TK (Takashi DY) Kozai

@bioniclab.bsky.social

Ernest E Roth Professor. Dept Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh.
BionicLab.org
Neural Engineering; Neural Interfaces: Neurostimulation; Neurocomputation

@jenna-m-norton.bsky.socialReposted by @bioniclab.bsky.social

The immediate threat of the EO seems to have passed, but the greater attack on science by this administration is almost certainly not over. Some good thoughts on what we should be doing. I would add: get organized. Build connections and community. Many voices are louder than one.

@markhisted.orgReposted by @bioniclab.bsky.social

The Trump admin keeps trying ways to break and take over NIH and we keep pushing back and winning. Two takeaways: 1. Together we have power; your voice matters. 2. This isn’t over; they are going to keep trying more ways to take over NIH and science for their political ends. Be ready!

@bioniclab.bsky.social

Touch evoked by cortical stimulation dies within minutes. Tired neurons get the blame. However, inhibitory cells in mouse cortex keep firing while the excitatory ones fall silent. BRIDGE-STIM 2027 puts the human, monkey, and mouse teams in one room. Pittsburgh, May 17–19.

BRIDGE-STIM 2027 flyer. Headline: A human can tell you what stimulation feels like, a mouse can tell you why. May 17 to 19, 2027, University of Pittsburgh. Abstracts due March 1, 2027. $75 trainees, $250 faculty, meals included. NSF travel awards. 15 speakers listed. stim.bioniclab.org
@markhisted.orgReposted by @bioniclab.bsky.social

On the diversion of several billion dollars from #NIH to the Department of Defense (NYT today reports it’s up to “one third of the NIAID budget” and that Trump NIH director Bhattacharya signed the deal.)

The big question I have:
Is this is an end run around peer review?

1/

Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD • E•5h NIH funds should be used to improve the health of Americans. X Far from siphoning money away from research, this partnership between @NIH and @ DeptofWar focuses on research projects that will drive discoveries to improve the health of American citizens and members of the military. Led by the National I Show more NOTUS NOTUS 2 @NOTUSreports • 20h As the military faces a war-driven cash crunch, Rep. Rosa DeLauro said it would be "outrageous" to siphon that money from disease research. notus.org/congress/delau...
@bioniclab.bsky.social

🧬In 2001, a member of the National Academy of Sciences told my 400-person lecture to watch Jennifer Doudna, because she'd probably win a Nobel. What he didn't say: taxpayers were already paying for the work that would get her there. 🧵

@bioniclab.bsky.social

📊 NIH NOT-OD-26-086 proposes capping RPGs per PI at 2, 3, or 4. The cap counts grants rather than dollars controlled, so an MPI on a five-site U19 spends a full slot for a fraction of a budget while a sole PI spends one slot for an entire R01.

@bioniclab.bsky.social

🔬 Your tax dollars once paid a physicist whose own colleagues told him he was wasting the university's money. In 1951, Charles Townes sat on a D.C. park bench and worked out, on the back of an envelope, how to force molecules to release coherent radiation. 🧵 1/5

@bioniclab.bsky.social

🪼 Your tax dollars paid a scientist to squeeze jellyfish through cheesecloth. Osamu Shimomura processed tens of thousands on an NSF grant to understand why they glow. He found a protein that glowed green under UV light. Called it "green protein." Nobody cared. For decades.

@bioniclab.bsky.social

🚨 Congress held NIH and NSF budgets roughly flat. Scientists celebrated. Here is what actually happened. NIH awarded 4,641 fewer grants in FY2025 than the 4-year avg. New awards dropped 14%. Over $1.3B never reached investigators. NSF awards fell 22%. The money was there.