Leah Pitman
@leahpitman.bsky.social
PhD student at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology/University of Cambridge. Studying DNA entrapment by cohesin.
Former NIH post-baccalaureate fellow. University of Maryland alumni
My views are my own.
Former NIH post-baccalaureate fellow. University of Maryland alumni
My views are my own.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced last week that the US federal government is terminating US$500 million worth of grants for mRNA vaccine research.
We must never, ever, forget that millions are alive today, or in better health, because of this life-saving technology.
go.nature.com/4msX3WL
We must never, ever, forget that millions are alive today, or in better health, because of this life-saving technology.
go.nature.com/4msX3WL
Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility
The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
go.nature.com
August 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced last week that the US federal government is terminating US$500 million worth of grants for mRNA vaccine research.
We must never, ever, forget that millions are alive today, or in better health, because of this life-saving technology.
go.nature.com/4msX3WL
We must never, ever, forget that millions are alive today, or in better health, because of this life-saving technology.
go.nature.com/4msX3WL
Reposted by Leah Pitman
This is some Lysenkoist shit.
Once Trump is gone and we are rebuilding NIH, this utter Trumpist fraud Memoli should be nowhere near science or medicine of any sort.
Once Trump is gone and we are rebuilding NIH, this utter Trumpist fraud Memoli should be nowhere near science or medicine of any sort.
July 21, 2025 at 12:28 PM
This is some Lysenkoist shit.
Once Trump is gone and we are rebuilding NIH, this utter Trumpist fraud Memoli should be nowhere near science or medicine of any sort.
Once Trump is gone and we are rebuilding NIH, this utter Trumpist fraud Memoli should be nowhere near science or medicine of any sort.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
so.... NIH issued a news item clarifying the new use of animals policy.
It seems that the bottom line is that NIH will not issue NoFOs specifically about creation or use of animal models of disease.
1/2
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
It seems that the bottom line is that NIH will not issue NoFOs specifically about creation or use of animal models of disease.
1/2
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
How Does the NIH Initiative to Prioritize Human-Based Research Affect Research Proposing the Use of Laboratory Animals? | Grants & Funding
grants.nih.gov
July 21, 2025 at 12:33 PM
so.... NIH issued a news item clarifying the new use of animals policy.
It seems that the bottom line is that NIH will not issue NoFOs specifically about creation or use of animal models of disease.
1/2
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
It seems that the bottom line is that NIH will not issue NoFOs specifically about creation or use of animal models of disease.
1/2
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
Reposted by Leah Pitman
We are hearing NIH is hugely overloaded on peer review after the CSR review consolidation in the fall, and people are inside are panicking.
But here’s something important:
This was THE POINT. President Russell Vought WANTS to break NIH internally so he can cut the NIH budget…1/
But here’s something important:
This was THE POINT. President Russell Vought WANTS to break NIH internally so he can cut the NIH budget…1/
July 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
We are hearing NIH is hugely overloaded on peer review after the CSR review consolidation in the fall, and people are inside are panicking.
But here’s something important:
This was THE POINT. President Russell Vought WANTS to break NIH internally so he can cut the NIH budget…1/
But here’s something important:
This was THE POINT. President Russell Vought WANTS to break NIH internally so he can cut the NIH budget…1/
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Good that Sir Paul Nurse wrote to Musk expressing concerns in very plain terms but alas the Royal Society has once again ducked the responsibilities entailed in its code of conduct. Musk remains a fellow even after all the damage he has inflicted on US science. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Royal Society suggested to Elon Musk he consider resigning science fellowship
Exclusive: Fellows called on academy to act over Tesla owner’s role in Trump administration’s attacks on research
www.theguardian.com
July 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Good that Sir Paul Nurse wrote to Musk expressing concerns in very plain terms but alas the Royal Society has once again ducked the responsibilities entailed in its code of conduct. Musk remains a fellow even after all the damage he has inflicted on US science. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Leah Pitman
what
NEW: We asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for his and his staff’s emails with Elon Musk and Musk’s companies.
The governor’s office won’t turn them over, saying some contain “intimate and embarrassing” information that is “not of legitimate concern to the public.”
The governor’s office won’t turn them over, saying some contain “intimate and embarrassing” information that is “not of legitimate concern to the public.”
Texas Governor’s Office Says Its Emails With Elon Musk May Be, in Part, Too “Embarrassing” to Release to the Public
We asked Abbott for his and his staff’s emails with Elon Musk and Musk’s companies. The governor’s office won’t turn them over, saying some contain “intimate and embarrassing” information that is “not of legitimate concern to the public.”
www.propublica.org
July 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
what
Neocaridinia davidi var "yellow fire" 🟡🔥🦐
June 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Neocaridinia davidi var "yellow fire" 🟡🔥🦐
sometimes you just gotta spice up the work place with a shrimp tank
June 26, 2025 at 12:53 PM
sometimes you just gotta spice up the work place with a shrimp tank
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Tapping the “Resistance Works” Sign!
NIH BREAKING NEWS NIH BREAKING NEWS
Hearing from multiple sources that an email went out late yesterday afternoon
Effective immediately: Please do not terminate any additional grant projects. Please pull back all grant projects that are in the cue to be terminated.
Hearing from multiple sources that an email went out late yesterday afternoon
Effective immediately: Please do not terminate any additional grant projects. Please pull back all grant projects that are in the cue to be terminated.
two men in suits and ties are waving their hands in a room
ALT: two men in suits and ties are waving their hands in a room
media.tenor.com
June 25, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Tapping the “Resistance Works” Sign!
Reposted by Leah Pitman
This is a remarkable letter and everyone should read it.
April 27, 2025 at 2:35 AM
This is a remarkable letter and everyone should read it.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
the most cruel administration of all time. them being this outwardly evil genuinely might be their downfall in the end
April 19, 2025 at 7:53 PM
the most cruel administration of all time. them being this outwardly evil genuinely might be their downfall in the end
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Everyone should read this to understand why Trump appointed Jay Bhattacharya to run NIH, and Bhattacharya’s mentality.
And please ask your colleagues to come to Bluesky. The information here on the US science crisis is richer than anywhere else.
And please ask your colleagues to come to Bluesky. The information here on the US science crisis is richer than anywhere else.
Jay Bhattacharya had strong feelings about “censorship” when it came to his Tweets and YouTube videos.
Now, he’s in charge of purges and banning research.
My latest for SBM.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/censorship/
Now, he’s in charge of purges and banning research.
My latest for SBM.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/censorship/
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: You Work for an Administration That Runs a Vast Censorship Regime to Suppress Scientific Discussion. Most Authoritarian Policy I’ve Seen From an American Government. You Shoul...
Imagine if the fate of Tweets and YouTube vidoes was the sole concern of scientists today.
sciencebasedmedicine.org
April 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Everyone should read this to understand why Trump appointed Jay Bhattacharya to run NIH, and Bhattacharya’s mentality.
And please ask your colleagues to come to Bluesky. The information here on the US science crisis is richer than anywhere else.
And please ask your colleagues to come to Bluesky. The information here on the US science crisis is richer than anywhere else.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
“Today, right now—and I mean right this second—you have the most power you’ll ever have in the current fight against authoritarianism in America,” writes @adriennelaf.bsky.social. If you wait to speak out against autocrats, you have already lost:
A Ticking Clock on American Freedom
It’s later than you think, but it’s not too late.
www.theatlantic.com
April 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM
“Today, right now—and I mean right this second—you have the most power you’ll ever have in the current fight against authoritarianism in America,” writes @adriennelaf.bsky.social. If you wait to speak out against autocrats, you have already lost:
Reposted by Leah Pitman
my longest held belief is that if you’re nearing your middle ages you need to get into a semi-social hobby or creative project quickly otherwise you are more susceptible to rightwing radicalization brain rot content
April 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM
my longest held belief is that if you’re nearing your middle ages you need to get into a semi-social hobby or creative project quickly otherwise you are more susceptible to rightwing radicalization brain rot content
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines.
When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
April 7, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines.
When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
he did this just *after* going to the funeral of an 8 year old girl.
he walks away from where the hearse is idling and immediately starts hyping this stuff again.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
he walks away from where the hearse is idling and immediately starts hyping this stuff again.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
April 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM
he did this just *after* going to the funeral of an 8 year old girl.
he walks away from where the hearse is idling and immediately starts hyping this stuff again.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
he walks away from where the hearse is idling and immediately starts hyping this stuff again.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Reposted by Leah Pitman
This was the PLAN. The goal is to destroy NIH by stopping spending. They banned credit cards only until they could fire the credit card holders. They have other plans to stop spending they will run in future.
We must find a counter-plan. We are too reactive.
We must find a counter-plan. We are too reactive.
April 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
This was the PLAN. The goal is to destroy NIH by stopping spending. They banned credit cards only until they could fire the credit card holders. They have other plans to stop spending they will run in future.
We must find a counter-plan. We are too reactive.
We must find a counter-plan. We are too reactive.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
No money for mRNA vaccine, cancer, or HIV research but they'll waste money researching something as utterly useless as this. The regret rate for transitioning (<1%) is lower than knee surgery (20%) and having children (10%). This has already been established by decades of peer review research.
Exclusive: Trump White House directs NIH to study ‘regret’ after transgender people transition
After cancelling nearly all NIH projects studying transgender health, Trump’s team instructs the US biomedical agency to study negative consequences of transitioning.
www.nature.com
April 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
No money for mRNA vaccine, cancer, or HIV research but they'll waste money researching something as utterly useless as this. The regret rate for transitioning (<1%) is lower than knee surgery (20%) and having children (10%). This has already been established by decades of peer review research.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Trump just announced tariffs so wide-reaching, they now cover a sub-Antarctic island group populated mostly by penguins and a Norwegian Arctic archipelago best known for its polar bears.
April 3, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Trump just announced tariffs so wide-reaching, they now cover a sub-Antarctic island group populated mostly by penguins and a Norwegian Arctic archipelago best known for its polar bears.
Reposted by Leah Pitman
“When a grant is awarded to a university, there are terms and conditions that go with the grant. It’s basically a legal contract…I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that the great majority of the terminations that have been done are in fact legal.” @jeremymberg.bsky.social
April 2, 2025 at 2:30 PM
“When a grant is awarded to a university, there are terms and conditions that go with the grant. It’s basically a legal contract…I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that the great majority of the terminations that have been done are in fact legal.” @jeremymberg.bsky.social
Reposted by Leah Pitman
Two years ago next week.
April 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Two years ago next week.