J. Brendan Ritchie
@jbrendanritchie.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist studying vision and cognition. Recovering philosopher. Former NIH postdoc. Asst Prof in Neuro at U Lethbridge/Iniskim. Views are my own. He/him
Pinned
I am very happy to announce that this Fall I will be starting my position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge. I am finally returning home to Canada, and the Prairies that I love.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
January 31, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
The Visual Learning Lab is hiring TWO lab coordinators!
Both positions are ideal for someone looking for research experience before applying to graduate school. Application deadline is Feb 10th (approaching fast!)—with flexible summer start dates.
Both positions are ideal for someone looking for research experience before applying to graduate school. Application deadline is Feb 10th (approaching fast!)—with flexible summer start dates.
January 30, 2026 at 11:21 PM
The Visual Learning Lab is hiring TWO lab coordinators!
Both positions are ideal for someone looking for research experience before applying to graduate school. Application deadline is Feb 10th (approaching fast!)—with flexible summer start dates.
Both positions are ideal for someone looking for research experience before applying to graduate school. Application deadline is Feb 10th (approaching fast!)—with flexible summer start dates.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
“The take-home message from this study is clear: long COVID is here to stay, even in children, & can be exacerbated by reinfections and sustained by high viral circulation. …Without decisive action, the long-term societal cost of long COVID will continue to rise.”
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Long COVID is here to stay—even in children
Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC, also known as long COVID) are complex,
multisystem, long-lasting complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection that profoundly impact
the daily life of those...
www.thelancet.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:36 PM
“The take-home message from this study is clear: long COVID is here to stay, even in children, & can be exacerbated by reinfections and sustained by high viral circulation. …Without decisive action, the long-term societal cost of long COVID will continue to rise.”
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
We are losing scientists from the government at an unprecedented rate - some were fired, but many more were forced out through trauma and fear. www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
www.science.org
January 27, 2026 at 2:17 PM
We are losing scientists from the government at an unprecedented rate - some were fired, but many more were forced out through trauma and fear. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
"Customers only care about one thing: barely functioning AI crammed into every facet of their lives."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/our...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/our...
Our Customers Demand Terrible AI Systems
We’ve been banging our heads against the wall, trying to think of the new “it” thing our customers want. At one point, somebody suggested improving...
www.mcsweeneys.net
January 26, 2026 at 6:20 PM
"Customers only care about one thing: barely functioning AI crammed into every facet of their lives."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/our...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/our...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Number of COVID-19 Shots Delivered in Alberta Drops By Half, Following $100 Fee and Other Restrictions
“What we've heard over the last few months is extreme frustration from Albertans who were trying to use the booking system to get the vaccine.”
pressprogress.ca/number-of-co...
“What we've heard over the last few months is extreme frustration from Albertans who were trying to use the booking system to get the vaccine.”
pressprogress.ca/number-of-co...
Number of COVID-19 Shots Delivered in Alberta Drops By Half, Following $100 Fee and Other Restrictions
“What we've heard over the last few months is extreme frustration from Albertans who were trying to use the booking system to get the vaccine.”
pressprogress.ca
January 24, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Number of COVID-19 Shots Delivered in Alberta Drops By Half, Following $100 Fee and Other Restrictions
“What we've heard over the last few months is extreme frustration from Albertans who were trying to use the booking system to get the vaccine.”
pressprogress.ca/number-of-co...
“What we've heard over the last few months is extreme frustration from Albertans who were trying to use the booking system to get the vaccine.”
pressprogress.ca/number-of-co...
As a Winnipegger I consider this reasonable cold.
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 2:13 AM
As a Winnipegger I consider this reasonable cold.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 12:38 AM
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
In reviewing grants and papers lately, as an exp., I have been using LLMs *after* my reviews to see how they stack up.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
January 23, 2026 at 9:13 PM
In reviewing grants and papers lately, as an exp., I have been using LLMs *after* my reviews to see how they stack up.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
“The union representing firefighters in Lethbridge, Alta., is calling on the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) to resign as it formally withdraws its membership from the coalition.”
#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Lethbridge firefighters' union leaves AFL, calls for coalition president to step down | CBC News
The union representing Lethbridge firefighters is calling on the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour to resign as it formally withdraws from the federation.
www.cbc.ca
January 22, 2026 at 7:03 PM
“The union representing firefighters in Lethbridge, Alta., is calling on the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) to resign as it formally withdraws its membership from the coalition.”
#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
"We, as a group, have decided to persevere with the same language — unaltered, uncensored. I feel strongly that there is no other way to accurately describe the problem and investigate it rigorously." - @dmohottige.bsky.social
This is scientific integrity.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This is scientific integrity.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Shattered’: US scientists speak out about how Trump policies disrupted their careers
Researchers lay bare the human toll of lay-offs, funding cuts and attacks on science one year after the president’s return to the White House.
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:07 PM
"We, as a group, have decided to persevere with the same language — unaltered, uncensored. I feel strongly that there is no other way to accurately describe the problem and investigate it rigorously." - @dmohottige.bsky.social
This is scientific integrity.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This is scientific integrity.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
January 20, 2026 at 10:53 PM
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
This was my experience working at NIH, and the experience of my friends who worked at many other federal agencies. Americans do not yet fully understand what has been lost.
For some reason, very few people these days will stand up and say it, but: the US federal bureaucracy is one of the great wonders of the world, staffed with incredibly diligent people who do their jobs well and care deeply.
Trump's destruction of the federal apparaus was a historic crime.
Trump's destruction of the federal apparaus was a historic crime.
The Purged
Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:29 AM
This was my experience working at NIH, and the experience of my friends who worked at many other federal agencies. Americans do not yet fully understand what has been lost.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
fun fact: if a recipe tells you it will take 8 to 10 minutes to caramelize onions, they're a lying-ass bitch
January 17, 2026 at 9:51 PM
fun fact: if a recipe tells you it will take 8 to 10 minutes to caramelize onions, they're a lying-ass bitch
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
The Brownstone Inst is a billionaire-funded outfit. It’s been attacking science for yrs now.
It would not exist w/ this platform w/out money from rightwing billionaires.
This guy has written for them.
I will not apologize for saying that.
Or criticizing Twitter.
Truth hurts, apparently.
More 1/
It would not exist w/ this platform w/out money from rightwing billionaires.
This guy has written for them.
I will not apologize for saying that.
Or criticizing Twitter.
Truth hurts, apparently.
More 1/
January 17, 2026 at 3:09 AM
The Brownstone Inst is a billionaire-funded outfit. It’s been attacking science for yrs now.
It would not exist w/ this platform w/out money from rightwing billionaires.
This guy has written for them.
I will not apologize for saying that.
Or criticizing Twitter.
Truth hurts, apparently.
More 1/
It would not exist w/ this platform w/out money from rightwing billionaires.
This guy has written for them.
I will not apologize for saying that.
Or criticizing Twitter.
Truth hurts, apparently.
More 1/
If the pandemic has taught me anything, it's that universities and that includes their faculties, are incredibly ableist. thewalrus.ca/how-universi...
How Universities Are Shutting Out Disabled Students and Staff | The Walrus
Some administrators treat accommodations as a favour—and those requesting them as problems
thewalrus.ca
January 16, 2026 at 11:13 PM
If the pandemic has taught me anything, it's that universities and that includes their faculties, are incredibly ableist. thewalrus.ca/how-universi...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Quite frankly, it’s outrageous that Mark Carney is cutting Statistics Canada. If he was Stephen Harper or Pierre Poilievre, I feel like this would be getting a lot more backlash.
Carney of all people should know the importance of high-quality data and information about the country.
Carney of all people should know the importance of high-quality data and information about the country.
Statistics Canada to cut 850 jobs in 'dark time' for public service, union says
Federal statistics agency entered its workforce adjustment period Monday, sending notices to thousands of employees.
ottawacitizen.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Quite frankly, it’s outrageous that Mark Carney is cutting Statistics Canada. If he was Stephen Harper or Pierre Poilievre, I feel like this would be getting a lot more backlash.
Carney of all people should know the importance of high-quality data and information about the country.
Carney of all people should know the importance of high-quality data and information about the country.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
The department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences at Ghent University is proud to present a lecture series on the topic of eugenics. As philosophers and ethicists, we are concerned about the revival and normalization of eugenic discourse.
humanitiesacademie.ugent.be/eugenics
humanitiesacademie.ugent.be/eugenics
Eugenics: Critical Perspectives on a Creeping Concept Between Science and Ideology | Humanities Academie
humanitiesacademie.ugent.be
January 13, 2026 at 11:35 AM
The department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences at Ghent University is proud to present a lecture series on the topic of eugenics. As philosophers and ethicists, we are concerned about the revival and normalization of eugenic discourse.
humanitiesacademie.ugent.be/eugenics
humanitiesacademie.ugent.be/eugenics
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
NIH is losing so may good people. First they were fired or RIFd or pressured to retire early.
Now they are leaving because “no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity.”
Proud to know these brave scientists!
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
Now they are leaving because “no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity.”
Proud to know these brave scientists!
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
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 1:44 PM
NIH is losing so may good people. First they were fired or RIFd or pressured to retire early.
Now they are leaving because “no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity.”
Proud to know these brave scientists!
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
Now they are leaving because “no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity.”
Proud to know these brave scientists!
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
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 12:24 PM
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
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
This paper had a pretty shocking headline result (40% of voxels!), so I dug into it, and I think it is wrong. Essentially: they compare two noisy measures and find that about 40% of voxels have different sign between the two. I think this is just noise!
Would love to hear expert views on this paper. It appears to show that the operationalization of brain activity the field has relied on for 3 decades—the BOLD response—is not actually a sensible measure of brain activity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
BOLD signal changes can oppose oxygen metabolism across the human cortex - Nature Neuroscience
Using quantitative brain imaging, the authors show opposite fMRI BOLD signal to metabolic activity due to variable oxygen extraction across the human cortex. This questions the canonical interpretatio...
www.nature.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:22 PM
This paper had a pretty shocking headline result (40% of voxels!), so I dug into it, and I think it is wrong. Essentially: they compare two noisy measures and find that about 40% of voxels have different sign between the two. I think this is just noise!
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
Extremely important study, with very concerning implications for the future.
The COVID generation: the neurodevelopmental consequences of in-utero COVID-19 exposure.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The COVID generation: the neurodevelopmental consequences of in-utero COVID-19 exposure.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The COVID generation: the neurodevelopmental consequences of in-utero COVID-19 exposure
In historical viral epidemics, such as the H1N1 influenza and Zika viruses, prenatal exposures were correlated with risk for neuropsychiatric conditio…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Extremely important study, with very concerning implications for the future.
The COVID generation: the neurodevelopmental consequences of in-utero COVID-19 exposure.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The COVID generation: the neurodevelopmental consequences of in-utero COVID-19 exposure.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...
transnews.network
January 1, 2026 at 6:32 PM
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
Reposted by J. Brendan Ritchie
**Job opportunity in Drug Discovery for Long Covid! 🙌
Do you have experience in early-stage biotech and want to make disruptive science that will impact the lives of millions of people suffering with #LongCovid? This job is for you.
(Ps: we will work together!)
*Please share!
Do you have experience in early-stage biotech and want to make disruptive science that will impact the lives of millions of people suffering with #LongCovid? This job is for you.
(Ps: we will work together!)
*Please share!
My team at Deep Piction (Munich) is hiring a Senior Director, Drug Discovery (Long Covid) to build and lead our early discovery engine. If you have 10+ years in early-stage biotech/pharma, let’s talk.
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Deep Piction hiring Senior Director Drug Discovery in Greater Munich Metropolitan Area | LinkedIn
Posted 10:31:52 AM. Senior Director, Drug Discovery (Long Covid)Location: Munich, Germany (Onsite)Type:…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
www.linkedin.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:20 PM
**Job opportunity in Drug Discovery for Long Covid! 🙌
Do you have experience in early-stage biotech and want to make disruptive science that will impact the lives of millions of people suffering with #LongCovid? This job is for you.
(Ps: we will work together!)
*Please share!
Do you have experience in early-stage biotech and want to make disruptive science that will impact the lives of millions of people suffering with #LongCovid? This job is for you.
(Ps: we will work together!)
*Please share!