RFK jr overrode the NIH recommendation for NIAID Director to appoint his own preferred candidate (who applied, but NIH declined to interview), per @politico.com. Institute directors have final say on funding decisions and are critical to the integrity of NIH. 🧵 www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

A lab-leak proponent is in line for Fauci’s old job

Steven Quay is in final vetting to run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

politico.com

I couldn’t watch the whole thing, so I’m glad someone else did.

Your Local Epidemiologist@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 2d ago

1/ Over the weekend, RFK Jr. was interviewed on CNN, and as I'm sure many of you have seen, he made a number of inaccurate statements. The conversation covered Covid-19, RSV, measles, vaccines, and autism. Let's fact-check some of the biggest claims.

It’s worth going to the Substack article that was the basis of this post. Science leadership is being given over to science contrarians whose language, seemingly logical and appealing to our better natures, hides the long-standing attacks on science.

Mark Histed@markhisted.org · 4d ago

“Arnold [Fdn] gave money to Nosek… and to Ioannidis to build MRIC. He also funded … science reform projects that popularized the replication ‘crisis’ framing and cast doubt on the trustworthiness of science….” Political economy of thinktanks! I am here for this.. A short 🧵

By the way, this isn't just a threat against Fauci. The audience for this is the entire career civil service. If you think this sorry ass episode and shit like Schedule F are unconnected, then you are sorely mistaken.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Tuberville: "I'll be the governor of Alabama and I promise you we will find out if there's a possibility that we can bring him to Alabama to put him in front of a court and a jury to see if we can put this guy in prison. He killed millions of people, folks."

Fauci has “saved more lives, created more amazing infrastructures for developing research opportunities, cured more people, provided health care to more people both in the United States and abroad, probably, than any single scientist in his lifetime” - Larry Corey @fredhutch.org

Jo Hofmann@birdcmp.bsky.social · last wk.

Tomorrow’s hearing will be extremely painful. www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...

Done.

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 4w ago

The comment count as of Sunday July 11, 2026 1:05pm ET.

After I wrote last week's column, I learnt that a neighbour with severe disabilities, an extremely tough & resourceful woman who lived to the full, died in the heatwave. Everyone here is devastated. I can scarcely express my anger towards a mindset that treats people like her as collateral damage. 🧵

Happy Independence Day! It is a good time to reflect that our nation was founded in rebellion against an authority that was unresponsive to our needs. (OK, it’s more complicated than that, but still.) 1/3

🙁

Anjali Dayal@anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I just want to add, since this is breaking containment, that this can't be made right. these people, each one a whole universe, are gone. there can only be justice for the perpetrators; public remorse & restitution; & reform to ensure future aid systems are more just and less prone to imperial whims

One of the hallmarks of this administration is its inability to face scrutiny. It brands any examination of racial or economic contributions to unequal outcomes as “woke” that cannot inform policy and any questioning as a affront. Plus, Jenna is a badass, but for good. ❤️‍🔥

Jenna Norton@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Yesterday, I met Jay Bhattacharya briefly for the first time. I don’t think he’s a fan. 😬🤷‍♀️😇 He spoke yesterday at an NIH workshop on Health Disparities. I want to reflect on his talk, as well as the brief interaction that followed. Here goes… 🧵1/???

I think this makes “Peace with Honor” look like the Treaty of Paris.

Tom Nichols@radiofreetom.bsky.social · 2mo ago

None of this makes any sense, except as desperate rationalizations from a man who cannot face facts and admit defeat. On the most important questions of war and peace, the president of the United States seems to be losing his grip on reality itself. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

All because scientists, physicians, other health and public health professionals, and the general public fought back.

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Sometimes it may feel like we aren't making progress in the fight against RFK Jr.'s destruction of US public health, so I wanted to share some of the successes that we can look to for motivation: 1. Stopped the illegitimate ACIP 2. Ended said ACIP's anti-vax recommendations

Physics, biology, chemistry, math - there’s a reason we study these.

derek guy@dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2mo ago

RIP Mark Rothko. You would have loved how the hydrogen peroxide bleach is only turning the Reflecting Pool blue around the perimeter

I do genealogy research on my own family and can see this in the pre-WWII records. An aunt who died at 36 within a month of a child’s death at birth, a census record where a great grandmother noted that 3 of 6 children born are still alive… the list goes on.

Catherine Frieman@cjfrieman.bsky.social · 2mo ago

One reason i think everyone should take an archaeology class is to internalise with tangible examples that there is no pure, natural past utopia and that antibiotics and vaccines are what stand between us and a 50% child mortality rate and scores of women dying needlessly during pregn and birth

Timeline cleanse. Our yellow-crowned night heron neighbor.

I’ve attended a few workshops and conferences in the last month and what struck me were the names on the final acknowledgment slides. A very large proportion of them appeared to be Asian, Hispanic/Latino, or African. We’ve had the advantage of drawing the best and brightest from around the world.

Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist@princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In 1863, Lincoln signed the National Academy of Sciences into law as an INDEPENDENT non-gov entity. Since WW2, we enjoyed pre-eminence in research. We benefitted from Germany's brain drain. We had the privilege of first access to next gen treatments before other countries. They looked to us. 🧪🧵

The bottom line is that the forces of white supremacy cannot abide a multiracial country with equal rights for all. We are a nation bound by ideals, not a “blood and soul” country led by a “in” group. Not perfect, but we can hope and strive.

Josh Zingher@zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 2mo ago

One thing that I've been thinking about is how today's rise in White Supremacist ideology mirrors what we saw in the lead up to the Civil War during the 1840s and 50s. I don't think we're going to have another civil war (for a lot of reasons), but there are a ton of parallels. 1/x

It is interesting how much more coverage this editorial, and the politicization of biomedical research, got as a result of the ADA’s initial actions. If the organization, and the AMA, want to join the fight there’s plenty of room for them.

Jenna Norton@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Good editorial on what happened at ADA and the threat of the OMB proposed rule, featuring @sekahn.bsky.social www.celinegounder.com/p/ada-remova...

“Measles running rampant, public health destroyed, a trillion dollars ripped from Medicaid, inadequate physician payment, stupid immigration rules,” Fryhofer told AMA members in promising to call out Kennedy and the Trump administration on all of it.

America’s doctors just voted for war with RFK Jr.

The American Medical Association has sought a working relationship with the health secretary. Members saw moral compromise.

politico.com

This is aging like vintage milk, @newsmax.bsky.social

Have things gotten better? As the saying goes, you make the call.

27 UNIHTED@27unihted.bsky.social · 2mo ago

One year ago today, 300+ NIH scientists and staff risked their livelihoods by signing the Bethesda Declaration to call out government leadership for harms to science and patients... ...today, their new report documents continuing harm to science and the American public. www.27unihted.org/bd-home

Just need everyone to know that the Belgium men's soccer team has new jerseys based on the art of Rene Magritte and this is the official photo shoot

A few days back I saw a flurry of news about two "foreign" virologists being charged by a DoJ attorney for an alleged "conspiracy to smuggle in monkeypox" into the use. The decided language of the DoJ press release felt off to me, so I started investigating. Full story here 🔽 Thread 🧵 1/

Philipp Markolin@philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 2mo ago

New from me on what to make of a set of recent attacks on science and scientists by a weaponized government. open.substack.com/pub/protagon...

“In March 2025, funding was cut by USDA for animal disease control and prevention, including…New World Screwworm…from several agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). That funding supported more than 180 outbreak investigations and responses in 22 countries…”

USDA cuts budget, staff for animal disease control, suspends imports of live cattle from Mexico…again

%%excerpt%% Another import ban of live cattle from Mexico has been announced after USDA cut funding for animal disease prevention and control including the New World Screwworm.

kbhbradio.com

Holden Thorp is an institutionalist. He's been a university chancellor, provost, now EiC of Science. When institutionalists pull the fire alarm, we listen, because the call to action he issued this week exposes the dire nature of the threat we are facing. 1/ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Another red alert for American science

Although research has bipartisan support in the US Congress, and trust in science is above 75% across the country, the Trump administration seems as determined as ever to mortally wound the nation’s s...

science.org

Biomedical research saves lives.

Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️@snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Oncologists and researchers at the ASCO 2026 conference give a standing ovation after the experimental drug daraxonrasib nearly doubles survival in a metastatic pancreatic cancer trial! #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsi...

Bookmark this and refer to it often. Share widely with your colleagues.

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...

A reminder that “biodefense” at the NIH has always included preparation for emerging infectious diseases. youtu.be/pTJzKJwtfDw

Anthony Fauci on Bioterrorism

YouTube video by Center for Strategic & International Studies

youtu.be

Our team of veterinarians, primatologists, and animal researchers have been heartbroken to see careless cuts to animal research which means fewer treatments and threats to animal safety. So we’re linking an action by our colleagues that can help.

Introduce yourself with 19 bands/artists you’ve seen live: Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra National Symphony Orchrstra Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Mstislav Rostropovich Jessye Norman Dizzy Gillespie Roy Eldridge/Zoot Syms/Milt Hinton/Al Cohn Elvis Costello Grateful Dead

I-270, Exit 1@i270exit1.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Introduce yourself with 10 bands/artists you’ve seen live Allman Brothers Band Boston Stray Cats Paul Simon BB King Buddy Guy Rhiannon Giddens Morgan Wade Shane Smith and The Saints Joshua Bell w/ Academy of St. Martin in the Fields