@julienguyenlab.bsky.social @ratnanather.bsky.social @kristy-ainslie-lab.bsky.social @metecivelek.bsky.social @jessicaowinter.bsky.social @weigaolab.bsky.social @shenhui1986.bsky.social @davidodde.bsky.social @vannishanks.bsky.social @rmqueenvt.bsky.social @lenating.bsky.social

Myf fixed at 2025 levels.

Email overload isn’t just annoying and it can quietly affect professionalism. Missing a message can look like you’re ignoring someone when the reality is usually just noise and volume. Link to post: lnkd.in/e7QsQsmi

Excited to share our open-access work exploring a different approach to treating multiple sclerosis: inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance rather than broadly suppressing the immune system. Pub: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... Substack: go.unc.edu/SStStiepelMS

Part 2 of 8 of series on the history of micro- and nanotechnology in therapeutics, vaccines & imaging! This installment dives into complex biologic carriers. These are systems that aren’t quite living but are more sophisticated than simple drugs & contain biologics. Link: go.unc.edu/SStComplexBio2

A Brief History of Living Medicines: I just published the first post in a new series exploring the timeline of micro- and nanotechnology in therapeutics, vaccines, and imaging. Part 1 focuses on living medicines: therapies that are alive at the time of delivery. Link: go.unc.edu/SStLivingMed1

Running an academic research lab is hard. I’ve learned that what matters most isn’t perfection, but clear expectations, consistent communication & shared responsibility. My lab certainly isn’t flawless, but here are some thoughts on organizing a lab. go.unc.edu/SStManagement

Thinking about a PhD? Evidence shows that PhD success is driven primarily by the advisor–student relationship. - What actually makes a good advisor and lab - Questions every prospective PhD student should ask - Common red flags that lead to regret go.unc.edu/SStGradSelec...

Our new paper is out! Tracking the stability of DNA origami in-vivo is typically done with fluorescence, but are they still attached to intact DNA nanostructures? Here we introduce PLASTIQ, a method to quantify the structure of DNA nanostructures using tiny blood samples, ligations and PCRs!

Especially now, most programs interview many strong applicants and admit only a few. Yes, they’re evaluating you, but you should also be evaluating them. Advisor fit matters, and a bad mentor can make even a great project miserable. go.unc.edu/STEMGradInte...

Excited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv: “Novel compounds derived from AR-12 that demonstrate host-directed clearance of intracellular Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium.” Preprint: go.unc.edu/Salmonella20... Substack about it: go.unc.edu/AISubSt

I recently spoke about how I use AI. The ideas and content are mine, with careful editing and ref checks, but AI helps me work faster and with fewer errors. I use it particularly for letters of recommendation, NIH grants, and scientific writing. go.unc.edu/AISubSt

New year, new platform to try! I’m experimenting with Substack as a place to share my research and practical insights on grant writing & academic life. go.unc.edu/NIHfactorpro... go.unc.edu/AinslieTop10... My site is called 'Kristy Engineers Immunity' if you want to check it out!

Wrapping up the year by celebrating the Top 10 Ainslie Lab papers (by citations + social buzz). Proud of this team and grateful for our collaborators. Here’s to another year of impactful biomaterials science.

Baked goods for the lab from the past semester. Strawberry cupcakes, apple cider doughnuts, raspberry cupcakes, Oreo cupcakes, vanilla coffee cupcakes, candy corn shortbread cookies and dark chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate frosting. 😋

My ERA commons is broken! 😆🫠

New preprint! We evaluated 343 analogs of AR-12 (OSU-03012), a compound with host-directed anti-leishmanial activity. w/ RTI & Duke Chem, we identified the lysosome as a new anti-leishmanial target and developed analogs with improved potency and safety. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

While waiting for election results, I asked ChatGPT for the top 50 synthetic polymers used in drug delivery - with discovery years and references. It got 35% of the years right and only 1 correct reference out of 40! ainslielab.web.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

Thrilled to congratulate Elizabeth Gurysh on her first-author paper in Nature Portfolio, showcasing exciting work on immunotherapy-driven clearance of orthotopic glioblastoma. Open Access: rdcu.be/eIJmv

NSF today released instructions for the next round of applicants to its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. A key group—second-year Ph.D. students—is no longer eligible, and students who are still able to apply will face an unusually narrow timeframe. https://scim.ag/3KlQkQk

Group lunch at the newly reopened Med Deli! Great to see it open again and wonderful food as always!

Congrats High School student Jacob Bachelder on your first author pre-print publication in Chemrxiv! "Six-Array Transepithelial Electrical Resistance Device" doi.org/10.26434/che...

Congrats Ryan Woodring on your 1st author pub "Biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolds enhance standard of care for glioblastoma via localized targeted therapy" Open Access: go.unc.edu/AinslieLabTMZ

Over the years, I’ve baked cupcakes for lab members’ birthdays, colleagues at work, and friends in my neighborhood. Some of the students in the division asked me to collect the recipes, so I’ve put them together in a free PDF download: go.unc.edu/Cakes Enjoy! 🧁

High-dose flu shots associated with protection against myocarditis or pericarditis compared with regular flu shots in the largest individually randomized trial of an enhanced influenza vaccine. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Two memes of the week this week!

Welcoming the lab back to the 1st week of classes w/ homemade lunch! Korean beef rice bowl, Roasted veggie over an orzo, garbanzo & feta salad, Southwest chix farro bowl w/ grilled corn, black beans, pico de gallo, roasted onion & peppers, & cauliflower & Cashew barley bowl with baked tofu

Our lab's meme of the week this week! I'm a sucker for any Schitt's Creek meme.

Some lab birthday treats from this summer. Double decadence brownies, peach upside down cake, lemon cupcakes, and reverse cookies & cream cupcakes.

I’m looking forward to presenting at the Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting today during Tech Session VI: Immuno Delivery III! 🗓 Thursday, July 17, 2025 🕟 4:30 PM EDT 📍 Room 119 B

JCR Article double feature alert! Intranasal influenza vaccine w/ a nanocomplex particulate adjuvant targeting mast cells & TLR9 doi.org/10.1016/j.jc... Multivalent subunit influenza vaccine using mixed polymeric microparticle degradation rates doi.org/10.1016/j.jc... @dpmp-unc.bsky.social

Inspired by CRS meeting - A new Micro/Nanotechnology for Therapeutic, Vaccine, and Imaging Applications timeline! Original article Stiepel et al.: doi.org/10.1002/btm2... Link timelines: ainslielab.web.unc.edu/support/ Editable timeline: docs.google.com/presentation... @dpmp-unc.bsky.social

Excited to be co-chairing a fantastic Immuno Delivery session at the CRS this Wednesday alongside Helena Florindo! We have an outstanding lineup of speakers : ✨ Ayelet David ✨ Vincent J. Venditto ✨ Paul Sagoe ✨ Milan paul ✨ Ana Baião ✨ David Peeler ✨ Madhan Mohan Chandra Sekhar Jaggarapu

I’m looking forward to presenting at the CRS Meeting Thursday during Tech Session VI: Immuno Delivery III! 🗓 Thurs 7/17/25 🕟 4:30 PM 📍 Room 119 B My talk, “Engineering Tolerance: Acetalated Dextran Microparticles in the Generation of B-regs and T-regs,”

Great to visit UMich Pharmacy and thanks for the swag!

Congrats Nicole Rose on your successful PhD defense!! 🎉🎉

Pics from Nicole's graduation party! 🎉🎉

Congrats Sophie on your review! Open Access: www.preprints.org/manuscript/2...

A peach upside down cake for my lab tech Allie's birthday! 🍑

AIMBE has launched our new Citizen Advocate for Science Letter: takeaction.io/aimbe/scienc... We ask the broader scientific community to widely share this letter (✍️ <1 minute) with friends, family, and other concerned citizens to urge their elected officials to protect biomedical research funding 👇

Cancer vaccines will be a big part of the future of immunotherapy. A new, super review @thelancet.com www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

What's $40k+ a year in unexpected publishing costs in these turbulent times! 😆😭

Some reverse cookies and cream cupcakes made with Chocolate Pretzel Oreos for a lab member's bday

50d free: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lF6fcI2-9... "Optimizing delivery in a multivalent subunit influenza vaccine using mixed polymeric microparticle degradation rates" We show that changing polymer particle degradation rate in a multivalent influenza vaccine can reduce antigen dominance.

I brought in some cupcakes for my friends and collogues across campus!

50d free: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l8cjcI2-9... Congrats Luis on your 1st author paper! We identified a potent mast cell-activating peptide (MP12W) that, when combined with CpG, forms a nanoparticle intranasal vaccine providing broad protection against H1 influenza. @dpmp-unc.bsky.social

Special Issue in @JCRnEDITORS honors Dr. Leaf Huang—a pioneer in drug & gene delivery. Pioneering advances from liposomes to immunotherapy. doi.org/10.1016/j.jc... Kudos to @kristy-ainslie-lab.bsky.social, @julienguyenlab.bsky.social, Dr. Olivia Merkel & Dr. Yunching Chen for curating it!

We have updated our database of funding opportunities for Early-Career Researchers (private foundations, federal, international) We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc. Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

Celebrating Smallpox Eradication Day with cupcakes in the lab! 🎉 Before vaccination, smallpox killed ~500 million people in the 20th century alone. Thanks to a global vaccination campaign, smallpox became the first human disease to be eradicated May 8, 1980 - Vaccines work!

Congratulations Grace on receiving Best Poster Presentation at the Women in Science Poster forum! 🎉