Brendan Harley
@profharley.bsky.social
#blacklivesmatter | #translivesmatter | 🍉
Harvard & MIT trained bioengineer
Professor @ U. Illinois & Cancer Center at Illinois
health | society | Imagination & discovery
Partner @kateclancy.bsky.social | runner | dad | nerd
Harvard & MIT trained bioengineer
Professor @ U. Illinois & Cancer Center at Illinois
health | society | Imagination & discovery
Partner @kateclancy.bsky.social | runner | dad | nerd
Pinned
Brendan Harley
@profharley.bsky.social
· Nov 13
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Deeply ingrained, systemic racism is responsible for an incalculable loss & horrific suffering in our communities. I must do better. Listening, amplifying, celebrating, supporting, fighting. #BlackLivesMatter
Who would have thunk it? 🤦
I wonder how many could have predicted this finding - AI tools boost individual scientists but could limit research topics
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
January 14, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Who would have thunk it? 🤦
Reposted by Brendan Harley
I wonder how many could have predicted this finding - AI tools boost individual scientists but could limit research topics
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
January 14, 2026 at 8:24 PM
I wonder how many could have predicted this finding - AI tools boost individual scientists but could limit research topics
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
January 14, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Reposted by Brendan Harley
We are dealing with an institution modeled on slave catching and the great news is that we also have resistance models
This is a great book about the Underground Railroad in an urban environment, New York City:
wwnorton.com/books/gatewa...
This is a great book about the Underground Railroad in an urban environment, New York City:
wwnorton.com/books/gatewa...
Gateway to Freedom
The dramatic story of fugitive slaves and the antislavery activists who defied the law to help them reach freedom., Gateway to Freedom, The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, Eric Foner, 9780...
wwnorton.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:03 PM
We are dealing with an institution modeled on slave catching and the great news is that we also have resistance models
This is a great book about the Underground Railroad in an urban environment, New York City:
wwnorton.com/books/gatewa...
This is a great book about the Underground Railroad in an urban environment, New York City:
wwnorton.com/books/gatewa...
Reposted by Brendan Harley
We filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against RFK Jr. by the AAP and APHA, and the government tried and failed to get the suit tossed. A judge said no, citing our amicus brief.
Much gratitude to @doritreiss.bsky.social and @weparmet.bsky.social for absolutely crushing it on this brief.
Much gratitude to @doritreiss.bsky.social and @weparmet.bsky.social for absolutely crushing it on this brief.
January 13, 2026 at 9:23 PM
We filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against RFK Jr. by the AAP and APHA, and the government tried and failed to get the suit tossed. A judge said no, citing our amicus brief.
Much gratitude to @doritreiss.bsky.social and @weparmet.bsky.social for absolutely crushing it on this brief.
Much gratitude to @doritreiss.bsky.social and @weparmet.bsky.social for absolutely crushing it on this brief.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
So, if I'm reading this right:
4 prosecutors at the Dept of Justice Civil Rights division quit because the Trump-appointed leadership won't investigate Good's killer,
and
6 from the Minnesota US Attorney's office quit when they were told instead to investigate her widow.
(HT @benjaminkabak.com)
4 prosecutors at the Dept of Justice Civil Rights division quit because the Trump-appointed leadership won't investigate Good's killer,
and
6 from the Minnesota US Attorney's office quit when they were told instead to investigate her widow.
(HT @benjaminkabak.com)
Federal prosecutors quit in protest over lack of investigation into ICE shooting
Six lawyers from US attorney’s office in Minnesota quit along with four leaders of DoJ’s civil rights division
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:35 PM
So, if I'm reading this right:
4 prosecutors at the Dept of Justice Civil Rights division quit because the Trump-appointed leadership won't investigate Good's killer,
and
6 from the Minnesota US Attorney's office quit when they were told instead to investigate her widow.
(HT @benjaminkabak.com)
4 prosecutors at the Dept of Justice Civil Rights division quit because the Trump-appointed leadership won't investigate Good's killer,
and
6 from the Minnesota US Attorney's office quit when they were told instead to investigate her widow.
(HT @benjaminkabak.com)
HOW MANY PEOPLE SIGNED OFF ON THAT?
Breaking NYT:
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:49 AM
HOW MANY PEOPLE SIGNED OFF ON THAT?
Change a few words and this could have been a statement about the state of higher education.
"Right this moment, in newsrooms all across the country, there are untold Bari Weisses preaching the doctrines of high journalism while quietly going about the work of making the actual journalism suck."
defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
Bari Weiss Is The Symptom | Defector
Who says Bari Weiss doesn’t know how to run a newsroom? “My general view here,” the CBS News editor-in-chief wrote in a memo before shelving the now-infamous 60 Minutes report on El Salvador’s CECOT c...
defector.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Change a few words and this could have been a statement about the state of higher education.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Change a few words and this could have been the statement every university president had the opportunity to make last year.
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
Good evening. On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testi
www.federalreserve.gov
January 12, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Change a few words and this could have been the statement every university president had the opportunity to make last year.
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Reposted by Brendan Harley
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
January 12, 2026 at 1:45 AM
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
This rings, & I ask myself everyday if it’s time to go.
But I went to NIH to support future careers. I’m in 1 of the divisions hardest hit by terminations.
Pushback from the community has helped us lessen some of the damage. We can still support trainees & take our oaths seriously.
But I went to NIH to support future careers. I’m in 1 of the divisions hardest hit by terminations.
Pushback from the community has helped us lessen some of the damage. We can still support trainees & take our oaths seriously.
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 3:42 PM
This rings, & I ask myself everyday if it’s time to go.
But I went to NIH to support future careers. I’m in 1 of the divisions hardest hit by terminations.
Pushback from the community has helped us lessen some of the damage. We can still support trainees & take our oaths seriously.
But I went to NIH to support future careers. I’m in 1 of the divisions hardest hit by terminations.
Pushback from the community has helped us lessen some of the damage. We can still support trainees & take our oaths seriously.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Brought to you by the party of family values and national security.
Kind of wild there has been almost no coverage of the fact that the federal government unleashed chemical weapons against literal kids *at school*.
workdaymagazine.org/minneapolis-...
workdaymagazine.org/minneapolis-...
January 10, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Brought to you by the party of family values and national security.
This was hard to read. The NIH has been the gold standard for research funding & integrity the entirety of my career.
I absolutely understand how each one of these people must feel.
But as I like to remind folks, there will be an after. Those that remain will be left to rebuild. And we must.
I absolutely understand how each one of these people must feel.
But as I like to remind folks, there will be an after. Those that remain will be left to rebuild. And we must.
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 3:29 PM
This was hard to read. The NIH has been the gold standard for research funding & integrity the entirety of my career.
I absolutely understand how each one of these people must feel.
But as I like to remind folks, there will be an after. Those that remain will be left to rebuild. And we must.
I absolutely understand how each one of these people must feel.
But as I like to remind folks, there will be an after. Those that remain will be left to rebuild. And we must.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
NIH staffers protest "an organization that has lost its integrity" 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 3:08 PM
NIH staffers protest "an organization that has lost its integrity" www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
Reposted by Brendan Harley
“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 Brendan Harley
The Ohnsorg Lab has officially launched at UW-Madison in the Department of Biomedical Engineering! One week down. Looking forward to this semester starting and continuing to learn the ropes on campus!
✨ Check out our shiny and new lab website!
ohnsorglab.engr.wisc.edu
✨ Check out our shiny and new lab website!
ohnsorglab.engr.wisc.edu
January 10, 2026 at 3:06 AM
The Ohnsorg Lab has officially launched at UW-Madison in the Department of Biomedical Engineering! One week down. Looking forward to this semester starting and continuing to learn the ropes on campus!
✨ Check out our shiny and new lab website!
ohnsorglab.engr.wisc.edu
✨ Check out our shiny and new lab website!
ohnsorglab.engr.wisc.edu
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.
January 8, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
That’s how you do it 👏
"NYS Dept of Health & NYC Health Dept reject all recent and unilateral changes to the CDC immunization schedule."
This letter just went all to all medical providers in NYC. It sends an unambiguous message: Do not change your prior immunization practices.
This letter just went all to all medical providers in NYC. It sends an unambiguous message: Do not change your prior immunization practices.
January 9, 2026 at 5:54 PM
That’s how you do it 👏
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Adding to my list - looking forward to listening to @bakerdphd.bsky.social speak on these issues
THEORY AT THE BARGAINING TABLE
UIC United Faculty hosts a roundtable on education technology, faculty autonomy, power mapping, board composition, lobbying state legislators, artificial intelligence, surveillance+ data-mining, Ponzi austerity, + more.
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/theory-at-...
UIC United Faculty hosts a roundtable on education technology, faculty autonomy, power mapping, board composition, lobbying state legislators, artificial intelligence, surveillance+ data-mining, Ponzi austerity, + more.
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/theory-at-...
Theory At The Bargaining Table (Vandal Live at UIC)
with Dominique Baker & Anna Kornbluh
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Adding to my list - looking forward to listening to @bakerdphd.bsky.social speak on these issues
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Amanda Gorman wrote this poem for Renee Good and that’s it for me tonight.
January 9, 2026 at 2:54 AM
Amanda Gorman wrote this poem for Renee Good and that’s it for me tonight.
Reposted by Brendan Harley
Fiscal Year 2026 NIH Funding Update
The committed funding for fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind all fiscal years from 2015-2025.
More details to follow.
1/6
The committed funding for fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind all fiscal years from 2015-2025.
More details to follow.
1/6
January 8, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Fiscal Year 2026 NIH Funding Update
The committed funding for fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind all fiscal years from 2015-2025.
More details to follow.
1/6
The committed funding for fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind all fiscal years from 2015-2025.
More details to follow.
1/6
Reposted by Brendan Harley
A bridge builder doesn’t need to denounce every evil in the world to be moral, but they better say something about the guy who keeps building bridges that topple over
January 8, 2026 at 5:23 AM
A bridge builder doesn’t need to denounce every evil in the world to be moral, but they better say something about the guy who keeps building bridges that topple over
Reposted by Brendan Harley
The resident dean who was fired was given only ten days to vacate his housing. @harvard.edu is putting a Black family — with a newborn baby — out on the street because of comments opposing white supremacy.
Please donate to their gofundme:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Please donate to their gofundme:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
January 8, 2026 at 2:59 PM
The resident dean who was fired was given only ten days to vacate his housing. @harvard.edu is putting a Black family — with a newborn baby — out on the street because of comments opposing white supremacy.
Please donate to their gofundme:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Please donate to their gofundme:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Reposted by Brendan Harley
This is incredibly well done, and totally damning. Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Video: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
An analysis of footage from three camera angles show that the vehicle appears to be turning away from a federal officer as he opened fire.
www.nytimes.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:27 PM
This is incredibly well done, and totally damning. Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Reposted by Brendan Harley
You can be an ordinary, decent person who loves and is loved and cares about their community and the federal government will kill you and call you a domestic terrorist.
You will someday have to answer to your children and grandchildren about what you did from this point.
You will someday have to answer to your children and grandchildren about what you did from this point.
January 7, 2026 at 8:59 PM
You can be an ordinary, decent person who loves and is loved and cares about their community and the federal government will kill you and call you a domestic terrorist.
You will someday have to answer to your children and grandchildren about what you did from this point.
You will someday have to answer to your children and grandchildren about what you did from this point.