order blocking Trump Administration from cutting health research grant money, including 15% cap on overhead costs. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

documentcloud.org

NIHTRO021025

8254661344

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

We also have an internal website with a timeline of events and guidance related to grants from different parts of the government. Leadership here seems to be doing a good job so far in these uncertain times.

010

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Another email from Yale mentioned their public declaration in the court filing today and their efforts with lawmakers. They also emphasized their commitment to research.

110

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 10/02/2025

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk "Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

chng.it

Sign the Petition

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

9157139

Reposted by Curtis Pickering

Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

BREAKING: 22 states sue NIH over Trump administration's new 15% cap on overhead for federal research grants. Suit filed federal court in Boston contends lifesaving research 'will grind to a halt' under the policy. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

6133391140

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Part of the word from the Yale School of Medicine is, "Please know that leaders from Yale and universities across the United States are collaborating to respond to this guidance, exploring all avenues." Hopefully that means something will happen soon.

110

Curtis Pickering @cpickering.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

I’m generally starting with the fact it is a cut, but I’m trying to be prepared for anyone who says that grants from foundations and drug companies get a lower rate.

110