Katie Insel
@katieinsel.bsky.social
1.5K followers 390 following 11 posts
Assistant Professor @ Northwestern Director of CATS Lab (nucatslab.com)
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Katie Insel
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
Reposted by Katie Insel
meganspurney.bsky.social
Delayed thank you to @fluxsociety.bsky.social for a wonderful meeting in Dublin earlier this month! Thank you to everyone who came to my poster on reward-motivated working memory across children, adolescents, and adults
Reposted by Katie Insel
rosalafersousa.bsky.social
🇺🇸 These dedicated public servants risked their careers to deliver an urgent message. 🚨

While the 1st amendment grants them the right to speak on matters of public concern, their protection is not guaranteed under an administration hostile to free speech.

Please take the time to listen and boost 🔥
safa-science.bsky.social
Federal workers are speaking out on how the Trump regime is harming Americans:

"We stand here today at a moment of the greatest assault of our lifetimes on our freedoms. The US Constitution is being shredded... We are here to call on Congress to stand up and stop it."

youtu.be/uw1KwIBgrCw?...
Mark Histed, NIH Scientist *speaking in personal capacity
YouTube video by Civil Servants Coalition
youtu.be
Reposted by Katie Insel
jenna-m-norton.bsky.social
“American science, the gold-standard and world-leading science and innovation enterprise, is being destroyed….Congress has a rare moment of leverage to check Trump’s executive overreach and it must stand up and do so.”

- @markhisted.org, NIH neuroscientist

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This US government shutdown is different: what it means for science
President Trump’s budget office lays out guidelines for mass lay-offs across the federal government.
www.nature.com
Reposted by Katie Insel
neuromatch.bsky.social
Exciting news! 🎉 Our Computational Neuroscience course has been awarded NIH BRAIN Initiative funding! Students will get hands-on experience w real BRAIN Initiative datasets, helping them build computational skills that are essential for the future of neuroscience.

www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Reposted by Katie Insel
thetransmitter.bsky.social
Help @thetransmitter.bsky.social and @neuromatch.bsky.social understand what early-career neuroscientists need. Take just a few minutes to fill out the survey: www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...

#neuroskyence
Reposted by Katie Insel
jonathancohn.bsky.social
8 Democrats just joined Republicans in voting to enable 14-year-olds in DC to be tried as adults:

Cuellar
Davis (NC)
Gillen
Golden
Lee (NV)
Min
Perez
Vindman

Harmful, heinous, counterproductive, and deeply racist

clerk.house.gov/evs/2025/rol...
Reposted by Katie Insel
mwkraus.bsky.social
I wrote a little note on awards for diversity and science:
mwkraus.medium.com/a-note-on-aw...
Reposted by Katie Insel
davidimiller.bsky.social
So... where to go from here???

CONGRESS 👏 HAS 👏 POWER

Laws from Congress can help override this SCOTUS mess.

☎️ So tell your Senator to support Sen Baldwin's amendment to restore terminated NSF grants (or Durbin's for NIH)

🐘 *Especially* if you have a Repub Senator.

More context here:
Senate panel raises hopes that NSF will restore killed grants
Republicans promise to work with Democrats to salvage defeated amendment
www.science.org
Reposted by Katie Insel
davidimiller.bsky.social
🧪 And House appropriators say: no cuts to NIH budget!

House subcommittee version just came out (link below). Holds NIH flat at $48 billion.

To be clear: this is far from over. But a good sign that science still matters across both sides of aisle.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!
Reposted by Katie Insel
magnoliabouton.bsky.social
Listed are some of the many NIH research training programs that were terminated! Together, these programs supported thousands of trainees, whose careers are now in limbo. Such a great loss for discovery and innovation. We must protect our next generation of scientists!
#HandsOffNIH #ProtectScience
27unihted.bsky.social
We LOVE our trainees ! From @nihvigils.bsky.social today ❤️❤️
Reposted by Katie Insel
ianlmorgan.bsky.social
Great breakdown of the SCOTUS shadow docket ruling on NIH grants terminations by @strictscrutiny.bsky.social. Even though SCOTUS ruled that the grant recipients would likely succeed, they allowed the NIH to continue terminating the grants for now. My brain hurts from this one.
The Shadow Docket Just Won’t Quit
open.spotify.com
katieinsel.bsky.social
This SCOTUS decision is not just about what words we can and cannot say in our grants. This ruling will destroy the careers of many scientists, and it will hit trainees and early career researchers the hardest. The future of scientific training and research innovation is at stake.
jeremymberg.bsky.social
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya and am sending him a hard copy by registered mail.

1/14
August 22, 2025

Dear Director Bhattacharya:

I write to you regarding your plans after the Supreme Court ruling yesterday. As you know, the Supreme Court did allow a stay on the required grant reinstatements based on a controversial jurisdictional issue but also found that the grant termination processes used were likely illegal.

I know you are deeply concerned about public trust in NIH. I hope that you understand that proceeding to fail to reinstate or to re-terminate grants that had been found to have been illegally terminated will not increase the public trust in NIH. This would also be substantially damaging to science.
Reposted by Katie Insel
mathienz.bsky.social
On today’s SCOTUS decision — “This is Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist,” Justice Jackson wrote. “Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this administration always wins.” — Justice Jackson’s dissent.
#NIH #StandUpForScience
Reposted by Katie Insel
scott-delaney.bsky.social
Full order is here: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

SCOTUS stays (i.e., pauses) Judge Young's order insofar as it vacated (and thus reinstated) NIH grant terminations.

SCOTUS left in place the rest of Judge Young's order, which means NIH can't terminate more grants in the same way.
Reposted by Katie Insel
davidimiller.bsky.social
👍 An appeals court ruled today to **uphold** an order blocking grant terminations for U of California researchers

So good news for UC folks. Could also mean the case will soon end up at the Supreme Court (along with one that’s pending there now for NIH terminations).
storage.courtlistener.com
Reposted by Katie Insel
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Here is the Priorities document (long thread)

1/n
Dear Colleagues:
I am sending this memo to clarify our priorities and ensure efforts to fulfill our mission are aligned across the agency. I want to start by expressing my gratitude for your advice and input thus far, and I look forward to our continued collaboration. I have had the opportunity now to visit labs and meet with teams across the agency, and I am constantly impressed. It is a privilege to work with such a dedicated and talented staff.
I recognize that several new initiatives and policies have been implemented in a short period of time, and there has been some confusion due to inaccurate media reports and rumors. Therefore, I have outlined select agency priorities at the end of this note to ensure you have a clearer picture of our rationale and objectives. I do not mean this memo to be an exhaustive list of all agency priorities, but rather a select list of topics that require our particular attention and focus while continuing the other important work you are all doing. This memo will help to ensure NIH supports only high-quality projects selected based on the merit of the science and that are aligned with our mission to generate data that can improve the health of all of the American people. I ask each of you to use this guidance when reviewing your intramural and extramural research portfolios and making decisions about your future programs.
In recent weeks, it has come to my attention that some at NIH and in the scientific community believe that there are “banned words” or some level of censorship of science ongoing or planned. This is simply untrue. I have advocated for academic freedom throughout my career, with a particular public focus in the last five years. My position has not changed; scientists must be allowed to pursue their ideas free of censorship or control by others. They must be able to express their scientific opinions and challenge scientific dogma.
Reposted by Katie Insel
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Today, Bhattacharya sent a document entitled

"NIH Priorities and Internal Review of Intramural and Extramural Programs"

to Institute and Center Directors and other leaders.

I am trying to get a clean copy.

These "Priorities" will likely be "Agency Priorities" for grant funding and termination.
a cartoon character from south park is holding a puppet that says pay attention
ALT: a cartoon character from south park is holding a puppet that says pay attention
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Katie Insel