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Erin Reidy

@papertopolicy.bsky.social
65 followers 52 following 30 posts

Former healthcare policy wonk and CDC statistician, married to an academic researcher, literally alive because of NIH

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Reposted by Erin Reidy
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 03/06/2025
I've seen folks talk about how "in four years" they'll be able to get back to their planned projects and I really don't think that's going to work out. People & projects losing funding now will not be able to hit pause and come back once funding is restored. Hard-won progress & capacity will be lost
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Annika Barber @annikabarber.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Meanwhile NIH reviewer training admonishes us that we may never, ever feed our assigned grants to AI. While in fact our grants all go into training a black box AI on our intellectual property…
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American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network @acscan.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
The president's recent budget proposal calls for a 37% cut to #CancerResearch funding. If this proposal becomes law, it will have life-threatening consequences. That's why we're fighting back. Send a message to your members of Congress now urging them to reject these outrageous proposed cuts.
act.fightcancer.org
Congress: Cancer Research Funding Cuts Have Consequences
ACS CAN is the leading cancer advocacy organization that is working every day to make cancer issues a national priority.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson @neildegrassetyson.com · 17/05/2025
The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity: 1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas… 2) enabled by Engineering Innovations… 3) based on Science Research in Universities… 4) funded by Grants from the US Government. It’s time more people understood this.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
"When the people in the world of biomedical research, let’s cut the technical language, disease cure research make sustained contact with the people in each of these dozen or so disease communities and help them understand what’s happening, that’s the point when I think everything will change."
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
A Path Forward to Save American Bio-Medical Research talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-pat...
talkingpointsmemo.com
A Path Forward to Save American Bio-Medical Research
Over the past four months I’ve spoken to dozens of biomedical researchers...
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 14/05/2025
Cassidy: Why did you cut research on ALS and alzheimers. RFKJ: The Chinese aren't spending a lot of money on DEI. We have not fired any working scientists. THIS IS A BALD-FACED LIE.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 07/05/2025
"The universities can’t say the grants have been canceled because they in fact have not been canceled. And they’re scared to say they’re not being paid because they’re hoping the White House or the NIH will relent." talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/consp...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Conspiracy of Silence: How Trump is Covertly Strangling Billions in Disease Cure Research
The following is very important news about the Trump White House’s unfolding...
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
🚨🚨🚨 Four NIH institute directors have been removed from their posts and some offered reassignments to the Indian Health Service, effective today. These institutes include NIAID (Jeanne Marrazzo), NIMHD (Eliseo Pérez-Stable), NICHD (Diana Bianchi), and NINR (Shannon Zenk).
nature.com
‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs
In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
ICYMI (especially if you work in Democratic politics): Cutting cancer research is one of the things Americans are most worried about. And one of the things they’ve heard the least about. According to polls from @navigatorsurvey.bsky.social: 1/
New survey data out from Navigator research shows the profound public concern and anger over the cuts in the Musk wilding spree.
Unsurprisingly, voters are more concerned than almost anything by Trump and Musk shutting down cancer cure research (and research into cures for other diseases) in the
U.S. 71% of independents says they're concerned or very concerned about it. 65% percent of voters over all. It's also something they've heard the least about. Here's the raw data for the poll and a powerpoint.
And here's the chart on Elon and the
billionaires.
"Dangerous," "Power-Hungry," "Corrupt," and "Self-Serving" Are
Best Descriptors of Musk and Other Billionaires' Actions
Independents see them most as "dangerous,"
the job he is doing ao say they da greedy Oligarchic. American and inexpariEnced est lower across the body approve of
* and "inexperienced" test lower across the board.
Which of the following words or phrases best describes the actions of Elon Musk and the other billionaires working with the Trump administration?
2024 Trump Voters*
Dem
Rep
Not-Strong Approvers
Strong
Approvers
Dangerous
134%
Power-hungry
134
Corrupt
131
Self-serving
Greedy
129
MAGA
Unaccountable
Unelected
119
illegal
Right-wing extremist
Out-of-touch
115
114
Inexperienced
Un-American IK
Oligarchic Ik
For more info, visit navigatorresearch.org
n
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Again, today would be an excellent day for Ivy League, Big Ten, & all the other chancellors & university presidents to start speaking loudly & collectively against the all-out existential crisis that this assault on US higher ed represents. The silence is deafening. bsky.app/profile/mcop...
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
If there is one thing scientists need to know right now it’s this. Every effort you make now has to be directed at reaching the average normal person. That means reaching off Bluesky. Hold local events, write local papers, get on local TV. Go to any space average people get info.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Stop pretending you care about seniors and disabled Americans when you KNOW a vote for cloture means the Republican CR passes with cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Demanding the Senate votes on your 30 day CR bill is performative and we, your constituents, can see right through that.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
A vote for cloture is a vote for all of those cuts that you say you are against! You do not have the votes for your 30 day CR. Vote NO on cloture!
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
We are not idiots and fully understand what allowing a cloture vote means. You are letting the republican CR pass and hiding behind procedure.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Everybody (me included) is getting bogged down on the details of events at NIH et al. Fatal mistake. The big picture is Musk/Trump are trying to shut down all gov-funded Medical/Disease research in the US. Have to understand that to have any hope of stopping it. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/act-now
talkingpointsmemo.com
Act Now
I may do a longer, maybe several longer versions of this post....
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is a major NIH-supported hospital and research center in Seattle. And NIH funds many essential clinical trials that cannot be supported by the private sector. This is devastating.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
This story is not just for us nerds. Find ways to connect with non-scientists. DNA diagnostics, ancestry, etc.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
"PubMed is the backbone of biomedical research in the U.S....It's housed under the NIH and is essentially our national library for public health and medical research information. #cansky #medsky #NIH #Resist
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Agreed! So many loose connections that I talk to do NOT understand what is happening. Scientists--please share how these cuts, website deletions, contract cancellations, etc are hurting you! #cansky #medsky #NIH #Resist
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IYKYK 🌮 @nisslbody.blacksky.app · 01/03/2025
Graduate programs ceasing admissions in the US due to funding being cut off is going to cause a really interesting predicament for private industry when companies want to hire trained researchers in 4-5 years.
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Tim Verstynen @tdverstynen.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Yes, the NIH is *still* violating a court order and freezing funds for new and competitive awards. But I guess the law is more guidelines than rules these days.
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
talking with reporters about the current chaos at the NIH, it's super clear how much of the convo is about HOW the NIH and federal funding of biomedical research works. Super grateful to the education I've received on twitter and from blogs, especially @drugmonkey.bsky.social's and physioproffe's
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Completely agree
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻This. And is why it's so important for scientists to share their story with neighbors, parents in the school pick up line, etc #cansky #medsky #academicsky #NIH #Resist
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
If you’re a Dem elected and you’re not mentioning the massive cuts to cancer cure and social security funding in every public appearance you’re just not doing your job.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Voters are freaked when they hear about Trump and Musk shutting down cancer research in the US. Even 71% of indy voters.
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Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD @arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · 28/02/2025
Of the 4000 researchers at NIH, only 20% are tenured. They’re going to fire all the rest as their contracts come up for renewal, absolutely decimating research at the NIH. This is catastrophic, not just for Americans, but for the whole world. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research
Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs
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dawnlaurier.bsky.social @dawnlaurier.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
So true. My mother is being treated for non-hereditary breast cancer. She's taking estrogen blockers & progesterone blockers, the latter of which is potently anti-metastatic. Kamala Harris' mother became a citizen on a visa which involved research IDing & describing mammary hormone receptor cells.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Shortly thereafter she became pregnant with me. I do not know this scientist's name, but I do know that there are thousands of stories from people that are alive today because of NIH intramural research. And cutting these jobs means that there are thousands who won't be alive in the future. (5/5)
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
My grandmother wrote to the scientist and asked him to contact my mother because my mother still didn't believe having a child would be possible. This scientist called my mother, explained to her about his research and connected her to local doctors who could support her during her pregnancy. (4/5)
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
A few years later, my grandmother saw an article in a woman's magazine about new science behind toxoplasmosis. The article quoted an intramural researcher at NIH who explained that these women could have a healthy pregnancy. (3/5)
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
At 40 weeks, my mother gave birth to a stillborn girl. She was told she could never carry a healthy pregnancy as the toxoplasmosis would remain in her body and her body would not be able to fight off the toxoplasmosis when pregnant. She very sadly resigned herself to a life without children. (2/5)
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Here's my story on why NIH intramural scientists are important. In the late 1960s, my mother was newly married, pregnant, and very excited to start a new family. Towards the end of her pregnancy, she contracted toxoplasmosis, which went unidentified by her OB. (1/5) #medsky #cansky #NIH #Resist
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
It's literally the first two rules. This line is key: "Institutions do not protect themselves." Choose an institution you care about and take its side. Publicly. Thank you to everyone who's done that for NIH.
Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. So choose an institution you care about and take its side.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/02/2025
This is terrifying.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Reminder no Councils = no $$ = no research. Advisory councils are a second level review of the results from the study sections. We need both to be happening! Keep calling your reps and telling your story! #cansky #medsky #academicresearch #NIH #resist
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Share 👏Your 👏Story👏 #cansky #medsky #academicresearch #NIH #resist
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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 26/02/2025
As of today, at least 73 study sections have not met. If they review 50 applications, plus 30 triaged, 10% funding rate = 8 grants per SS. That's 584 fundable grants on hold. Probably 5000 researchers affected in those teams composed of our best and brightest. SABOTAGE.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Totally agree! It's also part of Robert Putnam/Bowling alone stuff where we build our loose connections. @emilyinyourphone.bsky.social does a great job of talking about how to do this! Thank YOU for having that conversation with your physical therapist.
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Aidan Wright @aidangcw.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
NIH cuts are getting the press, but VA research is getting slashed too. What do we lose when VA research goes away? Here's some greatest hits: The nicotine patch, invention of the cardiac pacemaker, first successful liver transplant, development of the CAT/CT scan prospect.org/health/2025-...
prospect.org
VA Research Funding Slashed
Though not as prominent as the NIH, VA researchers play a major role in advancing basic health science. Hundreds of projects have been cut.
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Attacks on cancer research, which is what is going on, resonate with everyone. Everyone in America, rural or urban, knows someone with cancer or worries about it themselves. Explain it to people who don’t care about science by talking about the outcomes, the cures for disease.
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
‘Stand Up for Science’ Rallies Will Protest Trump Attacks on Research www.scientificamerican.com/article/stan...
scientificamerican.com
‘Stand Up for Science’ Rallies Will Protest Trump Attacks on Research
Amid President Donald Trump’s attacks on government scientists and science funding, researchers are arranging rallies to “Stand Up for Science” in Washington, D.C., and nationwide on March 7
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Yes, more of this! We need scientists telling their stories to neighbors, parents at school pick up, etc. #cansky #academicresearch #NIH #resist
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
"Further, in some of the NIH’s institutes and centers, according to internal NIH correspondence reviewed by Popular Information, all grants have been frozen pending the creation of anti-DEI language that can be added to applications. " #cansky #medsky #academicresearch #NIH #resist
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
STAT story is up about study section restart. www.statnews.com/2025/02/24/s...
statnews.com
Some NIH study sections will resume reviewing grants, but final funding decisions are still in limbo
While some NIH study sections will resume, advisory council meetings, which make final funding decisions, seem to still be held up.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Case in point, I ran into a neighbor walking the dog last week. We are not close. When she asked me how our week had been, I told her about how all the chaos at NIH was causing problems for my husband's research. She had no idea about how these policies are trickling down.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Fantastic call to action to scientists! Call your reps! And show up as a scientist- at your kid's PTA, when you talk to neighbors on your dog walk. Don't assume they know why your work is important. And don't assume that they don't care! #cansky #medsky #academicresearch #nih #resist
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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
NEW: DOGE workers now have access to the NIH department known as the "wallet" of the entire organization. From @mattreynolds.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/doge-i...
wired.com
DOGE Is Inside the National Institutes of Health’s Finance System
At least three people linked to Elon Musk’s DOGE task force have access to NIH systems that control budgets, procurement, and more, according to records and internal documents viewed by WIRED.
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Erin Reidy @papertopolicy.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Thank you for speaking out on the administrative ways the administration is using to work around court orders! More of this please!
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