Ramya Kumar, PhD
@ramyakumar.bsky.social
She, her, hers. Asst Prof, Chemical & Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines. PhD from U of Michigan, Postdoc at U of Minnesota. Runner, reader, researcher. Learn more about my group's work in polymers and biointerfaces at kumarbiomaterials.org
Pinned
My research group develops polymers for advancing cellular and gene therapeutics. We apply biointerfacial characterization, functional polymer synthesis, and statistical modeling. On Bluesky, I look forward to following everyone's scientific adventures and sharing my own!
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
Alert for scientists: NIH institute director vacancies are posted! Please apply so we get actual scientists in these positions instead of just political appointees!!!!
More new NIH institute and center director positions posted
with a closing date of 11/26/25.
hr.nih.gov/careers/open...
These include the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), ...
1/3
with a closing date of 11/26/25.
hr.nih.gov/careers/open...
These include the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), ...
1/3
hr.nih.gov
November 13, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Alert for scientists: NIH institute director vacancies are posted! Please apply so we get actual scientists in these positions instead of just political appointees!!!!
Sadly, we continue to reward "ambitious, arrogant, misogynistic, and opportunistic" people like Watson, who "managed to get himself into the right place at the right time." We should reward careful, methodical researchers and not just narcissists in a hurry who would rather be wrong than be last.
Bluetorial-Jim Watson
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
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
November 8, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Sadly, we continue to reward "ambitious, arrogant, misogynistic, and opportunistic" people like Watson, who "managed to get himself into the right place at the right time." We should reward careful, methodical researchers and not just narcissists in a hurry who would rather be wrong than be last.
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
I have to keep this deliberately vague, but this is a total disaster for academic research.
And imposing it so suddenly is just cruel. I’ve got friends scrambling to get back to the US before midnight tonight. Do you know how hard that is to do on 36 hours of notice?
And imposing it so suddenly is just cruel. I’ve got friends scrambling to get back to the US before midnight tonight. Do you know how hard that is to do on 36 hours of notice?
Trump to impose $100,000 fee per year for H-1B visas, in blow to tech
The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, prompting some big tech companies to warn visa holders to stay in the U.S. or quickly return.
www.reuters.com
September 20, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I have to keep this deliberately vague, but this is a total disaster for academic research.
And imposing it so suddenly is just cruel. I’ve got friends scrambling to get back to the US before midnight tonight. Do you know how hard that is to do on 36 hours of notice?
And imposing it so suddenly is just cruel. I’ve got friends scrambling to get back to the US before midnight tonight. Do you know how hard that is to do on 36 hours of notice?
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
September 17, 2025 at 11:22 PM
A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
I admit that when i started working on this project with @kvasquez.bsky.social, i didn’t think i knew any chemists with disabilities 🧵1/ cen.acs.org/people/profi... @cenmag.bsky.social
Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science
C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways
cen.acs.org
September 16, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I admit that when i started working on this project with @kvasquez.bsky.social, i didn’t think i knew any chemists with disabilities 🧵1/ cen.acs.org/people/profi... @cenmag.bsky.social
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
We need laser like clarity right now: political violence is abhorrent and so is the work of Turning Point USA. 11/
September 13, 2025 at 3:50 PM
We need laser like clarity right now: political violence is abhorrent and so is the work of Turning Point USA. 11/
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
The murder of Charlie Kirk was criminal, wrong, and should be condemned.
And Charlie Kirk was a horrible, hateful man who spent his life radicalizing young people to embrace their worst demons by targeting women, people of color, immigrants, and the marginalized.
I refuse to sanitize him.
And Charlie Kirk was a horrible, hateful man who spent his life radicalizing young people to embrace their worst demons by targeting women, people of color, immigrants, and the marginalized.
I refuse to sanitize him.
September 11, 2025 at 5:03 AM
The murder of Charlie Kirk was criminal, wrong, and should be condemned.
And Charlie Kirk was a horrible, hateful man who spent his life radicalizing young people to embrace their worst demons by targeting women, people of color, immigrants, and the marginalized.
I refuse to sanitize him.
And Charlie Kirk was a horrible, hateful man who spent his life radicalizing young people to embrace their worst demons by targeting women, people of color, immigrants, and the marginalized.
I refuse to sanitize him.
I wonder who is next after Latinos- Chinese, Indians, Koreans or Africans? Nobody is safe in a white supremacist nation.
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Supreme Court Just Gave the OK to Racial Profiling
The court’s ruling allowing ICE to resume its indiscriminate roundups of LA’s Latino residents can only be described as one thing.
www.thenation.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:35 AM
I wonder who is next after Latinos- Chinese, Indians, Koreans or Africans? Nobody is safe in a white supremacist nation.
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
I saw the video. Dystopian doesn't begin to describe it. Laws are not laws unless Congress makes them. A President cannot make laws. A President cannot overrule scientific consensus. This student is incapable of critical thinking and does not belong in college. "Our president's laws." Ugh.
Faculty in red states are being punished for failing to signal in their course descriptions that their classes will include content on "gender ideology."
Remind me again which party was appalled by idea of "trigger warnings"?
www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
Remind me again which party was appalled by idea of "trigger warnings"?
www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
A&M Dean removed following student complaints over curriculum
The Department of Justice has also acknowledged the situation and said it would be investigating.
www.kbtx.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I saw the video. Dystopian doesn't begin to describe it. Laws are not laws unless Congress makes them. A President cannot make laws. A President cannot overrule scientific consensus. This student is incapable of critical thinking and does not belong in college. "Our president's laws." Ugh.
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
We all deserve better than RFK Jr.
Great piece from @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Great piece from @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
RFK Jr., American Psycho
He needs to go. Now.
www.thenation.com
September 5, 2025 at 2:52 AM
We all deserve better than RFK Jr.
Great piece from @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Great piece from @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
The party of “family values” is attacking our kids.
August 31, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The party of “family values” is attacking our kids.
I finished my PhD in 6 yrs. I can't imagine stopping my research mid-project, traveling back to India, waiting 3 months to renew my visa/status, and delaying my PhD. Who is going to fund students during this absence? Why should students suffer from delays in publishing? Keep D/S provisions intact!
Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students
Trump officials have proposed a new rule limiting international students to fixed periods of entry, making a U.S. education more precarious.
www.forbes.com
August 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I finished my PhD in 6 yrs. I can't imagine stopping my research mid-project, traveling back to India, waiting 3 months to renew my visa/status, and delaying my PhD. Who is going to fund students during this absence? Why should students suffer from delays in publishing? Keep D/S provisions intact!
"Financially, the NIH—for now—remains intact. The Senate has also pushed back on the Trump administration’s proposal to restructure the agency entirely. But the NIH is fast losing what turns out to be its most important resource: people." Well said.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
How Many Times Can Science Funding Be Canceled?
Whether or not Congress cuts NIH’s budget, the Trump administration has devastated its ability to operate.
www.theatlantic.com
August 7, 2025 at 3:31 AM
"Financially, the NIH—for now—remains intact. The Senate has also pushed back on the Trump administration’s proposal to restructure the agency entirely. But the NIH is fast losing what turns out to be its most important resource: people." Well said.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
Govt Accountability Office (GAO) determines Trump admin broke the law by withholding billions in new NIH awards.
Full GAO report: www.gao.gov/assets/890/8...
NYT article (no paywall): archive.is/202508051916...
Full GAO report: www.gao.gov/assets/890/8...
NYT article (no paywall): archive.is/202508051916...
BREAKING NEWS: a government watchdog confirmed the Trump administration is breaking the law by blocking NIH funds.
How many kids with cancer or grandmas with Alzheimer’s have to get closer to death while crucial research is stalled?
Trump must end this illegal funding freeze.
How many kids with cancer or grandmas with Alzheimer’s have to get closer to death while crucial research is stalled?
Trump must end this illegal funding freeze.
August 5, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Govt Accountability Office (GAO) determines Trump admin broke the law by withholding billions in new NIH awards.
Full GAO report: www.gao.gov/assets/890/8...
NYT article (no paywall): archive.is/202508051916...
Full GAO report: www.gao.gov/assets/890/8...
NYT article (no paywall): archive.is/202508051916...
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
If you're a UCLA researcher (PI, grad student, etc) with an NSF, NIH or other suddenly suspended grant, please email or DM me.
I'm trying to confirm what the suspension letters say and how extensive the NIH suspensions are.
Email: Mikhail at calmatters dot org
I'm trying to confirm what the suspension letters say and how extensive the NIH suspensions are.
Email: Mikhail at calmatters dot org
I chased this all day:
UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism
calmatters.org/education/hi...
UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism
calmatters.org/education/hi...
UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism
The Justice Department issued UCLA a notice of violation for not responding “adequately” to complaints about antisemitism.
calmatters.org
August 1, 2025 at 3:35 PM
If you're a UCLA researcher (PI, grad student, etc) with an NSF, NIH or other suddenly suspended grant, please email or DM me.
I'm trying to confirm what the suspension letters say and how extensive the NIH suspensions are.
Email: Mikhail at calmatters dot org
I'm trying to confirm what the suspension letters say and how extensive the NIH suspensions are.
Email: Mikhail at calmatters dot org
Excellent article by @kzernike.bsky.social I mentor a student on an NIH div. supplement (which we worked extremely hard to win) ; we were heartbroken when this was killed. NIH's well designed DEI initiatives benefit a broad population beyond racial minorities.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts
www.nytimes.com
July 31, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Excellent article by @kzernike.bsky.social I mentor a student on an NIH div. supplement (which we worked extremely hard to win) ; we were heartbroken when this was killed. NIH's well designed DEI initiatives benefit a broad population beyond racial minorities.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
No other word will do: Gestapo. American Gestapo - words I never imagined I'd associate together. A legal resident. A scientist searching for a Lyme disease vaccine. Criminality? Arrested for weed - ten years ago. Abducted at the airport by anonymous goons and disappeared.
wapo.st/4lPELyy
wapo.st/4lPELyy
Scientist on green card detained for a week without explanation, lawyer says
A Korean citizen studying in Texas on a green card was detained in San Francisco after a trip overseas.
wapo.st
July 30, 2025 at 1:31 AM
No other word will do: Gestapo. American Gestapo - words I never imagined I'd associate together. A legal resident. A scientist searching for a Lyme disease vaccine. Criminality? Arrested for weed - ten years ago. Abducted at the airport by anonymous goons and disappeared.
wapo.st/4lPELyy
wapo.st/4lPELyy
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
Welcome to the 12th century
July 30, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Welcome to the 12th century
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
🧪 YASSSS
Nearly 150 employees of the National Science Foundation signed a letter of dissent and sent to Congress yesterday.
Rep Lofgren, Dem leader of the House Science Committee, held a press conference today about it.
Full letter (names redacted): democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
Nearly 150 employees of the National Science Foundation signed a letter of dissent and sent to Congress yesterday.
Rep Lofgren, Dem leader of the House Science Committee, held a press conference today about it.
Full letter (names redacted): democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
Employees’ protests against Trump science policies spread to NSF
Letter to key House Democrat follows declarations by scientists at NIH, EPA, and NASA
www.science.org
July 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
🧪 YASSSS
Nearly 150 employees of the National Science Foundation signed a letter of dissent and sent to Congress yesterday.
Rep Lofgren, Dem leader of the House Science Committee, held a press conference today about it.
Full letter (names redacted): democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
Nearly 150 employees of the National Science Foundation signed a letter of dissent and sent to Congress yesterday.
Rep Lofgren, Dem leader of the House Science Committee, held a press conference today about it.
Full letter (names redacted): democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
"Speaking from the university’s hilltop astrophysics lab, AMU President Eric Berton likened the situation to that of European academics who fled persecution by Nazi Germany both before and during WW II. 'What is at play here today is not unrelated to another dark period of our history,' he said."
The first American ‘scientific refugees’ arrive in France
Aix-Marseille University is wooing researchers who feel targeted by the Trump administration.
www.politico.eu
July 5, 2025 at 12:29 PM
"Speaking from the university’s hilltop astrophysics lab, AMU President Eric Berton likened the situation to that of European academics who fled persecution by Nazi Germany both before and during WW II. 'What is at play here today is not unrelated to another dark period of our history,' he said."
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
Journalists keep asking me, baffled, “What’s the Trump administration really trying to do to the science agencies?”
So I say “They are trying to destroy them. Cut off their funding, ruin their facilities, harass their staff into leaving.”
It’s not reform, and it never was. It’s destruction.
So I say “They are trying to destroy them. Cut off their funding, ruin their facilities, harass their staff into leaving.”
It’s not reform, and it never was. It’s destruction.
NEW: NSF will be kicked out of their building. Announcement will be made tomorrow by HUD Sec. and Governor of VA. HUD will take over the NSF building over the next two years.
NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
June 24, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Journalists keep asking me, baffled, “What’s the Trump administration really trying to do to the science agencies?”
So I say “They are trying to destroy them. Cut off their funding, ruin their facilities, harass their staff into leaving.”
It’s not reform, and it never was. It’s destruction.
So I say “They are trying to destroy them. Cut off their funding, ruin their facilities, harass their staff into leaving.”
It’s not reform, and it never was. It’s destruction.
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
Breaking: The Trump administration is shutting down the national suicide hotline's service for LGBTQ kids. In February, the program received an average of 2,100 calls and texts per day. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The Trump administration is shutting down the national suicide hotline's program for LGBTQ youth
"This is a death sentence potentially to thousands of youth across the United States."
www.motherjones.com
June 18, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Breaking: The Trump administration is shutting down the national suicide hotline's service for LGBTQ kids. In February, the program received an average of 2,100 calls and texts per day. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Ramya Kumar, PhD
The findings at the recent trial and today's Columbia chaos is pushing me to the edge.
I just sent the following email...
I just sent the following email...
June 18, 2025 at 7:29 PM
The findings at the recent trial and today's Columbia chaos is pushing me to the edge.
I just sent the following email...
I just sent the following email...
Shame on the republicans for going after the so-called violent protesters in LA (who were largely peaceful) while engaging in rhetoric that motivated a white guy to draw a gun and attempt these political assassinations. I hope both these elected officials and their spouses pull through.
absolutely horrifying: "Minnesota state senator John Hoffman in Champlin and Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park were reportedly shot in their homes by a gunman impersonating a police officer."
Sources say two Minnesota lawmakers have been shot
Sources have told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS' Tom Hauser that two Minnesota Lawmakers have been shot.
kstp.com
June 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Shame on the republicans for going after the so-called violent protesters in LA (who were largely peaceful) while engaging in rhetoric that motivated a white guy to draw a gun and attempt these political assassinations. I hope both these elected officials and their spouses pull through.