Co-discoverer of reverse transcriptase at 32, Nobel Prize at 37, played a key role at the 1975 Asilomar comference.

I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Over 70K in Seattle denounce Trump at massive ‘No Kings’ rally

What does 18,000+ brave signatories look like standing together in massive solidarity with the #NIH heroes of the historic Bethesda Declaration??... Find out by adding YOUR NAME to our #NIHLove letter here! - actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na... #StandUpForScience #BethesdaDeclaration #StopTrump

Especially if you're on the fence about it, protest today. Fascism is isolating and lonely. Its very goal is to make you feel like you're the only person unwilling to accept a cult of personality. On days like today you fully realize there are more of us than there are them. You will feel better.

"Sources said the administration is specifically considering a full termination of federal grant funding for the University of California and California State University systems." Pure vandalism. This could never happen in a country with functioning checks and balances.

The university of California is a powerhouse of innovation, healthcare, and social mobility for California and the US.

Together with leading science organizations, ASM filed an amicus brief calling for immediate restoration of NIH grants supporting early-career scientists. Read the press release: asm.org/press-releas...

NIH's work saves lives—& Trump is gutting it. Straight from D.C. I headed to Seattle Children's to hear from researchers & patients alike about the importance of NIH funding—it's not just about lines in a budget, it's about lifesaving discoveries. We ALL need to speak up to save it.

#Seattle showed out for the #Handsoff rally. Truly heartening to see the local and national turnout. Keep fighting.

🚨 Over 70 graduate programs in the biological and biomedical sciences have frozen or slashed admissions. The consequences are profound—how many brilliant minds are being shut out of research entirely? How much future discovery is being lost before it even begins? docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short − federal support is essential for medical breakthroughs

See this chart for one stark example: NIH funding has dramatically slowed down. Grant awards are down *$3 billion* so far, compared to same time period last year I asked the White House to explain. “This is not a researcher entitlement program,” said an official, defending their new approach.

Federal funding of biomedical research has been a remarkably successful partnership, with benefits that are so intertwined in our daily lives that they can be easy to take for granted. So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research? theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...

More important now than ever before: vilcek.org/prizes/vilce...

I wrote an OpEd arguing against funding cuts to NIH and NSF and their devastating impact for the newspaper I grew up with, the Morning Sun, in Pittsburg, Kansas. Keep spreading the word, wherever you can. morningsun.net/stories/maki...

First authors Madeline Churchill and Ankit Pandeya @nkeet50.bsky.social from @rauchlab.bsky.social show that tuft cells, known for their role in anti-parasite defenses, can also contribute to anti-bacterial responses in the small intestine. rupress.org/jem/article/... #InfectiousDisease

Let's not forget that apart from science advocacy the Rauch lab also does kick-ass science! Together with the @psmitchej.bsky.social and Tait Wojno labs, we show that #tuftcells can induce specific protective signaling after recognition of intracellular bacterial infection via the #inflammasome!

New report shows that NIH grants fueled $95 billion in economic activity and 407,782 jobs in 2024. That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved. Show me a better investment than that. www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

🧪 The attack on science could have a generational effect. We risk losing a wave of early-career researchers to these cuts. And biomedical science in the US will be less ambitious, less competitive & lead to fewer breakthroughs. So much is at stake. My latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com (🎁 link):

See below for an AMAZING opportunity to learn the science of mosquito neurobiology.

1/4 Today, I honor Dr. Lee Herzenberg, a renaissance woman and a pioneer. #InternationalWomensDay #WomenInScience #IWD I’ve been fortunate to be mentored by women at home and in science. I met Lee in 2004, and her mentorship profoundly influenced my career and values.

if you've had an NIH grant terminated, I want to hear about it. Signal: katherinejwu.12

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news... #standupforscience Many, many thanks to all who attended, the speakers, and to the incredible @sufsseattle.bsky.social organizers!!!

Posting some links to articles about the Stand Up For Science rallies In the @nytimes.com "Science, Politics and Anxiety Mix at Rally Under Lincoln Memorial" www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/s... #StandUpForScience

My message to those that aim to sow distrust in science & healthcare: You picked the wrong group to dismiss and discount. We do not yield to misinformation and lies! #standupforscience2025 @sufsseattle.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social

They can’t fire science. Tell your story: bit.ly/faces_of_science

@standupforscience.bsky.social great turnout in Oregon for #standupforscience2025 !!! Thanks to all the amazing speakers!!!

Thank you @governorferguson.bsky.social for Standing Up for Science!!! #standupforscience @standupforscience.bsky.social

Breaking news: Thousands of researchers and their supporters, including recently fired federal workers, have gathered across the U.S. in response to layoffs and funding cuts ordered by the Trump administration. scim.ag/41zlPv4

STAND UP SEATTLE!!!

Joining colleagues and concerned citizens across the US and around the world today who are Standing Up For Science. Why? ✔️research creates cures ✔️science grows the economy ✔️for my colleagues, our trainees, and the future of research and healthcare ✔️because science is for everyone

LIVE STREAM UP! m.twitch.tv/standupforsc...

@laurenrodda.bsky.social, @nicelab.bsky.social , @jnpruneda.bsky.social and I wrote an OpEd on the impacts of NIH cuts on Oregon: www.bizjournals.com/portland/new... It was signed by over 450 OHSU researchers! It’s unfortunately paywalled, DM me if you’d like a gift link or a pdf of it.

The study section I sit on (Innate Immunity B) will be rescheduled to April. Just putting this out there since folks have been getting no notifications about whats going on with their grants.

Trump and Musk are cutting off cancer research.

Hope to see you next week #Seattle. This isn't just for scientists. Science is for everyone. Biomedical research benefits everyone. @standupforscience.bsky.social March 7 12-3 PM Seattle Center

It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office. Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc. Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.

New York Times article now up on Federal Register stuff. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s... 1/n

A US Senator Joins the Fray. Thank you @murray.senate.gov ! More of this, please! www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murr...

In light of policies to defund biomedical research, and with judicial hearings happening today, we hope to highlight the many ways biomedical research improves people's lives, and to convey how damaging the proposed cuts would be... not just for us researchers, but for everyone.

I tell people all the time WHY I love being a scientist: I’m obsessed with creative problem solving that leads to discovery AND it helps humanity. I rarely talk about HOW science happens. My own brother didn’t know how I funded my lab. Science is under attack. Everyone needs to understand this👇

Scientists and journalists need to figure out right quick how to explain to the average person how a massive change in research indirects will impact the medical care they and their children get (eg at the local children’s hospital), the education their children will get, the price of tuition, etc.

This is the kind of simple and direct message we need right now: long-term damage aside, this attack is going to very quickly make it even harder for people to have the jobs and medical care they need.

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%. I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

To all undergraduate students enrolled in the state of Washington: are you interested in microbiology and looking for a summer research opportunity? If so, please apply to the Biomedical Summer Training and Engagement Program, hosted by the Department of Microbiology at UW (Seattle).

We're hiring! Funded postdoctoral position available in the Moltke Lab. 79k starting salary and access to a fellowship program in the Institute for Translational Immunology that offers both academic and industry training tracks. Details here: jobrxiv.org/job/universi...

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.