Back home from a fantastic Cilia and Centrosomes meeting! Thanks to @cilialab.bsky.social, @reitergroup.bsky.social and @nachury.bsky.social, things went super smoothly! Looking forward to continuing to work with Max and welcoming Jessica Feldman and Nick Berbari onboard as 2028 co-organizers!

Jeremy Reiter@reitergroup.bsky.social · 6d ago

Wow! The @faseborg.bsky.social Cilia and Centrosome conference has come to a close. It’s been a wonderful week, replete with trafficking, signaling, structure, membrane biology, metabolism, human genetics, model organisms and even therapeutics. Thank you, happy cilia and centrosome swashbucklers!

Yes. This is what I’ve been telling people for weeks now. The impact on scientific research would be catastrophic, but that is likely not even the worst consequence of implementing this OMB rule change.

Phil Rocco@philiprocco.bsky.social · last mo.

I don’t think people really understand how bad the OMB proposed rule is going to be for state and local govt. We’re talking about putting a full third of state budgets under the explicit control of Russ Vought. (1/2) www.bondbuyer.com/news/cities-...

Congrats to @ceriweber.bsky.social (a Duke DSCB alum!) on her independent position! Awesome news!

Ceri Weber@ceriweber.bsky.social · last mo.

I am so excited to announce that the Weber Lab will be opening in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology, & Cell Biology @ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social. We will be investigating the development and evolution of vertebra size, shape, and function. And yes, the jerboas are coming with!

Cilia and Centrosome 2026 Meeting Update: We have extended the abstract deadline until June 23! Submit yours today to join a fantastic scientific program!

Looking forward to getting together with our wonderful Cilia and Centrosome community in DC! We have lots of slots for talks, so don't forget to submit your abstract!

Jeremy Reiter@reitergroup.bsky.social · 2mo ago

FASEB Cilia and Centrosomes. Abstract submission deadline is TODAY! Come share your exciting science with the community! events.faseb.org/event/cilia-...

Gotta say I agree with Lady Catherine de Bourgh here…

Jane Austen First Drafts@austen1stdrafts.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I take no leave of you, 2025. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.

In the 8 years that NYC was my home, I don’t think I ever paid attention to a mayor being sworn in. But I’m truly excited that our largest (and best ❤️) city is on track to return to its long history of generous social programs and again be a beacon to the nation. Much luck to Mayor Mamdani!

Joshua J. Friedman@joshuajfriedman.com · 7mo ago

Happy New Year! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEwi...

This kinda sounds funny but it’s not. Larry Summers is one of, if not the biggest bully currently active in academia. Why in God’s name is he still there? Why has he been there for the 20+ years that we’ve all known what he is like? WTF y’all been doing up at Harvard???

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 8mo ago

Please don't bully Mr. Summers by quoting his own words. "The students posted videos online showing Mr. Summers addressing students in a Harvard lecture hall...The complaints initially claimed that the two students in question violated the university’s anti-bullying policy." Gift link

I’m so tired of this. This one hits close to home, literally- I’m from RI, and I’ve spend a lot of time near Brown’s campus. I know well all of the places referenced in the media. When can we replace our leaders (in both parties) and end this?

Zohran Kwame Mamdani@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 8mo ago

This. When my son was born, I tried so, so hard to exclusively breastfeed him. I had two different lactation consultants. Nothing really worked- I could not produce enough milk and he needed formula. Some people act like this isn't a real problem, but it is. Scare-mongering about formula is harmful

Elizabeth Spiers@espiers.bsky.social · 8mo ago

As with everything he says, this is wildly uninformed. Formula keeps getting better and saves lives. And modern research indicates that outcomes are roughly the same. There are reasons to breastfeed but your child isn’t suffering if you don’t

It should have. But Summers’ extremely obvious misogynist views were never disqualifying because Democratic politicians loved his neoliberal economics far more than they cared about the misogyny. That includes Obama and very much the Clintons.

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 9mo ago

This should have been the end of Larry Summers.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s... To me, reading “The Double Helix” many years ago as a grad student felt like getting hit in the face. His cruelty towards a talented colleague whose work his major discovery depended on and who had, and I can’t emphasize this enough, *DIED*, was immediately stunning.

James D. Watson, Co-Discoverer of the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97

nytimes.com

@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's victory this week (YAY!) in the NYC mayor’s race has had me thinking a lot about my own story of “affordability” in that city. NYC was my home for nearly 8 years (2007-2015) while I was a postdoc Sloan Kettering Institute. 🧵🧪 1/

Absolutely! I did lots of tours in the 8 years I lived in NYC. They tended to be cheap and fun (Zohran’s was free!)And yeah, many/mist of the other folks tended to be residents. Zohran’s love for NYC is really palpable, and I think it’s another big reason for his success.

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 12mo ago

I worked for a few years as a guide for history-related walking tours in lower Manhattan. My *best* and most enthusiastic joiners were the residents, not the tourists. They tipped the best too.

I’m incredibly proud of this work, which is the product of years of effort, mostly by @loukillab.bsky.social when he was a postdoc in my lab. It started out as a “fantasy project” when I was a new PI, and it’s very much a testament to Halim’s hard work that it became a reality!

Halim Loukil@loukillab.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Thrilled to share our new paper on the in vivo BioID of neuronal cilia 🧬🌀 This is the first look at the signaling power of neuronal primary cilia in the mature mouse brain. Huge thanks to @sarahgoetz.bsky.social and amazing collaborators for making this possible! 🙏 www.jneurosci.org/content/45/3...

This is very much how I feel right now. Extending the metaphor- we are also in the middle of the desert, so it’s is unclear where we would go or what will happen when it stalls. It’s bleak.

Raul Arturo Ramos-Garcia@ramosneuro.bsky.social · last yr.

Being an academic right now feels like riding in a car that has the check engine and low fuel light on, and you know you there isn't a gas station for at least the next three years. How long before it stalls in the middle of the rode? How long before you get off? How long before we all get off.

This is a great piece and very helpful. One other problem I see among my colleagues is that we as scientists struggle to think and act collectively. Many people’s impulse and inclination is to focus even harder on the immediate needs of their own lab/career. But that will lose us precious time.

Josh Marshall@joshtpm.bsky.social · last yr.

A Path Forward to Save American Bio-Medical Research talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-pat...

What will happen is a few high profile people will move or return to Europe with much fanfare. But the rest us are just stuck. We will simply be forced out of our jobs and careers.

This skeet will self destruct@pardoguerra.bsky.social · last yr.

$500 million is… less than 1.25% of the NIH’s 2024 budget. When I say there is no capacity to absorb the shock, I mean it.

This is a great piece! It’s really refreshing to see scholars in the humanities subject the use of LLMs in education to serious scrutiny. Scrutiny and skepticism of “AI” is often in embarrassingly short supply in my own field (the biological sciences).

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · last yr.

Love to refuse a prompt. static1.squarespace.com/static/53a4b...

This stuff gets me every damn time. The level of credulity even otherwise smart ppl show about these chatbots is truly bonkers. Preschool age children are more skeptical than NYT reporters. At least they ask “why?” and “how do you know?” constantly. 🙄

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · last yr.

You have to be kidding me. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/s...

This. But also we are up against the fact that academic scientists in particular are often unprepared to think of ourselves as workers, build solidarity, and take collective action. This moment is going to require a really big pivot!

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · last yr.

With the attacks on science and academia by the current administration, if those of us who have tenure don't speak up, it's really hard to continue justifying the tenure system based on academic freedom.

If your sources are willing to share specific details of cancelled grants publicly, please encourage them to share using the Google Sheet below👇 The current lack of transparency on cancelled grants is really limiting organizing efforts and advocacy. bsky.app/profile/scot...

Scott Delaney@scott-delaney.bsky.social · last yr.

We need to organize--let’s help each other. NIH is cancelling grants, but it's not clear exactly what they're cancelling and why. Without this information, we can't respond. I've started a Google Sheet to track grant cancellations. Please add any canceled grants you know of and spread the word!

Not a lawyer, but flagging for the lawyers: HHS just said they're rescinding the Richardson Waiver (the policy under which changes to HHS grants were subject to notice-and-comment rulemaking, by my read). Sure seems like this is about NIH. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-03300.pdf

🧪It seems like we are now in the gaslighting phase of this crisis. For the past few days, there have been "official reports" that FR posts are going to resume, and every day they keep not resuming. And its crickets from our institutions.

Soragni:Lab@alice.soragnilab.com · last yr.

Today, the study section I am a member of is one of 26 out of 26 canceled. No new post on the federal registry and councils are postponed indefinitely. Universities focused on overhead cuts considering these a challenge to their survival. But *no grant at all* seems like the issue to battle first..

🧪Hi Scientists. Someone I know posted this on facebook, but I haven't seen it here yet. thewashingtonpost.formstack.com/forms/scient...

The Onion is barely even satire anymore.

Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · last yr.

If you think the headline is good, you should read the copy.

If anyone has been in touch with press covering the NIH situation broadly (firings, funding freeze etc), please encourage them to cover the sinister way in which HHS is preventing grant review and funding from happening, by blocking posting to the Federal Register.

@LaBonneLaB@labonnelab.bsky.social · last yr.

HHS blocked posting indefinitely. Not enough press is being given to this back door approach to blocking NIH grants. If and when it is lifted will still be 35 days before study sections can be held

Finally, some coverage of this issue. I did not know what the Federal Register was until last week when I got an email that the study section I was set to serve on is postponed to an unspecified date. Most of my colleagues have no idea that study sections are going to start being cancelled this week

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · last yr.

A large portion of grants awarded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health cannot be funded for the foreseeable future because of an indefinite hold on submissions to the Federal Register, according to an email reviewed by The Transmitter. By @avaskham.bsky.social bit.ly/3X8ngz8

This is exactly right- There has not been this kind of wholesale cancellation of study sections and other meetings during other transitions. And the fact that people in leadership roles say this when it isn't true is the opposite of reassuring.

Chrystal Starbird@drstarbird.bsky.social · 2y ago

I don’t know who is out there telling people that a pause in study sections is typical for a leadership transition, but please stop. That is factually incorrect. Pauses in some activities do happen, but a pause to this degree is unprecedented. Thankfully it should be short-lived 🙏🏾

Academia??? Please!!!

⭐️ Fio the Wah! ⭐️ 🔜 MFM@fiofirefox.com · 2y ago

Good night, everyone