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Joshua S. Weitz

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Joshua S. Weitz is an American biologist. He is both a professor of biology and the Clark Leadership Chair in… more

H-index: 64
Biology 28%
Environmental science 26%
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by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
When people casually talk about burning it all down or rebuilding from the ground up, it is worth reflecting that some have wanted to do that literally for years.

Reform is part of renewal and can be creative.

Destroying public health, science, and research is nihilism.
katie-drummond.bsky.social
Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 2h
This is a jaw-dropping, terrifying number. The CDC's workforce has decreased by 3,000 people since January.
A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone
Another round of terminations, combined with previous layoffs and departures, has reduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workforce by about 3,000 people since January.
www.wired.com
7 15

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

katie-drummond.bsky.social
This is a jaw-dropping, terrifying number. The CDC's workforce has decreased by 3,000 people since January.
A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone
Another round of terminations, combined with previous layoffs and departures, has reduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workforce by about 3,000 people since January.
www.wired.com
17 190 410

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
"Physicians also need newer, better antibiotics. Developing drugs that target bacteria in novel ways can help humans get ahead of resistance, but WHO says the global pipeline of new treatments isn't flowing fast enough to meet the need."

A key motivation for this:
www.iasusa.org/bacteriophag...
3 7

by Joshua S. Weitz

View post

by Timothy D. McBride — Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

mcbridetd.bsky.social
CDC union blasts lack of transparency from HHS in layoffs thehill.com/policy/healt...
thehill.com
2 7

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Long (very not good) history of this...

ww1.habsburger.net/en/chapters/...
"I decide who is a Jew"
With Karl Lueger's election as Mayor of Vienna in 1897, political anti-Semitism reached its climax and became a social force dominating everyday life.
ww1.habsburger.net

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
A point I raised in my critique of Thorp's proposal that includes the recommendation: 'misrepresentation of references is treated as seriously as research misconduct'...

joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/between-th...
Between the Lab and the Library: The Risks in Trying to Co-opt 'Gold Standard Science'
A response to a high-profile proposal to enforce ‘gold standard scholarship’.
joshuasweitz.substack.com
3

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

sciam.bsky.social
A quarter of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff is gone after the Trump administration’s latest reductions in force and earlier layoffs
CDC Firings Are ‘Intentional Attack on the American People,’ Ex-Employees Say
A quarter of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff is gone after the Trump administration’s latest reductions in force and earlier layoffs
www.scientificamerican.com
2 19 52

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
If in the DMV, take the Red Line this Saturday for a morning of

No Kings NIH - Defend Medical Research
NIH Metro Stop, Rockville Pike
October 18th, 10am-12pm

& still make it downtown for the midday DC event, one of more than 2,500 taking place nationwide.

www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
NO KINGS NIH --Defend Medical Research · No Kings
**In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger and stronger. “NO KINGS” is more than just a slogan—it’s the foundation our nation was built upon. Bo...
www.mobilize.us
4 16

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Henry Jones, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò , and 2 more

jamellebouie.net
wow. bezos has destroyed this paper.
uhactually.bsky.social
karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 1d
Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...
The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay
Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.
www.forbes.com
320 1.1K 6.6K

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
I will be in Wash DC November 7 at Georgetown medical school
Georgetown
1 15 79

by Joshua S. Weitz

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Elizabeth Saunders, David H. Kaye , and 3 more

npr.org
Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says. n.pr/4q87Jwb
Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass
Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says.
n.pr
120 1.3K 3.4K

by Joshua S. Weitz — Reposted by Alessandro Rigolon

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
As expected, the first 9 compacts were a trial run.

They have now come for all of us.

And each of us, and all of us, should say no.

Scoop via @liamknox.bsky.social at Bloomberg:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT
The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...
www.bloomberg.com
2 50 95

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Telegraphed by Vought in the run-up to the election and repeated more than once this year with a strategy of firing, (partial) rehiring, and firing again, all of which undermines agency missions and targets civil servants working in our nation's service.

More at:
substack.com/home/post/p-...
With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition
A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.
substack.com
1 7

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Thinking about the CDC RIFs and wondering whether they are a matter of malice or incompetence?

Answer: Both.

This is intentional mismanagement that will have consequences for health, readiness, policy, and security.

Mismanagement that should have political consequences.

🎁
wapo.st/477wfF5
Hundreds of CDC layoffs reversed, but biodefense preparedness staff hit
More than half of the roughly 1,300 CDC layoff notices have been rescinded, but workers at health agencies who work on biodefense and mental health still lost their jobs.
wapo.st
2 15 39

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Rebecca Solnit, Richard S.J. Tol , and 14 more

uhactually.bsky.social
Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...
The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay
Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.
www.forbes.com
280 680 3.4K

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Jason Williams

drugmonkey.bsky.social
NIH Study Sections are on hold...again. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/n...
NIH Study Sections are on hold…again.
The primary input to deciding on the merit of proposals submitted to the NIH for potential funding, as most of my remaining blog audience well knows, is the outcome of the initial peer-review proce…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
6 51 83

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

aniloza.bsky.social
Excited to be moderating a panel at the @statnews.com summit later this week on the upheaval at the NIH this year, and I have the honor of sharing the stage with three people who have helped me make sense of this moment

Going to thread some background reading, featuring our three speakers:
Flyer advertising talk at STAT summit, in various shades of teal. Called "featured session: Inside the upheaval at NIH" and including speakers Jeremy Berg, formerly of NIGMS, Eric Green who led NHGRI, and Mallory Harris of SciMap with moderator Anil Oza. October 15-16
4 10 21

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Jason Williams

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Looking forward to this discussion at the STAT Summit in Boston this Thursday.
Inside the Upheaval at NIH session with Jeremy Berg, Eric Green, and Mallory Harris, moderated by Anil Oza.
2 23 68

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Jason Williams

jeremymberg.bsky.social
This is a powerful account from a PhD student whose fellowship was terminated by NIH because it was part of a "diversity" program without any other considerations or understanding of what the program or the students were actually doing.

undark.org/2025/10/09/o...

1/2
NIH Student Grant Cancellation Will Weaken Scientific Innovation
The termination of federal F31 diversity fellowships puts many graduate students in a bind — and U.S. science at risk.
undark.org
3 130 240

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
More of what has been lost and will be lost if the admin and supporters abandon America's commitment to science, research, and discovery.

"You’re destroying something with these draconian cuts that took years to build,” [Dr. Erbelding] said. “It can’t be rebuilt as fast as it was taken down.”
apoorvanyt.bsky.social
Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 2d
Hundreds of infectious disease specialists have been let go by the Trump administration. Here are four who helped to keep pandemics at bay.
(Gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/h...
They Fought Outbreaks Worldwide. Now They’re Fighting for New Lives.
www.nytimes.com
6 15

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Benjamin Mason Meier

apoorvanyt.bsky.social
Hundreds of infectious disease specialists have been let go by the Trump administration. Here are four who helped to keep pandemics at bay.
(Gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/h...
They Fought Outbreaks Worldwide. Now They’re Fighting for New Lives.
www.nytimes.com
3 92 180

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
My longer form take on what this means...

"With Malice Toward All and Charity for None"
substack.com/home/post/p-...
With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition
A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.
substack.com
3 6

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
For now, the admin will keep undermining our medical research and health institutions, because the hard work of discovery, disease prevention, and establishing evidence-to-recommendation pathways runs counter to their preferred approach: fit the data to the preferred narrative.
1 1 6

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Friday night: ~1,250 fired in CDC, immediate pushback.

Saturday: administration says layoffs were in 'error'.

*But* does not specify how many.

Now, @axios.com reports ~600 remain RIFed by an admin that blends incompetence & malice to public health.

Mismanagement should have consequences.
axios.com
Axios @axios.com · 2d
About 600 CDC staff in offices dealing with health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources are out of work as a result of the Trump administration's mass layoffs of agency workers Friday, sources familiar said.
CDC purge hits 600 workers in key offices despite reversals
The casualties include employees working on health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources.
www.axios.com
1 21 50

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

axios.com
About 600 CDC staff in offices dealing with health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources are out of work as a result of the Trump administration's mass layoffs of agency workers Friday, sources familiar said.
CDC purge hits 600 workers in key offices despite reversals
The casualties include employees working on health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources.
www.axios.com
13 65 120

by Joshua S. Weitz

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
My take from last night...

The administration operates with equal parts malice and incompetence, but the incompetence ends up being a form of malice, so on balance, it’s mostly malice towards all and charity for none.

substack.com/home/post/p-...
With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition
A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.
substack.com
6 11

by Joshua S. Weitz

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
On the firing and (partial) unfiring of CDC experts by an administration that uses RIFs as political retribution with blatant disregard for agency missions. It is the kind of error that should have political consequences.

Unserious people cause real-world harm:
substack.com/home/post/p-...
7 48 110

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