The NIH funding cap.
On Friday, the National Institutes of Health announced a plan to immediately and drastically reduce its funding of “indirect costs”: lab space, scientific tools, support staff, and other investments in research. The cap, if implemented, would impact Stanford research significantly, representing a reduction in NIH funding of approximately $160 million per year, Stanford provost Jenny Martinez, School of Medicine dean Lloyd Minor, and vice provost and dean of research David Studdert wrote in a letter on Saturday. These funds support "infrastructure that enables breakthroughs in fields ranging from cancer care to neuroscience to population health,” they said. A cut of this magnitude “would potentially have deep impacts on medical care, human health, and America’s place in the world as the leader of biomedical research.” On Monday, 22 state attorneys general, including California's, sued to block the cuts, saying the NIH's action violates the Administrative Procedure Act. A federal judge issued a temporary order halting the cuts in those states.
Making history.
A blast from the past, 600,000 items strong, is headed to the Farm. The California Historical Society, established in 1871, is dissolving after a decade of attempts to survive financially, and its treasure trove of state history will be transferred to Stanford, where it will remain intact and available to the public. “Stanford will not be a state historical society, but the collection will be in better hands with them than it could be with us,” said CHS board chair Tony Gonzalez. The university’s holdings already comprise 15 million items, but the new collection will fill gaps, particularly relating to the state’s early history. Among the items are the archives of the California Flower Market, Inc. (founded by Japanese American flower merchants in 1912), a map of destruction in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fires, and books and pamphlets produced as early as 1802.
A step toward kicking HIV to the curb.
A new study shows that tigilanol tiglate—EBC-46 to its friends—could help cure HIV. The compound, which occurs naturally in Australia's blushwood tree, was discovered a decade ago and has gained attention in recent years for its cancer-fighting prowess. Patients with HIV can have hidden reservoirs of infected cells where the virus persists even when someone is taking antiretroviral therapy. If treatment were to stop or become ineffective, the virus could take hold again. EBC-46 works as part of a “kick and kill” strategy: It “kicks” those dormant cells carrying the virus, ferreting them out so they can be targeted—or “killed”—by immunotherapies to completely clear the virus from the body. “This study marks unprecedented progress toward the as-yet-unrealized goal of eradicating HIV,” said senior author Paul Wender, a professor of chemistry. Approximately 40 million people worldwide live with HIV.
Learning ahoy!
Photo: Andrew Brodhead
In a three-week Sophomore College course called Discover Monterey Bay through Oceanography, Ecology, and Literature, students spent time aboard the Western Flyer, the very 77-foot sardine boat used by John Steinbeck, Class of 1923, during his 1940 Sea of Cortez expedition. The sophomores explored the coastal environment and collected oceanographic data while also reading work by Steinbeck and poet Robinson Jeffers. “I don’t think science students read enough literature, and I don’t think humanities students know enough science,” said professor of oceans William Gilly.
Ambition is a double-edged sword.
People who want to be in leadership roles are four to 10 times more likely to believe they have above-average leadership ability, but a study has found they are no more effective as leaders than their less-ambitious peers—validating break-room employee rants everywhere. “Our society assumes that there is a link between leadership ambition and leadership aptitude,” said Francis Flynn, a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. If it’s your job to develop new leaders, try looking around for talented people who aren’t clamoring for the top spot. What’s more, take note of why someone is ambitious. Another study found those whose ambition is motivated by extrinsic goals, like fame and money, are more likely than those with intrinsic motivation to engage in unethical behavior to advance their careers.
When you do find yourself in a leadership role, most people should like you—emphasis on most. Being a total people-pleaser could mean you’re too reluctant to take a stand or share hard-to-hear truths. Bob Sutton, a professor emeritus of management science and engineering, recommends the 90-10 rule: If 90 percent of people like you and 10 percent of people don’t, you’ve likely hit the sweet spot.
But wait, there’s more.
Just days into the new U.S. presidential administration, researchers at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research are weighing in with predictions for the economy and beyond. It all adds up to a surge of uncertainty in 2025, which isn’t a good thing, said professor of economics Nicholas Bloom. “In economics, uncertainty is a bogeyman.”
In a lab that looks like a cyberpunk abstract art exhibit, associate professor of physics Monika Schleier-Smith probes the biggest questions of the universe, working on fundamental quantum uncertainty projects that have implications for everything from space travel to continental drift.
Naomi Girma, ’22, is making history by making bank. She has secured the first million-dollar transfer in women’s professional soccer history.
Lithium-ion batteries, like those in cell phones and electric vehicles, are only recycled about 50 percent of the time. But emerging recycling processes could change that and relieve the long-term mineral supply concerns associated with making batteries.
On Sunday, Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV, ’22, became the 44th former Cardinal to play in a Super Bowl and the 23rd to come home as an NFL champ. Justin Reid, ’19, of the Kansas City Chiefs, became the second Stanford athlete to play in three consecutive Super Bowls. (James Loftin, ’92, MS ’93, did it in the early ’90s.)
Doug Burgum, MBA ’80,has been sworn in as United States Secretary of the Interior. He was previously the governor of North Dakota.
Tara VanDerveer has traded the court for the classroom. The former head coach of Stanford women’s basketball is teaching a continuing studies course on the history of her sport—Basketball: A Masterclass.
It’s almost Valentine’s Day. Here’s how to make life decisions with your boo.
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