NIH leadership wants to strip worker's rights from the majority of scientists on its campuses.
But, the NIH does not get to say whether we are a union or not. We do, and we are no strangers to having to fight for our union. Time for a short history lesson. 1/n
Disclaimer: all views are my own.
Stand Up for Science rally poster March 7th, 1:00 PM at Allegheny Landing in Pittsburgh.
Very excited to be speaking at the @standupforscience.bsky.social rally in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
I am speaking just prior to Dr. Rachel Levine
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An announcement that the Senate voted to reauthroize the SBIR/STTR program.
The Senate has (finally) voted to reauthorize the small business SBIR/STTR program.
Not reauthorized yet, but this was likely the biggest hurdle.
The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Advisory Council guides research & care on Alzheimer’s. It didn't meet for a full year under Trump. Before it finally met in Feb 2026, its membership was gutted & replaced, just like ACIP & other councils.
www.27unihted.org/napa
Roseate Spoonbill in #PerfectLighting. This is my #BirdoftheDay.
#spoonbill #löffler #bird #birdsky #light #nature #photography #photographersofBlueSky
Senator Chris Van Hollen and Dr. Jenna Norton at the People's State of the Union on February 25, 2026.
Just watched one of my heroes @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social at the People's State of the Union.
www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
[Starts around 52:30]
STATE -* UNION MTN MOVEON MTN MEDASTOVCHNETWORK MOVEON
“When we speak up together we are powerful.”
@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social a guest of @vanhollen.senate.gov . Strong stuff.
Some good news...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/h...
[Gift link]
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FDA's decision not to accept Moderna's flu vaccine filing has sent shock waves through pharma. "When there’s uncertainty about the path to approval & the reliability of the process, that really has pretty serious consequences,” one player told @jasonmast.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2026/02/12/f...
Moving forward, we need to move beyond single-axis analysis. Intersectional framing (gender, race, ethnicity) is essential to serve those at the greatest risk of dementia.
Read my full commentary here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Key takeaways: 🗝️ Findings extended to a 61% Hispanic sample—vital for generalizability. 🗝️ Women show potential brain resilience: more AD biomarkers but thicker cortex. 🗝️ We must harness this resilience for future interventions.
New commentary in @jamanetworkopen.com! 🚨 I’m diving into Akıncı et al.’s paper on AD brain changes in dementia-free individuals in their 60s.
We must understand sex/gender differences in AD biology—especially as current therapeutics may be less effective for women. 🧵
Roughly half a million women in the US exited the workforce in 2025, and 42% of those who voluntarily left cited their caregiving responsibilities as the main reason, according to a recent survey from Catalyst.
www.hr-brew.com/stories/2026...
Hi Simon, The way I read this they are not RRs. They are Population Attributable Fractions (PAFs), so the percent of dementia that could be prevented in the population if that risk factor were eliminated. So here a 95%CI that does not cross 0 is significant.
Thank you for your courage and leadership @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social
You have been an exemplary government employee, standing up against illegal and immoral actions, but doing so within the constraints of a federal official.
You do honor to your oath and to our country.
Courage is Contagious
A camping chair holds the cleaned out street parking space of a neighbor on a snow lined street.
Two camping chairs hold the cleaned out street parking space of a neighbor on a snow lined street.
Pittsburgh Parking Chair, this is your moment to shine.
Read the full perspective here: 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s435...
Free access link: 🔗 rdcu.be/eZ7fL
#Dementia #PublicHealth #NatureAging #BrainHealth #GlobalHealth #Neuroscience #HealthEquity #LMIC #BrainHealthEquity
Our roadmap aims to reduce this burden by: ✅ Integrating social & biological factors ✅ Identifying context-dependent mechanisms (S/SDOH) & domains of deprivation to inform public health interventions ✅ Prioritizing inclusive, representative studies in LMICs
We prioritized the inclusion of extreme situations as syndemic risk factors: ⚔️ War & conflict 🌍 Climate crisis ✊ Political unrest 🏃 Displacement
These neglected factors are critical brain health issues deeply intertwined with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (#SDGs).
Excited to share our perspective in @NatureAging: "The Population Neuroscience-Dementia Syndemics (PNDS) Framework."
By 2050, 68% of dementia cases will be in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We need better models to capture the unique risks faced by these populations—especially women. 🧵
Graphic reads 'The Nottingham Consensus. Read the publication and policy brief: denpru-qmul.nihr.ac.uk/resources. Image of two speech bubbles and the DeNPRU-QM logo.
The Nottingham Consensus provides a policy roadmap to reduce dementia risk, the UK's leading cause of death. Recommendations include:
📢 Launch a targeted public health campaign to address key modifiable risk factors
💬 Adapt communication strategies to ensure relevance across diverse communities
The multi-year NIH funding of grants tagged to 2025 allows Russell Vought to reduce the number of grants funded this year because he insists that a 5 years of $$$ has to be committed. This is bad. We could see a cut in actual grants by 1/3 or more. Spread the word. www.statnews.com/2026/01/16/n...
United States Senate Committee on APPROPRIATIONS = MENU Search 01.20.26 Committee Releases Conferenced Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Daldad Aaaaains and
NIH budget bill out today.
It’s the result of heavy negotiations in Congress over past month+. 🧪
Big pic: NIH budget now is abt more than funding. It’s abt restraining the technical ways NIH is being broken by Proj 2025. And the restraints in the bill are tepid 🤷♂️
Also: watch ICE/DHS budget.
🧵1/
Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
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Out now!!
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Intro to this paper pictured below
Huge thanks to collaborators @neilmdavies.bsky.social, @emmylooroll.bsky.social at @uclbrainscience.bsky.social & Sami Heikkinen and Mikko Hiltunen at @uniuef.bsky.social ...
#endalz #episky #medsky
NOTE: This news immediately followed a Supreme Court order this morning denying the paper's shadow-docket efforts to block an injunction issued by the Third Circuit that was enforcing an NLRB unfair labor practices order relating to the paper's health insurance plans.
I'm starting a thread on misunderstandings about the role of APOE in Alzheimer's disease / dementia, from the POV of epidemiology / statistical genetics. I will add to this sporadically over time...
#endalz #episky #medsky
An email to NINDS staff from Walter Koroshetz announcing that his reappointment request has been denied.
More news (not good) from NIH
The renewal request from National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke Director Walter Koroshetz has been denied.
I guess the NIH_leadership™ needed another position to fill with their time-tested recruitment process.
The Senate version of the NIH appropriations bill has language that limits the use of multiyear/upfront funding. Please call your Senators and Representatives to make sure it is in the final bill.
We must stop the brain drain in our research workforce before it's too late.
This substantial drop in studies funded is the abrupt transition to multiyear/upfront funding at work. This policy is incredibly damaging to the scientific workforce. It is driving people out of science, especially the next generation of researchers.
