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Reposted by Patrick Forcelli

John Hawkinson @johnhawkinson.bsky.social · 8d

OMG this William G. Young opinion that just dropped (12:30pm) in AAUP v. Rubio.
It begins with a postcard sent to Chambers and Young's reply

card: "Trump has pardons and tanks, what do you have?"

WGY: "We the People of the United States — you and me — have our magnificent Constitution"

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Pam Davis-Kean, PhD @umpamdk.bsky.social · 9d

Thank you all the program officers at NIH that persisted through the 2025 fiscal year and were able to fund 99% of the total FY2024 budget. I know this has take a toll on everyone at NIH. Thank you for supporting important health and behavior science and helping to keep the U.S. a leader in science.

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 9d

The fiscal year ends tomorrow.

Here are results from NIH Reporter downloaded an hour ago.

The total amount of funding committed for FY2025 at this point is 99.0% of that for FY2024. The same difference could be due to a variety of technical factors.

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$A graph showing the fraction of annual grant funding committed for NIH for fiscal years 2015 to 2025. The fiscal year 2025 lagged behind but then caught up over the last two months.$

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Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Jul 8

My take away was that this was *not* saying "no new funding of animal only research" but rather that NIH will not release new NOFOs that are animal-only and that NOFOs need to consider non-animal methods...I think (hope) the drug discovery trends news piece is over-extrapolating.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jun 4

I tried something similar using ChatGPT 4.o.

"I'm trying to put together a portfolio of three to five papers to highlight my breadth and depth as a research scientist. (I'm Carl Bergstrom.)

Could you help me choose papers?"

Here's the result.

I'm trying to put together a portfolio of three to five papers to highlight my breadth and depth as a research scientist. (I'm Carl Bergstrom.)

Could you help me choose papers?
ChatGPT said:

Absolutely, Carl. Given your broad body of work across evolutionary biology, information theory, network science, metascience, and science communication, a strong portfolio should showcase both disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary reach. A good starting structure might be:

Foundational work in evolutionary biology or theoretical ecology

Papers at the intersection of information theory and biology

Work in network theory or epidemiological modeling

Metascience or science reform scholarship

Public-facing or high-impact commentary on misinformation or science communication

Here’s a possible set of five papers that reflect this breadth and depth:

IMPORTANT PAPER BUT DATE IS OFF BY A DECADE

1. "The transmission sense of information" (2002, Biology and Philosophy)

Why: A conceptual cornerstone in your work on biological information.

Highlights: Philosophical rigor, interdisciplinary relevance, and enduring influence on how scientists think about information in biological systems.

I'VE NEVER WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT OR WITH THESE AUTHORS

2. "Evolutionary dynamics of viral marketing" (2008, PNAS, with K. Lerman and R. Hogg)

Why: Demonstrates your application of mathematical models to real-world social phenomena.

Highlights: Network theory, diffusion dynamics, interdisciplinary breadth (social + biological analogies).

I NEVER WROTE THIS OR ANYTHING LIKE IT
3. "The fundamental limitations of contact tracing for COVID-19" (2020, eLife)

Why: A timely, policy-relevant paper that exemplifies your scientific leadership during the pandemic.

Highlights: Mathematical epidemiology, real-world application, and high visibility.

I NEVER WROTE ABOUT THIS AND NEVER PUBLISHED IN THIS JOURNAL

4. "Systematic inequality and hierarchy in faculty hiring networks" (2015, Science Advances)

Why: Important contribution to the empirical study of academic hierarchies.

Highlights: Data-driven metascience, strong methodology, and influence on debates about academic equity.

5. "Misinformation in and about science" (2021, PNAS)

Why: Captures your role in science communication and misinformation research.

Highlights: Interdisciplinary scope, impact on public discourse, and relevance in the post-truth era.

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Bryan Roth @zenbrainest.bsky.social · May 27

It has been more than 15 years since the RDoC recommendations were published. The RDoC recommendations have had no impact on psychiatric drug discovery to date.
zendudest.substack.com/p/rip-rdoc?r...

R.I.P. RDoC?

Part 1: Is it feasible to develop new psychiatric medications using RDoC guidances?

zendudest.substack.com

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · May 22

Video from the hearing yesterday

www.youtube.com/live/_Szx0jJ...

Senate Democrats Host Forum on HHS: Day 2

YouTube video by Senator Peter Welch

www.youtube.com

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Karen S Wilcox, PhD (she/her) @karenswilcoxphd.bsky.social · May 23

Excited to have a new preprint describing the seizure circuit in a CNS infection model of temporal lobe epilepsy- great work from Alexandra Petrucci (not on bluesky.) #epilepsy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Seizure Circuit Activity in the Theilers Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus Model of Infection-induced Epilepsy Using Transient Recombination in Active Populations.

Epilepsy affects one in twenty-six individuals. A major cause of epilepsy worldwide is viral encephalitis. Central nervous system infections can provoke seizures in the short term and increase the ris...

www.biorxiv.org

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Torie Robinson @torierobinson.bsky.social · May 23

Hear why neuroscientists 🧠🧑‍🔬 should be valued, globally 🗺️! Prof Helen Scharfman 🤩 explains to us her #epilepsy research using mossy cells and the potential understanding them further may bring to people with anepilepsy and #anxiety! 👇🏻

▶️ YouTube youtu.be/KHBqEYT1ThY
🎙️ Podcast shorturl.at/e7XWY

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Georgetown Law @georgetownlaw.bsky.social · May 9

At its 29th World Law Congress in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on May 6, the World Jurist Association (WJA) presented both #GeorgetownLaw and Dean William M. Treanor with awards recognizing their efforts to defend and advance the rule of law.

Georgetown Law and Dean William M. Treanor Honored for ‘Upholding and Strengthening the Rule of Law’

bit.ly

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Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Apr 29

Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology are looking for new colleagues. See the ad below.

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Niko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · Apr 14

BREAKING: On Friday, the federal government issued new demands of Harvard University. The university's lawyers just responded: back off.

April 14, 2025
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
Josh Gruenbaum
Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service
General Services Administration
Sean R. Keveney
Acting General Counsel
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Thomas E. Wheeler
Acting General Counsel
U.S. Department of Education
Dear Messrs. Gruenbaum, Keveney, and Wheeler:
We represent Harvard University. We are writing in response to your letter dated April 11,
2025, addressed to Dr. Alan Garber, Harvard’s President, and Penny Pritzker, Senior Fellow of the
Harvard Corporation.
Harvard is committed to fighting antisemitism and other forms of bigotry in its community.
Antisemitism and discrimination of any kind not only are abhorrent and antithetical to Harvard’s
values but also threaten its academic mission.
To that end, Harvard has made, and will continue to make, lasting and robust structural,
policy, and programmatic changes to ensure that the university is a welcoming and supportive
learning environment for all students and continues to abide in all respects with federal law across
its academic programs and operations, while fostering open inquiry in a pluralistic community free
from intimidation and open to challenging orthodoxies, whatever their source.
Over the past 15 months, Harvard has undertaken substantial policy and programmatic
measures. It has made changes to its campus use policies; adopted new accountability procedures;
imposed meaningful discipline for those who violate university policies; enhanced programs
designed to address bias and promote ideological diversity and civil discourse; hired staff to
support these programs and support students; changed partnerships; dedicated resources to combat
hate and bias; and enhanced safety and security measures. As a result, Harvard is in a very different
place today from where it was a year ago. These efforts, and additional measures the university
will be taking against antisemitism, not only are the right thing to do but also are critical to
strength…

recognized by the Supreme Court. The government’s terms also circumvent Harvard’s statutory
rights by requiring unsupported and disruptive remedies for alleged harms that the government has
not proven through mandatory processes established by Congress and required by law. No less
objectionable is the condition, first made explicit in the letter of March 31, 2025, that Harvard
accede to these terms or risk the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding critical to vital research
and innovation that has saved and improved lives and allowed Harvard to play a central role in
making our country’s scientific, medical, and other research communities the standard-bearers for
the world. These demands extend not only to Harvard but to separately incorporated and
independently operated medical and research hospitals engaging in life-saving work on behalf of
their patients. The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional
rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the
federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement
in principle.
Harvard remains open to dialogue about what the university has done, and is planning to
do, to improve the experience of every member of its community. But Harvard is not prepared to
agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.
William A. Burck Robert K. Hur
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 1300 I Street NW Suite 900 Suite 900
Washington, DC 20005 King & Spalding LLP
1700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20006

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Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Apr 14

Not so - apps are being rejected without review if the justification is missing, rather than missing info being requested at JIT, which was the case in the past.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Apr 8

The courts *should* put an immediate and unequivocal halt to all use of the CECOT prison in El Salvador, with or without due process.

They may not do that.

But the *people* of the US still can. Don't lose of sight of this atrocity amidst the other outrages. Make this a key focus of resistance.

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American Epilepsy Society @amepilepsysoc.bsky.social · Apr 3

Abstract submission for #AES2025 is OPEN! AES is the optimal venue to share your #epilepsy research with a global audience. Learn more and apply by 6/9: buff.ly/Zg7WM2T #brainscience #neurology #epilepsyresearch

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Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Apr 3

John Green did an amazing job with Everything is Tuberculosis. He manages to tell "people stories", inform on the history of medicine, and make a clear argument for public health policy in just over 200 pages. Well worth the read.

John Green @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social · Apr 2

Everything Is Tuberculosis will have a SECOND WEEK as a #1 New York Times bestseller. Incredible. (Also, the audiobook is a NYT Bestseller!)

I am so, so grateful to everyone who has read and shared that little book.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Apr 2

cheese is woke now

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Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Mar 31

Safwan Hyder (a former MD/PhD student) and Willian Lazarini Lopes (a current postdoc) demonstrate a striking bi-directional modulation of seizures when they silenced and activated dorsal striatum. This effect was present in models of focal and generalized seizures.

Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · Mar 31

New paper from the lab: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Optogenetic stimulation of the dorsal striatum bidirectionally controls seizures | PNAS

Despite a century of development of antiseizure medications, up to a third of people with epilepsy do not achieve seizure freedom with drug therapy...

www.pnas.org

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Mar 27

Well done Columbia leadership and Paul Weiss...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Mar 26

Trump: "You see what we're doing with the colleges and they're all bending and saying, 'Sir, thank you very much, we appreciate it.' Nobody can believe it, including law firms that have been so horrible. Law firms that nobody would believe and they're saying, 'Where do I sign? Where do I sign?'"

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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · Mar 27

Not getting much attention, but the Senate GOP is about to start voting - to make sure banks can charge higher overdraft fees. Seriously.

Good time to let your Senators know what you think of that.