Shoot, I've fallen out of the habit of finding something to be grateful for. As the world (especially the US!) continues to burn, this habit of finding something to be grateful for has been centering for me. So, let's restart with two things today (1/3):

Our 7yo has coined a new word: "interrupdate." I think he meant it as a fancier or more nuanced version of "interrupt," but I'm sure we can all see the possibilities.

Today, I'm grateful to have two PhD students presenting at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers annual meeting. Briana Lino: release factor engineering to enhance noncanonical amino acid incorporation Sean Williams: protein-small molecule hybrid discovery (1/2) #ChemSky

Today, I'm grateful for kid #2's excitement about Halloween. However, I am NOT grateful for the resulting inability to sleep past 3am and its effects on MY sleep...

“Meritocracy” www.science.org/content/arti...

...With thought-provoking presentations from Han Xiao and Ali Deliz Liang this morning! #Chemsky

Today, I'm grateful for the International Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) Webinar. gce4all.oregonstate.edu/tools-and-tr... This series has done a really good job of featuring a wide range of speakers using noncanonical amino acids and GCE in creative ways! (1/2)

Today, I'm grateful for Thundercat. No, I will not be taking questions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhVg...

Today, I'm grateful for the Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos Symposium on Single-Site Catalysis at Tufts. This symposium celebrates Maria's legacy in the field by bring together current researchers in the field (1/2). #ChemSky #Catalysis #SingleAtoms sites.tufts.edu/mfscatalysis...

Today, I'm grateful for Jeremy Berg. I'll let his words speak for themselves. #Science #Courage

Today, I'm grateful for a seminar and visit from Michael Wong, Rice University Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, to Tufts ChBE. Excellent seminar and creative ideas about PFAS. Time to revisit my long-dormant fluorinated protein expertise? www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #ChemSky

Today, I'm grateful for the background information associated with Nobel Prizes. I enjoy reading about the scientific foundations that led to the prizes. The popular science information is accessible even when I don't have background in a prize area (1/n). www.nobelprize.org #ChemSky #NobelPrize

Today, I'm grateful for "Office Hours," a podcast supported by the Biomedical Engineering Society. Host Liz Wayne @lizwaynephd.bsky.social is doing tremendous work here. I especially enjoy the discussions surrounding why Liz and her guests have chosen careers in academia (1/2). #BMES #ChemSky

🚨New manuscript alert!🚨We show that a natural, bacterial-derived, #antimicrobial #AMP can be used and engineered for targeted manipulation of specific species in a microbial community from the top-down! #microbiome. Thanks to @vandeventerjim.bsky.social for helping! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Today, as the shutdown of the US government draws closer, I'd just like to express my gratitude for the program officers, scientific review officers, and other employees of US granting agencies (1/2).

Okay, I'm grateful for something else today: excellent seminar by Ben Woolston, Asst. Professor, Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University (not sure if he's on Blue Sky). Crazy microbes doing C1 metabolism, and microbes producing + sensing hydrogen sulfide. #ChemSky woolstonlab.org

Today, I'm grateful to be able to welcome a first-year PhD student into the Van Deventer Lab. Welcome, Peter Tinker, to the group!

Today, I'm grateful for 30% off all bagged coffee at the local Whole Foods. Even off of the legendary roaster George Howell's coffees (always legendarily priced these days, too). Goodness! What a treat! #CoffeeObsessed

Today, I'm grateful for Nala Sinephro and her music. This artist has released a couple of absolutely gorgeous albums that I've listened to more times than I can count. nalasinephro.com

Today, I'm grateful for the courage of Wired editors: www.wired.com/politics-iss...

Today, I’m grateful it was a competitive showing for Everton www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Today, I'm grateful for two things: 1. Cake for breakfast (this needs no further explanation). 2. My Chemical and Biological Engineering colleagues. Committed to world-class research, heavily invested in teaching and mentoring, and genuinely collegial people. engineering.tufts.edu/chbe/people/...

Today, I'm grateful for first year undergraduate students. Oh my goodness, so much enthusiasm and curiosity, so willing to try different things...it's fun teaching them. I hope coffee engineering can help them increase these attributes while also preparing them for the rigors of engineering!

Today, I'm grateful for a new episode of "The Chain" podcast (Episode 77). Great conversation between Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social and chris bahl @cdbahl.com with a wide range of thoughts, provocations, and opinions (1/2). www.healthtech.com/thechain

Today, I'm grateful for Kpop Demon Hunters. I mean, how could I not be (at least mostly)? It's the only music that plays in my family's house + cars, the kids are obsessed with it, and I've had the music stuck in my head for the past month without going insane... www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzCA...

Today, I'm grateful for football (No, not American football, proper football. You know, the football that's played globally?). Especially our city league and our kids' games. It was fun to be out at the Daniel Joyce Middle School in Woburn, MA, cheering them on.

Today, I'm grateful for the Targeted Protein Degradation meeting that took place yesterday in Boston. Excellent talks by @nathanaelgray.bsky.social, Georg Petzold @monterosatx.com, @brianliau.bsky.social, @xingulab.bsky.social, and more (1/2). www.danafarbertargetedproteindegradation.org

Hey #ChemSky, are politics not your thing? Read Briana's work on engineering release factors to enhance genetic code expansion instead! bsky.app/profile/vand...

Today, I’m grateful that I can finally share Briana Lino’s @blino237.bsky.social work on engineering eukaryotic release factor 1 (eRF1) for enhanced noncanonical amino acid incorporation. I highlight some key findings in this thread (1/n). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Today, I'm grateful for a quick trip I made to Basel in May while I was in France. I was able to visit Michael Nash's lab at Uni Basel and give a joint seminar for Uni Basel and ETH. It was a crazy trip involving a bus-to-bus-to-train-to-train set of connections. Beautiful city (1/2).

Today, I'm grateful to Tufts University--the university is trying to do good in the world, at a time when it's very easy for institutions of higher learning to stray wildly from their core missions. (Disclosure: Tufts is my employer) now.tufts.edu/2025/09/09/t...

Today, I'm grateful for one last camping trip this season with a group of friends. An excellent escape (but could have done without the raging afternoon thunderstorm). Picture from @allisonvandev.bsky.social

Today, I'm grateful for Wired and its excellent continuing coverage of the US government during Trump II. Keep it up, Wired! The world needs this info. Excellently researched (but very concerning) article by @telliotter.bsky.social below. www.wired.com/story/state-...

Today, I'm grateful for my Chemical and Biological Engineering faculty colleague Matt Panzer. Matt has refined the labs for the Tufts Coffee Engineering course beautifully, making it possible for me to hit the ground running as I teach the course for the first time (1/2).

Today, I'm grateful for the podcast The Tortured Proteins Department. Excellent back-and-forth between @fraserlab.com and @stephanieaw.bsky.social. Disclaimer: I've only listened to episode 6; I hope it's not an outlier! 🤪 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Hello, fall semester. I'm grateful for a couple of things as classes start: 1. I'm teaching a course on Coffee Engineering--so fun! 2. I'm grateful that many of my academic colleagues are wrestling thoughtfully with GenAI in classes (Tufts resource here): provost.tufts.edu/celt/online-...

Trump knew RFK Jr. would be a disastrous pick to lead health care in America, and he nominated him anyway. Trump made this mistake, and now he must fire RFK Jr. immediately.

@dereklowe.bsky.social is on fire today, and so is the US government: www.science.org/content/blog...

Caution: cryptic post below Grimsby, that was incredibly inspiring. Thank you.

On my sabbatical last fall, I had the pleasure of diving into molecular glues and targeted protein degradation. This recently published work by Monte Rosa Therapeutics is a stunning advance for the field (1/n). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Another look back at Van Deventer adventures in France: the Tufts in Talloires program went to Chamonix, France, in late May and lucked out with TREMENDOUS weather. On this trip, I hiked and walked in the area and enjoyed great views from pretty much every location I visited!

Next installment of Van Deventer European adventure: Talloires, France, is incredible. Located on Lac d'Annecy, there are beautiful view in every direction, and it's incredibly easy to take good pictures (even for a terrible photographer like me!).

Friends, we had an incredible experience earlier this summer. I taught a course in Talloires, France, for Tufts. This gave @allisonvandev.bsky.social, our kids, and me the opportunity to have all kinds of adventures in Europe. More pictures and reflections in the coming weeks.

"As civil servants, NSF employees are bound by their oath to uphold the Constitution. That oath now compels us to call attention to actions that jeopardize NSF's mission, its independence, and the foundational laws that protect the federal workforce from politicization and abuse."

I'm letting Rumeysa's words speak for themselves: www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025...

I updated my funding curves last night. Here are the results for new and competitive renewal grants. The rate of investment has dropped substantially. This is apparently due to a requirement for DOGE review. I am calling this effect the "Downward DOGE" 1/2

All 4 of my NIH research grants are terminated. These were grants on MDR-TB treatment & strategies for supporting adolescents living w/ HIV. This is a massive waste of resources. I am heartbroken for my Harvard team, my partners in Peru, the next generation of scientists & our country. Shame.

**** Judge Sessions GRANTS BAIL/RELEASE to Rümeysa Öztürk: "The court finds that [Rümeysa Öztürk's] continued detention cannot stand."

This is a horrific development for the US National Science Foundation: www.science.org/content/arti...

Jocelyn Kaiser's recent interview with the new NIH Director... www.science.org/content/arti...