Rachael Sirianni, PhD
@docsirianni.bsky.social
Biomedical Engineer, Professor & Vice Chair of Research for Neurosurgery, UMass Chan Medical School. Treating pediatric brain tumors and neurodegenerative disease via all things nanomedicine and the subarachnoid space. *opinions are my own
"I am dying of cancer. To add insult to personal tragedy, my country’s government has decided to use my illness and that of so many other cancer patients as leverage in the current administration’s battle against higher education." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/stop...
Stop holding cancer patients hostage in campus controversies | Op-Ed
The Trump administration's withholding of federal funding for universities it disagrees is hurting vital, lifesaving research.
www.seattletimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"I am dying of cancer. To add insult to personal tragedy, my country’s government has decided to use my illness and that of so many other cancer patients as leverage in the current administration’s battle against higher education." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/stop...
November 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
November 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Never have you seen a 30th %ile get picked up. But I’ve seen an impact score range of 2-5 shift to 2-3, etc, and those are the grants that get funded. The idea that we can pre-triage 66% of apps is just bonkers. 1st stage of review is not that accurate, takes discussion to sort wheat from the chaff
November 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Never have you seen a 30th %ile get picked up. But I’ve seen an impact score range of 2-5 shift to 2-3, etc, and those are the grants that get funded. The idea that we can pre-triage 66% of apps is just bonkers. 1st stage of review is not that accurate, takes discussion to sort wheat from the chaff
Weird thing happening where I + my colleagues, same convo on repeat: can't think about next year, next month, even next week. All I can do is wait for the next days or next hrs, close projects, write more grants that wont save us, sit in misery. This is what the fed govt is doing to science
November 13, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Weird thing happening where I + my colleagues, same convo on repeat: can't think about next year, next month, even next week. All I can do is wait for the next days or next hrs, close projects, write more grants that wont save us, sit in misery. This is what the fed govt is doing to science
Why is there no hope for labs like mine? Because I have to pay people's salaries. I can't produce that $ out of thing air. I've put in an ungodly amt of work getting grants in, but even if things got better tomorrow, those grants simply wont arrive in time
November 13, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Why is there no hope for labs like mine? Because I have to pay people's salaries. I can't produce that $ out of thing air. I've put in an ungodly amt of work getting grants in, but even if things got better tomorrow, those grants simply wont arrive in time