Nate Bahr

Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302

The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.

What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.

Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

Olson: Even as shooting survivors share heartbreaking testimony, the GOP remains unmoved Annunciation families have trekked repeatedly to the Capitol to lobby for gun restrictions. Their words are falling on deaf ears, columnist Rochelle Olson writes.

Minnesotans are resolved to protect our children.

It’s time for Republican legislators to step up.

www.startribune.com/annunciation...

The people — and research — lost in the NIH exodus | CNN Sylvia Chou, 51

Portraits of some of the researchers that The Regime has run off.

We are losing so many excellent researchers.

With this war on Iran costing $1B per day, we are now at 4$B, an amount that would fund 3,200 five year NIH biomedical research grants.

As Rep. Jayapal says, our reporting has found that these aren’t isolated incidents. Last October, we tallied more than 170 cases of U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents.

Here’s that investigation she’s referring to:

Reminder that the FBI is still refusing to let local law enforcement in on the investigation into Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s deaths.

This is a cover up in plain sight.

Jayapal to Noem: "I want to introduce you to just four of the US citizens unlawfully detained by ICE ... they're in this room with us."

How Kennedy Is Trying to Revamp Medical School

RFK Jr & McMahon wrote a vile letter to my medical school telling us we must stop generating a diverse medical workforce or they'd destroy us

🚨 He's also now forcing US medical schools to adopt HIS KOOKY CURRICULUM that "draws heavily on the work of Dr. Casey Means"

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/u...

The reason why the U.S. will continue to have sustained transmission of measles is that we no longer vaccinate a sufficient number of children. Only 10 states have an MMR vaccination rate for kindergartners >95% which is necessary for herd immunity.

@jreinermd.bsky.social
#medsky

Loyalty oaths and political litmus tests won't lead to new discoveries, innovations, or breakthroughs. NIH, NSF, and other mission-driven agencies need to get back to their mission, free of political interference. Oversight needed yesterday, the longer this is delayed, the more damage accumulates.

a large screen shows a man 's face and says ingsoc ALT: a large screen shows a man 's face and says ingsoc

So... A friend was supposed to give a PURELY SCIENTIFIC talk at NIH within the next couple of weeks and it was cancelled because of a "new process" where all speakers/talks have to be CLEARED BY A POLITICAL APPOINTEE.

A Canadian Hospital Scoops Up Nurses Who No Longer Feel Safe in Trump’s America - KFF Health News Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

A Canadian Hospital Scoops Up Nurses Who No Longer Feel Safe in Trump’s America kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Luis and his Mom in Florida de Jalisco in Shakopee.

Thank you to @stephenrodrick.bsky.social at Rolling Stone for telling the human story of ICE in Shakopee with such compassion, integrity, and care.

archive.is/BBvVQ

Garcia: "The truth is that Donald Trump and Republicans have cut billions of dollars from healthcare and food assistance, and used that money to hire officers who are now terrorizing cities and killing Americans. That's where our taxpayer dollars have gone."

Bernie Sander’s 2028 litmus test would strangle America’s golden goose

Surprise! The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post is against my 5% billionaire wealth tax. I wonder why?

If enacted, Bezos would owe $12 billion in taxes, and an average family of 4 would receive a $12,000 direct payment.

Poor Jeff would be left with just $224 billion to survive.

Delays in awards and funding calls worry NIH-funded researchers Many programs may be pushed into the next fiscal year, and some could face funding gaps

"The biomedical research community is facing the prospect of major funding disruptions again this year." www.science.org/content/arti...

The Clinical Impact of Antibiotic Allergy Labels on One‐Year Outcomes of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Antibiotic allergy labels (AALs) are common and often incorrect. They have many potential impacts, including the use of broader-spectrum antibiotics and suboptimal treatment of infections. The impact....

New research from our faculty: antibiotic allergy labels in transplant patients are linked to C. diff infections, more antibiotic use & longer hospital stays, and they may be preventable. 🔬 #IDSky #MedSky

My top 10 ID papers for 2025. Full citations and descriptions available at clarityinitiative.org/hot-takes

Also see/hear our Communicable podcast episode on this at communicable.transistor.fm/episodes/com...

What were your top 10? Any thoughts about what I missed welcome!

#IDSky #Top10papers

States Move to Limit Access to H.I.V. Treatment

“This is really an economic disaster, a public health disaster, a moral disaster."

If sustained, we should expect:
- ↑ perinatal HBV transmission
- ↑ pediatric chronic HBV cohorts emerging in ~5–10 yrs
- reversal of U.S. HBV elimination trajectory, widening disparities (declines typically concentrate in vulnerable systems)

DHS admits it deported more than 80 DACA recipients “Dreamers” who came to the U.S. as children are protected under U.S. law, so deportations of them are unusual.

“The Department of Homeland Security admitted to Congress this month that it deported dozens of unauthorized immigrants who are protected under U.S. law because they were brought as children to the United States, according to a letter made public Thursday.” www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Congress has appropriated the funds to NSF but OMB is delaying the release. When funds are released, NSF, which has lost almost 1/5 of its staff, will struggle to evaluate proposals. Since they have to award the funds, big projects with established PIs will benefit. This is how US science dies.

As measles spreads in South Carolina, RFK Jr’s allies work to gut vaccine laws Activists who dispute safety of vaccines are pushing to limit immunization requirements in schools

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

That's right. Worse than Pointless
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

Federal judge in Minnesota threatens criminal contempt over ICE noncompliance Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz warned that “one way or another” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will comply with court orders.

The chief federal judge in Minnesota has threatened to pursue criminal contempt charges against ICE and the state's top federal prosecutor if they don't comply with court orders in scores of immigration cases.

At least 97 violations involving 66 different cases have been documented.

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

This is a type of ICE "ruse," and is a tactic the agency has deployed for decades.

In 2015, ICE went to my former client's house posing as cops and convinced his 16-year-old US citizen niece to call him home from work with a fake story (the "identity theft ruse" explained below), then arrested him.

Columbia student arrested by DHS agents who posed as police officers Acting university president says agents misrepresented themselves to gain entry to the residential building

“ICE agents impersonated NYPD with fake badges and a phony missing persons bulletin for a 5 year old girl. They purposefully deceived campus housing/security to gain entry to the apartment. The level of civil rights violations that took place is staggering.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Refugee released by Border Patrol found dead, sparking outrage Surveillance video obtained by The Post shows Border Patrol agents releasing the partially blind refugee, who went missing for days before being found dead.

1. The footage shows Homeland Security is lying when he got indoors and was wearing prison booties I doubt are good for the cold.
2. Nurul Amin Shah Alam apologized to police BEFORE he was tasered when he was originally arrested.

wapo.st/3OCwNx8

Epstein Files: NPR Finds 53 Missing ‘Trump’ Pages — the DOJ Has No Explanation NPR finds 53 Epstein file pages missing from the DOJ release, deepening questions about transparency in Trump’s own Justice Department.

Q: How far have we come in 54 years?
A: From 18½ missing minutes to 53 missing pages.