NIH Vigil 8-29-26

This Week’s Updates and Discussion

• Opening Remarks

• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

  • The Good

    • Wendy Weber appointed director of NCCIH

    • New publication highlights why words matter

    • New 27 UNIHTED article highlights how a proposal to “bin” NIH peer review scores will reduce transparency and decrease the value of peer review

  • The Bad

    • New NSF program shifts training funds from academia to industry

    • NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program will no longer support social science PhD students

    • Measles hits a 35-year record, threatening US elimination status. U.S. measles cases hit the worst tally since 1991

  • The Ugly

    • RFK, Jr.’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee approves a backward-looking research plan that directs limited funding toward debunked science

    • Russell Vought’s OMB erases comments opposing the proposed Federal Financial Assistance rule. Including one from a mother describing how NIH-funded research let doctors treat her daughter's cystic fibrosis with Trikafta before birth

• Community Sharing

• Oath of Office

• Procession