Vaughn Cooper
Evangelist for the study of evolution in action by everyone.
Pitt Prof | EvolvingSTEM | biofilms | EvMed | genomics entrepreneur (@SeqCoast.bsky.social, @midauthorbio.bsky.social) | ASM volunteer | lifelong exercise addict ~ swim bike run
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- Reposted by Vaughn CooperRFK Jr. said multiple times during his house and senate hearings today that no scientists have been fired from federal agencies. Our reporting has shown that hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists have been let go from NIH/CDC/FDA
- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper🧪Did you know that America is known for its cancer research b/c of the National Cancer Act in 1971 signed by Nixon. Mary Lasker took her cause to congress and the American public as a leading proponent of the National Cancer Act. She said, "If you think research is expensive, try disease!"
- ICYMI: Sanders et al HELP committee minority report: "Trump's War on Science." Detailed yet concise. 👉🏻Defunding research 👉🏻Silencing scientists 👉🏻Sowing chaos 👉🏻Spreading misinformation Let your representatives know this is killing NIH, to say nothing of NSF www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperHey y'all! My department is conducting a search for an assistant or associate professor in bacteriology. It's pretty broadly defined. If you know anyone who's looking for a great department that does awesome science - please send them our way! You can DM me with any questions you have 😀
- Reposted by Vaughn Cooperimportant historical perspective on the value of federal funding of basic research at universities: "These are the building blocks of America's extraordinary strength, created over the last 100 years, and they are now being dismantled in 100 days" 🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qk4...
- This hit hard: "If it's a war, it's not up to us. What we save. What we lose." - Bix Caleen, Andor S2E4
- The dismantling of NSF on its 75th birthday has deep ramifications for the US economy -- in Forbes: www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperNSF is undergoing a massive shake-up: over 80 senior staff cut, remote work banned, the equity-in-STEM division eliminated, and hundreds of research grants scrapped. This isn’t budget efficiency—it’s a direct attack on U.S. science, education, and equity. www.eenews.net/articles/nsf...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperI once asked a scientist whom I respect enormously her advice for a successful career and life in science. Her advice: Leave every place better than you found it. It surprises me that many people would try hard to do the compete opposite … and we would elect them to run the country.
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperJustice David Souter —Appointed by GW Bush —voted in favor of affirmative action, gay marriage, separation of church/state and abortion rights. —Did the work, quiet, strong, empathetic…kind —enjoyed hiking and doing his own home repair A great role model for young men. RIP 🇺🇸
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- This is some sick, sadistic $4!+
- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper<diligently updating the list of career paths on the university’s “Major in Mathematics!” poster>
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperSent to me:
- oh, how rich, Pitt IT is blocking access to this site 🤦🏻♂️. Talk about institutional head-in-sand! (and yeah, i can view the site fine on personal cellular)
- NEW: We (mostly @noamross.net) launched a website to shine a brighter light on terminated NIH and NSF grants. grant-watch.us It links to our NIH & NSF trackers, grant info submission forms, and other info. We'll also add new analyses soon. Check it out and let us know what else you'd like to see.
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperNew paper: “The clonality window: relatedness and the group covariance effect in the evolution of division of labour”, with @kztwyman.bsky.social #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/evol... @journal-evo.bsky.social #Image: #ChatGPT #Evolution #OA
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- Our Pittsburgh grade 6-12 science program inspires students to see themselves as the next generation of scientists, but funding freeze threatens its future. www.wtae.com/article/pitt...
- "The war on science, just one sordid theater in the war on smart, if you will, means many things to many constituencies, but you don’t have to be a microbiologist or a molecular geneticist to understand what it means to either one." Thanks Gene! www.post-gazette.com/opinion/gene...
- EvolvingSTEM in action at Pittsburgh Perry HS @evolvingstem.bsky.social www.wtae.com/article/pitt...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperFinal segment: our program and others like it may end w/ cuts to NIH and NSF. Our amazing instructors who teach >2500 students / year are paid by these grants. They allow our lab to innovate these curricula and measure how they benefit students. Tell your reps our kids need these programs!
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperIn this second segment, they discuss major outcomes of EvolvingSTEM: 1) improved learning of evolution, genetics, microbiology, and more importantly: 2) greater occupational identity in STEM. Students begin to see themselves as scientists and want to do more!
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperWTAE filmed us in working with students at Pittsburgh Perry HS, one of more than 30 schools we partner with. This feature shows the value of NIH & NSF funding at work. Thanks: teacher Vicki Ammer, Prof. Cassie Quigley from Education, and our team, feat. Colton as local star. Segment 1:
- Check out this amazing segment on Pittsburgh's WTAE about our EvolvingSTEM program. 🙏🏻 to anchor Shannon Perrine for telling our story and showcasing how we engage students grades 6-12 to learn w/ authentic experiments. Teachers and students see themselves as scientists! #SaveNSF #SupportNIH
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- The American Society of Microbiology @asm.org just released a strong statement opposing yesterday's EO on "Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research." Read ASM's statement: asm.org/press-releas...
- The American Society of Microbiology @asm.org just released a strong statement opposing yesterday's EO on "Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research." Read ASM's statement: asm.org/press-releas...
- My WFH was interrupted today by a catbird hell bent on attacking his reflection in my window. Tried drawing lines in highlighter on the panes (reddit), now using old CD's as reflectors. He's confused now. Here's to solving simpler problems
- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper"The biomedical research cuts when they’re polled are like 70-30 or 80-20 against. But it’s only on the edges of the news. You want to push it to the center of the news...Let’s have that vote. Push this issue to the top of the news feed and make Republicans own these cuts."
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperWhat's happening with these grants is much more complicated and mostly unknown. None of the NIH have been officially cancelled. The NIH was just ordered to stop paying. They got the Unis to enforce silence on their own campuses because they thought they were "negotiating" and cld get the funds back.
- Conspiracy of Silence: How Trump is Covertly Strangling Billions in Disease Cure Research talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/consp...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperAny scientists from Oklahoma on here? 🧪 This representative identifies himself as "a leader in promoting biomedical research" and is the chair of House Appropriations. Let him know about your concerns about spending the current FY25 budget, the cuts to the FY26 budgets and the cuts to F&A costs!
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- Reposted by Vaughn CooperAs a follow-up to the Kaiser interview, here is my exchange with Dr. Bhattacharya starting Sunday evening... 1/n
- This thread links to 4 papers that JB co-authored using explicit language on disparities affecting health outcomes.
- The new NIH director said grants “canceled because they’re DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion]-based science … [which does] not actually have anything to do with promoting the health of the American people” www.science.org/content/arti... So let’s take a quick look at some of his past papers… 🧵
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- “I see science as a, like, stumbling, erratic, meandering march towards slightly reduced uncertainty.” From KQED's Forum: Ed Yong on the Pandemic’s Legacy on Science Research and Reporting, Mar 24, 2025 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/k...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperFrom my book HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: "Trump covers up crime with scandal. That is his main propaganda tactic, the one few seem to be able to discern...The crimes are much worse than the scandals, but the media will always take the scandal bait."
- Should be page 1 🐐🐐🐐 Katie Ledecky lowered her 800m free WR set in Rio in 2016!💥 8:04.12💥. She dropped 6 tenths and now has the top 10 performances of all time. www.usaswimming.org/news/2025/05...
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- Delighted that @asm.org is among the leading societies filing an amicus brief in support of the ACLU suit appealing the unlawful recission of MOSAIC and other grants asm.org/press-releas...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperCannot emphasize this too strongly.
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- Katie Ledecky continues to remind us to strive to be great. "I didn’t know if I ever was going to be 3:56 again" 🐐🐐🐐🏊🏻♀️🏊🏻♀️🏊🏻♀️ www.usaswimming.org/news/2025/05...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperI’m glad so many people have found my “capybara method” for how to write alt text and image descriptions helpful! However, I know conflicting access needs exist and not everyone can write their own #AltText, so here’s an ongoing thread of tools that can help. Inclusion in thread ≠ endorsement
- Reposted by Vaughn Coopertoday is the australian election
- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper"A report by economists at American University in Washington DC estimates that a 50% reduction in federal science funding would reduce the US gross domestic product by approximately 7.6%." Science is an amazing engine of economic activity and progress for the US ... or at least it was.
- Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to “stop awarding all funding actions until further notice,” according to an email seen by Nature. go.nature.com/44Ugf9V
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperDo people in the same household share strains when they have the same species? How many cells transmit when a strain is shared? Can strain composition be dynamic when species composition is stable? We answer these and related questions for the facial skin microbiome in our latest paper. 🧵[1/10]
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperUPDATE: We have data on >1000 terminated #NSF grants at grant-watch.us. Thanks to all who have been contributing data the past few days. We've also added a "Reports" section with some analyses. For NSF, we see that the STEM education directorate has been absolutely pummeled.
- The @arstechnica.com article making the rounds also covers this, but this pod precedes it and is entertaining
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- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper“However bad everyone on the outside thinks it is, it is a million times worse. They’re dismantling and destroying everything.” Read, share, respond. Call your representatives. The health and well-being of Americans & America's innovation economy are at stake. www.science.org/content/arti...
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- Reposted by Vaughn CooperRecipients of these F31s should ABSOLUTELEY be contacting their research administrators and Office of Sponsored Projects to initiate appeal processes. The cancellation of these contracts may even be illegal. I've heard some institutions even have templates to help w/ the first steps of this process
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- this is one of the most unbelievable WTF's of the entire administration
- The architect of #NIH cuts is Russell Vought whose own daughter is alive today because of advances in treating cystic fibrosis, brought to us, to the Vought family, by NIH. 1/ www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperThe architect of #NIH cuts is Russell Vought whose own daughter is alive today because of advances in treating cystic fibrosis, brought to us, to the Vought family, by NIH. 1/ www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
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- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper💥🥳 At long last, our latest paper is out! Gag proteins of endogenous retroviruses are required for zebrafish development www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Led heroically by Sylvia Chang & @jonowells.bsky.social A study which has changed the way I think of #transposons! No less! 🧵 1/n
- Reposted by Vaughn Cooper“And I’m like, what do you mean, you ‘do your own research’? You running a double-blind study in your living room, dawg?” - A guy walking ahead of me with his friends on a NYC sidewalk in 2021, also my favorite overheard dialogue of the entire pandemic
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- About time! Delighted that PA state reps are showing support for Pitt research and that the senior administration is speaking up.
- WESA: 'University of Pittsburgh medical researchers show state legislators impact of NIH funding cuts' 'Pitt is the sixth highest recipient of NIH funding in the nation, securing $660 million last year alone.' www.wesa.fm/health-scien...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperWESA: 'University of Pittsburgh medical researchers show state legislators impact of NIH funding cuts' 'Pitt is the sixth highest recipient of NIH funding in the nation, securing $660 million last year alone.' www.wesa.fm/health-scien...
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- Reposted by Vaughn CooperDon’t destroy your seed corn, says a VC director. “The only thing more damaging than the recent attacks on our research universities is the silence from my colleagues in the venture capital world, especially from those who have the ear of the president.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...
- Reposted by Vaughn CooperScience and R&D has traditionally received strong bipartisan support in the US Congress. But the White House is supposedly pushing cuts of 55% (NSF), 44%(NIH), 27% (NOAA), 50% (NASA), 100% (USGS ecosystems). Meanwhile China INCREASED their R&D spending by 8.3%
