A @nejm.org editorial today on the Office of White House Management and Budget (OMB) regarding their new funding proposal and politicization of science
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Eric Topol
⚠️ Late Friday afternoon, May 15, while reporters were leaving for the weekend, HHS quietly cut more NIH staff and began moving senior career employees into "at-will" status under the renamed Schedule F.
No press release. No published list. A "first tranche," with more to come. 🧵
This is the slow death of NIH by design.
The architect is Russell Vought.
He is the man who architected the RIFs & probationary terminations. He devised the multiyear funding and censorship schemes.
If you don't like what you see, let's get him impeached: actionnetwork.org/forms/civil-...
OMB just published 412 pages in the Federal Register (Docket OMB-2026-0034) giving political appointees authority to terminate any NIH grant, override peer review scores, and block you from publishing with federal funds. Comment period closes ~July 13. Thread 🧵
They published it at 412 pages on a Friday afternoon, the slot networks call "take out the trash." OMB-2026-0034 lets political appointees override peer review, ban publication funding, and terminate grants without cause. They gave you 45 days. They're counting on you not reading it.
The White House today announced it plans to make major changes in how the U.S. government manages research funding. https://scim.ag/43HgW4s
Neuropixels + Optogenetics = Neuropixels Opto
Combining high-resolution electrophysiology and optogenetics. 960 sites, 28 emitters, 2 colors.
Today in @natmethods.nature.com
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Thanks to @wellcometrust.bsky.social, @alleninstitute.org, @hhmijanelia.bsky.social & team.
Sweeping proposed rule, now open for comments, would also restrict foreign collaborations and remove federal funding for open-access fees
scim.ag
The good news is knowing IS half the battle. The bad news is the other half usually involves killing people. #GIJoe kind of glossed over that part growing up.
Seen on the wall at a local bar:
I keep seeing how #Elon #Musk will be the world's first trillionaire with the SpaceX IPO. If you take the value of all wealth and assets, the whole world is estimated at ~450 trillion dollars. There are ~8.3 billion people. For 1 person to have 1/450 of ALL OF IT is neither sustainable nor ethical.
