Alt NIH 🧪

This account is for sharing info with US scientists, both extramural and inside NIH, about attacks on science in the US. Education is power, and we can help advocate for science and medicine together. 💪🧪 We are a team of NIH people. Please ask us questions you might have. /1

And if there are those out there on campus who think woke went too far and who agree with the Bari Weiss “I see wokeness everywhere” brigade, anyone who thinks that Weiss’ ideas are good, is welcome to stand up and defend them.

The marketplace of ideas certainly doesn’t mean that bad rightwing ideas that have lost in the marketplace need help.

Yes, “viewpoint diversity is a MAGA plot” whenever that diversity is achieved by jamming rightwing ideas and people into places they didn’t earn. That’s what the right is trying to do now: use the power of gov’t to force bad, losing rightwing ahead. bsky.app/profile/wamsle…

As this article says clearly, true-biology research (working with animals), is a political wedge issue. Trump and RFK have embraced it because it is politically advantageous to them. They don’t care about cures, they care about politics. politico.com/news/2025/10/0…

Hearing from someone in NIH program: “Our final Task Order for $6.2M went out today. Every obstacle DOGE put up to keep us from funding new TOs and extending others was overcome. My fired contract officers were rehired. It was a lot of work, but we did it. For now.”

Modifying or denying RAs will FURTHER reduce staff capacity and make it harder to get grants out the door. Scientists, look at your institute’s executive officer and consider emailing them and telling them to stand up to Trump.

Hearing today the Trumpers are asking for a list of ALL reasonable accommodations at NIH under the ADA — suggesting they’re looking to break the law and deny them. We also hear that some executive officers (EOs) at NIH are complying 😡 and assembling these lists. No. Stand up!

Bhattacharya must be persona non grata in science social circles going forward. He should never step foot on Stanford's campus again without getting hecked and told he is a liar and anti-freedom, anti-human rights scumbag.

Jay Bhattacharya claims scientists 'politicized science.' He's a liar. He did that, appearing on Fox and other rightwing outlets and endlessly attacking science to help Republicans blame COVID negative effects on others. Now he's going to this political hack conference. Feh.

"Unlike Harvard University, which has had billions of dollars in funding choked off by the Trump administration, Chan hasn’t been targeted. But it is not untouched." washingtonpost.com/business/2025/…

Outstanding and depressing piece "Victor Ambros, a Nobel Prize-winning worm biologist, zooms in on mutant roundworms wriggling across a yellowish agar gel."

Russ Vought's MAGA thinktank, AFPI, is advertising for software engineers on Reddit. Suggest people do not apply.

NIAID staff are good scientists, predating Trump, and Memoli is a craven chud. EOs are nothing more than fancy memos— and civil servants at NIAID have a responsibility to the Constitution not just the president.

This is some Lysenkoist shit. Once Trump is gone and we are rebuilding NIH, this utter Trumpist fraud Memoli should be nowhere near science or medicine of any sort.

via rescission and/or impoundment. This was the Project 2025 plan: to interfere with NIH using any wedge issue available (review consolidation, animal/biology research, DEIA, grant sub limits etc etc) — to break NIH internally.

We are hearing NIH is hugely overloaded on peer review after the CSR review consolidation in the fall, and people are inside are panicking. But here’s something important: This was THE POINT. President Russell Vought WANTS to break NIH internally so he can cut the NIH budget…1/

There is a rally on MONDAY at 4:30 PM to stand up for NIH. Please join. Many NIH employees signed the Bethesda Declaration, objecting to the destruction of NIH. The Trump NIH Director asked the signers to meet. The rally follows that meeting, in support. actionnetwork.org/events/bethesd…

The framers expected the US Republican to act on majoritarian principles. The corrupt Supreme Court is appointed by minorities and deeply unpopular and unaccountable. Trump didn't get 50%. Senate is minority-ruled and House is gerrymandered. The Constitution is inoperative now.

"It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution." More Madison. His dream is dead, and this is why we say the Constitution is dead right now.

"If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote." (Federalist Papers Number 10, Madison, 1787.) But the GOP is imposing its fascist vision via a minority.