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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA

@safa-science.bsky.social
1.9K followers 255 following 558 posts

An organization of scientists and allies, incl @ NIH NSF affected by the Great Science Collapse of 2025. We work to chart a new course for vibrant US science and academia, backed by democracy and supported by the public. www.scienceandfreedomalliance.org

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 13/07/2026
My comment with @nataliebaviles.bsky.social on the proposed OMB rule. Covers the shift to presidential control over funding decisions, and how this draws from the logic of unitary executive theory—which is flawed historically, Constitutionally, and in its assertion of democratic accountability. 1/
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
Presidential control of funding is less, not more, accountable to the public
A comment on the OMB funding proposed rule from Mark Histed and Natalie Aviles
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Travels with Darwin @robertmdawley.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
If you’re an immigrant, if you’re first generation, if you’re a woman, a scientist of color, trans, or gay, you belong in science. - Maya English, PhD student, GETUP UAW #standupforscience #philadelphiascienceaction
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 09/03/2026
The most impt change at #NIH and to US science this year is bigger than grant cancellations— it’s how the agency is governed. For 75 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control. That’s changed this year. New piece from me and @nataliebaviles.bsky.social in @nature.com 🧪
nature.com
How Congress can restore the independence of US science
Members must go beyond reinstating US government research spending and re-establish decentralized governance at the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Important thread about how the Trump admin is skirting the law and trying to slip out of following what judges say.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 07/02/2026
Re: Science Mag editorial celebrating mainly the inside/quiet advocacy done this year, I offer this in lighthearted response. 🧪 This is a Myanmar woman doing her usual, longstanding dance routine while black cars speed by to carry out a coup. 1/4
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Trans News Network @transnews.network · 06/02/2026
You’re not crazy. The anti-trans movement is not organic; it was funded by pedophilic billionaires like Jeffrey Epstein who backed a network of conservatives to accuse the same people they were sexually abusing of being the real danger. @madycast.com exposes the truth in our in-depth report.
transnews.network
Epstein Backed ‘Billionaires’ Dinner’ Network of Prominent Anti-Trans Figures
Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and other anti-trans influencers personally benefited from a right-wing academic social group backed by infamous human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, somet...
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
I wrote about one of the saddest evenings of my life: seeing Christine Maggiore, who opposed HIV medicines, speak in San Francisco. She was one of the HIV denialists who met President Mbeki at the International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000; she died of AIDS pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
HIV disinformation
An official website of the United States government
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Thread:
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 28/01/2026
The NIH budget bill passed the House. Now, it's bundled w/ DHS funding in the Senate. We are likely to see a fight this week. New from me: things to know about the budget bill, NIH presidentialization, free speech, why science has been quiet, & more. At "Can We Still Govern" @donmoyn.bsky.social 🧪
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
New at Can We Still Govern: NIH scientist @markhisted.org reviews the damage done to American biomedical science in the last year and looks ahead: "Scientists should not be political partisans, but they should be partisans for liberal democratic principles."🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/american-b...
donmoynihan.substack.com
American biomedical science in 2026
Where we are, how we got here, and what to do next
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 25/01/2026
Yes, some ICE funding is provided by the summer reconciliation bill that also savagely cut American healthcare. But D’s can demand language in the budget bills to restrain ICE, as @repcasar.bsky.social does. In principle they cld req ICE budget be zeroed out, if thr leverage&the public can get it.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 25/01/2026
Thank you for this, @repdexteror.bsky.social. Congresswoman Dexter is a physician who worked at research-intensive UW. She is now standing up for science and democracy. 💪
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
If we continue to compromise with people whose stated goal is to destroy NIH, then we will not be successful in saving it.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/01/2026
NIH budget bill out today. It’s the result of heavy negotiations in Congress over past month+. 🧪 Big pic: NIH budget now is abt more than funding. It’s abt restraining the technical ways NIH is being broken by Proj 2025. And the restraints in the bill are tepid 🤷‍♂️ Also: watch ICE/DHS budget. 🧵1/
United States Senate Committee on
APPROPRIATIONS
= MENU
Search
01.20.26
Committee Releases Conferenced Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education,
and Daldad Aaaaains and
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Endorse this. We are all in this together. Liberal values are important for science. Science and freedom are linked.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
The language on multiyear funding (MYF) is ineffective. Final bill anchors MYF to 2025 instead of 2024. This means MYF will likely continue at the same rate we saw last year, where NCI's payline from ~10% to 4%. This is incredibly harmful to the US research workforce - especially early career.
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Karen S Wilcox, PhD (she/her) @karenswilcoxphd.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
science peeps.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/01/2026
I feel connected to MLK at a personal level because he and I share a birthday. The holiday gets me to think about MLK’s words and lessons. There is powerful advice for today in MLK's “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” Worth a read today. And a 🧵: 1/
letterfromjail.com
Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter to 8 white church leaders, written from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/01/2026
@safa-science.bsky.social kindly posted it too.
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
Martin Luther King Jr on equality and the status quo
From status quo bias, to ‘popularism’ and picking big fights, MLK Jr in Letter From a Birmingham Jail has lessons about politics and society in the Trump era.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
If you want to keep up with folks who happen to work at the NIH, we have a starter pack of NIH relevant accounts. It’s always growing, so might be worth checking again even if you’ve “followed all” in the past. go.bsky.app/LQZYUdE
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
👇👇👇
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 19/01/2026
For those of you following the Guinea-Bissau hepatitis B vaccine: The Danish researchers have posted their updated protocol (called version 1.5). They still propose giving a lifesaving vaccine to only half of newborns and withholding it from others. www.bandim.org/wp-content/u...
bandim.org
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
My hearty congratulations to Senator Bill Cassidy, who kissed the ring and appointed RFK Jr. for Trump, only to have Trump give his full endorsement to Julia Letlow. The leopard eating faces party has eaten your face AND you have the blood of thousands upon thousands on your hands.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 18/01/2026
Bill Cassidy reportedly voted for RFK Jr because Cassidy was afraid of losing his next primary and feared Trump endorsed his further-right opponent. Trump just endorsed Cassidy’s opponent anyway! Appeasement does not work. Fight or get out of the way.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Don’t let Russell Vought trick Congress into destroying science by removing multiyear funding limits from the NIH funding bill.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
A reminder as Congress finalizes NIH appropriations: the bill must limit multiyear funding (MYF), Vought's way of cutting the NIH budget without cutting the budget. MYF will devastate the research workforce. @safa-science.bsky.social wrote this in July. Still relevant: substack.com/@scienceandf...
substack.com
A Quiet Policy Shift That Could Devastate American Science
Why NIH’s sudden move to multi-year grant funding should alarm every principal investigator and university
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
"We again call on Congress to reassert its constitutional power. Congress must hold the Administration accountable for its unlawful, violent, and deadly actions. If you fail to do so, people will continue to die at the hands of ICE." scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com/p/statement-...
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
Statement from the Civil Servants Coalition on the State-Sanctioned Murder of Renee Good
A guest post from a broad and informal coalition of civil servants concerned about how the current administration is harming Americans
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Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Def not the most important thing about this, but coming across this thread from a researcher studying vehicle ramming attacks is giving me the most “old Twitter“ vibes I have had here…
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
The U.S. research community has an interest to help ensure the integrity of scientific leadership at our public institutions. We are pleased to share this guest blog from @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social and Shiv Prasad, writing in their personal capacities. open.substack.com/pub/sciencea...
open.substack.com
Reading the Tea Leaves on NIH Institute Director Searches
Which Fringe Scientists Might be Considered for Leadership Positions?
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
It is interesting that Russell Vought kept Walter the NINDS IC director around for so long. (The renewal requests are going to the White House. This is all Vought and the project 2025 people.) Interesting because they fired Diana Bianchi at NICHD, and.. 🧵 1/
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 24/12/2025
The American right, including Jay Bhattacharya, is trying to weaponize free speech by crying censorship. But freedom of speech isn't freedom of reach. To fight back, scientific institutions should say that junk science is junk. New post from me: 1/
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
Saying bad ideas are bad isn't censorship
The core goal is a free and fair public debate, and billionaires promoting their favored speech tilts the free marketplace of ideas.
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Theresa Kim, PhD, MS @tyk314.net · 06/12/2025
This isn't how it works. This isn't how anything works🤦. #NIH #ICO directors need to be vetted, and ideally we'd have search committees. It shouldn't be based on whether you officiated a powerful person's wedding.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
This guy gets it www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
“It’s the logical endpoint to unitary executive theory,” said Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. “Their desired end goal would be to arrive at a completely ‘at-will’ workforce. ... I think the administration is going to push the unitary executive idea as far as it can, and all of the signals it has been getting from the Supreme Court is to push further and push faster.”
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 07/12/2025
This is revealing, but not in the way he thinks. Bhattacharya did and does hold fringe views in the scientific community. He got to where he is not by persuading scientists, but by benefiting from rightwing billionaires and their media platforms—Musk bought Twitter and gave him a blue check. 1/
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Institute Directors have a huge amount of power at NIH. To maintain (what’s left of) the integrity of NIH, we need to make sure qualified scientists with topic-specific expertise and leadership experience remain at the helm.
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
NIH has for decades used a rigorous recruitment process to hire its top scientists, the institute directors. The Trump NIH is changing that. They’ve already installed one political hire this way, reportedly a friend of JD Vance. This post describes the process. Demand the Trump people follow it.
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
Demand that NIH Maintain the Scientific Credibility of its Institute Directors
The institute directors at NIH are top scientific leaders who in principle can redirect grant money as they please. The Trump NIH must not install new directors without a real hiring process.
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27 UNIHTED @27unihted.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Hey all! Reminder we’ve got a great event coming up! Punk Rock Concert for science! Support former NIH workers trying to save science! Link to purchase tickets here! actionnetwork.org/ticketed_eve... @allstrike.bsky.social @ammoniteband.bsky.social 🧵🧵
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Kornacki just called TN-07 special election for Van Epps. It was a privilege to have @standupforscience.bsky.social’s first official endorsement be @aftynbehn.bsky.social—a true pro-science fighter. She got a Trump +22 district down to single digits, which is huge! I’m proud of our work and hers.
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Alt The National Institute on Aging @altthenia.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Thank you, @drdemetre.bsky.social for writing this important piece. We cannot ignore that #HIV/AIDS and other health conditions do not exist. Research, funding, and access to the health system are human rights. #publichealthsky
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
<em>Journal of the International AIDS Society</em> | IAS HIV Research Journal | Wiley Online Library
Click on the article title to read more.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 23/11/2025
No surprise the Trump NIH director doesn’t understand how science works—doesn’t get NIH has been *the* world-historic leader in innovation. After all, he’s never actually done any science. Even before his rightwing pundit career 2020-25, he spent his time with economists, not scientists.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 22/11/2025
This is a story about how America’s world-leading cancer and dementia research system was destroyed by frauds and naifs who broke the law. There must be consequences.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
This memo dates shortly after the 8/7 “Improving Oversight of Federal Garntmaking” EO. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential... Many took comfort that Institute Directors would continue to make NIH funding decisions. They (except NCI) have been civil servants not politicos. That seems to be shifting.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
About that exclusive, "closed-to-press" MAHA summit last week with RFK and JD Vance: I got in. Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A glorious selfie with the official MAHA lanyard seconds after I made it past Secret Service screening.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/11/2025
Lots going on but don’t lose track of the Trump attacks on biomedical research and cancer cures. @jeremymberg.bsky.social posted a leaked #NIH memo today. I want to highlight a few scary parts. They’re about taking power from scientists and experts and giving it to the president’s hacks. 1/ 🧪
DRAFT/PRE-DECISIONAL - FOR ICD INPUT, 08.15.25
Achieving NIH's Mission: Leveraging Funding Policies
Vision: A consistent and unified NIH-wide approach for funding the most meritorious science, addressing health priorities, and supporting a robust biomedical workforce
Purpose: This framework provides a rubric by which ICO funding strategies are to be developed, implemented, and evaluated to achieve NIH's goals. All ICDs, in collaboration with their ICO staff, should review this framework and if needed, adjust respective funding policies and pay plan development processes.
Background: All ICOs have funding policies to support the mission of NIH to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. Appropriately, ICOs have their own respective, yet complementary, strategic plans to meet their individual ICO missions. It is crucial that there is coordination across ICO strategic plans and resulting funding policies to collectively leverage NIH's successes for the good of the American public.
Core Tenets of ICO Funding Policies: Certain core tenets of funding policies should be consistent to ensure that the NIH mission and health priorities are being achieved. Moving forward, ICO funding policies should:
• Align with NIH's and the ICO's stated mission and strategic priorities
• Prioritize scientific merit, program relevance and program balance
• Incorporate the breadth of the ICO's research portfolio and approaches
• Consider investigator career stage and sustainability of the biomedical research workforce
• Consider the total amount of NIH funding available to the investigator to promote distribution of funding
• Align with the availability of funds from the ICO
Note that while the score and critiques an application receives in peer review are important factors in determining the scientific merit of a proposal, ICOs may not rely on funding "…
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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
"'It was my duty to speak up' | Former NIH scientist @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social speaks out after being placed on leave" (from end of last week) www.wusa9.com/article/news...
'It was my duty to speak up' | Former NIH scientist speaks out after being placed on leave
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 18/11/2025
While RFK Jr. spewed his misinformation on campus, students, allies, and scientists rallied to demand he "get the 🦆 outta here!" The Anti-science agenda has no place on our campuses — whether platformed in events or as part of academic "compacts for excellence." @christopherstreet.bsky.social
Person holding sign in crowd reading Get the (Image of Duck) Outta Here RFK Jr.Two people in crowd holding signs reading "Autism is not a problem. RFK Jr. is a problem."Group of students holding signs, visible sign reads: "Warning, Speaker contains toxic levels of misinformation" A person in a bright purple reflective vest holds a microphone as a crowd behind them holds signs and faces a subject off-stage to the left.
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
According to a source, Jenna Norton, who led a letter criticizing Trump's decimation of the NIH (see below), has been placed on administrative leave. She's the first at NIH to be put on leave, joining EPA officials who criticized Trump policies. www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...
pbs.org
NIH scientists publish letter criticizing Trump's deep cuts in public health research
The letter addresses the termination of 2,100 research grants valued at more than $12 billion and some of the human costs that have resulted, such as cutting off medication regimens to participants in...
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 13/11/2025
A bad thing is unfolding at NIH this week: It looks like the Trump administration is trying to replace key civil servant scientific leaders, the Institute Directors, with political hires. These directors control the NIH budget, tens of billions. A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Great article from @virginiagewin.bsky.social showing that across the Federal science ecosystem, research that benefits the American public is being delayed or completely halted, and remaining programs are being consolidated under close partisan political control. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 01/11/2025
Every person in science I talked to yesterday brought up the filibuster. (!!) So I recorded a video explainer on it. Should we be worried about getting rid of the filibuster? In short, no. Though there are a few wrinkles.
youtu.be
Should we be worried about getting rid of the filibuster?
YouTube video by Mark Histed
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