Nels Elde
@elearlybird.bsky.social
Evolutionary genetics and cell biology. And co-host of This Week in Evolution: www.microbe.tv/twievo/ Elde lab: cellvolution.org Opinions: my own, not employers
Reposted by Nels Elde
January 10, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Nels Elde
“To this day, grants continue to be ‘realigned’ with administration priorities, a clear form of ideological coercion.”
Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left
“We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.
www.statnews.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:52 PM
“To this day, grants continue to be ‘realigned’ with administration priorities, a clear form of ideological coercion.”
Reposted by Nels Elde
The CDC changed the universal vaccine schedule & no longer recommends
Rotavirus
Hepatitis A & B
Meningitis
Influenza
RSV
I’ve cared for previously healthy kids who died from RSV, influenza and meningitis.
We all are going to be caring for a lot more now.
In our already overflowing hospitals
Rotavirus
Hepatitis A & B
Meningitis
Influenza
RSV
I’ve cared for previously healthy kids who died from RSV, influenza and meningitis.
We all are going to be caring for a lot more now.
In our already overflowing hospitals
January 6, 2026 at 12:02 AM
The CDC changed the universal vaccine schedule & no longer recommends
Rotavirus
Hepatitis A & B
Meningitis
Influenza
RSV
I’ve cared for previously healthy kids who died from RSV, influenza and meningitis.
We all are going to be caring for a lot more now.
In our already overflowing hospitals
Rotavirus
Hepatitis A & B
Meningitis
Influenza
RSV
I’ve cared for previously healthy kids who died from RSV, influenza and meningitis.
We all are going to be caring for a lot more now.
In our already overflowing hospitals
Reposted by Nels Elde
The US is a country full of really good people
Photos: Protests grow over the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis
In cities across the country, demonstrators have expressed grief and outrage over the death of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday mo...
www.npr.org
January 9, 2026 at 5:06 AM
The US is a country full of really good people
Reposted by Nels Elde
An image I’ll never forget.
January 6, 2026 at 10:38 PM
An image I’ll never forget.
Reposted by Nels Elde
You cannot simultaneously care about maintaining measles elimination status while actively campaigning against the vaccine that allowed this elimination status to be achieved in the first place.
That's not how any of this works 🤷🏽♀️
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
That's not how any of this works 🤷🏽♀️
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
US builds case to retain measles elimination status as infections mount
U.S. officials are building a case that ongoing measles outbreaks in South Carolina and other states are unrelated to last year's major outbreak in Texas, as it tries to retain its status of having el...
www.reuters.com
January 6, 2026 at 11:34 PM
You cannot simultaneously care about maintaining measles elimination status while actively campaigning against the vaccine that allowed this elimination status to be achieved in the first place.
That's not how any of this works 🤷🏽♀️
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
That's not how any of this works 🤷🏽♀️
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
Reposted by Nels Elde
Reposted by Nels Elde
“According to the agreement, filed Monday in the federal District Court of Massachusetts, the NIH will review a set of grant applications that were frozen, denied, or withdrawn through the agency's standard process of scientific review rather than based on Trump administration directives…”
December 30, 2025 at 3:21 AM
“According to the agreement, filed Monday in the federal District Court of Massachusetts, the NIH will review a set of grant applications that were frozen, denied, or withdrawn through the agency's standard process of scientific review rather than based on Trump administration directives…”
Reposted by Nels Elde
This is an outstanding essay describing some of the important roles and influences of NIH program officers (from an insider perspective).
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
The Quiet Power of Program Officers
How invisible decisions shape what science gets done—and whether it matters
elizabethginexi.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:56 AM
This is an outstanding essay describing some of the important roles and influences of NIH program officers (from an insider perspective).
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
Read!
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
Reposted by Nels Elde
Reposted by Nels Elde
OSTP has issued a request for information, please share with them your ideas for how to improve government functions related to science funding and policy
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Notice of Request for Information; Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requests input from all interested parties on Federal policy updates that aim to accelerate the American scientific enterprise, enable groundbreaking...
www.federalregister.gov
December 23, 2025 at 10:56 PM
OSTP has issued a request for information, please share with them your ideas for how to improve government functions related to science funding and policy
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Reposted by Nels Elde
Reposted by Nels Elde
Powerful short documentary about the researchers affected by NIH grant terminations and broad extortion of universities.
youtu.be/DaTOmUZHeik
1/2
youtu.be/DaTOmUZHeik
1/2
Death By a Thousand Cuts Capstone Archive Submission
YouTube video by Usha Sookai
youtu.be
December 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Powerful short documentary about the researchers affected by NIH grant terminations and broad extortion of universities.
youtu.be/DaTOmUZHeik
1/2
youtu.be/DaTOmUZHeik
1/2
Reposted by Nels Elde
Imagine that a decade ago someone had told you that in 2025 Americans would be torrenting a handheld video of a Canadian television screen to see a 60 minutes broadcast about Trump‘s torture prisons.
December 23, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Imagine that a decade ago someone had told you that in 2025 Americans would be torrenting a handheld video of a Canadian television screen to see a 60 minutes broadcast about Trump‘s torture prisons.
Reposted by Nels Elde
Tens of thousands of annual cases of chickenpox, rotavirus, and other vaccine preventable diseases a year - in a country of six million people.
Not only will Denmark’s vaccine schedule not work for the US, it already isn’t working for Denmark.
Not only will Denmark’s vaccine schedule not work for the US, it already isn’t working for Denmark.
Should the US adopt Denmark's vaccine schedule for children? @jakescottmd.bsky.social argues no in a piece that points out the risks such a move would pose for American kids. www.statnews.com/2025/12/19/d...
Why Denmark's vaccine schedule works for Denmark — but not for the United States
With its vaccine schedule, “Denmark has made a values choice to accept preventable hospitalizations and illnesses that other countries have chosen to prevent.”
www.statnews.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Tens of thousands of annual cases of chickenpox, rotavirus, and other vaccine preventable diseases a year - in a country of six million people.
Not only will Denmark’s vaccine schedule not work for the US, it already isn’t working for Denmark.
Not only will Denmark’s vaccine schedule not work for the US, it already isn’t working for Denmark.
Reposted by Nels Elde
I wrote to my representatives @hirono.senate.gov @schatz.bsky.social, and Ed Case to tell them to stop the dismantlement of NCAR. You can do the same with your representatives at this link.
Save NCAR from being dismantled today!
The Trump Administration has vowed to dissolve the center that provides critical extreme weather and climate data for our nation.
agu.quorum.us
December 17, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I wrote to my representatives @hirono.senate.gov @schatz.bsky.social, and Ed Case to tell them to stop the dismantlement of NCAR. You can do the same with your representatives at this link.
Reposted by Nels Elde
Reposted by Nels Elde
"(Memoli's) actions look like those of a leader who has been given broad discretion to shrink down the agencys infectious-disease work—an area where he may have a few personal grievances. “People are afraid of him,” one official said, pausing. “I’m afraid of him.”
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
The Most Feared Person at the NIH Is a Vaccine Researcher Plucked From Obscurity
While NIH director Jay Bhattacharya focuses on podcasting, his second in command is dramatically remaking the agency.
www.theatlantic.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
"(Memoli's) actions look like those of a leader who has been given broad discretion to shrink down the agencys infectious-disease work—an area where he may have a few personal grievances. “People are afraid of him,” one official said, pausing. “I’m afraid of him.”
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Nels Elde
Looking for a faculty job at one of the world's great research stations?
We're looking for a marine invertebrate biologist at UW's Friday Harbor Labs.
apply.interfolio.com/178804
We're looking for a marine invertebrate biologist at UW's Friday Harbor Labs.
apply.interfolio.com/178804
December 16, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Looking for a faculty job at one of the world's great research stations?
We're looking for a marine invertebrate biologist at UW's Friday Harbor Labs.
apply.interfolio.com/178804
We're looking for a marine invertebrate biologist at UW's Friday Harbor Labs.
apply.interfolio.com/178804
Reposted by Nels Elde
🧵 NSF is reducing external review requirements and eliminating routine expert panels, citing staff shortages that this administration implemented. This change expands program officer authority. But the solution to flawed accountability isn't less public accountability.
NSF plans to streamline merit review to heal self-inflicted staffing wound www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF pares down grant-review process, reducing influence of outside scientists
Memo cites overburdened staff, but some say move also aims to elevate White House priorities
www.science.org
December 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
🧵 NSF is reducing external review requirements and eliminating routine expert panels, citing staff shortages that this administration implemented. This change expands program officer authority. But the solution to flawed accountability isn't less public accountability.
Reposted by Nels Elde
NEW: After freezing billions in U.S. foreign aid and putting countless lives at risk around the world, Trump administration officials in Washington celebrated with a sheet cake.
By @annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy, photos by @peterdicampo.bsky.social
By @annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy, photos by @peterdicampo.bsky.social
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
www.propublica.org
December 15, 2025 at 12:00 PM
NEW: After freezing billions in U.S. foreign aid and putting countless lives at risk around the world, Trump administration officials in Washington celebrated with a sheet cake.
By @annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy, photos by @peterdicampo.bsky.social
By @annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy, photos by @peterdicampo.bsky.social
Reposted by Nels Elde
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 11:16 AM
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” 🙃
Reposted by Nels Elde
NIH has for decades used a rigorous recruitment process to hire its top scientists, the institute directors.
The Trump NIH is changing that. They’ve already installed one political hire this way, reportedly a friend of JD Vance.
This post describes the process. Demand the Trump people follow it.
The Trump NIH is changing that. They’ve already installed one political hire this way, reportedly a friend of JD Vance.
This post describes the process. Demand the Trump people follow it.
Demand that NIH Maintain the Scientific Credibility of its Institute Directors
The institute directors at NIH are top scientific leaders who in principle can redirect grant money as they please. The Trump NIH must not install new directors without a real hiring process.
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
NIH has for decades used a rigorous recruitment process to hire its top scientists, the institute directors.
The Trump NIH is changing that. They’ve already installed one political hire this way, reportedly a friend of JD Vance.
This post describes the process. Demand the Trump people follow it.
The Trump NIH is changing that. They’ve already installed one political hire this way, reportedly a friend of JD Vance.
This post describes the process. Demand the Trump people follow it.
Reposted by Nels Elde
$15k stipend to support 9 weeks of full time summer research!
For rising juniors/seniors who are able to travel to and obtain housing at the location of the lab they are placed in!
I did an HHMI summer experience in 2013 and it changed everything for me! Apply…or tell someone to apply!
🧪🧠
For rising juniors/seniors who are able to travel to and obtain housing at the location of the lab they are placed in!
I did an HHMI summer experience in 2013 and it changed everything for me! Apply…or tell someone to apply!
🧪🧠
@hhmi.org Summer Undergraduate Research Experience - #CechFellows named in honor of Prof Tom Cech
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI
The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.
www.hhmi.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:49 AM
$15k stipend to support 9 weeks of full time summer research!
For rising juniors/seniors who are able to travel to and obtain housing at the location of the lab they are placed in!
I did an HHMI summer experience in 2013 and it changed everything for me! Apply…or tell someone to apply!
🧪🧠
For rising juniors/seniors who are able to travel to and obtain housing at the location of the lab they are placed in!
I did an HHMI summer experience in 2013 and it changed everything for me! Apply…or tell someone to apply!
🧪🧠
Reposted by Nels Elde
New logo for ACIP released just now.
December 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
New logo for ACIP released just now.