Update: They were removed from our reviewer assignments completely. I'm so sorry to all those graduate students. Anonymous to protect the identity of the NIH employee I spoke to...I am on study section next month to discuss F awards. We were just instructed to put the F31-Diversity applications on the bottom of our priority list for review because there is a chance we may not be able to review them. My heart is breaking for the grad students and their mentors that put so much work into these just for them to be disqualified and thrown out.

Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.

‘It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe Dismantling of USAID could disrupt clinical trials and wipe away U.S. “soft power” in developing countries, scientists warn

What's happening at #USAID is causing so much damage. The great reporters at @science.org explore some of that damage. www.science.org/content/arti...

USAID agriculture assistance supports farmers, universities, and nonprofits across North Carolina.

USAID agriculture assistance supports farmers and universities across Florida.

USAID agriculture assistance suports farmers, universities, businesses, and nonprofits across Georgia.

How much money will Americans lose if USAID is cut? Quite a lot, it turns out. I've made shareable graphics showing the ties betwen AID agriculture funding and each state. A public Google Drive repository is here: drive.google.com/drive/folder...

Some economist should calculate the scientific and financial waste of the last few weeks. Including impacts on datasets, labs, ongoing studies, personnel, opportunity costs…

Due to the freeze on credit card use, my laboratory (in the FDA) risks losing the contents of our liquid nitrogen tanks which store INVALUABLE samples-they cannot be replaced, so they are literally priceless, and reflect about 50 years worth of research.

they are mostly targeting black employees so this is quite literally just a repeat of woodrow wilson’s segregationist purge of the federal government

“On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs. Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST). For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency, in coordination with missions and the Department of State, is currently preparing a plan, in accordance with all applicable requirements and laws, under which the Agency would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days and provide for the termination of PSC and ISC contracts that are not determined to be essential. The Agency will consider case-by-case exceptions and return travel extensions based on personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons. For example, the Agency will consider exceptions based on the timing of dependents’ school term, personal or familial medical needs, pregnancy, and other reasons. Further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming. Thank you for your service”

USAID’s website has been deleted, all that is left is a note saying all personnel are now on administrative leave and personnel outside the US are to be brought home. Completely illegal, no act of congress or even executive order was signed to dismantle the agency

aaaand now it all makes sense

This is appalling. These workers have devoted their careers to improving health at local, national, global levels and they’re being demonized and threatened by racists.

Ugh, I’m sorry. I was wondering about GHSP. We’re going to see a lot of knock on effects if USAID funding isn’t restored.

GHSP is funded by USAID. It also doesn’t charge APCs and is open access, which is particularly important for global health work.

Many academics are at "soft money" institutions where they are expected to pay 80-100% of their salary through grants - and this includes tenure track faculty. Pausing grants means people will lose their jobs.

And they will be disproportionally poor, disproportionally disabled, disproportionally from marginalized groups. That is what stop-work orders and NIH freezes and putting USAID leadership on leave (and criminalizing abortion) do.

We should be very clear that Trump's actions will kill people - many outside the US, but quite a few in the US as well. Pregnant women, preterm babies, people with HIV, people with cancer, malnourished kids – they are all losing access to programs and interventions, and some of them will die.

Trump won. Is NIH in for a major shake-up? Congress might serve as a bulwark, but some changes may be coming

Proposed changes to NIH from the new administration are reducing the budget to half ($48 billion actual annual budget), going from 27 institutes and centers to 15, and limiting the number of grants an investigator can hold. #AcademicSky #EpiSky www.science.org/content/arti...

Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Epidemiologist: It depends.