Amy E. Baxter, PhD
@amylizbaxter.bsky.social
Scientist @UPenn; immunologist and virologist; views my own
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
Paul Nurse describing the main job of a PI
(From ‘The Thinking Game’, 2024)
(From ‘The Thinking Game’, 2024)
October 31, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Paul Nurse describing the main job of a PI
(From ‘The Thinking Game’, 2024)
(From ‘The Thinking Game’, 2024)
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
"...researchers who invest time in their students tend to lead more-productive, more-collaborative groups and attract stronger future students than those who do not." "Time spent with the next generation of scientists is an investment."
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What makes PhD students happy? Good supervision
Supervisors who invest in positive mentoring relationships with their PhD candidates also reap the benefits for their own research.
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:46 PM
"...researchers who invest time in their students tend to lead more-productive, more-collaborative groups and attract stronger future students than those who do not." "Time spent with the next generation of scientists is an investment."
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
September 24, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
27 years ago, two years after the introduction of effective HIV treatment, the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco’s lesbian and gay community newspaper, ran ‘No Obits’ as its headline.
It was the first edition not to report an AIDS death in almost 15 years.
It was the first edition not to report an AIDS death in almost 15 years.
August 13, 2025 at 6:56 AM
27 years ago, two years after the introduction of effective HIV treatment, the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco’s lesbian and gay community newspaper, ran ‘No Obits’ as its headline.
It was the first edition not to report an AIDS death in almost 15 years.
It was the first edition not to report an AIDS death in almost 15 years.
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
August 14, 2025 at 1:24 AM
As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
I cannot emphasize enough that the playbook being used against mRNA vaccines (and vaccines in general) is IDENTICAL to the playbook used to restrict voting rights after the 2020 election: actively sow public distrust, then cite the distrust you sowed as an independent reason for your desired policy
Opinion | Jay Bhattacharya: Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines
As a vaccine for broad public use, mRNA technology has failed to earn the public’s trust.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I cannot emphasize enough that the playbook being used against mRNA vaccines (and vaccines in general) is IDENTICAL to the playbook used to restrict voting rights after the 2020 election: actively sow public distrust, then cite the distrust you sowed as an independent reason for your desired policy
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
kennedy is going to kill a lot of people
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he will cancel $500 million in vaccine development projects.
August 5, 2025 at 10:50 PM
kennedy is going to kill a lot of people
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
This is moving.
Kamala Harris feels the pain we feel. Not just from her loss, but from the trauma and abuse our country is living through.
What could have been…
Kamala Harris feels the pain we feel. Not just from her loss, but from the trauma and abuse our country is living through.
What could have been…
August 1, 2025 at 3:21 AM
This is moving.
Kamala Harris feels the pain we feel. Not just from her loss, but from the trauma and abuse our country is living through.
What could have been…
Kamala Harris feels the pain we feel. Not just from her loss, but from the trauma and abuse our country is living through.
What could have been…
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
In an exclusive chat with Science, Loreen Willenberg describes remaining HIV-free even after immune-suppressing therapies for brain and lung tumors. scim.ag/4lYu3pl
‘Something remarkable has happened’: Cancer treatments bolster evidence of a natural HIV cure
In exclusive chat with Science, Loreen Willenberg describes remaining HIV-free even after immune-suppressing therapies for brain and lung tumors
scim.ag
July 15, 2025 at 1:27 PM
In an exclusive chat with Science, Loreen Willenberg describes remaining HIV-free even after immune-suppressing therapies for brain and lung tumors. scim.ag/4lYu3pl
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
NASA is more than rockets and moonwalks. NASA is behind much of our everyday technology. From space discovery, to Air Jordans, to CAT scans, NASA has played a role. We get it all on less than a penny of every federal dollar. Now their science may be gutted by 50%.
#NASADidThat
#NASADidThat
July 10, 2025 at 10:39 PM
NASA is more than rockets and moonwalks. NASA is behind much of our everyday technology. From space discovery, to Air Jordans, to CAT scans, NASA has played a role. We get it all on less than a penny of every federal dollar. Now their science may be gutted by 50%.
#NASADidThat
#NASADidThat
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
1/2 You could write a book about one atrocious headline in print NYT today
(I sort of wrote this book 30 years ago, Breaking the News, but others can take a turn.)
What's wrong this headline? Mamdani "faces scrutiny" **ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY** because NYT decided to make this a "thing."
Really bad.
(I sort of wrote this book 30 years ago, Breaking the News, but others can take a turn.)
What's wrong this headline? Mamdani "faces scrutiny" **ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY** because NYT decided to make this a "thing."
Really bad.
July 6, 2025 at 10:16 PM
1/2 You could write a book about one atrocious headline in print NYT today
(I sort of wrote this book 30 years ago, Breaking the News, but others can take a turn.)
What's wrong this headline? Mamdani "faces scrutiny" **ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY** because NYT decided to make this a "thing."
Really bad.
(I sort of wrote this book 30 years ago, Breaking the News, but others can take a turn.)
What's wrong this headline? Mamdani "faces scrutiny" **ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY** because NYT decided to make this a "thing."
Really bad.
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
Behind every cure, every breakthrough, every treatment — is someone who needed it.
If NIH funding helped you, your research, or someone you love, your story can help protect it.
Share your “why” and help defend the future of NIH & science.
Fill out the form here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
If NIH funding helped you, your research, or someone you love, your story can help protect it.
Share your “why” and help defend the future of NIH & science.
Fill out the form here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Share Your “Why” In Support of a Strong National Institutes of Health
United for Medical Research (UMR) is launching a campaign called "My Why" to highlight the critical role of NIH funding and its impact on the education and careers of researchers and scientists as wel...
docs.google.com
May 21, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Behind every cure, every breakthrough, every treatment — is someone who needed it.
If NIH funding helped you, your research, or someone you love, your story can help protect it.
Share your “why” and help defend the future of NIH & science.
Fill out the form here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
If NIH funding helped you, your research, or someone you love, your story can help protect it.
Share your “why” and help defend the future of NIH & science.
Fill out the form here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
A must read
May 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...
May 16, 2025 at 3:25 AM
this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
PI: "this draft is so great, why didn't we write it this way in the first place??"
PhD student: "I did, and then you told me to change it"
PhD student: "I did, and then you told me to change it"
May 15, 2025 at 6:57 PM
PI: "this draft is so great, why didn't we write it this way in the first place??"
PhD student: "I did, and then you told me to change it"
PhD student: "I did, and then you told me to change it"
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
The worst happened. We were DOGE’d. Our NSF funding is gone.
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
May 13, 2025 at 4:22 PM
The worst happened. We were DOGE’d. Our NSF funding is gone.
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
🧪 Here is a resource that tracks federal grants that have been terminated.
grant-watch.us
grant-watch.us
Grant Watch
grant-watch.us
May 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
🧪 Here is a resource that tracks federal grants that have been terminated.
grant-watch.us
grant-watch.us
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
“The political environment in Russia made it hard to do science because everything was unpredictable. […] That type of uncertainty is incompatible with science, which requires the ability to plan what type of experiments and research you will do a year into the future.”
Beautiful piece of science writing from an immigrant scientist who moved to the US to escape persecution as a dissident in Russia, only to end up in ICE detention. Gorgeous images too!
🎁🔗 #AbolishICE
🎁🔗 #AbolishICE
Opinion | I Came to Study Aging. Now I’m Trapped in ICE Detention.
www.nytimes.com
May 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM
“The political environment in Russia made it hard to do science because everything was unpredictable. […] That type of uncertainty is incompatible with science, which requires the ability to plan what type of experiments and research you will do a year into the future.”
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
It was a privilege to help tell the stories of U.S. scientists whose lives have been upended during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration in this recent piece for @science.org
U.S. scientists’ lives and careers are being upended. Here are five of their stories
As the second Trump administration sends U.S. science into upheaval, countless researchers are fighting for their futures
www.science.org
May 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
It was a privilege to help tell the stories of U.S. scientists whose lives have been upended during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration in this recent piece for @science.org
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
🆕 'Supporting medical science in the USA'
Read the latest Lancet Editorial: tinyurl.com/2ra3r7e8
📖 Full issue: tinyurl.com/5n74jjn7
Read the latest Lancet Editorial: tinyurl.com/2ra3r7e8
📖 Full issue: tinyurl.com/5n74jjn7
April 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
🆕 'Supporting medical science in the USA'
Read the latest Lancet Editorial: tinyurl.com/2ra3r7e8
📖 Full issue: tinyurl.com/5n74jjn7
Read the latest Lancet Editorial: tinyurl.com/2ra3r7e8
📖 Full issue: tinyurl.com/5n74jjn7
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
Reposted by Amy E. Baxter, PhD
A colleague at Stanford’s business school used The Stanford Daily to argue—poorly—against DEI. The piece was riddled with historical errors and left one searching for fact, so I broke my public writing hiatus to respond.
I hope you’ll read and share the piece.
stanforddaily.com/2025/04/22/w...
I hope you’ll read and share the piece.
stanforddaily.com/2025/04/22/w...
What DEI threatens isn’t merit. It’s monopoly.
Political science professor Hakeem Jefferson argues for DEI's importance to de-monopolizing universities.
stanforddaily.com
April 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
A colleague at Stanford’s business school used The Stanford Daily to argue—poorly—against DEI. The piece was riddled with historical errors and left one searching for fact, so I broke my public writing hiatus to respond.
I hope you’ll read and share the piece.
stanforddaily.com/2025/04/22/w...
I hope you’ll read and share the piece.
stanforddaily.com/2025/04/22/w...