Happy to announce that we have initiated a phase I clinical trial to evaluate safety and immunogenicity of our LION/repRNA vaccine against #CCHF. This is the culmination of a great partnership with NIAID, UTMB, and our federal sponsors. More to come! www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

Even our project, which directly addressed the tolerability and upper respiratory tract immunity gaps highlighted by RFK Jr, was impacted by this decision. They clearly didn’t review the 22 contracts/grants and the data already generated under taxpayer investment. We are 3 yrs into our program…

Excited to meet the D2R community!

🧪 New paper from our team at HDT Bio highlighting that combo repRNA vaccines can lead to excessive innate activation that ultimately inhibits vaccine effectiveness in NHPs. Use of repRNA formulations with restricted biodistribution can alleviate systemic innate response and restore effectiveness.

Our latest preprint is now available doi.org/10.1101/2025...! Led by my postdoc, Luqiang Guo @luqiang.bsky.social, we determined a ~2.4 A resolution structure of the hantavirus glycoprotein tetramer on the surface of VLPs. Also determined structures of dimers of tetramers and Fab-bound tetramers.

I didn’t realize you could filter the posts of who you follow! The paper feed is just what I was looking for.

Shook Nelson Mandela’s hand when I was 10 years old at some kind of gathering in a community park. Just remember him getting off a helicopter and walking through a crowd shaking hands, including mine.

Outstanding op-ed from Carole LaBonne Universities and the government: Which needs the other more? College-based research labs are the workhorses of national progress and prosperity. wapo.st/3ZR1vFm 1/n

Collab btwn NIAID (Dr. Andrea Marzi’s lab) and HDT Bio just published! 🧪 Filovirus gold-standard VSV vax platform compared to LION/repRNA (each encoding same antigen seq) for ability to provide single-dose protection in guinea pigs against Sudan virus challenge 🧵(1/2) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I noticed this statement from NIH regarding durability of the inactivated approach. I didn’t see any durability data in the published studies of this candidate. Anyone aware of durability studies performed using inactivated virus platforms? I did one experiment in grad school (in thread below).

Just published! Here we report immunogenicity and efficacy of our replicon RNA vaccine against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in a cynomolgus macaque model of #CCHFV infection. Stay tuned as we advance this candidate in clinical trials. www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

There are days in life that shake you. I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University & academic career... 1/🧵

Proteins are a source of glycans found in preparations of glycoRNA https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.17.643711v1

NIH is the best investment there is. www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

Beautiful day to stand up for science!

To those who attack vaccines over rare adverse events (observed in consenting populations) and defend SpaceX after spaceship explosions put populations at risk (without consent): science, whether in medicine or aerospace, relies on observation & iteration to improve safety. We need science!

Vashon island struggling to roll out of bed this morning.

Ok scientists & those who love science 🧪: here is another exhortation. Call Congress TODAY about the freeze on NIH Council Meetings and Study Sections. Emphasize that this means NO new grants are being funded & labs will soon start to shut down and fire employees. Phone numbers are at: 5calls.org

🚨 WANT TO HELP US STAND UP FOR SCIENCE? 🚨 Here's a little update on where we're currently at with the planning process! Is your state red or grey & you want to see an event happen? Fill out our volunteer form or share with a friend! airtable.com/app4h5wUssMG... #standupforscience2025

Scientists, we need your stories! Post a 2-minute video on whatever social media apps you use. Show us your empty labs, tell us about the grant you are waiting for, and talk about why you do what you do. Tag @c4lifesciences.bsky.social and #Cuts2Science Tag your Members of Congress!

I've been seeing lots of super compelling videos of park rangers and federal lawyers and other federal workers telling their stories. Talking about what they did at their job, how it helped the American people, and why they want to keep doing those jobs. This is the way.

democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings 🧪

Today, along with 2,000 other NIH employees, I had to clear out my office 😭 It was truly the honor of my life to work with such incredibly passionate people focused on improving human health. I’ve never experienced a more positive culture where *everyone* cared about their job and serving others.

Here we provide evidence of henipaviruses in North America with the discovery of Camp hill virus in the Northern Short-Tailed Shrew, Alabama. Early release article available from EID wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/... #virology

This account is for sharing info with US scientists, both extramural and intramural to NIH, about attacks on science in the US. Education is power, and we can help advocate for science and medicine together. 💪🧪 We are a team of NIH people. Please ask us questions you might have.

Human neuroinvasive #Toscana virus infections in Italy from 2016 to 2023: Increased incidence in 2022 and 2023. www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...

When you design a vaccine and by the time the paper comes out you’ve made three updated versions as the virus continues to evolve 😅 #influenza #RNAviruses

New paper! In collaboration with NIAID, we asked: how effective are vaccines designed against historical #H5N1 viruses in naïve mice challenged with the contemporary cattle virus? Turns out that the new isolates are different enough to warrant further evaluation of updated vaccine compositions. 🧪

Really excited to share that my postdoctoral work on HPAI in North America is now preprinted! Please feel free to reach out with any feedback and thoughts! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Another update on our #CCHF vaccine that is marching towards phase I clinical trial. Here we report on the durability of protection in a mouse model of CCHFV infection. Excellent work from our colleagues at RML/NIAID🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Visiting the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Einstein on a clear, freezing cold day today. Looking forward to the discussions!

1/23 Big news for the #ObenaufLab! So excited to finally share our new study providing another puzzle piece, why immunotherapy fails in many tumors, now out in @Nature 🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Breaking: Cassava Sciences Topline Phase 3 Data Did Not Meet Co-Primary Endpoints $SAVA CEO: "(T)he loss of cognition in the placebo group was less pronounced than ... in other placebo-controlled studies in AD. We are working to understand this better". www.globenewswire.com/news-release...

I only recently came across the Qubit iQ assay for assessing #RNA integrity (or rather the existence of both short + long RNA within the same sample if I understand correctly). I'd be interested to hear use cases in which this assay may be preferred over e.g. fragment analysis? #RNAsky #RNAbiology

The basic principle is that reviewers are tired, they're rushed, they're reading your and 10 other grants on top of their normal workload. Anything you can do to make it easy for them will help. Here's a list of my suggestions.

Excited for my first bluesky post announcing TWO openings for tenure track positions in virology! I am chair of the search committee and with a new department head Mike Gale we are in an exciting building phase. Please share with anyone who might be interested: hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/365...

Hello everyone! I’m slowly making my way to this app so a re-introduction seems to be in order. I’m a new-ish PI @ #UCSC and my lab studies #astroviruses, non-enveloped, +ssRNA viruses that are a major cause of pediatric #diarrhea.

The 1st rule of day science is to ask for each result, what is the negative control and what is the positive control, because we forget how easy it is to fool ourselves.

Currently doing paperwork to make our IFITM3 KO mice available through Jax Labs. So many functions in antiviral response, inflammation, cell signaling, alzheimer's. Can't keep up with the mouse requests ourselves any more and can't wait to see all the research to come!

N-6-methyladenosine (m6A) Promotes the Nuclear Retention of mRNAs with Intact 5' Splice Site Motifs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

ASV 2025 July 14 - 17, 2025 (Monday - Thursday) Palais des congrès de Montréal Montréal, Québec (CA) asv.org/asv2025/ ASV's VISA Info page: asv.org/asv2025/visa... Find out if you need a VISA ircc.canada.ca/english/visi...

Exciting PhD student opportunity to strengthen our arbovirus research group at Wageningen Bioveterinary Research. Please see the link for more information and to apply: www.wur.nl/nl/vacature/...

Our latest work stabilizing the gB fusion protein. This paves the way for next-gen vaccines against Herpesviruses implicated in cancer, MS, and dementia. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #herpesvirus #EBV #HSV #CMV #proteindesign #virology #immunology

New paper from Amit Khandhar’s team at HDT Bio demonstrating that our LION/repRNA platform can be thermostabilized by lyophilization, enabling refrigerator stability for at least 1 year! Clear implications for global access to vaccines based on our technology. authors.elsevier.com/c/1k6n4cI2-5...

Academic writing — get utilized to it.

Weaver lab reunion at #ASTMH in NOLA. #ViroSky

Really nice new paper by Regeneron, led by Alina Baum, on the effects of monoclonal antibody treatment on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine efficacy. They found that that mAb therapy with their SARS2 Spike mAbs given at the time of vaccination, altered immune responses. www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Update on the Canadian teen who contracted #H5N1 #birdflu: I spoke today with Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's health officer. She expressed cautious optimism that the lack of additional cases suggests this may have been a one-off event. www.statnews.com/2024/11/13/b...

Sad day for many folks at Orna. Lots of hype and investor buzz around this technology but limited published data. #RNASky www.statnews.com/2024/11/12/o...

🚨🚨 Our latest paper shows that IFITM3 deficiency lowers the minimum virus dose threshold for influenza and also enhances adaptation of the virus to a new species.🦠🫁 Major implications for preventing new pandemics. 😷 Proud of first author Parker Denz!👨‍🔬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...