A Quick Olympic tangent: Curling is also called “the roaring game” because of the sound the stone makes while moving across the ice. It’s also the sound we’re all making while moving through 2026, amirite? Anyway, that movement across the ice is apparently something of a scientific mystery. Except when it maybe isn’t.
This week’s update includes leadership changes at NSF and CDC, a number of court decisions that are perhaps already obsolete, and a new policy on teaching “controversial” topics in Texas.
Federal Research Policy
Maybe not directly related to research, but certainly affecting the cost of research and economic policy more generally: The Supreme Court has struck down the Administration’s contention that the President has the ability to unilaterally issue tariffs. The Administration has already begun to shift to other methods (trade statutes, etc) to pursue similar strategies.
Multiple outlets are reporting that Jim O’Neill will be the Administration’s next nominee to run the National Science Foundation. Last week Mr. O’Neill left his position at the Department of Health and Human Services - where he was serving as both the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as HHS deputy secretary.
Stat has a summary of the state-level initiatives that are being proposed to fund research in light of the continuing uncertainty around federal funding.
These include the DRIVE initiative in Massachusetts and the Empire Biomedical Research Institute in New York
CIRM in California and CPRIT in Texas are existing models of this kind of thing. California may vote in November on the largest bond in the state’s history to fund research at the the state’s universities.
Public Health
With he departure of Jim O’Neill, the new acting head of the CDC is NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. Dr Bhattacharya will continue to run NIH in addition to his new role.
Tracy Beth Høeg, the new director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, is apparently taking a hard look at SSRIs during pregnancy and the vaccine that protects infants from RSV.
The FDA has decided that actually it will review Moderna’s flu shot after all.
Higher Education
The Administration has dropped its appeal of a court order blocking a settlement offer made to UCLA which included a $1.2 billion fine. Though this particular appeal has been dropped, litigation continues.
The Department of Education has released a new portal with data from disclosed foreign funding (including gifts and contracts) to institutes of higher education in the United States. Investigations into foreign funding have been a lever in the Administration’s disputes with several universities, including Penn, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and University of Michigan.
Last March, the Department of Education initiated investigations into 45 institutions for their partnership with the PhD Project. As of Thursday, they had secured agreements with 31 to cut ties.
The Department of Education has officially dropped its final appeal against its February 2025 “Dear Colleague” letter, which stated that schools with DEI programs would be at risk for losing federal funding. Since August 2025, the letter has been largely replaced by a DOJ memo to educational institutions that still stands.
The University of Texas’s governing board voted on Thursday to adopt a new policy on teaching topics deemed “controversial” or “contested.” The new policy does not define what these terms mean.
This video featuring HHS Director RFK Jr and Kid Rock sort of has to be seen to be believed. But maybe don’t watch it? They work out in jeans, drink whole milk in a hot tub, and nü metal plays over the whole thing. The Truth this is not.