Jenna Norton

You can tell a lot about a leader by listening to the people who worked for them. Those who worked for Tony Fauci respected him. Today’s congressional hearing was a witch hunt, part of a larger effort to undermine science and scientists.

NIH has started terminating ongoing research studies… again. It appears they are testing out new tactics to better withstand legal challenges.

Remember when NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said there were no banned words and NIH Program Officers were making them up? Here’s the proof he lied: “The National Institutes of Health admitted to using an internal search tool to flag UC grants that mentioned “health equity,” “work force diversity,” “structural racism,” and “sexual orientation.” The NIH alone suspended or cancelled more than 1,000 UC grants, including nearly 700 at UCLA, related to vaccines, cancer research and disparities in hea

So you’ve commented on the OMB rule. Here’s what needs to happen next if we don’t want to see this rule implemented: 1. Call your members of Congress. 2. Join the movement urging Congress to impeach and convict Russell Vought. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/civil-servants-demand-impeachment-of-russell-vought/

7-12-2026 - Tomorrow, July 13, is your last chance to comment on Russell Vought’s proposed Federal Financial Assistance rule, which will undermine science and allow political appointees to overrule scientists and experts in funding decisions, slow down scientific functions, and terminate studies on a whim.

Discriminatory policies at the NIH are worsening disparities - concern 2 of our Bethesda Declaration One Year Later report. Link in bio!

Happy belated 4th of July! Never forget that our Independence Day has always been about resisting authoritarianism, speaking truth to power, and striving toward a country that is of, by and for the people. I can’t think of anything more patriotic than resisting the authoritarian Trump administration. 🇺🇸

Changing words so that science can be funded is perhaps the least worst option. But we cannot forget that changing words can be insidious; it has a way of changing thought and then behavior. There’s a reason why authoritarians consistently engage in censorship. We cannot solve problems that we cannot name. The words they make us erase reflect real people, and often the people already most marginalized.

Today, Scott Atlas published an op-ed in the @The Washington Post saying the NIH should be abolished. But the idea that the private sector will replace public health or fundamental science is a fallacy.

Got my first request to censor a grant today since I’ve been back at NIH. Taking a moment to reflect on the impossible choice this censorship process creates for the program officer and grantee.

A brief overview of harms happening at NIH since 2025 - for those who have been asking. For more information like this, follow @markhistedphd and @Anna Culbertson

I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.