Category Archives: NIH

NIH Directly Saved Millions of U.S. Lives and That Has Been (Intentionally) Forgotten

Posted on July 30, 2025 by mikethemadbiologist

Over the weekend, Russell Vought, Chief Theocrat and head of OMB, launched a nonsensical rant about NIH. Many arguments on behalf of NIH, and they’re not wrong, focus on long-term research that ultimately pans out years or decades later. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, COVID-19, Fucking Morons, NIH | 2 Comments

A Proposed Four Percent Funding Rate at the National Cancer Institute

Posted on July 24, 2025 by mikethemadbiologist

On Wednesday, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at NIH released its funding policy for fiscal year 2025. In it, NCI claims they will be able to fund four percent of applications. That’s not a typo. Four percent. While a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Cancer, Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Funding, NIH | Comments Off on A Proposed Four Percent Funding Rate at the National Cancer Institute

We Need to Stop Saying Scientists Can’t Communicate: A Few Quick Thoughts on Indirect Rates

Posted on February 19, 2025 by mikethemadbiologist

One claim I see on the internetz is the claim scientists are bad at communication. Yet, in the last few weeks, scientists–not their universities*, or Democrats who purport to support scientists–managed to make NIH indirect grant costs part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in NIH, Propaganda | Comments Off on We Need to Stop Saying Scientists Can’t Communicate: A Few Quick Thoughts on Indirect Rates

With the Shutdown Averted, a Divided Nation Can Return to the Important Business of Investigating Hunter Biden’s Penis

Posted on October 2, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

So there won’t be a shutdown after all–at least until November 15, when the continuing resolution ends. I won’t say that I boldly predicted this outcome, but I did argue that there was no endgame for the Freedom Caucus (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Funding, NIH | 2 Comments

Going Manhattan Project on Long COVID’s Ass

Posted on April 20, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

Some asshole with a blog vaguely remembers using the phrase “Going Manhattan Project on [X]’s ass”, by which said asshole meant that there are certain kinds of science and research objective that need far more top down direction from NIH … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Funding, NIH | 1 Comment

NIH Funding, Collaborative Mechanisms, and (Politically) Risky Research*

Posted on February 1, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

Oh my? With the bugshitcrazytarian wing of the Republican Party gearing up for hearings on how Hunter Biden used the COVID vaccines to convert M&Ms to lesbianism COVID-19, including ‘exploring’ the hypothesis of a lab leak, we’re going to see … Continue reading →

Posted in NIH | Comments Off on NIH Funding, Collaborative Mechanisms, and (Politically) Risky Research*

A Quick Thought about NIH Collaborative Mechanisms

Posted on April 11, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

A couple weeks ago, Vanity Fair had an article about the path by which Peter Daszak wound up with the NIH funding to sponsor viral research here and in China–which has been seized on by both the lab-leak hypothesis advocates, … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Funding, NIH | 1 Comment

Once Again, The Trump Administration Takes The Ax To Science Funding

Posted on March 12, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

It’s a day that ends with “-y”, so you know the Trump Administration will propose something horrible. Today, it’s massive cuts in the discretionary budget–which includes science (boldface mine): The deficit would also persist despite the administration’s plans for steep … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Funding, NIH, NSF | Comments Off on Once Again, The Trump Administration Takes The Ax To Science Funding

A Challenge To NIH Over Sexual Harassment

Posted on August 15, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

Unfortunately, after years of ‘creating awareness’ and what not, it’s pretty clear that university administrators, when faced with sexual assault or sexual harassment, will respond to only one thing: money. It has to be more costly for them to ignore … Continue reading →

Posted in NIH, NSF | 1 Comment

Getting Graduate Student Labor Right And Overheads Wrong

Posted on December 1, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

There’s a very good op-ed about why universities charge tuition to Ph.D. students at all (boldface mine): It’s not the norm for PhD students to pay any tuition. Where I’m in graduate school, at Yale, the billing and payment for … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Funding, NIH | 1 Comment