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Becky Willits (She/Her)

@willitslab.bsky.social
175 followers 33 following 2 posts

Professor and Engineer Mechanobiology & Tissue Engineering for Nerves Opinions are my own

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Reposted by Becky Willits (She/Her)
Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
One of these federally funded breakthroughs that changed the world is GPS, which was invented at Hopkins.
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Joshua Gallaway @joshuagallaway.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
::Lands in Canada for one second::
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Joshua Gallaway @joshuagallaway.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
If you're at ECS, I have two talks this week. Come say hi. #ECSMontreal #ECS247
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Dr. Ahna Skop @ahnaskop.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
“These cuts are the height of self-inflicted harm,”
nytimes.com
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades
The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.
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Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
⛔️ UPDATE: We obtained the full list of NIH terminations at Harvard. Lowlights: - 659 total grants at Harvard in the NIH-created list - $2.19 billion in total award value - $960 million in award remaining You can view them all using the "Harvard" tab on the airtable grant-watch.us/nih-data.html
grant-watch.us
nih-data – Grant Watch
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Gc Rox @gcrox.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
85% of children diagnosed with cancer are alive at least 5 years later. Just a few years ago, childhood cancer had a horrible prognosis. These advance were made by universities. Yet, government has terminated terminating billions worth of competitive grants that will stop cold these advances.
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Front page @nytimes.com today 1 of 6 charts of the 1st 100 days www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
NIH laying off hundreds more staff, including the cancer research institute. The US is now a country in full self-harm mode. www.cbsnews.com/news/nih-lay...
cbsnews.com
National Institutes of Health lays off hundreds more staff, including at cancer research institute
The cuts at the National Institutes of Health blindsided staff, after reassurances that no further layoffs were planned.
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
We have updated our database of funding opportunities for Early-Career Researchers (private foundations, federal, international) We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc. Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 06/05/2025
Important message. Also important to remember that federal funding for science isn’t “given” to university laboratories - it is awarded based on highly competitive process, profs spend months/years on proposals that are reviewed by experts, most are rejected. www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...
young.senate.gov
Young, Pottinger Op-Ed: Funding for R&D Isn’t a Gift to Academia. It's Vital to U.S. Security. - Senator Young
The following column by Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Matthew Pottinger, Former Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, was published in The Washington Post on March 24, 2025. By Sena...
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Marjolein van der Meulen @mchvdm.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Devasting that clinical trial for Jim's PediaFlow baby heart pump is on hold due the stop on all DOD funding at Cornell. Funded by DOD CDMRP, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, yet White House stopped Congress funds #ResearchSavesLives #Standup4Science youtu.be/a7aUBvBcPV4
youtu.be
Research at Risk: Life-saving heart pumps for babies
YouTube video by Cornell University
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Download and distribute our (massive) database of funding opportunities and fellowships for POSTDOCs Cuts across all fields of research. 293 fellowships with info about deadline, amount, field, eligibility, etc. Good luck! Download this database freely here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
188 PhD/graduate fellowships from private foundations, federal agencies and international organizations. Database can be downloaded here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
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Lola Eniola-Adefeso @lolauic.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
The time is now for your voice to be loud and clear. Congress must defend science.
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American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE) @aimbe-official.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
🚨 AIMBE is calling on the biomedical research community to take a minute to send our 3 new advocacy letters urging Congress to: 1. Protect the STEM Training Pipeline (e.g., NIH MOSAIC, T32s, MARC, etc.) 2. Oppose Indirect Cost Caps 3. Support Research Funding in FY2026 aimbe.org/advocate/wri...
A screen capture of the AIMBE advocacy webpage with 3 advocacy letters outlined in red boxes: STEM Training Pipeline, NIH & NSF Indirect Cost Caps, and FY26 Funding.
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Rejji Kuruvilla @rkuruvi1.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
The pact of the federal govt with universities was not a handout. It was a strategic decision to boost US leadership in technology, defense, and health. And it paid dividends. In tech, internet, in cancer drugs (for example), No other sector has invested in high risk high reward ideas like US govt.
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Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert @drsakiyama.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
This is a great 60 Minutes piece on the impact of NIH cuts on patients including those with Alzheimer’s. Great job by Kristin Weinstein from University of Washington highlighting the impacts on students (9:00). @uwmedicine.bsky.social www.cbsnews.com/news/scienti...
cbsnews.com
Scientists fear Trump administration cuts to NIH could impact the health of Americans for generations
Former National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins, who abruptly left his NIH research lab in February, fears aggressive downsizing could impact Americans' health.
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60 Minutes @60minutes.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
The National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has fired 1,300 employees and cancelled more than $2 billion in federal research grants. cbsn.ws/4daiCrv
cbsn.ws
How cuts at the National Institutes of Health could impact Americans' health
Cuts and layoffs to the National Institutes of Health threaten medical research around the U.S., agency insiders warn.
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
We just announced the PIVOT and BRIDGE award funds, as well as enhanced university services to help researchers at Hopkins in these difficult times. On and forward! Read about these here: research.jhu.edu/jhu-research...
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Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert @drsakiyama.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Federal research funding flows to all 50 states and is a critical part of the economy in many college towns around the US. Federal research funding "has now become one of the few drivers of innovation that is widely distributed across the country". www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
See Where Federal Dollars Flow to Universities Around the Country (Gift Article)
The Trump administration has targeted a few elite universities with its threats to freeze funding. But many more schools around the country are vulnerable.
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Andrea Love, PhD | Biomedical Scientist @drandrealove.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
75% of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases are in kids under 6. 1960s: ALL survival was 10%. Today: Survival is over 90%. That’s because of chemotherapy. Not supplements, “detoxes,” juice, or wellness bullshit. Chemotherapy saves lives. Misinformation kills. Read more in Immunologic ⬇️
news.immunologic.org
Cancer misinformation kills. Chemotherapy saves lives.
Rejecting evidence-based treatment in favor of false hope and wellness industry lies is deadly.
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Andrea Love, PhD | Biomedical Scientist @drandrealove.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Testicular cancer was fatal in ~95% of cases before cisplatin was developed in the 1970s. Today, survival exceeds 95%, even when cancer has metastasized. That’s thanks to: Chemotherapies Scientific research Biopharmaceutical therapies Evidence-based medicine 1/
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Dr. Suzanne Le Menestrel @drsl.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
The Spencer Foundation is offering rapid response bridge funding for those who lost NSF research grants. www.spencer.org/grant_types/...
spencer.org
Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program
In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...
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Science Magazine @science.org · 23/04/2025
President Donald Trump’s administration appears to be killing much, if not all, of a historic initiative that was the first, and is still the largest, National Institutes of Health effort centered on the health needs of women. scim.ag/4jLeLTJ
scim.ag
NIH cancels its first and largest study centered on women
The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings
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Ashani Weeraratna @ashi-w.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
The power of NIH funded research. @deniswirtz.bsky.social hub.jhu.edu/2025/04/22/n...
hub.jhu.edu
Johns Hopkins researchers decipher complex behaviors behind deadly cancers
Engineer Denis Wirtz and colleagues are using artificial intelligence and multiscale imaging to reveal how tumors grow, spread, and vary across populations
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
NEW: A coalition of students from more than 15 law schools across the country have signed a pledge not to work for any firm that “gives in to Trump administration demands…” Signatories include students from Harvard, Georgetown, University of Chicago, UT-Austin… docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Law Student Firm Pledge
This pledge is being organized by law students collaborating across several law schools to counter the lawlessness of the Trump administration and major firms' cowardice in responding. We are the fut...
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Dr. Michael D. L. Johnson @copperbae.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Although we are not federally funded for this summer, WE WILL STILL RUN The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP) in 2025. We remain committed to the work that needs to be done and will continue to meet people where they are. 1/4 nsurp.org
nsurp.org
NSURP.org
National Summer Undergraduate Research Project
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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 25/04/2025
This is what fascism looks like: Attorney General Bondi threatening judges she claims are not cooperating with Trump immigration policies and saying “we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you.”
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Jennifer Klomp @jennyklomp.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
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Rachael Sirianni, PhD @docsirianni.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Just want to remind everyone today that the DoD just slashed a huge mechanism for cancer research funding: now this science won’t get done. Cuts below with other sources linked in the comment www.fightcancer.org/sites/defaul...
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
I don’t think the country understands the nuclear bomb that has hit and destroyed Americas future. Our competitiveness globally was threatened - it is now guaranteed to dwindle to irrelevance. The future is based on science and technology. By the time they realize the damage, it will be too late. AR
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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 02/04/2025
Princeton has announced that it is considering selling approximately $320 million of taxable bonds. The bonds are a way for the University to raise short-term funds. The major credit-rating agencies rate University bonds AAA, the highest level of creditworthiness.
dailyprincetonian.com
Princeton considers issuing bonds same day as federal government pauses grants
The University announced its consideration to sell approximately $320 million of taxable bonds on Tuesday, following a notification from government agencies about the suspension of research grants.
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Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
The Office for Civil Rights has requested the names & nat'lities of students & faculty..involved in alleged Title VI violations. Today, the AAUP wrote to college & universities to clarify that they are under NO LEGAL COMPULSION to comply. Doing so enables deportations. www.aaup.org/news/institu...
aaup.org
Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations
In response to news reports that the Office for Civil Rights in the US Department of Education has requested the names and nationalities of students and faculty who may have been involved in alleged T...
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
If you think this can’t happen, remember that of the 125,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII for years without charge or trial, two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Including me.
The image is a screenshot of a tweet from Brandon Bradford (@BrandonLBradfor
). The tweet reads: "Deporting Americans without due process then saying they no longer get due process because they aren’t in America means no one has rights, FYI. Nightmare scenario."
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Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
I am somehow for the first time ever reviewing for PNAS and their reviewer instructions include this BANGER of a line: "The purpose of peer review is not to demonstrate proficiency in identifying flaws" Print it in eleventy point font and hang it from the hillside. Scream it from the rooftops.
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Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert @drsakiyama.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
‘With the current turmoil, China could surpass the U.S. in the near future,’ Nobel Prize winner David Baker warns www.wsj.com/articles/bio...
wsj.com
Bioscience Funding Confusion Threatens U.S. Innovation
‘With the current turmoil, China could surpass the U.S. in the near future,’ Nobel Prize winner David Baker warns.
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Heilshorn Lab @heilshornlab.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
We’re thrilled to be going to the APS Global Physics Summit this week in Anaheim! Don’t miss our talks by PhD student Diya and Prof. Heilshorn on biomaterials for 3D bioprinting and tissue modeling. 🙌 #APSSummit25 @apsphysics.bsky.social
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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 17/03/2025
"If science is to honour one of its core values — a commitment to the truth wherever it might lead — scientists must stand up when DEI matters" www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Don’t wait out four hard years: speak truth to power
The importance of diversity in science is an unshakeable reality that the scientific community must stand by.
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Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert @drsakiyama.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Many families including mine have been impacted by Alzheimer's disease. NIH funding delays and cuts could set research back by decades, including key funding for Alzheimers's disease research centers across the US. Almost half of these centers are up for renewal now! www.kuow.org/stories/how-...
kuow.org
How far could Trump’s NIH funding cuts set medical innovation back? By decades, UW researchers warn
The Trump administration has cut NIH funding levels and paused new and existing grants from the agency, which totalled $35 billion in 2023. That’s left critical studies of various illnesses and drugs ...
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American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE) @aimbe-official.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
AIMBE's Annual Event on March 29-31, 2025 is especially important. With a new Congress and presidential administration, it's a timely opportunity to engage in science policy post-election. Fellows, register now and we will arrange your congressional visits for you: annualevent.aimbe.org #AIMBE2025
A group shot of Fellows in attendance at the 2024 AIMBE Annual Event.
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Brendan Harley @profharley.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Statement from the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) about the federal science funding crisis. www.bmes.org/news/bmes-ca...
bmes.org
BMES Calls for Unwavering Federal Commitment to Advancing Biomedical Research
BMES urges federal policymakers to maintain funding for biomedical research, emphasizing its critical role in healthcare innovation, economic growth, and societal well-being.
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Any speculation why big pharma and biotech industries have been so quiet about the current defunding of biomedical research? (which also means the defunding of biomedical research training)
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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
🧪🚨 NSF's Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) has halted making nearly all new awards since inauguration day. Among *many* other things, EDU runs the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). We need to protect the education & training of the next gen of scientists #StandUpForScience Thread👇🧵
Graph between 1/20 and 2/28 of fiscal year 2024 and 2025 new awards in the EDU directorate.
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Make use of our public database of Postdoc fellowships (private foundations, federal agencies). It's downloadable and free. We list 290 different fellowships and funding opportunities, along with description, deadline, amount, and eligibility criteria Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
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Denis Wirtz @deniswirtz.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
These are extremely challenging times for early-career faculty. Here is my office's small contribution to make their hard and important work a bit easier: Download our curated and comprehensive database of funding opportunities for early-career faculty. Here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 12/02/2025
Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025! Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide! #scienceforall #sciencenotsilence
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American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE) @aimbe-official.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Please widely share our statement and advocacy letter template with your colleagues. @lolauic.bsky.social @orssociety.bsky.social @termisam.bsky.social @bmes-cmbe.bsky.social @aapmhq.bsky.social @ceschmidt2024.bsky.social @settonlab.bsky.social @tejaladesai.bsky.social @farsh-g.bsky.social
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