Jason Shepherd
@JasonSynaptic
🇿🇦🇳🇿🇺🇸Professor of Neurobiology @UUtah. Molecular mechanisms of memory, repurposed transposons, and virus-like intercellular signaling. Personal opinions.
Let’s be real. These attacks on science and the NIH are not about efficiency in spending. They are about curbing DEI and taking revenge on institutions for conspiracy level blame for COVID origins etc. JD Vance said this. Project 2025 said this. It makes no economic sense.
We have an Open Rank tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Nutrition & Integrative Physiology! Looking for a new colleague interested in making the Univ. of Utah their new home to build a metabolic research program. Please share! @uofunuip jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/674355
Timeline cleanse for your Monday! Fairytale scene from Normandy, France.
It’s been said before but it’s still really funny that a country of people with some of the easiest lives on earth voted to elect the candidate that ran on shutting down all the universities and work from home jobs to send everyone back into the coal mines
🤣
Thank god at least *one* organization maintained its commitment to funding research
A trend I notice here on the list is that despite heavy international bachelors degrees the majority of the graduate work is in US. Investment in science and engineering in our universities attracts the best and brightest around the world.
🚨 BREAKING: Detailed list of all 44 people in Meta's Superintelligence team. — 50% from China — 75% have PhDs, 70% Researchers — 40% from OpenAI, 20% DeepMind, 15% Scale — 20% L8+ level — 75% 1st gen immigrants Each of these people are likely getting paid $10-$100M/yr.
A clearer explanation of NIH animal use, which is TLDR…the status quo essentially.
Clarification on how the NIH initiative to prioritize human research affects the use of laboratory animals: grants.nih.gov/news-events/ni…
I’ve lived in America over 20 years and yeah…never gonna like country music 🤷🏻♂️ I think most of my fellow immigrants might relate 😆
Jason’s thoughts on me playing country music- which he hates- this morning. @JasonSynaptic: “Some of this stuff isn’t terrible. Like this song isn’t *that* obnoxious.” Me: “This is @GeorgeStrait! You *have* to like the King of Country! 🤦🏻♀️”
This paper with Sophie Caron now ACCEPTED at @CurrentBiology! Congrats @BarefeetSven! (He’s on the job market now folks). Stay tuned for the final version.
NutritionNerd chiming in here to let you all know that switching the sugar source in @CocaCola from High Fructose Corn Syrup to Cane Sugar will result in precisely zero improvement to individual or population-level health in our country. 1/
"I have been speaking to @CocaCola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!" –President Donald J. Trump
Folks, this is the opposite of “taking politics out of science”. This is just one level below persecuting scientists for their political beliefs and undermines their free speech! These councils make critical funding decisions that should be free from political bias.
NEW: The NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take roles on panels that make final decisions on grant funding. NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and to expect placements by political appointees. nature.com/articles/d4158…
Christopher Gregg has lived years beyond what his oncologists originally accepted. Lessons from farming may have helped. trib.al/k8zM0bN
Proposals in Congress would cut NIH funding, weaken ARPA-H, and dismantle NSF’s innovation engine. But advocacy works. Your voice matters. The deadline to act is July 21. Sign on. Email Congress. Reach out. We must do everything we can to protect science. Details below.
This is awesome news, congrats @NeilShubin!!
The NAS Council has approved the nomination of Neil H. Shubin to be the next president of the National Academy of Sciences. An evolutionary biologist & science communicator, Shubin would succeed Marcia McNutt when her term ends on June 30, 2026. Read more: nasonline.org/news/neil-h-sh…
Submit concerns by 5pm ET 7/14 go.pardot.com/e/858023/ducin…
While I’m a big fan of new technologies that help us study human biology…there’s still no replacement for animal research! I wrote an article outlining this in @GENbio genengnews.com/topics/transla…
