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Brendan Harley

@profharley

#blacklivesmatter | #translivesmatter | πŸ‰ Harvard & MIT trained bioengineer Professor @ U. Illinois & Cancer Center at Illinois health | society | Imagination & discovery Partner @kateclancy.bsky.social | runner | dad | nerd

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Latest posts by Brendan Harley @profharley

Also the same folks currently deciding which federal research grants at the NIH get frozen, cancelled, or not even considered at all...

10.03.2026 19:35 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Honestly, I am absolutely disgusted by academics suggesting that AI can do the reading and writing for you. At a certain point, what you're bragging about is fraud. And in a broader sense, what you're contributing to is the erosion of knowledge and the destruction of trust in academic publishing.

10.03.2026 12:31 πŸ‘ 683 πŸ” 199 πŸ’¬ 19 πŸ“Œ 8

Watch this in its entirety. It is painful to watch.

I work at a university with exceptional colleagues who do thoughtful, consequential work. And this is the buzzsaw all of academia they face.

This should follow him forever.

10.03.2026 17:00 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Who is demanding the imposition of sharia law in America?

I can't think of anyone calling for that, much less enough of a groundswell that it warrants an actual response from Congress.

Who's pushing this, Mike? Name names.

10.03.2026 16:48 πŸ‘ 1498 πŸ” 316 πŸ’¬ 169 πŸ“Œ 22

If you took your kid to the doctor recently for any reason, there's a one in five chance you walked away with an off-label prescription. Nearly half of all pediatric prescriptions are off-label.

10.03.2026 15:31 πŸ‘ 1380 πŸ” 377 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 11

I know our expectations for this administration are in the basement but it is INSANE they started a war without a plan for the Strait of Hormuz.

10.03.2026 10:50 πŸ‘ 1733 πŸ” 442 πŸ’¬ 71 πŸ“Œ 25
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πŸ“£ SING USA 2026 applications are open!

The Summer Internship for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics (SING) workshop will be July 19–24, 2026 at UW–Madison.

⏰ Apply by March 13 (midnight Hawaiʻi time)

Learn more & apply: sing.nativebio.net

Please share with Indigenous students!

#Indigenous #Genomics

09.03.2026 17:29 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Illinois universities roll back DEI initiatives amid Trump attacks The UI system and Northwestern agreed to scrap programs meant to uplift students and faculty from marginalized backgrounds.

new: universitiesβ€”in illinois and across the u.s.β€” are falling in line amid president donald trump's attacks on higher education.

@dmbrown-tboy.bsky.social on the death of diversity on college campuses:

06.03.2026 21:01 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2
Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success.

Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.

What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.

Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

07.03.2026 01:59 πŸ‘ 681 πŸ” 416 πŸ’¬ 19 πŸ“Œ 60
07.03.2026 00:20 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Disability accommodations are a rare thing that actually trickles down. You like curb cutouts? Auto-opening doors? Jar openers? Ramps? Hand rails? YOU’RE WELCOME

Even as an abled person you use disability accommodations every single day.

Supporting accommodations actually helps everyone.

07.03.2026 00:13 πŸ‘ 1455 πŸ” 457 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 13
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FDA’s controversial vaccine chief will exit agency next month | CNN The US Food and Drug Administration’s head of vaccines and biologic medicines will leave the agency at the end of April, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Friday.

Vinay Prasad has been an a noxious influence on public health and drug regulation. Good riddance. UCSF should not take him back. He should wander in the wilderness forever. www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/h...

06.03.2026 23:39 πŸ‘ 932 πŸ” 231 πŸ’¬ 32 πŸ“Œ 19

β€œEvery step of the way we have seen the power of collective action, united across rank, position and title, in order to strengthen our institution and deliver the best possible education for our students,” said Marsha McCartney, UAKU’s co-lead negotiator πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰

06.03.2026 20:50 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œTrans children are perfect.”

06.03.2026 18:41 πŸ‘ 4143 πŸ” 1138 πŸ’¬ 138 πŸ“Œ 175
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Six federal scientists run out by Trump talk about the work left undone | CNN Federal data shows the NIH lost about 4,400 people β€” more than 20% of its workforce. Scientists say the departures harm the U.S.’ ability to respond to disease outbreaks, develop treatments for chroni...

The number of people employed at the NIH is at its lowest level in at least two decades.

Hear from six scientists run out by Trump and the work they left behind on cancer research, tick-borne diseases, and more.

Me + @k-hought.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org for @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...

05.03.2026 13:06 πŸ‘ 57 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 6

Current NIH leadership want you to think they are using rigorous, consistent & scientific processes to screen studies to align them with agency priorities.

But the process that they have put down on paper is a sham.

It’s important to know NIH is not following its own guidance. Here’s why:

🧡1/

06.03.2026 14:35 πŸ‘ 197 πŸ” 126 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 10
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The U.S. Is Launching a Regulatory Assault on Drone Users New restrictions try to shield ICE from being watched from above.

MAGA is trying to claim the sky for itself - which means that other legitimate drone users, including journalists reporting on ICE abuses, are being shut out.

My latest for Foreign Policy:

foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/12/u...

19.02.2026 18:14 πŸ‘ 323 πŸ” 115 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 4

Utah! What are you doing?!???

All you folks who are not vaccinating your kids, you are endangering so many other people.

Also: many of us Gen. X and older might not have sufficient titers if we got our OG measles vaccine.

Time for a booster if yer titers have dropped.

You don’t want measles.

06.03.2026 13:33 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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On sabotage of our young scientists, by @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

05.03.2026 19:20 πŸ‘ 192 πŸ” 72 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 1

If I get one more email about Claude or whomever the fuck.

1. I wanna read my own shit.

2. I wanna write my own shit.

3. I wanna pay an editor to talk me through my own shit.

4. I don’t want that AI bullshit. If you don’t use it, you lose it. And I want to hold my brain as long as possible.

05.03.2026 14:39 πŸ‘ 257 πŸ” 61 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 7

Rebecca is starting her lab as a UCSF Sandler fellow in August 2026; folks at #Dros26 interested in host-parasitoid interactions should try to catch her at the meeting to find out about available positions: www.tarnopollab.org/people

05.03.2026 17:30 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Neither did Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation’s top diplomat.

05.03.2026 16:00 πŸ‘ 232 πŸ” 62 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 1

The video of a United States Senator joining the violent removal of U.S. marine from a hearing and hideously breaking his arm in a door is an example of what has been unleashed in this country. They’re tapping in to get in on the violence.
And then he bragged about it on X later.

05.03.2026 13:14 πŸ‘ 12638 πŸ” 4084 πŸ’¬ 515 πŸ“Œ 195

... and whose intentions are cruel.

This is entirely unsurprising with a 'No stupid rules of engagement' mantra

05.03.2026 15:20 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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RFK Jr. wants Dunkin’ to prove drinking its iced coffee is safe - The Boston Globe The warning comes as Kennedy is leaning heavily into his agenda to improve American diets.

This moron has no idea how much of a third rail this is. If he goes through with a public fight with Dunkin he will never live this down. In the words of my people "fuck ya motha."

04.03.2026 15:02 πŸ‘ 10604 πŸ” 1683 πŸ’¬ 1026 πŸ“Œ 686
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Delays in awards and funding calls worry NIH-funded researchers Many programs may be pushed into the next fiscal year, and some could face funding gaps

"The biomedical research community is facing the prospect of major funding disruptions again this year." www.science.org/content/arti...

03.03.2026 20:01 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Looking forward to an article about all the Black women scientists who thrived despite Epstein and friends best efforts to shove us out of the field including by not offering us funding that our competitors were getting

03.03.2026 16:53 πŸ‘ 403 πŸ” 75 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2

how is the only correct answer on a campus Title IX training program for a situation involving (non-violent) interactions between two people the "delegate the handling of the situation to the police" answer?

03.03.2026 19:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

i know! that interview is giving vibes that are ...not... good

03.03.2026 19:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This is a strange 'bar' to celebrate.

03.03.2026 19:20 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0