Babak Javid

@LocasaleLab So true, but most scientific nothing burgers start exactly the same way. Sadly, that's why NIH loves incremental, "safe" science. My boss recently told me that one line of my work rocks the boat too much, won't get funded and I should drop it...

Most scientific breakthroughs start with someone saying: “That’s strange…” followed by several years of experiments and a grant rejection.

@LocasaleLab I don't know the answer to many, many things. Not all need to be studied. I do know those curves diverge at time zero, which tells me an awful lot without the millions on the study. Are you sure you're not pitching for an HHS job?

The possibility that mRNA vaccine impurities or on-target biological effects could influence cancer biology is a legitimate scientific question. The relevant issues are straightforward: mechanism and prevalence. If the prevalence is zero, that should be demonstrated empirically through careful study. If it is non-zero which I suspect it is, we need to understand how it occurs, under what conditions, and how often. Those questions cannot be resolved by ridicule, censorship, or labeling concerns as misinformation. They require data.

@mbeisen yledon

Seriously?

@nntaleb Every beginning is also, by definition, an end. But that can also apply to chapters in the same one book.

No, there is no such thing as the Judeo-Christian civilization. Christianity stands every ancient belief on its head. medium.com/incerto/on-chr…

Peer review was supposed to be science’s quality filter, but somewhere along the way it started acting more like a bouncer who only lets in the regulars. It’s slow, it tends to favor established labs and familiar names, and it gets uncomfortable around anything too unconventional. Papers loaded with mountains of data tend to cruise through, while bold ideas that actually challenge the consensus get stuck in limbo or turned away at the door. The irony is that where a paper gets published almost never determines its real worth. What actually matters is what the scientific community does with it afterward, whether people cite it, argue with it, build on it, or use it to blow up a long-held assumption. That’s where the value lives, not in the journal’s logo. A major survey a few years back found that roughly 70% of researchers think the current system is fundamentally broken, and it’s not hard to see why. Publicly funded research hides behind paywalls, editors chase whatever topic is hot that month, and the whole incentive structure pushes toward safe bets over genuinely risky and potentially important work. Science has always been complicated and deeply human and full of ego and inertia, but the conversation is shifting.

@MushtaqBilalPhD Starting influencers get $300k, sign me up! Or is that the median salary, sign me up! And anyone who enters academia only for the money will exit stage left on very short order...sigh.

Starting salary for an assistant professor (with a PhD) is $70,000. Here are 22 jobs that make more than $70,000 — without a PhD: 1.Influencer: $320,000 2.Real-Estate Agent: $300,000 3.Sex Worker: $284,000 4.Fashion Substacker: $275,300 5.Private Chef: $250,000 6.Matchmaker: $200,000 7.Manhattan DJ: $190,000 8.Standardized-Test Tutor: $181,242 9.Ghostwriter: $164,768 10.Exterminator: $145,000 11.Comedian You've Probably Heard Of: $142,000 12.Server at Midtown Power-Lunch Spot: $140,000 13.Pickleball Coach–Model–Auctioneer: $120,000 14.Public Middle-School Teacher: $113,800 15.Private Elementary-School Teacher: $112,800 16.Surrogate: $109,000 17.Uber Driver: $100,000 18.Manhattan Dog Walker: $92,000 19.Upper East Side Doorman: $75,000 20.Delivery Worker: $75,000 21.Lice Lady: $75,000 22.Paparazzo: $73,300

@shailinthomas This hot take has been cooking for more than 40 years ...

@TomChivers Uta Frith is amazing. She's one of the reasons that as an undergrad I became fascinated by developmental psychology and did my (UG) thesis on theory of mind. She was a giant 30 years ago and still productive. Thankfully for that field, I got sidetracked somewhat later on...

reading this Uta Frith interview in TES. It's so important on the expansion of autism diagnoses to include almost anyone, many of whom would be better described as having social anxiety. This bit in particular on masking seems really insightful tes.com/magazine/teach…

Glad to see this news story highlighting our recent lipid interactome database, a resource we hope will help the broader scientific community. @OHSUNews @SchultzLabOHSU news.ohsu.edu/2026/02/25/new…

@ItaiYanai And then study section quashes your dreams...

If you feel safe … you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in… And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.

@venkmurthy One doesn't need a BA to be a good, humane dr. BUT medicine as a career should be a considered choice. Age, maturity and the huge amount of prep the US system requires allows that. UG entry med school, like UK, India; many more regret entering the profession.

The danger of arguments saying removing the BA requirement before medical school would turn doctors into "techs" is that other professionals then also move in the direction of adding low-value, mandatory obstacles for fear of being under-respected unless they also impose similar requirements for their own trainees

@OdedRechavi As a graduate student this would spur me to work late nights...I was often running that last gel overnight before lab meeting. Haven't seen that behavior in a while .. Just a shrug.

when it's your turn to give lab meeting and you don't have new results to show

@cremieuxrecueil I was surprised by how weak the evidence was on both sides. Seed oils (which is a cr*p, vague definition) aren't evil. But saturated fats also seem to have minimal risks compared to the received wisdom.

It is kind of annoying that seed oils are good for your health compared to alternatives like beef tallow. It's also a bother that saturated fat is so bad for you. Tallow fries and a nice burger taste good. Alas...

@LocasaleLab The "snapshot" captures 6 months of lower rates of funding. I agree there will likely be catch-up since Congress preserved funding rates. BUT labs that run out of money will just shut down, awarding a grant 9 months late after your postdoc has been fired won't help.

This is incomplete accounting presented as apocalypse. It requires serious context before leaping to conclusions. NIH awards do not flow evenly week-to-week or month-to-month; they cluster around council cycles, budget releases, and the resolution of continuing appropriations. A short-window snapshot taken during a transition period — especially one that included a government shutdown — does not reflect full-year obligations. A headline graph without that context is more rhetorical than analytical.

A century ago, “vitamin hunters” discovered micronutrients. Today, vitamins are taken adhoc. We revisited this with modern genetics: CRISPR screens -> new NAXD disease mouse -> over 40× lifespan increase w/ vitamin B3. Huge credit to Ankur & Skyler! tinyurl.com/32k74629 🧵👇

@bealelab In one very memorable job as a middle grade trainee: we would start clinic at noon (official start 14.00), skipping lunch, and work through to 20.00, every week. Couldn't happen without the unpaid labour of Drs, nurses, admin staff. And probably doesn't happen now ...

@bealelab I love the " no other industry would tolerate it" comment for a *free* (at point of delivery) service.

Often seeing 15 patients in a session. Often they don't speak English as first language. Mostly we see at 10 minute intervals. What do you expect?

@mbeisen Clearly highly memorable!!

@javid_lab July 11, 1989.

Reminiscing about my first time in Paris. Arrived unplanned at Gare du Nord, where I was locked in train's freight car for 90m, and then had to wait 30m to pee because old men were masturbating in all the other stalls. We biked to Sacré-Cœur, where we were robbed, forcing us to spend the night sleeping on a park bench, for which we got roughed up by cops. Good times!