Michael D. Green, PhD

@michaeldgreen.phd

6670 Followers 1075 Following

Narrowly focused on unequal treatment in healthcare, the Chargers, and early career scientists. NIA F99/K00 Fellow Current Postdoc @ JHU | PhD, Population Health Sciences, Duke | 🌲Dartmouth ‘21 | michaeldgreen.phd Views my own

A skinny person with the caption healthcare pls
Wine cave 1
Christopher Columbus, notably old
Clip of my conversation with trauma code
The OMB rule, which the American Association for the Advancement of Science referred to as a "brazen power grab" has attracted attention from Congress. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the head of the appropriations committee, asked for an extension of the comment period for the proposal and warned that it could "disincentivize scientific researchers and institutions from seeking the federal financial assistance they need to participate in multiyear, lifesaving trials." In a hearing with Vought, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) accused him of "putting all of these grants through a political lens and someone's political ideology, adding, "It's wrong and we're not going to let it happen."
In an interview, she explained further: "What if when I let the model read all the literature, not just the lab data of a couple of screens, then its ability to predict what would actually be impacted in cells is huge, but it's all the stuff I already know. It's not the stuff that is interesting" She compared it to an AI tool writing email responses in a boring way - but noted that in science, "boring is particularly bad."
RollingStone prominence due to being Don Jr.'s hunting buddy. Subscribe Even MAHA's purported political clout - and the claim by MAHA PAC that it would raise $100 million to support candidates in the midterms — has proved to be less of a bang than a whimper. As Politico recently reported, the political action committee has less than $400,000 in available cash, and of the 40 candidates it has endorsed, most are running for state offices. Of the four running for Congress, two are in safe seats. "The general expectation is if Republicans lose control [of Congress], then that would be the cleaning out of the MAHA stable" as an FDA official puts it.
Effectively Unfundable Aaron Scherer, PhD, associate professor of internal medicine at the University of lowa's Carver School of Medicine, studies why people do or don't get vaccinated. On April 1, 2025, his career-development award — which covered most of his salary — was abruptly terminated. The reason he was given, he said, was that 'it is the policy of NIH not to prioritize vaccine hesitancy." With vaccine-preventable diseases resurging, he said, the decision made no sense. The fallout reshaped his career. His project manager left; his department had to absorb his and his graduate student's salaries. Because his planned next grant was also on vaccine confidence — now effectively unfundable — the award meant to launch his independence instead left him starting over. He has since submitted three proposals on unrelated topics; the earliest, he said, might be funded in April 2027, if at all. . "95% of my salary is supposed to come from grant funding,' " he said.
At the same time, while Gosalvez thinks AI could disrupt the field in the short term, he's not afraid in the long term. In his view, people who try to "vibe-code" their own electronic lab notebooks will quickly realize there's more to a functional enterprise product than just the code - including making sure the product meets security and validation checks, as well as product improvements. He's not sure that the large foundation models want to get into the application layer in the long term, either.
Michael Jordan looking washed
Meme talking about the only way to get a Grant these days
A bunch of words that usually signals thoughtful science, I highlighted “recruitment plan”, which is necessary for conducting any clinical trial…
Screenshot of “Train at NCI” flier
In response to concerns that the updated Uniform Guidance, as it is called, could be used as grounds to terminate or not fund health disparities work, an OMB spokesperson said, "In the past, unaccountable deep state bureaucrats have funded woke and wasteful projects like, 'engaging Black sexual and gender minority youth social media influencers, and 'Addressing Social Determinants of Health Among Racially Diverse Trans Women in the Deep South, under the guise of studying health disparities. That ends now." The official added, "With this new rule, the Trump Administration will bring much-needed accountability to the grantmaking process and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely."
that surrounded Fable 5's release. More fundamentally, it will shorten our time to respond to the many societal challenges that powerful AI may raise, including mass unemployment, skyrocketing inequality, repressive surveillance, and autonomous warfare. Each of these—and many others that match their scopes an enormous problem, no less obviously important than curing cancer, for which we lack good solutions. It is not at all clear that crafting an international response to all of these issues at breakneck speed is easier than slowing AI down.
In this way, the emergence of today's AI health products remind me of the rise, in the 2010s, of ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. The taxi industry is heavily regulated, making it difficult for new players to enter the market. Yet by skirting and at times ignoring those rules, ride-sharing companies were able to acquire a critical mass of users in a short period of time. Pretty soon, governments had little choice but to adjust their laws to match what had by then become the status quo. The same pattern could end up playing out in medicine. Will regulations meant to ensure that medical products are safe and effective remain in force? Or will they instead be weakened or removed to clear the path for tools that everyone is already using?
Marketers chose the "thwack" slogan after consulting an AI tool for suggestions, Shinsegae Group said. It turned out some managers who approved the campaign never opened the email attachments showing the marketing material.
While the "Defending Women" EO explicitly redefines the concepts of "gender" and "sex," the other two EOs about "DEI" avoid any definition of what they are talking about. The administration declares "DEI" illegal and de facto discriminatory without any reasoning beyond spelling out the acronym. The vagueness of what actually constitutes "DEI" has allowed the administration to lean on its most potent tool, the self-censorship of the scientific community. When they worry that the administration may take issue with a term or concept, researchers now routinely remove it from grant applications, institutional websites and, ultimately, the scientific record. Many consider self-censorship a necessary adaptation to maintain their projects and livelihoods, but this does not make such censorship any less insidious and consequential for the research enternrise and for democracv.
Max-o-matic (illustration); Emily Butler Photography and Getty Images (photographs featured in illustration)
= Science A new study finds that in 2025, the numbers of Black and Hispanic researchers receiving U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and fellowships dropped markedly compared with previous fiscal years. From 2024 to 25, Black and Hispanic principal investigators (PIs) declined by 9.8% and 7.3%, respectively. For fellowship recipients, the fall was even steeper: The number of Black fellows fell by 40.5%, for example, from 205 to just 122. The findings, published in JAMA on Monday, put numbers on the Trump administration's cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that had helped increase the ranks of researchers from historically marginalized communities. "As a Black man myself, there are so few people who look like me in these research spaces," says Michael Green, an early-career researcher at Johns Hopkins University who studies population health science. "It's sad to see in my view targeted actions that have decreased the number of people who look like me in this space."
8 Microsoft Outlook Armed robbery incident; sepsis algorithm should not require a time machine; example provided.
1276 alt metric score
America showing 818 BlueSky posts, 7 news outlets, and 93 X users.
A chat gpt query, showing the irony in how these were used I
So let me say it as clearly as I can: Without basic scientific research, supported by the kind of farsighted public investment that allows large-scale, undirected, curiosity-driven inquiry, the scientific pipeline will run dry. In daily life, people may not feel the effects right away, or even in 10 years. But we will feel it. And when someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn't or when other countries now investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now. Sally Kornbluth is the president of MIT.
nia.nih.gov 山 The NIA F99/K00 opportunity has expired and will not be reissued. A parent NIH F99/K00 has been forecast. Please note, there is no guarantee that this parent funding opportunity will be available until a notice of funding opportunity is published. We recommend that graduate students consider the F31 Individual Fellowship Award, which remains available. Additionally, you can search for opportunities and forecasts at simpler.grants.gov/search.
NIH forecast dates
Sadly it looks like we are only have 3 new DP5 scholars this year?
Overview of F31, F32, F99, K99, and DP5 from the past 4 years. Normally there’s a 20% decrease in new awards between FY2024 and 2025
The plan promised that NIH would "post annual updates of evaluation progress and findings online, sharing widely with public audiences." It promised dissemination at "local, regional, and national medical and public health professional meetings." Nine months after publication, none of this exists so far. The silence is consistent with what we would expect from a plan that was never operationally serious. It was a political document. An evaluation cannot be conducted using frameworks that do not apply to the thing being evaluated. The
Graph showing past 4 full full years of NIH funding for the DP5, F32, F31, F99, and K99 programs
Overview of the history of the DP5 program
Dog getting a taste of doctor pepper during a dream then a human taking it away
Due to administrative changes to funding opportunity processing and delays in approvals, the FY2026 Early Independence Award Funding Opportunity will not go forward. Importantly, the Early Independence Award initiative is still active, current award recipients are continuing their work, and new funding opportunities are anticipated for FY2027. NIH DIRECTOR'S EARLY INDEPENDENCE AWARD NIH Director's Early Independence Award WATCH THE VIDEO
A panel of peer reviewers, also known as a study section, discussed the proposal on April 28, 2025, Mkandawire-Valhmu's records show. Aside from ranking it in the third percentile, they gave it an "impact score" of 19 — a numerical rating ranging from 10 to 90 that predicts a project's chances of having an influence on its field; lower scores are better. Just over a week later, it was taken up at the second level of review, an NIH advisory council that recommends whether the agency should fund it. On Mkandawire-Valhmu's grants portal, its status then changed to the noncommittal phrase "council review completed." The researcher said she's asked her NIH program officer at least three times over the last year for clarity, only to be told the staffer doesn't have any information.
Nationally, new awards from NIH to universities are down 46%, and awards supporting our next-generation scientists training in the nation's laboratories are down 75%. This tracks with what we're experiencing. Johns Hopkins reported in February that its multiyear federal research portfolio had declined by more than $500 million in 2025. Three quarters into this fiscal year, Kansas is experiencing a year-over-year drop of $182 million, or a 55% decline in new awards.
The book “merchants of doubt” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M Conway
One final battle emerged over the FDA's handling of flavored vapes, which advisers told Trump were essential to retaining young MAGA voters. But Makary had overruled scientific staff at the FDA to stall authorization of blueberry-and mango-flavored vapes from an American manufacturer, concerned about public-health risks. Executives from Reynolds American recently met with Trump at his Jupiter, Fla., golf course and complained about the FDA's not approving vaping flavors, and Trump said it was a campaign promise he had made. On the campaign trail, Trump had called the Reynolds executives "my tobacco guys," and they had attended a number of his fundraisers.
A bad scientist wearing his PhD robes and hood in front of the Duke Chapel.
Antonio brown leaving stadium mid football game
they didn't want to burn political capital on Means. A couple of days later the staffer got a call from the White House with new instructions, making clear that Kennedy had gotten involved and the administration wanted to push hard for a hearing, the people said. The White House throughout the fall was less enthusiastic about Means than Kennedy, people familiar with the matter said. Senior White House officials denied that. The committee scheduled her for a virtual hearing in late October-on her due date. "We couldn't help but feel that this was gamesmanship," Means said. It was the soonest date possible, based on committee rules, people close to the committee said. Means went into labor on the day of the hearing, and it was postponed until February. Means at her hearing in February attempted
Brinda Adhikari 51:42 Okay, so Jay, what would you say to Michael Green in that situation? Jay Bhattacharya 51:47 I'd say that he didn't take advantage of the opportunity to rethink his grant. Like, we gave him the opportunity, and he didn't take advantage of it, right? So he again, I didn't know this grant specifically, but, like, I'll tell you, like, based on the title, what hear is a grant where it has as a premise, something that, in principle, couldn't have a control group. And so does bad science. So I, you know, I do again-
Top text: "Soft-Money" Biomedical Researchers trying to figure out what topics are safe for them to submit a proposal on. Bottom Text: I’m a bit of a vaccines cause autism expert myself
She is not alone. Thirty-two percent of STAT survey respondents said the grant programs, or "requests for applications," under which they were funded had been terminated over the past year, and 41% said they have shifted priorities to be more aligned with the administration. This has been difficult, however, because of the lack of funding notices, Spector-Bagdady said. "It's frustrating as a scientist to not only have to try to pull together cutting-edge, fundable science, but also try to navigate these tensions without having any clear direction on how to do so, she said. "I'm a lawyer. I like rules. I like following the rules, but I don't know what the rules are."
Two people in Spider-Man suits pointing at each other
The experience of Jahn Jaramillo, a PhD candidate at the University of Miami studying HIV prevention in the Latino immigrant community, illustrates how the system is failing researchers who play by every rule. According to STAT News, the NIH terminated 405 F31 awards meant to fund doctoral students, and most were "diversity" awards. Jaramillo's grant, which had received a perfect peer review score, focused on HIV in the Latino immigrant community. His work aligned directly with the Trump administration's own stated initiative to end the HIV epidemic, and Miami is a high-priority area for that initiative. His grant was terminated anyway. These "diversity" NIH grants were reviewed in the same study sections as all other awards. The applications were evaluated on the same criteria of scientific merit. Jaramillo scored the highest possible score. Still, his work was cut. His ability to engage research participants from a community that had never participated in research before, an asset enabled precisely by his identity and language, was turned into the reason his funding was pulled. Something that, by any honest measure, makes rebuilding trust in research harder.
My position is supported by a National Institutes of Health F99/K00 award. This is a grant designed to support a promising PhD student through their dissertation and into a postdoctoral position in which they establish the foundation for an independent research career. It is something I was only able to pursue because I was in a privileged position to wait through very long periods of uncertainty. Waiting is a part of life. So is uncertainty. But the context around your life determines how long you can afford to wait and live in uncertainty. Privilege is not a skill, and often it is an inherited trait instead of an earned one. Despite claims of emphasizing merit and competition in science from senior government officials and their supporters, it is quite clear to me that the most valuable trait right now is the privilege to wait. This essay will highlight evidence demonstrating that claim.
Camden Yards
"You're getting mixed signals as to what you represent, and the kind of work that you should be doing" said Jahn Jaramillo, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Miami who recently published an analysis of the F31 awards that were terminated after his own grant was terminated. His grant, which had received a perfect peer review score, was on HIV in the Latino immigrant community. In some ways, the grant was squarely within the priorities of the Trump administration, which announced a plan in 2019 to end the HIV epidemic. Miami, where Jaramillo is based, is an area of high priority for that initiative. The work also felt particularly meaningful to Jaramillo, as a way to help communities he is part of.
Me yapping about getting my NOA but having a bunch of unanswered questions
Famous image of Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress kneeling down with some type of scarf that is clearly not from their culture in a very performative fashion
This is a TRAINING award. A Fellowship. These are not research grants. These include a big research component, yes, but it is not the primary focus. Part and parcel of postdoctoral training is that if there are any limitations or flaws in the way the postdoc thinks about a scientific problem, the PI (and any additional mentors) is there to help train them to think about science better!
Older Black man in a locker room saying “tell them bring me my money”
Me with a silly street interview saying I expected Duke to win
BART This is the worst day of my life. Homer The worst day of your life so far.
What should I learn from this?