#standupforscience NYC! Harold Varmus speaking now!
March 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
#standupforscience NYC! Harold Varmus speaking now!
Former NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus joins us to discuss what cuts to the institutes’ staff and research funding could mean for science.
How NIH Cuts Could Affect U.S. Biomedical Research
Former NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus speaks out about what recent budget cuts and policy changes could mean for science.
www.sciencefriday.com
March 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Former NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus joins us to discuss what cuts to the institutes’ staff and research funding could mean for science.
"My ideal summer day was reading on the porch."
-Harold E. Varmus-
"Summertime."
By Deborah Dewit.
-Harold E. Varmus-
"Summertime."
By Deborah Dewit.
June 6, 2026 at 7:21 AM
"My ideal summer day was reading on the porch."
-Harold E. Varmus-
"Summertime."
By Deborah Dewit.
-Harold E. Varmus-
"Summertime."
By Deborah Dewit.
The Trump admin has done nothing to build a new science infrastructure b/c its hard and they dislike science.
“Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back,” Harold Varmus, a former N.I.H. director and Nobel Prize-winning cancer researcher:"
“Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back,” Harold Varmus, a former N.I.H. director and Nobel Prize-winning cancer researcher:"
September 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The Trump admin has done nothing to build a new science infrastructure b/c its hard and they dislike science.
“Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back,” Harold Varmus, a former N.I.H. director and Nobel Prize-winning cancer researcher:"
“Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back,” Harold Varmus, a former N.I.H. director and Nobel Prize-winning cancer researcher:"
An apt comment from Harold Varmus in this piece:
‘Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back. You are dealing with highly trained people and projects which, when stopped for a short time, are ruined.’
‘Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back. You are dealing with highly trained people and projects which, when stopped for a short time, are ruined.’
A deep dive into the destruction of US cancer research by @jonathanmahler.bsky.social “It’s an absolutely unmitigated disaster,” a former top official at NIH told him. “It will take decades to recover from this, if we ever do.” Gift link: nyti.ms/48iH3Cr
nyti.ms
September 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
An apt comment from Harold Varmus in this piece:
‘Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back. You are dealing with highly trained people and projects which, when stopped for a short time, are ruined.’
‘Running a lab is not like running a clothing store, where if your sales are down you can bounce back. You are dealing with highly trained people and projects which, when stopped for a short time, are ruined.’
Today is UCSF’s memorial for Mike Bishop with the first talk (appropriately enough) is Harold Varmus. I learned to clone and sequence in Harold’s lab during my first two years of medical school from a graduate student named Tyler Jacks. Good times.
October 2, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Today is UCSF’s memorial for Mike Bishop with the first talk (appropriately enough) is Harold Varmus. I learned to clone and sequence in Harold’s lab during my first two years of medical school from a graduate student named Tyler Jacks. Good times.
I worked with Harold Varmus @plos.org back when I lived in San Francisco, and the contrast with Bhattacharya is really striking
Bhattacharya is doing astoundingly bizarre, anti-science things 😢
Bhattacharya is doing astoundingly bizarre, anti-science things 😢
That is because other NIH directors have not been pathological liars, saboteurs, or arsonists.
August 12, 2026 at 7:13 PM
I worked with Harold Varmus @plos.org back when I lived in San Francisco, and the contrast with Bhattacharya is really striking
Bhattacharya is doing astoundingly bizarre, anti-science things 😢
Bhattacharya is doing astoundingly bizarre, anti-science things 😢
"Right now, we’re placing our biggest bets on resistance from the judiciary branch, which has stood up to several of the efforts that the executive branch has been making to disassemble and undermine research. But that’s not enough. We need Congress to be speaking up as well" - Harold Varmus
How NIH Cuts Could Affect U.S. Biomedical Research
Former NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus speaks out about what recent budget cuts and policy changes could mean for science.
www.sciencefriday.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:03 PM
"Right now, we’re placing our biggest bets on resistance from the judiciary branch, which has stood up to several of the efforts that the executive branch has been making to disassemble and undermine research. But that’s not enough. We need Congress to be speaking up as well" - Harold Varmus
Varmus is definitely an MVP of cancer research so it’s great to see him speak out.
🧪 #standupforscience #resistrfk #antivax
Harold Varmus says what Collins refuses to. “It’s exasperating for me to see what is about to happen,” he told me, “because this guy should not be in my old office.” Kennedy, Bhattacharya, et al., are ramming in right wing pseudoscience. bit.ly/41NYk2K
Harold Varmus says what Collins refuses to. “It’s exasperating for me to see what is about to happen,” he told me, “because this guy should not be in my old office.” Kennedy, Bhattacharya, et al., are ramming in right wing pseudoscience. bit.ly/41NYk2K
At the NIH, Intolerance Will No Longer Be Tolerated
Jay Bhattacharya has spent years railing against the National Institutes of Health. What happens when he runs it?
bit.ly
March 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Varmus is definitely an MVP of cancer research so it’s great to see him speak out.
💡"Instincts are built on previous experiences, both positive and negative."
1982 Lasker Laureate Harold Varmus discusses the role of intuition in research. #CancerControlMonth Alt National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) 🧬🧪
1982 Lasker Laureate Harold Varmus discusses the role of intuition in research. #CancerControlMonth Alt National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) 🧬🧪
Ask a Scientist: Harold Varmus on intuition
Harold Varmus, 1982 Lasker Laureate, discusses the role of intuition in research.
www.youtube.com
April 29, 2026 at 9:10 PM
💡"Instincts are built on previous experiences, both positive and negative."
1982 Lasker Laureate Harold Varmus discusses the role of intuition in research. #CancerControlMonth Alt National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) 🧬🧪
1982 Lasker Laureate Harold Varmus discusses the role of intuition in research. #CancerControlMonth Alt National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) 🧬🧪
An absolutely scorching OpEd by Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate, on Trump's destruction of the vaunted US scientific & biomedical enterprise & on Trump's kooky picks to lead the US health & science agencies
Gift link to share far & wide
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Gift link to share far & wide
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack (Gift Article)
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
An absolutely scorching OpEd by Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate, on Trump's destruction of the vaunted US scientific & biomedical enterprise & on Trump's kooky picks to lead the US health & science agencies
Gift link to share far & wide
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Gift link to share far & wide
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
*by Harold Varmus
October 2, 2026 at 10:05 PM
*by Harold Varmus
There is no universe where these men rise to the level of their predecessors in the job. I think of Harold Varmus, David Kessler, appointed, respectively, by a Democrat and a Republican. And Wallace-Wells' piece describes character flaws that should be disqualifying. 7/
November 30, 2024 at 12:27 AM
There is no universe where these men rise to the level of their predecessors in the job. I think of Harold Varmus, David Kessler, appointed, respectively, by a Democrat and a Republican. And Wallace-Wells' piece describes character flaws that should be disqualifying. 7/
From Harold Varmus (Former NIH and NCI Director and Nobel laureate)
Why Would We Undermine the Marvel of American Science?
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Why Would We Undermine the Marvel of American Science?
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack (Gift Article)
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 3:48 PM
From Harold Varmus (Former NIH and NCI Director and Nobel laureate)
Why Would We Undermine the Marvel of American Science?
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Why Would We Undermine the Marvel of American Science?
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
"I've spent over five decades as a scientist in academia and the federal government," Harold Varmus, the former director of the N.I.H., writes in a guest essay. "Never before have I seen my profession so politicized as it is now under the Trump administration."
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
"I've spent over five decades as a scientist in academia and the federal government," Harold Varmus, the former director of the N.I.H., writes in a guest essay. "Never before have I seen my profession so politicized as it is now under the Trump administration."
“Perhaps what’s most disheartening is what feels like the absence of widespread opposition to this unraveling. ...
This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose.”
By Harold Varmus 🧪
This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose.”
By Harold Varmus 🧪
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
“Perhaps what’s most disheartening is what feels like the absence of widespread opposition to this unraveling. ...
This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose.”
By Harold Varmus 🧪
This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose.”
By Harold Varmus 🧪
Phenomenal turnout Friday of well over 1000+ of US in NYC to #StandUpForScience #StandUpForScience2025 and I was even able to thank Dr. Harold Varmus for #NIH #NIMH in person 🙏 #ScienceMatters #FreeAmerica
March 8, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Phenomenal turnout Friday of well over 1000+ of US in NYC to #StandUpForScience #StandUpForScience2025 and I was even able to thank Dr. Harold Varmus for #NIH #NIMH in person 🙏 #ScienceMatters #FreeAmerica
I’ve met with and worked with GOP and Dem FDA commissioners and NIH directors on HIV/AIDS in the past. Makary is no
David Kessler and Jay Bhattacharya is no Harold Varmus—it’s not even close, so let’s stop pretending that it is. 14/
David Kessler and Jay Bhattacharya is no Harold Varmus—it’s not even close, so let’s stop pretending that it is. 14/
December 2, 2024 at 3:57 PM
I’ve met with and worked with GOP and Dem FDA commissioners and NIH directors on HIV/AIDS in the past. Makary is no
David Kessler and Jay Bhattacharya is no Harold Varmus—it’s not even close, so let’s stop pretending that it is. 14/
David Kessler and Jay Bhattacharya is no Harold Varmus—it’s not even close, so let’s stop pretending that it is. 14/
Dr. Bishop dies at 90.
‘Bishop and his colleague Harold Varmus, MD, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for cancer research for their discovery of proto-oncogenes.’
A legend of science.
‘Bishop and his colleague Harold Varmus, MD, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for cancer research for their discovery of proto-oncogenes.’
A legend of science.
J. Michael Bishop, MD • UCSF Profiles
J. Michael Bishop, MD's bio, publications, grants, and websites
amp.profiles.ucsf.edu
March 22, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Dr. Bishop dies at 90.
‘Bishop and his colleague Harold Varmus, MD, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for cancer research for their discovery of proto-oncogenes.’
A legend of science.
‘Bishop and his colleague Harold Varmus, MD, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for cancer research for their discovery of proto-oncogenes.’
A legend of science.
Harold Varmus shared a Nobel for research that started with chicken viruses and helped explain how cancer works. Science is full of "pointless" research that leads to important results. www.washingtonpost.com/archive/poli...
NOMINEE FOR NIH CHIEF STRESSES NEED TO SUPPORT BASIC RESEARCH
www.washingtonpost.com
June 20, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Harold Varmus shared a Nobel for research that started with chicken viruses and helped explain how cancer works. Science is full of "pointless" research that leads to important results. www.washingtonpost.com/archive/poli...
For those who don’t know: Herb isolated EcoRI, invented recombinant DNA and founded Genentech. Mike discovered cancer genes with Harold Varmus, a Nobel prize winning discovery. Rutter cloned insulin, developed the Hep B vaccine, and isolated Hep C, the latter two at Chiron, his biotech.
Today was UCSF’s celebration of life for Bill Rutter who built our Department. I had the good fortune of having dinner with both Herb Boyer and Mike Bishop—two major figures in our institution’s history (and the history of science). What a treat!
October 12, 2025 at 3:19 AM
For those who don’t know: Herb isolated EcoRI, invented recombinant DNA and founded Genentech. Mike discovered cancer genes with Harold Varmus, a Nobel prize winning discovery. Rutter cloned insulin, developed the Hep B vaccine, and isolated Hep C, the latter two at Chiron, his biotech.
"Perhaps what’s most disheartening is what feels like the absence of widespread opposition to this unraveling."
Thank you for helping sound the alarm, Dr. Varmus.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Thank you for helping sound the alarm, Dr. Varmus.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 15, 2025 at 11:14 PM
"Perhaps what’s most disheartening is what feels like the absence of widespread opposition to this unraveling."
Thank you for helping sound the alarm, Dr. Varmus.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Thank you for helping sound the alarm, Dr. Varmus.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
The man is a seething mass of aggrievement. No wonder he got this job.
What Varmus said was that Bhattacharya’s plan to tie funding to academic freedom was outlandish:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
What Varmus said was that Bhattacharya’s plan to tie funding to academic freedom was outlandish:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
May 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The man is a seething mass of aggrievement. No wonder he got this job.
What Varmus said was that Bhattacharya’s plan to tie funding to academic freedom was outlandish:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
What Varmus said was that Bhattacharya’s plan to tie funding to academic freedom was outlandish:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
“The country is going to be mourning the loss of this enterprise for decades” said Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize-winning cancer biologist who served as the director of NIH and NCI
{gift} www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
{gift} www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Here Are the Nearly 2,500 Medical Research Grants Canceled or Delayed by Trump (Gift Article)
Some cuts have been starkly visible, but the country’s medical grant-making machinery has also radically transformed outside the public eye.
www.nytimes.com
June 4, 2025 at 2:42 PM
“The country is going to be mourning the loss of this enterprise for decades” said Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize-winning cancer biologist who served as the director of NIH and NCI
{gift} www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
{gift} www.nytimes.com/interactive/...