iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD

Benjamin Pope @benjaminpope.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

cutting pure science to prioritize applications is fundamentally like asking farmers not to waste time producing grain, cheese, and tomatoes and focus on making pizzas

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Jason Rasgon @vectorgen.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

I propose a 5 year Federal funding ban on any PI who uses generative AI to write a grant proposal

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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

MERE HOURS after the President of the United States posted an AI video of the Obama’s as monkeys, the Science Tech Action Committee (led by @aaas.org and @researchamerica.bsky.social) posted a THANK YOU to TRUMP for SIGNING THE BUDGET. Shot. Chaser. sciencetechaction.org/aboutus/

STAC Statement Thanking President Donald Trump for Signing the Senate Amendment to H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act

Except from Peter Drucker’s autobiography about scientists asking the new Nazi commissar for funding, after they expelled every Jewish faculty member.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Excellent reporting by STAT on how first year PhD students are struggling to find lab/advisor matches due to funding cuts. Tenuous biomedical funding has put first-year Ph.D. students in a bind www.statnews.com/2026/01/30/f... via @statnews.com

statnews.com

Tenuous biomedical funding has put first-year Ph.D. students in a bind

First-year biomedical graduate students across the country said labs have been hesitant to take them in due to a tenuous funding environment

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

NIH terminology for people within 10 years post PhD is early stage investigators (ESIs) not "early-career investigators". Nomenclature apart, if he wants to support UGs, PhD students, and postdocs, why cancel diversity supplements, pull F31/F32 applications from review, why cancel IRACDA?

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Kidnap or abduct would have been better words. If Modi had been whisked away from his sleep in New Delhi or Putin from Moscow, would we still call it "capture"? Also Trump is doing a terrible job running his own country; the idea of him running Venezuela (to the ground) is chilling.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

I don't understand why election day is not a federal holiday in this country when racist anniversaries like Columbus day are USPS holidays. A day off on election day would reduce the burden on mail in ballots.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Good case study on sensitizers and PPE use. People should stop consuming meat from BigAg industrial farms. Not everyone can go vegan/vegetarian but at least be mindful where you buy your meat from. The industry not only costs animals their lives but also humans with life-threatening work conditions.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

This has crossed a red line. ICE is now terrorizing Minnesotans of Somalian heritage, most of whom are American citizens, in a blatantly racist operation. What should we brace ourselves for next? Raids on Indian-Americans in New Jersey, Iranian-Americans in LA, Cuban-Americans in Florida?

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Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD

Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 02/12/2025

This this this

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Wow! Take a bow, Mayor Wu, you are a talented musician as well as politician! I wish all our politicians were as smart and accomplished.

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Alt-NIHscience4ALL @alt-nihscience4all.altgov.info · 13/11/2025

Alert for scientists: NIH institute director vacancies are posted! Please apply so we get actual scientists in these positions instead of just political appointees!!!!

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Sadly, we continue to reward "ambitious, arrogant, misogynistic, and opportunistic" people like Watson, who "managed to get himself into the right place at the right time." We should reward careful, methodical researchers and not just narcissists in a hurry who would rather be wrong than be last.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Not surprised at one nepo baby giving a leg up to another. JD was propped up by Thiel etc and now he is doing the same.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 20/09/2025

I have to keep this deliberately vague, but this is a total disaster for academic research. And imposing it so suddenly is just cruel. I’ve got friends scrambling to get back to the US before midnight tonight. Do you know how hard that is to do on 36 hours of notice?

reuters.com

Trump to impose $100,000 fee per year for H-1B visas, in blow to tech

The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, prompting some big tech companies to warn visa holders to stay in the U.S. or quickly return.

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 18/09/2025

A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.

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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

We need laser like clarity right now: political violence is abhorrent and so is the work of Turning Point USA. 11/

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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

The murder of Charlie Kirk was criminal, wrong, and should be condemned. And Charlie Kirk was a horrible, hateful man who spent his life radicalizing young people to embrace their worst demons by targeting women, people of color, immigrants, and the marginalized. I refuse to sanitize him.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I saw the video. Dystopian doesn't begin to describe it. Laws are not laws unless Congress makes them. A President cannot make laws. A President cannot overrule scientific consensus. This student is incapable of critical thinking and does not belong in college. "Our president's laws." Ugh.

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Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD

Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We all deserve better than RFK Jr. Great piece from @gregggonsalves.bsky.social www.thenation.com/article/soci...

thenation.com

RFK Jr., American Psycho

He needs to go. Now.

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Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 31/08/2025

The party of “family values” is attacking our kids.

Graphic with the text: 10 TRUMP ATTACKS ON KIDS
1. Made the largest SNAP (food stamps) cuts in history.
2. Limits school lunch for kids by imposing new red tape.
3. Reduces after-school and summer programs for poor kids by requiring extra paperwork.
4. Slashes the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health care for half of all kids.
5. Rips health care away by making it harder for parents to cover their kids through the Affordable Care Act.
6. Takes money away from public schools, meaning larger class sizes and fewer teachers per student.
7. Guts Head Start, which provides early childhood education, health, nutrition, and other services to
low-income children.
8. Undermines public health and vaccines.
9. Freezes funds used to train teachers.
10. Shuts down parts of the Office of Civil Rights, which helps kids who get discriminated against in school.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

I finished my PhD in 6 yrs. I can't imagine stopping my research mid-project, traveling back to India, waiting 3 months to renew my visa/status, and delaying my PhD. Who is going to fund students during this absence? Why should students suffer from delays in publishing? Keep D/S provisions intact!

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Virtual should always be an option. Not just in this instance. I agree with you that ACS dropped this ball.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Evan, like your invited speaker, I am an immigrant and person of color. I considered withdrawing my abstracts due to fears for my safety in DC but decided to come. At least near the convention center, I feel safe, haven't seen military. I support your letter but things aren't as bad as feared.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Calling him Jayanta is not racist.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

The EO reads like gibberish written by a high schooler. Do you have a read of whether NIH will slow down their grant issuance even more after this power grab, as you rightfully termed it? I am hoping they speed up and get grants out of the door with or without this EO.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

"Financially, the NIH—for now—remains intact. The Senate has also pushed back on the Trump administration’s proposal to restructure the agency entirely. But the NIH is fast losing what turns out to be its most important resource: people." Well said. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

theatlantic.com

How Many Times Can Science Funding Be Canceled?

Whether or not Congress cuts NIH’s budget, the Trump administration has devastated its ability to operate.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

You're right but it is so short-sighted of industry. I take solace in the fact that Canada and Europe will be well-prepared to develop mRNA vaccines for the next outbreak.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Can't pharma companies come together, pool money to at least save a fraction of this research? It is in their own interests to do so.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Derek, I agree. This is insane, terrified of the next outbreak. My colleagues who work on non-vaccine mRNA therapeutics are also scared. Why aren't Pfizer and Moderna, etc stepping in to rescue mRNA grants dumped by RFK? Is it b/c they are scared of shareholders or b/c they are scared of DJT?

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Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Govt Accountability Office (GAO) determines Trump admin broke the law by withholding billions in new NIH awards. Full GAO report: www.gao.gov/assets/890/8... NYT article (no paywall): archive.is/202508051916...

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Mikhail Zinshteyn @mzinshteyn.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

If you're a UCLA researcher (PI, grad student, etc) with an NSF, NIH or other suddenly suspended grant, please email or DM me. I'm trying to confirm what the suspension letters say and how extensive the NIH suspensions are. Email: Mikhail at calmatters dot org

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Rural students, socioeconomically disadvantaged trainees, people with disabilities, most of them white, all got grants axed. Talk about cutting your nose to spite your face. All because of this admin's well-documented hatred for promoting STEM participation among people of color.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Excellent article by @kzernike.bsky.social I mentor a student on an NIH div. supplement (which we worked extremely hard to win) ; we were heartbroken when this was killed. NIH's well designed DEI initiatives benefit a broad population beyond racial minorities. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

nytimes.com

The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts

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Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

No other word will do: Gestapo. American Gestapo - words I never imagined I'd associate together. A legal resident. A scientist searching for a Lyme disease vaccine. Criminality? Arrested for weed - ten years ago. Abducted at the airport by anonymous goons and disappeared. wapo.st/4lPELyy

wapo.st

Scientist on green card detained for a week without explanation, lawyer says

A Korean citizen studying in Texas on a green card was detained in San Francisco after a trip overseas.

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I know Jayanta is a total douche and makes a fool of himself in public speeches. But the idea itself (NIH director being on instagram) is not ridiculous, Jeremy. We have to meet the lay public where they are.

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Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD

Rachel Dresbeck @raddrrach.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Welcome to the 12th century

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Jeremy, this is already happening with NIGMS ESI MIRA. POs don't care too much about the score but want to be excited by the proposal. PIs with scores in the 30s/40s (even 50s) get funded ahead of 20s according to a crowd sourced google sheets. Great that the NIGMS staff are empowered to do this.

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

🧪 YASSSS Nearly 150 employees of the National Science Foundation signed a letter of dissent and sent to Congress yesterday. Rep Lofgren, Dem leader of the House Science Committee, held a press conference today about it. Full letter (names redacted): democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...

science.org

Employees’ protests against Trump science policies spread to NSF

Letter to key House Democrat follows declarations by scientists at NIH, EPA, and NASA

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Ramya Kumar, PhD @ramyakumar.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Jayanta's ignorance is staggering. I understand that the NIH is a vast complex entity and it is not possible to get up to speed in 6 months. But what gives me pause is his certainty that he already knows everything and has nothing left to learn. I can forgive ignorance but not willful ignorance.

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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

"Speaking from the university’s hilltop astrophysics lab, AMU President Eric Berton likened the situation to that of European academics who fled persecution by Nazi Germany both before and during WW II. 'What is at play here today is not unrelated to another dark period of our history,' he said."

politico.eu

The first American ‘scientific refugees’ arrive in France

Aix-Marseille University is wooing researchers who feel targeted by the Trump administration.

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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Journalists keep asking me, baffled, “What’s the Trump administration really trying to do to the science agencies?” So I say “They are trying to destroy them. Cut off their funding, ruin their facilities, harass their staff into leaving.” It’s not reform, and it never was. It’s destruction.

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Julia Lurie @julialurie.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Breaking: The Trump administration is shutting down the national suicide hotline's service for LGBTQ kids. In February, the program received an average of 2,100 calls and texts per day. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.com

The Trump administration is shutting down the national suicide hotline's program for LGBTQ youth

"This is a death sentence potentially to thousands of youth across the United States."

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

The findings at the recent trial and today's Columbia chaos is pushing me to the edge. I just sent the following email...

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