Posts

February 13, 2013

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6:35 PM | Effects of MDPV ("Bath Salts") interact with the ambient temperature

A new paper from the Fantegrossi laboratory examines the behavioral and physiological effects of the substituted cathinone drug, and "bath salts" constituent, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) [ Search PubMed ] which is the compound which has dominated the US media reports of averse consequences of bath salts intoxication. To the extent that verification of the drug has [...]

February 12, 2013

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7:13 PM | ORI Finding of Research Misconduct: Bryan Doreian

The NOT-OD-13-039 was just published, detailing the many data faking offenses of one Bryan Doreian. There are 7 falsifications listed which include a number of different techniques but mostly involve falsely describing the number of samples/repetitions that were performed (4 charges) and altering the numeric values obtained to reach a desired result (3 charges). The [...]

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2:47 AM | On scientific fraud

Did you ever notice how small time bank or convenience store thieves only get caught after about the tenth heist using the exact same disguise and MO? Read ORI findings and retraction notices with this in mind. [H/t: a couple of peeps who made me think of this recently. You know who you are. ]

February 11, 2013

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6:33 PM | Repost: Study Section, Act I

I think it has been some time since I last reposted this. This originally appeared Jun 11, 2008. Time: February, June or October Setting: The Washington Triangle National Hotel, Washington DC Dramatis Personæ: Assistant Professor Yun Gun (ad hoc) Associate Professor Rap I.D. Squirrel (standing member) Professor H. Ed Badger (standing member, second term) Dr. [...]

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6:29 PM | If you are going to talk about "tiers", then you'd better own that

Occasionally during the review of careers or grant applications you will see dismissive comments on the journals in which someone has published their work. This is not news to you. Terms like "low-impact journals" are wonderfully imprecise and yet deliciously mean. Yes, it reflects the fact that the reviewer himself couldn't be bothered to actually [...]

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6:03 PM | ...."what a drag".

For my lovely persecution complex commenters....

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3:51 PM | NIH Sekrits

It is a little known #truefact of the NIH that every 500 logins or refreshes on your eRA Commons account improves your eagerly anticipated grant score by 1 percentile point.

February 09, 2013

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3:17 PM | Why academia is still hemorrhaging women in this day and age

I just read a comment from an anonymous person on this post at Academic Jungle: "This post really hit home for me. I am an early career PI (3 yrs in) at a soft money institution and am currently facing the (very real) prospect of having to close my lab, due to a combination of [...]

February 08, 2013

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5:20 PM | Reconsidering the "too many mouths at the NIH Grant trough" hypothesis

I keep mulling over the data presented in this entry at the Rock Talk blog. I originally concluded that this, combined with the revelation that applications-per-PI only went from 1.2 to 1.5 across the FY98-FY11 interval, showed that the RealProblemTM at the NIH was the growth in the number of Principal Investigator mouths at the [...]

February 07, 2013

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6:46 PM | Faces of Drug Abuse Research: Jean Lud Cadet, M.D.

Jean Lud Cadet, M.D. [ PubMed, GoogleScholar, DepartmentalPage ] is the Chief of the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch in the Intramural Resarch Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Within this branch he heads the Molecular Neuropsychiatry section which has maintained major interests in dissecting the toxic effects of methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA on [...]

February 05, 2013

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8:08 PM | New study concludes no bias in NIH grant review

via Bashir- A new paper has been published that purports to refute the conclusion of the Ginther report (also see this, this, this, this) that there exists substantial bias in the awarding of NIH grants to white versus black PIs. Jiansheng Yang, Michael W. Vannier, Fang Wang, Yan Deng, Fengrong Ou, James Bennett, Yang Liud, [...]

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6:25 PM | Repost- Faces of Drug Abuse Research: Yasmin L Hurd, Ph.D.

This first went up on the old SB blog in Feb of 2009. Yasmin L. Hurd, Ph.D. is Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics as well as Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical Center (PubMed; Hurd Lab; Department; Research Crossroads) . As is overviewed on the "research" tab of her webpage, Professor Hurd has longstanding interests [...]

February 04, 2013

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7:31 PM | The NIH budget never actually doubled

I pointed out some time ago that inflation "UnDoubled" the NIH budget rapidly in the wake of sustained Bush-era (now Obama-era) flatline budgets for the NIH. Nothing like a graph to make a point so I'll repost it. Figure 1. NIH Appropriations (Adjusted for Inflation in Biomedical Research) from 1965 through 2007, the President's Request [...]

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6:57 PM | When your labors benefit the next person in line

Fascinating topic raised by @rxnm_ on the twitts today: Hard to be excited that my work helped someone else get money they can use to pay me to continue being a temp. #postdocalypsenow and I am not ungrateful and don't think PI's don't deserve grants on their own merit. It is just hard to feel [...]

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4:51 PM | The 30 min grad school interview

'Tis the time of the year for interviewing graduate school candidates. The exact purposes vary from a significant selection process to "just make sure s/he isn't completely bonkers, okay?". Michael Eisen asked on the Twitts: what do people think are the most useful things to ask in a 30m grad school interview? After a wisecrack [...]

February 03, 2013

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10:34 PM | Go Team!!!!!

I've decided I am rooting for neuronal survival during the NFL SuperBowl today. Go #teamneuron!

February 01, 2013

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5:10 PM | The Bergermeister MeisterBerg asks who gets in the lifeboat

Another viewpoint on the NIH situation from ASBMB head Jeremy Berg. To return to the Titanic analogy, we are certainly in waters full of icebergs in this current climate, and we need to do everything we can to help the captain and crew steer clear of them. That does not mean, however, that we should [...]

January 31, 2013

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4:35 PM | GrantRant XI

Combative responses to prior review are an exceptionally stupid thing to write. Even if you are right on the merits. Your grant has been sunk in one page you poor, poor fool.

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3:51 PM | The glass is half full

There is nothing like a round of study section to make you wish you were the Boss of ALL the Science. There is just soooo much incredible science being proposed. From noob to grey beard the PIs are coming up with really interesting and highly significant proposals. We'd learn a lot from all of them. [...]

January 30, 2013

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8:58 PM | GrantRant X

Open the grant you are polishing up right now, pronto, and change your reference style to Author-Date from that godawful numbered citation style. Then go on a slash and burn mission to make the length requirement. Because lets face it we all know your excuses about reading "flow" are bogus and you are just shoe [...]

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6:26 PM | Preparing our gunsights: What types of investigators exist in the NIH system?

This figure was posted by Sally Rockey, head of the Office of extramural research on her blog Rock Talking. We have discussed these data in the past but given my recent Fixing the NIH series of posts, I thought it worth bringing up.This depicts the number of investigators funded by the NIH who hold a [...]

January 29, 2013

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5:32 PM | The NIH must dismantle the corrosive competitive culture of science

I like competition, don't get me wrong. I engaged in inter-school competitive sports from freshman year of high school through my senior year of college. I played intramural sports from late high school through the end of graduate school. I've done competitive sports outside of school organizations from high school until...yesterday. Essentially uninterrupted. I spend [...]

January 28, 2013

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7:16 PM | Shut off the PhD tap

We need to stop training so many PhD scientists. It is overwhelmingly clear that much of the quotidian difficulty vis a vis grant funding is that we have too many mouths at the NIH grant trough. The career progression for PhDs in biomedicine has experienced a long and steady process of delay, impediment, uncertainty and [...]

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6:58 PM | An interesting historical note on the plight of younger investigators and the Ginther report

As noted recently by Bashir, the NIH response to the Ginther report contrasts with their response to certain other issues of grant disparity: I want to contrast this with NIH actions regarding other issues. In that same blog post I linked there is also discussion of the ongoing early career investigator issues. Here is a [...]

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6:16 PM | We are going to fix the NIH

Scicurious went to the trouble of Storifying a Twitter conversation that involved @mbeisen, YHN and @KateClancy, among others. Kate Clancy provided more context for her outrage here in this post, Kate Clancy’s Short Grant Rant: On Broken Promises: Last night I was talking to a colleague who just heard he missed the funding cutoff for [...]

January 26, 2013

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2:33 AM | PSA: Beware the 'nip

ht: @merz @dirk57

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12:59 AM | Scientopia Schwaggage

I'm doing a face lift over at the Scientopia Blogs CafePress shoppe. It's been a little while since I messed around and they have a few new products including this little number for the #phitnessdouchery types. I realize I never really set this up beyond the basics so it may take me a little bit [...]

January 24, 2013

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1:06 AM | College demographics

From the Atlantic: Yes, yes, well I'm sure this is all because the pipeline is bad and we all know the blacks just aren't very smart... because after all... huh. waitaminnit....something is odd..... OMMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Something must be DONE!!!! ok, ok, before anyone gets too funny, it's already been done in the comments A_Lee • 9 [...]

January 23, 2013

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4:49 PM | Tragedy of the NIH Commons

From the San Diego Union Tribune: ...a fresh look under new Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. The discussions will last into next year and are likely to lead to expansion. Khosla has said that UCSD should be closer to UC Berkeley and UCLA when it comes to graduate student enrollment. About 30 percent of the students at [...]

January 22, 2013

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6:59 PM | Yo OA wackanuts! My funding agencies do set the rules for where I publish.

@mbeisen is on fire on the Twitts: @ianholmes @eperlste @dgmacarthur @caseybergman and i'm not going to stop calling things as they are to avoid hurting people's feelings Why? Open Access to scientific research, naturally. What else? There were a couple of early assertions that struck me as funny including @eperlste @ianholmes @dgmacarthur @caseybergman i think [...]