susan persky
@susanpersky.bsky.social
behavioral science, immersive tech, genomics, health comm.
Reposted by susan persky
The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is the very definition of an evidence-based claim. Over a million children have been studied in every valid, ethical experimental design scientists can think of. More evidence-based claims: infections can kill people & we have vaccines that keep people alive.
November 20, 2025 at 12:51 PM
The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is the very definition of an evidence-based claim. Over a million children have been studied in every valid, ethical experimental design scientists can think of. More evidence-based claims: infections can kill people & we have vaccines that keep people alive.
Reposted by susan persky
We experience these events through our media bubbles. So please take a little time to look at the details.
For example: here is how DHS described one incident in Chicago. Now watch the video, which tells a different story.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...
bsky.app/profile/news...
For example: here is how DHS described one incident in Chicago. Now watch the video, which tells a different story.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...
bsky.app/profile/news...
November 4, 2025 at 1:26 PM
We experience these events through our media bubbles. So please take a little time to look at the details.
For example: here is how DHS described one incident in Chicago. Now watch the video, which tells a different story.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...
bsky.app/profile/news...
For example: here is how DHS described one incident in Chicago. Now watch the video, which tells a different story.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...
bsky.app/profile/news...
Reposted by susan persky
"It’s hard to understand why the administration is pausing funding for medical research and clinical trials if its goal is to counter antisemitism." @megtirrell.bsky.social looks at how Northwestern's trials for heart disease and other diseases are collapsing. www.cnn.com/2025/06/23/h...
NIH froze funding for clinical trials at a major university. By fall, they’ll run out of funding | CNN
Northwestern University hasn’t received any funding from the NIH since the end of March. Not only could patients potentially stop receiving treatments that trials provided, the research itself could b...
www.cnn.com
June 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM
"It’s hard to understand why the administration is pausing funding for medical research and clinical trials if its goal is to counter antisemitism." @megtirrell.bsky.social looks at how Northwestern's trials for heart disease and other diseases are collapsing. www.cnn.com/2025/06/23/h...
Reposted by susan persky
We're living through the Who Cares Era, where completely disposable things are shoddily produced for people to mostly ignore, while the government stomps its uncaring boot on our necks. But there's an easy way to fight back: Care.
I wrote about it: dansinker.com/posts/2025-0...
I wrote about it: dansinker.com/posts/2025-0...
May 23, 2025 at 11:27 PM
We're living through the Who Cares Era, where completely disposable things are shoddily produced for people to mostly ignore, while the government stomps its uncaring boot on our necks. But there's an easy way to fight back: Care.
I wrote about it: dansinker.com/posts/2025-0...
I wrote about it: dansinker.com/posts/2025-0...
Reposted by susan persky
Senators coming for my job now.
HASSAN: What is habeas corpus?
NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country
HASSAN: That's incorrect
NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country
HASSAN: That's incorrect
May 20, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Senators coming for my job now.
For as long as I can remember we have lamented the lack of evidence-based guidelines for using XR with kids as they develop.
Here’s a start: AMXRA guidelines report on XR and children. Proud to be part of this stellar author team.
🔗 www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10....
Here’s a start: AMXRA guidelines report on XR and children. Proud to be part of this stellar author team.
🔗 www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10....
AMXRA Guidelines on Extended Reality and Children: Considerations and Recommendations for Application Development and Use | Journal of Medical Extended Reality
The extended reality (XR) revolution has ushered in the adoption of head-mounted displays (HMDs), including among children. While well-studied clinical uses of XR hold promise for positive outcomes in...
www.liebertpub.com
April 26, 2025 at 5:56 PM
For as long as I can remember we have lamented the lack of evidence-based guidelines for using XR with kids as they develop.
Here’s a start: AMXRA guidelines report on XR and children. Proud to be part of this stellar author team.
🔗 www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10....
Here’s a start: AMXRA guidelines report on XR and children. Proud to be part of this stellar author team.
🔗 www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by susan persky
This was me. Terminated from #NIMHBSC with no explanation. Complete gov interference in the #NIH intramural research program oversight and review - telling NIH researchers what science they can do and who can do it. Not a positive outlook for scientific discovery, innovation, or health. 👇👇
Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards.
Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards
Scientists, with expertise in fields that include mental health, cancer and infectious disease, typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 17, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by susan persky
I spent the past week taking to two dozen federal employees who have (so far) survived Trump's layoffs. The problem isn't just low morale, they told me. It’s the manufactured chaos.
Read my story in @theatlantic.bsky.social for free:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Read my story in @theatlantic.bsky.social for free:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Federal Workers Are Facing a New Reality
The problem for government employees isn’t just low morale. It’s the manufactured chaos.
www.theatlantic.com
April 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM
I spent the past week taking to two dozen federal employees who have (so far) survived Trump's layoffs. The problem isn't just low morale, they told me. It’s the manufactured chaos.
Read my story in @theatlantic.bsky.social for free:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Read my story in @theatlantic.bsky.social for free:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by susan persky
NIH isn’t some bloated bureaucracy—it’s the reason you survived COVID. It’s why cancer treatments keep improving. It's why gene therapy exists.
Now? We’re defunding it. That’s not just foolish. It’s strategic surrender. A thread 🧵
medium.com/@KellenSquir...
Now? We’re defunding it. That’s not just foolish. It’s strategic surrender. A thread 🧵
medium.com/@KellenSquir...
Defunding the NIH: A Betrayal of Taxpayers and America’s Biomedical Future
American taxpayers have spent decades and over $1 trillion building the world’s foremost biomedical research enterprise. The National…
medium.com
April 8, 2025 at 2:36 PM
NIH isn’t some bloated bureaucracy—it’s the reason you survived COVID. It’s why cancer treatments keep improving. It's why gene therapy exists.
Now? We’re defunding it. That’s not just foolish. It’s strategic surrender. A thread 🧵
medium.com/@KellenSquir...
Now? We’re defunding it. That’s not just foolish. It’s strategic surrender. A thread 🧵
medium.com/@KellenSquir...
Reposted by susan persky
This is alarming.
For the protection of privacy, federal agencies sharing our personal data violates policy and law. Failure to enforce these protections enables mass surveillance. While some may be okay with private sector data collection, few feel the same about government overreach.
For the protection of privacy, federal agencies sharing our personal data violates policy and law. Failure to enforce these protections enables mass surveillance. While some may be okay with private sector data collection, few feel the same about government overreach.
The US government holds a tremendous amount of data about US citizens. Now,
The Trump administration is trying to access that data and link it together.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...
The Trump administration is trying to access that data and link it together.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...
How Musk and Trump Are Working to Consolidate Government Data About You
Databases that Elon Musk’s team is trying to access include more than 300 personal details about members of the U.S. public.
www.nytimes.com
April 9, 2025 at 11:18 PM
This is alarming.
For the protection of privacy, federal agencies sharing our personal data violates policy and law. Failure to enforce these protections enables mass surveillance. While some may be okay with private sector data collection, few feel the same about government overreach.
For the protection of privacy, federal agencies sharing our personal data violates policy and law. Failure to enforce these protections enables mass surveillance. While some may be okay with private sector data collection, few feel the same about government overreach.
Reposted by susan persky
Try to imagine a situation where you are not allowed to do your job (e.g. working with applicants to formulate successful proposals), you and and your long-time colleagues are fearful of losing their job, ...
1/n
1/n
Thanks for sharing this. As dire as things are, it’s vital we have some insight on what it’s like for the people working inside the agency.
March 28, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Try to imagine a situation where you are not allowed to do your job (e.g. working with applicants to formulate successful proposals), you and and your long-time colleagues are fearful of losing their job, ...
1/n
1/n
Reposted by susan persky
New report shows that NIH grants fueled $95 billion in economic activity and 407,782 jobs in 2024.
That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved.
Show me a better investment than that.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved.
Show me a better investment than that.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion In FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report
National Institutes of Health grants generated almost $95 billion in economic activity nationwide in FY 2024 according to a new report by United for Medical Research.
www.forbes.com
March 12, 2025 at 8:47 PM
New report shows that NIH grants fueled $95 billion in economic activity and 407,782 jobs in 2024.
That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved.
Show me a better investment than that.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved.
Show me a better investment than that.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
Reposted by susan persky
At the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda this morning. Packed with people protesting the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to the federal science workforce and research grants. “Save our science, save NIH,” they chant.
March 8, 2025 at 5:07 PM
At the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda this morning. Packed with people protesting the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to the federal science workforce and research grants. “Save our science, save NIH,” they chant.
Reposted by susan persky
I talked to NIH officials, current and former, about what's been happening inside the agency since the Trump administration shut down their grantmaking pipeline in January. Their stories showed just how willing our new leaders are to break the law: www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Inside the Collapse at NIH
Administration officials pressured NIH to avoid clear advice from the agency’s own lawyers to restart grant funding now.
www.theatlantic.com
February 27, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I talked to NIH officials, current and former, about what's been happening inside the agency since the Trump administration shut down their grantmaking pipeline in January. Their stories showed just how willing our new leaders are to break the law: www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Reposted by susan persky
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Violets are blue
February 15, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Violets are blue
Reposted by susan persky
Reposted by susan persky
An excellent (that is to say, accurate) post about some of the shit that is happening.
I’m leaving the fucking curse words in.
Worth a read and a good reminder at the end.
I’m leaving the fucking curse words in.
Worth a read and a good reminder at the end.
A long post about what’s happening to the science funding agencies in the US and why. As mentioned, this one just kept getting longer even as I kept stripping curse words from it.
www.science.org/content/blog...
www.science.org/content/blog...
What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
www.science.org
February 5, 2025 at 9:15 AM
An excellent (that is to say, accurate) post about some of the shit that is happening.
I’m leaving the fucking curse words in.
Worth a read and a good reminder at the end.
I’m leaving the fucking curse words in.
Worth a read and a good reminder at the end.
Reposted by susan persky
This is a hostile takeover of the federal government by a private citizen of unlimited means with no restrictions and no transparency. Welcome to the Deep State www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...
Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say
Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
www.reuters.com
January 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
This is a hostile takeover of the federal government by a private citizen of unlimited means with no restrictions and no transparency. Welcome to the Deep State www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...
Reposted by susan persky
Heard from inside the National Cancer Institute, part of NIH — travel through April is canceled. Purchasing with government card is frozen. All public comms are off limits. Can’t even submit abstracts to future meetings. Can’t submit *manuscripts* for publication. All hiring activity frozen. Fuck.
January 25, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Heard from inside the National Cancer Institute, part of NIH — travel through April is canceled. Purchasing with government card is frozen. All public comms are off limits. Can’t even submit abstracts to future meetings. Can’t submit *manuscripts* for publication. All hiring activity frozen. Fuck.
Reposted by susan persky
More from inside NIH:
Per a source with knowledge, for all internal research (of which there is like $10 billion worth or so), ALL purchasing shut down as of yesterday.
That means gloves, reagents, anything involved with lab work, which means a lot of that work will stop.
Per a source with knowledge, for all internal research (of which there is like $10 billion worth or so), ALL purchasing shut down as of yesterday.
That means gloves, reagents, anything involved with lab work, which means a lot of that work will stop.
January 24, 2025 at 4:24 PM
More from inside NIH:
Per a source with knowledge, for all internal research (of which there is like $10 billion worth or so), ALL purchasing shut down as of yesterday.
That means gloves, reagents, anything involved with lab work, which means a lot of that work will stop.
Per a source with knowledge, for all internal research (of which there is like $10 billion worth or so), ALL purchasing shut down as of yesterday.
That means gloves, reagents, anything involved with lab work, which means a lot of that work will stop.
Reposted by susan persky
Bluetorial-A dream and a bit of a nightmare
Serving as Editor-in-Chief at Science was fascinating. I greatly enjoyed working with talented and committed editorial, news, graphics, and production staff. But the inside look into scientific publishing and AAAS was also deeply disillusioning.
Serving as Editor-in-Chief at Science was fascinating. I greatly enjoyed working with talented and committed editorial, news, graphics, and production staff. But the inside look into scientific publishing and AAAS was also deeply disillusioning.
a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
media.tenor.com
January 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Bluetorial-A dream and a bit of a nightmare
Serving as Editor-in-Chief at Science was fascinating. I greatly enjoyed working with talented and committed editorial, news, graphics, and production staff. But the inside look into scientific publishing and AAAS was also deeply disillusioning.
Serving as Editor-in-Chief at Science was fascinating. I greatly enjoyed working with talented and committed editorial, news, graphics, and production staff. But the inside look into scientific publishing and AAAS was also deeply disillusioning.
Does VR relieve pain?
We focus way too much on the headset - to our detriment
In our new paper we find even systematic reviews and meta-analyses in XR pain treatment too often ignore / underreport on content.
www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...
We focus way too much on the headset - to our detriment
In our new paper we find even systematic reviews and meta-analyses in XR pain treatment too often ignore / underreport on content.
www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...
January 14, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Does VR relieve pain?
We focus way too much on the headset - to our detriment
In our new paper we find even systematic reviews and meta-analyses in XR pain treatment too often ignore / underreport on content.
www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...
We focus way too much on the headset - to our detriment
In our new paper we find even systematic reviews and meta-analyses in XR pain treatment too often ignore / underreport on content.
www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...