Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs - Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75% - Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60% - Social Sciences by 50–70% - History by 60% - Biology by 75% - The German department will lose all PhD seats - Sociology from six PhD students to zero

The first locally acquired case of chikungunya in the US since 2019 has been reported on Long Island

ICYMI: Our Sept Fellows Spotlight features Dr. David Martinez @davidmartinez.bsky.social (@yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social) and his work on #InfectiousDisease, #DengueVirus & #COVIDVaccines. Learn more + apply to be a #KSFellow! 🔗 keypoint.keystonesymposia.org/home/septemb... #KeystoneSymposia

September Fellow's Spotlight on Dr. David Martinez

Our September Fellows Spotlight goes to Keystone Symposia Fellow Dr. David Martinez of Yale Medical School who played a critical role in research and development of the COVID-19 vaccines and antibody ...

keypoint.keystonesymposia.org

Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

Department of Microbiology | The University of Chicago

microbiology.uchicago.edu

Happy to announce the publication using advanced models to understand how T cells mediate efficient immunoediting in early sarcomas. This was a collaboration between Julie Cheung and Brian Hunt in the lab Thanks to Cancer Cell for publishing our work. www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...

Distinct T cell functions enable efficient immunoediting and prevent tumor emergence of developing sarcomas

Cheung et al. describe efficient T cell control of nascent neoantigen+ and nearby neoantigen-negative sarcoma cells, underlying a ∼50% reduction in tumor penetrance. This otherwise imperceptible immun...

cell.com

NEW: In an unprecedented move, the NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding. NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and told to expect placements by political appointees.

Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities

The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.

nature.com

"No vaccine was tested more extensively than the RNA vaccines, and no vaccine was given to more people than the mRNA vaccines, & they were found to be incredibly safe...and effective. They saved 20 million lives, & they stopped a pandemic that was shutting down the world." -Drew Weissman

Matthew Herper@matthewherper.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Winner of mRNA Nobel Prize says ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist is “absolutely impossible” In Q&A, Drew Weissman says vast literature shows Covid shots are safe, refutes claims from Retsef Levi www.statnews.com/2025/09/20/d...

The problem with believing vaccines are dangerous is that by the time you realize you’re wrong, it’s too late and someone you love dies of a preventable disease. Florida is about to find this out the hard way.

Save America Movement@saveamericamvmt.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Florida's decision will cost lives.

RFK Jr. rolled out that old chestnut again about how healthy Americans were in the 60’s, so here’s a fact check. In 1965: -42% of American adults smoked; it’s 11% now. -The infant morality rate was 24.7/1000; it’s 5.6/1000 now. -Overall life expectancy was 70 years; it's about 77 years now.

A bizarre dogma has emerged among the anti-mRNA crowd that the only data we have on vaccines is from the original trial papers, rather than the HUGE volume of studies that came out subsequently...

Paul Mainwood@paulmainwood.bsky.social · 11mo ago

... then an avalanche showing effectiveness vs hospitalisation, vs critical care, vs death, for subgroups, different variants, different vaccines, over time. These are UK only - knock yourself out. That first study was just designed to check it worked safely vs cases. www.gov.uk/guidance/mon...

🚨New Paper in Cell 🧵🔎 Happy to share our work led by the @camilahcoelho.bsky.social, on mAbs against mpox. We were very excited (and lucky!) to contribute to this collab. effort. 🦠“Human monoclonal antibodies targeting A35 protect from death caused by mpox”🦠 doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.08.004

🚨 New Publication!!! I’m thrilled to share our latest study, “Clonotype-Enriched Somatic Hypermutations Drive Affinity Maturation of a Public Human Antibody Targeting an Occluded Sarbecovirus Epitope”. www.cell.com/cell-reports... [1/4]

Clonotype-enriched somatic hypermutations drive affinity maturation of a public human antibody targeting an occluded sarbecovirus epitope

Rao et al. demonstrate that convergent somatic hypermutations in the light chain, enriched within a sarbecovirus-specific public antibody clonotype, drive affinity maturation. This antibody targets a ...

cell.com

Nature: Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility go.nature.com/3HDx4wD cc Jay Bhattacharya

America Is Abandoning One of the Greatest Medical Breakthroughs www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

Opinion | America Is Abandoning One of the Greatest Medical Breakthroughs

nytimes.com

To have this paper appear the same day that RFK Jr is canceling all mRNA vaccine funding is further indication that irony is not dead, even though we might all be soon.

SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19)@covid19disease.bsky.social · last yr.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A 33-year-old ex-Marine police officer was shot at the CDC by someone who believed he was hurt by the Covid vaccine. The policeman was a father of two with another baby on the way ---> www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...

Gunman in Deadly C.D.C. Shooting Fixated on Covid Vaccine, Officials Say

nytimes.com

So proud of Celeste Robles @celeste-robles.bsky.social for being selected as a 2025 Gilliam Fellow! Thrilled to be joining the Gilliam community @hhmi.org www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...

Beaming with pride that Jordan Polster, a student in my lab at Yale, was selected for the #Gilliam #Fellowship from @hhmi.org I look forward to mentoring Jordan and participating in the various mentorship workshops. Jordan - congrats! And I can’t wait to see your research advance!

HHMI@hhmi-science.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Congratulations 2025 Gilliam Fellows and Advisors! 🎉 The Gilliam Fellows Program launches promising PhD students into impactful scientific research careers while fostering inclusive training environments. Through this program, HHMI supports both graduate students and their faculty thesis advisors.

Congratulations 2025 Gilliam Fellows and Advisors! 🎉 The Gilliam Fellows Program launches promising PhD students into impactful scientific research careers while fostering inclusive training environments. Through this program, HHMI supports both graduate students and their faculty thesis advisors.

BIG NEWS: “Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.” Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle! www.axios.com/pro/health-c...

Senate appropriators approve Labor-HHS bill with NIH bump

The vote and lawmaker comments show that most senators aren't going along with the White House's proposed 40% budget cut to NIH.

axios.com

The NIH budget will INCREASE by $400 million — not slashed by 40%, as Trump proposed — according to a proposal by Senate appropriators, says Sen Murray. "Some have asked if there will even be an NIH by [2029]. The commmittee's resounding message is yes—Congress has your back", she says.

In preparation of today's mark-up of the NIH appropriations bill in the Senate and other activities, I sent this note to Senator Susan Collins' office. 1/2

Extra kudos and thanks to all the staff at NIH and NSF and other federal funding agencies for working extra hard in very small windows of opportunity to get grants reviewed and funds released before the attention-addled federal policies change again (on an hourly basis).

Breaking News: Brown University was said to have reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding. nyti.ms/459nQzY

Reviewer #3 feedback.

Oded Rechavi@odedrechavi.bsky.social · last yr.

How to write an exciting grant

holy shit lmao

New paper! Combining epidemiology and experiments uncovers surprising drug-host-microbiome-pathogen interactions. Congrats @amankumar25.bsky.social, Robyn Tamblyn, and the rest of the team. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🎉 Over the moon to share the first paper from my lab!! We discovered an unexpected role for the cytokine OSM in lung epithelial homeostasis and repair. 🧵 1/n www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Macrophage-derived oncostatin M repairs the lung epithelial barrier during inflammatory damage

Tissue repair programs must function alongside antiviral immunity to restore the lung epithelial barrier following infection. We found that macrophage-derived oncostatin M (OSM) counteracted the patho...

science.org