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Joshua Weitz

@joshuasweitz.bsky.social

9.5K followers 2.8K following 1.8K posts

Professor of Biology & Institute for Health Computing, U of Maryland; explores how viruses impact human and environmental health; 'Asymptomatic' (JHU Press, 10/2024) & 'Quantitative Biosciences' (Princeton U Press, 3/2024) & 'Science Matters' substack. .. more

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Joshua S. Weitz is an American biologist. He is both a professor of biology and the Clark Leadership Chair in Data Analytics at the University of Maryland. Previously, he was a professor at Georgia Tech, where he was the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. .. more

Biology 28%

Environmental science 26%

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 16d

New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget.

Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide.

Report: osf.io/e8rnc

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Economic loss from the White House's NSF FY 2026 Proposed Budget

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 6h

Word is rippling out. The US is intentionally dismantling expertise that took decades to build, firing CDC staff (and beyond) late on a Friday amidst a government shutdown.

Knowing less will make us sick.

Investing less will cost us more.

Nihilism is no way to lead.

bsky.app/profile/sher...

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 7h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 7h

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 7h

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 7h

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 10h

Trump admin plans to RIF 1100-1200 HHS employees according to court filing

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 10h

Visitors to DC next week are likely to find a change.

www.si.edu

Smithsonian closed starting Sunday October 12th...

Zoo home page with one panda crying...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 11h

bsky.app/profile/cdel...

Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 12h

I can confirm EPA

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 12h

I can confirm EPA

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 14h

Here's my take on Vought's mass layoffs announcement talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/new-m...

New Mass Layoffs?

You’ve probably seen that Russ Vought went on Twitter today and said...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 15h

Via @statnews.com, the administration has apparently begun to fire HHS employees during a shutdown even as health care premiums are slated to double; it seems the administration cares very little about our present or future health.

www.statnews.com/2025/10/10/h...

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 16h

Russell Vought has announced that "mass firings [RIFs] have begun."

Lawless. The RIFs in the spring were illegal, as Judge Illston outlined. Yes, the conservative SCOTUS supermajority lawlessly signed off. But the Calvinball Court is not doing law.

Congress can stop this. A thread: 1/

'RIFs have begun.' Vought announces start of mass firings during government shutdown

The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

www.pbs.org

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 16h

As Vought tweets out 'The RIFs have begun', it will be crucial to speak up in support of the mission-driven folks all across this country who are being targeted precisely because they dedicated their professional careers to serving the public.

apnews.com/article/gove...

Firings of federal workers begin as White House seeks to pressure Democrats in government shutdown

The White House budget office says that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

apnews.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18h

I don't believe we are bro-s, so it seems like this conversation is not going to shed much light. Thank you for reading Science Matters and take care.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18h

Both can be true.

As the administration expands its target list and evidence mounts that 'agreement' means nothing, it becomes increasingly apparent there is little value to agreeing to 'deals'.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18h

Sometimes it takes a spark & a template.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18h

According to this account, science was asking for it, apparently. It had an attitude.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 19h

A short letter that says much about MIT & the Trump administration, and how to issue an institutional response without committee-speak.

Bravo.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 19h

But wait, there's more...

"And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 19h

"We freely choose these values because they’re right, and we live by them because they support our mission – work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law."

The letter has hit after hit...

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Reposted by Jennifer Bussell, Kevin J. Anchukaitis

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 19h

MIT says no to the Trump admin higher-ed compact clearly and emphatically. Other universities would be well served to read, remix, and respond similarly.

"In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences."

orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 19h

I completed a PhD in Physics at MIT in '03. Even when the intensity seemed to be off-scale, there was one piece that I never doubted: the place had integrity, purpose, and passion.

It's clear the culture and drive of MIT remains.

MIT says no to the compact.

orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT’s record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America’s research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.

Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 22h

Indeed it is.

Reuters @reuters.com · 23h

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Marc Lynch, Jan W. Mueller , and 3 more Cas Mudde, Marc Lynch, Jan W. Mueller, Norbert Schwarz, Cary P. Gross, Joshua S. Weitz

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 23h

Thank you @nytopinion.nytimes.com for publishing this rot. Marc Rowan has run hundreds of companies into the dust to extract profits from their failure and bankruptcies. Now he wants to do the same to American higher education. Do not believe a word this man says. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Badly Needed

www.nytimes.com

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Reuters @reuters.com · 23h

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

This approach has been bubbling for months, co-opting the language of science without its methods so as to do whatever it takes to construct the evidence (aka 'make the proof') in the service of preferred narratives.

This way is the path of junk, loss, waste, and danger.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Back on Feb 15...

"In the end, the search for supposed ‘root causes’ may precipitate a vast, costly, and misguided effort that undermines evidence-based interventions... It is time to change paths – now – and restore actual expertise and experts in HHS."

joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/grant-appl...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Joshua S. Weitz

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 1d

Not All Wars Are What They Seem: The False Promise of "The War on Science" | Great #Substack piece by @joshuasweitz.bsky.social contrasts this deceptively similarly-sounding diatribe with my own new book #ScienceUnderSiege w/ @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social: joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/not-all-wa...

Not All Wars Are What They Seem: The False Promise of "The War on Science"

Reviewing the misguided premise connecting a volume of essays edited by Lawrence Krauss that views the singular threat to science as stemming from forces on the left.

joshuasweitz.substack.com

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