Katie Wilkinson
@drkwilkinson.bsky.social
Neurophysiologist | http://wilkinsonneuro.com | Past Chair of the American Physiological Society's Science Policy Committee | she/hers
Pinned
Katie Wilkinson
@drkwilkinson.bsky.social
· Mar 20
a man says call your senators with his hands folded
ALT: a man says call your senators with his hands folded
media.tenor.com
Heading back from #FASEBOnTheHill and want to share what I learned and why I think all scientists need to be setting up meetings w their reps to talk about the impacts on science of the current chaos. #AcademicSky #NeuroSky @faseborg.bsky.social @apsphysiology.bsky.social 🧪
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
"I don’t know why my fellowship was terminated. I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary of what we expect to see in nature, with completely different males and females."
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
He Studied Why Some Female Birds Look Like Males
www.nytimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:10 PM
"I don’t know why my fellowship was terminated. I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary of what we expect to see in nature, with completely different males and females."
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Updating this graph for the holidays 🎁
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
December 24, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Updating this graph for the holidays 🎁
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
(datapoints are a selection of journals publishing in neuroscience)
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Congratulations to everyone who wrote an op-ed about how he just wants americans to eat better
BREAKING: RFKJr directs that the US instantly stop recommending all vaccinations for children. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Under RFK Jr., U.S. plans to stop recommending most vaccines, defer to doctors
The plan, which is not finalized, suggests children get fewer shots and shifts to a model telling parents to consult doctors to make their own vaccine choices.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Congratulations to everyone who wrote an op-ed about how he just wants americans to eat better
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
As someone not with NCAR, I use NCAR-based software everyday to help identify and track regions of excessive precipitation to help NWS forecasters protect lives and property. NCAR is extremely valuable and we need them.
December 17, 2025 at 4:16 AM
As someone not with NCAR, I use NCAR-based software everyday to help identify and track regions of excessive precipitation to help NWS forecasters protect lives and property. NCAR is extremely valuable and we need them.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Why read a 300-word "abstract" summary of a paper written by the actual authors when one can read a 300-word summary produced by an AI prone to hallucinations?
What the absolute shit is this? ACM using AI summaries instead of abstracts in search results?! So, if I understand correctly, instead of the author's own summary of the work (i.e. an abstract) we are better off with some regurgitated slop version of that summary instead? @chi.acm.org
December 16, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Why read a 300-word "abstract" summary of a paper written by the actual authors when one can read a 300-word summary produced by an AI prone to hallucinations?
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
At least two of the Brown University students who were on campus when a deadly shooting unfolded there on Saturday have survived school shootings before. “What I’ve been feeling most is just, like, how dare this country allow this to happen to someone like me twice?”
2 Students at Brown Witnessed School Shootings as Children
Both women said the shooting on Saturday had damaged a sense of security they had cultivated for years based on the notion that they were unlikely to witness two school shootings in one lifetime.
nyti.ms
December 14, 2025 at 4:28 PM
At least two of the Brown University students who were on campus when a deadly shooting unfolded there on Saturday have survived school shootings before. “What I’ve been feeling most is just, like, how dare this country allow this to happen to someone like me twice?”
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Gun violence is the number-one cause of death for children. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Distracting the public’: group of health professionals call for RFK Jr to be removed
Ahead of the second Maha report, grassroots Defend Public Health warns that everything HHS is doing is ‘horrifying’
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Gun violence is the number-one cause of death for children. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Each semester I go in my classroom and I try to figure out what we would use to block the doors, if it would be safe to crawl out the windows, where we could hide if there was a mass shooter in campus. It’s such an indictment of this country how we have normalized these preventable tragedies.
December 13, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Each semester I go in my classroom and I try to figure out what we would use to block the doors, if it would be safe to crawl out the windows, where we could hide if there was a mass shooter in campus. It’s such an indictment of this country how we have normalized these preventable tragedies.
This is an absolutely bonkers story. Not the craziest thing but as a physiologist dropping them at 15000ft w no acclimatization and expecting them to not only climb a very challenging mountain but also set up equipment is insane. Also not realizing the heat of the generator would cause issues?!!
An American nuclear device disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains during a covert mission. After losing it 60 years ago, the U.S. government still refuses to acknowledge that anything ever happened.
How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device in the Himalayas?
A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.
nyti.ms
December 14, 2025 at 3:27 AM
This is an absolutely bonkers story. Not the craziest thing but as a physiologist dropping them at 15000ft w no acclimatization and expecting them to not only climb a very challenging mountain but also set up equipment is insane. Also not realizing the heat of the generator would cause issues?!!
A few weeks ago graffiti threatening a mass shooting targeting certain groups was found on my campus. While the police did not find it a credible threat, only 22/115 students came to my class the next day. I wonder how many of my students have lived through a mass shooting. #GunSenseNow.
so far tonight msnbc has interviewed two students from brown university that are also survivors of separate high school shootings.
insanity.
insanity.
December 14, 2025 at 2:04 AM
A few weeks ago graffiti threatening a mass shooting targeting certain groups was found on my campus. While the police did not find it a credible threat, only 22/115 students came to my class the next day. I wonder how many of my students have lived through a mass shooting. #GunSenseNow.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
in every other advanced nation this is all but impossible statistically
but we live in America, a nation that chooses when, where, and how to be exceptional
the power to do marvelous or terrible things on a global scale is in our hands
but we live in America, a nation that chooses when, where, and how to be exceptional
the power to do marvelous or terrible things on a global scale is in our hands
so far tonight msnbc has interviewed two students from brown university that are also survivors of separate high school shootings.
insanity.
insanity.
December 14, 2025 at 1:54 AM
in every other advanced nation this is all but impossible statistically
but we live in America, a nation that chooses when, where, and how to be exceptional
the power to do marvelous or terrible things on a global scale is in our hands
but we live in America, a nation that chooses when, where, and how to be exceptional
the power to do marvelous or terrible things on a global scale is in our hands
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Please join me in signing and sharing this petition, and calling your Rep in the House. RFK Jr. must go!
Every day that RFK Jr. remains HHS Secretary endangers the lives of millions. Enough is enough. Congress has the power stop him. We applaud @rephaleystevens.bsky.social for taking action, and we're calling on our other reps. to do the same!
Join us in the fight: standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr
Join us in the fight: standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr
December 13, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Please join me in signing and sharing this petition, and calling your Rep in the House. RFK Jr. must go!
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
I still can’t believe the National Science Foundation is being forced to move out of their brand new, purpose-built building because the HUD secretary thought his building was ugly.
The Trump administration is destroying the best parts of this country, and it will take decades to rebuild.
The Trump administration is destroying the best parts of this country, and it will take decades to rebuild.
NSF
- Forced reorg
- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)
- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)
I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃
- Forced reorg
- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)
- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)
I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃
December 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I still can’t believe the National Science Foundation is being forced to move out of their brand new, purpose-built building because the HUD secretary thought his building was ugly.
The Trump administration is destroying the best parts of this country, and it will take decades to rebuild.
The Trump administration is destroying the best parts of this country, and it will take decades to rebuild.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
In early grad school I heard some dissertation advice that was essentially chasing fads is a bad idea because you need two years to get things together & by then everyone will have moved on and you're left with an unmarketable product that you don't even like. Thinking about that while reading this.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
In early grad school I heard some dissertation advice that was essentially chasing fads is a bad idea because you need two years to get things together & by then everyone will have moved on and you're left with an unmarketable product that you don't even like. Thinking about that while reading this.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
This kind of bottle-shaming is a not-so-subtle way to push women out of the workforce.
RFK Jr: "All of the ingenuity of corporate America has not produced an infant formula that is superior in nutrition and all the qualities that we want to the infant formula that God made, which is the infant formula in a mother's breast."
December 8, 2025 at 10:06 PM
This kind of bottle-shaming is a not-so-subtle way to push women out of the workforce.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Well this is pretty wild
[🎁]
[🎁]
The Married Scientists Torn Apart by a Covid Bioweapon Theory
www.nytimes.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Well this is pretty wild
[🎁]
[🎁]
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
Here’s the thing, emerging scientists aren’t going to flee to do science elsewhere…they just won’t do the science.
We will lose at least one, if not two generations of knowledge if we don’t get this shit sorted out immediately.
We will lose at least one, if not two generations of knowledge if we don’t get this shit sorted out immediately.
My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.”
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
December 7, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Here’s the thing, emerging scientists aren’t going to flee to do science elsewhere…they just won’t do the science.
We will lose at least one, if not two generations of knowledge if we don’t get this shit sorted out immediately.
We will lose at least one, if not two generations of knowledge if we don’t get this shit sorted out immediately.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
The effects of the ACIP poisoned recommendations may not be seen clearly at scale for years.
But every child that unnecessarily develops HepB-associated chronic liver disease and cancer is the fault of those on that committee, the HHS Secretary, and those that capitulated to put him in power.
But every child that unnecessarily develops HepB-associated chronic liver disease and cancer is the fault of those on that committee, the HHS Secretary, and those that capitulated to put him in power.
December 5, 2025 at 4:24 PM
The effects of the ACIP poisoned recommendations may not be seen clearly at scale for years.
But every child that unnecessarily develops HepB-associated chronic liver disease and cancer is the fault of those on that committee, the HHS Secretary, and those that capitulated to put him in power.
But every child that unnecessarily develops HepB-associated chronic liver disease and cancer is the fault of those on that committee, the HHS Secretary, and those that capitulated to put him in power.
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning.
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning.
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place, experts told me it would mean the end of annual flu shots. And end of most vaccines for pregnant people. And maybe the end of updates to pneumonia vaccines. And more.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
FDA official proposes ‘impossible’ standards for vaccine testing that could curtail access to immunizations
www.cidrap.umn.edu
December 3, 2025 at 1:43 PM
If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place, experts told me it would mean the end of annual flu shots. And end of most vaccines for pregnant people. And maybe the end of updates to pneumonia vaccines. And more.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
“Calculators expanded reasoning; the printing press spread knowledge. ChatGPT, by contrast, doesn’t extend cognition—it automates it, turning thinking itself into a service. Rather than democratizing learning, it privatizes the act of thinking under corporate control. “
Absolutely devastating account of the CSU's $17 million capitulation to ChatGPT, from a fellow faculty member watching it happen www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:15 AM
“Calculators expanded reasoning; the printing press spread knowledge. ChatGPT, by contrast, doesn’t extend cognition—it automates it, turning thinking itself into a service. Rather than democratizing learning, it privatizes the act of thinking under corporate control. “
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
The wholesale destruction of America's leadership in science and medicine in progress.
Fire Bobby, Jay and Marty NOW!
Fire Bobby, Jay and Marty NOW!
December 2, 2025 at 11:53 AM
The wholesale destruction of America's leadership in science and medicine in progress.
Fire Bobby, Jay and Marty NOW!
Fire Bobby, Jay and Marty NOW!
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:57 AM
New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Katie Wilkinson
22% fewer NIH grants
December 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
22% fewer NIH grants