Perry Lab has published 4 high-profile papers (w/ 5th accepted) in 6 yrs since lab opened yet still can't seem to catch a break/benefit of the doubt at NIH study sections. High-risk research has turned out to be a double-edged sword. I'm now questioning my choices.

Yuval Levin: Have an Argument. Disengagement—not disagreement—is the real failure of our politics. www.thefp.com/p/yuval-levi...

If you can't say that political violence, especially murdering someone in cold blood because you disagree with them, is not only morally wrong but anathema to a free country, then I would encourage you to immediately log off and take time for self-reflection.

I was interviewed by Nick Jahomes on the Mind & Matter podcast about our study in @nature.com. Nick does a great job asking questions & explaining nitty gritty. Please take time to listen to the episode & if you like it, consider supporting Nick's efforts. mindandmatter.substack.com/p/fructose-m...

Here's what I assume the study is in re: acetaminophen. It's a statistical analysis of a few dozen studies, to be clear, where the majority (especially the high quality ones) show a positive association. Reputable investigators. ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Congratulations to Ana @anaccodo.bsky.social in my lab and the other awardees. It is a really great acknowledgement of excellent trainees doing cool science.

It's official. I'm happy to announce that I have been promoted to Associate Member @mskcancercenter.bsky.social. It is sincere when I say that this would not have been possible w/o the incredible work of the members of my lab. In fact, exciting news about them coming soon. Stay tuned.

Today we remember our founding & the principles that this great nation was built on, that although we do not always live up to its ideals, it is those ideals, especially the liberty that pluralism affords, that will remain a beacon of hope for a more perfect union. As Madison wrote in Federalist 10:

New from @masslab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social @immunosens.bsky.social out @natureportfolio.nature.com also shows maternal diet affects offspring macrophage function & disease susceptibility. Mass Lab study: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Our study: rdcu.be/eqx2G

Out today from The Perry Lab, our work suggesting how exposure to high fructose in pregnant mice or developing neonates directly affects neurodevelopment. In @natureportfolio.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... @mskcancercenter.bsky.social @weillcornell.bsky.social.

New study by Alissa Trzeciak in The Perry Lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social is out! The best way to explain the journey is if I compared it to the Director's Cut of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Let's just say, it wasn't submitted in March 2025. Link: rdcu.be/eoaRm Writeup: edin.ac/3FtYS5B

Embarrassingly slow to post this, but The Perry Lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social has graduated its first PhD student! It was a great couple of weeks for Shasha, a @weillcornell.bsky.social IMP student. He received The Schmidt Science Fellowship, had his paper accepted (out soon), and defended!

Excellent and informative Q&A with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. Really looking forward to what programs they will come up with, especially (hopefully) expansion of the NIH Director's Office High Risk, High Reward grant programs. If they are looking for ideas, I have a few 🤔.

Very honored to be among this group of incredible scientists, including TWO OTHERS from our Immunology Program @weillcornell.bsky.social @wcm-imp.bsky.social, to receive this from @lupusresearch.bsky.social www.lupusresearch.org/lupus-resear... @mskcancercenter.bsky.social

I have the most important talk of my young academic career coming on Monday. So, naturally, my wife & I went to our favorite brewery (Troeg's, 3.5h away) for the special yearly release of our favorite beer. Always remember your priorities.

Thrilled to share that PhD student Zhaoquan Wang, pioneer of our fructose metabolism work, has received the prestigious Schmidt Science Fellowship allowing him to pursue exciting questions in the octopus. @weillcornell.bsky.social @mskcancercenter.bsky.social www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

This sort of slipped under the radar a bit, but we @justinperryphd.bsky.social received the @americancancersoc.bsky.social Research Scholar Grant for our work @mskcancercenter.bsky.social. www.cancer.org/research/acs...

Nice work by Grayson Logue in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social. I was one of the scientists interviewed for the piece. I appreciate the chance to share our story and welcome discussion over how we can improve the NIH moving forward under Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

Super pumped to see how Anya from the lab merges her unique areas of expertise! Highly recommend checking her lab out for training if you're interested in phagocytosis and tick biology.

This article by Yuval Levin from the American Enterprise Institute continues to remain apt. Whatever the source of the chaos may be (from the outside or from the inside), the short- and long-term consequences are stark. www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

Good luck @drjbhattacharya.bsky.social. Looking forward to seeing how you handle the questioning. Confirmation hearing, March 5 at 10AM ET. help.senate.gov/hearings

Nice piece from James Pethokoukis on the ramifications on cutting basic science funding for AEI. www.aei.org/economics/wh...

Just had my third straight R01 resubmission go from decent score/close to funded, to worse score/not discussed. The NIH is broken. It's been broken for years. Peer review is also broken. Let's not pretend reform isn't needed.

"This is a critical aspect of Marbury that is often overlooked. The Court not only has the power of judicial review of legislation; it also has the power to reject the President’s interpretation of the Constitution." - Justice (then Judge) Kavanaugh, 89 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1907 (2014).

Malthusian panic is a way of converting a challenging technical and economic problem into a more digestible moral problem, writes Kevin Williamson:

I am continually in awe of the innovative ideas and work being done by members of my lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social I just come up with the rare dumb idea. They prove me wrong, which leads to even more interesting things. Thank you @damonrunyon.org for acknowledging their work.

There are things for people to be worried and upset over, for that I encourage calm engagement with your elected representatives. But I find it very frustrating that people with broad reaches in the academic world are making false claims about what various EOs do & the permanence of these acts.

No better time than now to familiarize yourself with Clinton v City of New York, especially the majority opinion joined by sitting SCOTUS member Thomas. I'm sure the Advisory Opinions podcast on @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social will have much more on this soon, including other relevant cases.

1/2: MSK is the first hospital in New York City to offer gene therapy for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia through its pediatric program, MSK Kids. Learn more: bit.ly/4gUKC3a

I came to @bsky.app bc I was told it's more #science than noise. But I'm seeing more & more politics & culture war stuff, just from the left. Ironically, I'm seeing more & more science on X. Maybe having both will strike a balance. Fwiw. I still find both apps the best recruitment tool out there.

Yep, that's me. There's absolutely no other possible reason why I think classically liberal principles, the free market/free enterprise/private ownership, subsidiarity, Burkean localism, etc other than purely selfish reasons. 🤦‍♂️

"A generation of young people with dementia". Wow. Shocking alarmism on a study where the tiny, self-selective PCS group has far worse self-reported depression, known to affect neuropsych symptoms. PS. inappropriate stats, esp regression on correlated data.

Despite the lab's success, due in large part to the wonderful postdocs who took a chance on me, it has become financially unfeasible to maintain the same lab size and scope. Nevertheless, I will always meet with potential postdocs and do my best to help them find science homes.

Very, very cool data tracker to follow over the coming months. Will be particularly interesting to line this up with economic impact on these different zones, eg employment data, etc. Will also be interesting to see how traffic, parking, etc change above 60th. congestion-pricing-tracker.com

My prediction: many academics will return to X (or cross-post). Bluesky's algorithm is extremely tilted in favor of people w/ very large follower #s. Plus, I get daily follows by inappropriate accounts (an issue seemingly resolved on X). & I see same papers both places (which makes business sense).

The title is annoyingly alarmist. NIH isn't going anywhere. Its budget has been regularly increased, even under Trump. Yes, inflation and too many applicants per grant is an issue, but NIH remains popular. Reform is absolutely necessary, all my colleagues agree privately; how is an important debate.

Congratulations to @anacodo.bsky.social for receiving the (well-deserved in my unbiased opinion) @americanheart.bsky.social Predoctoral Fellowship. Ana is already producing seminal work in the lab. I don't use that word lightly. Can't wait to reveal it to everyone!

Nice interview / article by @stevenstrogatz.com for @quantamagazine.bsky.social. Let me know if you ever want to do a follow-up and talk about "efferocytosis", the phagocytic clearance of dead cells, and other forms of phagocytosis, which are essential & an exciting therapeutic target!

Just now processing what was an AMAZING Boo-Yah Event w/ The V Foundation to support the Stuart Scott Memorial Fund. >$3 million raised in a single day! It was the wonderful work of the V Team, I was just lucky to contribute a tiny portion. Shout-out to the Scott Family. Such wonderful human beings.

For those looking for more info on the new NCI funding mechanism to replace the F32 (called K32), here is the new announcement. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide... There's also a version for clinical trials. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Excited for today's Boo-Yah @thevfoundation.bsky.social event. Honored to be amongst esteemed colleagues for such an important cause.

My new piece @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social on the nomination of @drjbhattacharya.bsky.social for director of NIH is out. I tried to reason through what he might achieve alone or w/ Congress. I suspect two words will define his run as director: trust & innovation: thedispatch.com/article/why-...

Preprints - Dec. 2024. Early life high fructose exposure disrupts microglia function and impedes neurodevelopment - @wcm-imp.bsky.social PhD student Shasha Wang pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37645894/ WNK1 enforces macrophage lineage fidelity - postdoc Alissa Trzeciak pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37383948/

@cellmetabolism.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social Metabolic adaptation supports enhanced macrophage efferocytosis in limited-oxygen environments. www.cell.com/cell-metabol... Fun videos from the work! Standard: youtu.be/70a3be6NdKM Hypoxia v1: youtu.be/jhF_kMbRYQU Hypoxia v2: youtu.be/bUR3evaz5jk

@naturemetabolism.bsky.social @natureportfolio.bsky.social Broad-spectrum antibiotics impair homeostatic efferocytosis of macrophages in mice by affecting the gut microbiota. Microbial butyrate rescues homeostatic efferocytosis efficiency in vivo. www.nature.com/articles/s42...