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Emily Costa, PhD

@emcosta.bsky.social

🧬 science communicator and cancer biologist 🎭 co-host of @factsmachinepod.bsky.social 🌿 preferably in the woods petting the moss opinions mine (she/her/hers)

16 Posts258 Follower453 Folgt
Carolyn Bertozzi@carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 4w ago

“If the government hadn’t funded research into desert lizard venom, we wouldn’t know about semaglutide…If research scientists hadn’t studied how bees optimize nectar foraging within a colony, we wouldn’t have the algorithm that assigns internet traffic” www.publicnotice.co/p/michael-kr...

The new "science golden age" looks suspiciously like a grift

Trump wants to run scientific research like his family business.

publicnotice.co

Shobita Parthasarathy@shobitap.org · last mo.

I suffered through Kratsios' answer to Science: the Endless Frontier. The NYT summary is good, but there's more to it. And I should say that I welcome improvements to the scientific enterprise (which is why I'm participating in @alondra.bsky.social and Jenny Reardon's Public's Science project). 🧵

Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

nytimes.com

Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · 3mo ago

“The rule is catastrophic… it means that cancer patients, including those in active treatment, could be forced to work the same number of hours as a healthy person — regardless of whether that’s physically possible, just to keep the health insurance coverage that they rely on to stay alive.”

Lawmakers promised cancer patients would be protected from Medicaid cuts. Now CMS says otherwise

“One of the cancer community’s worst fears is coming to pass,” writes Gwen Nichols of Blood Cancer United.

statnews.com

Prof. Nicole Holliday@mixedlinguist.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Humanity did that. Science did that. Publicly-funded research did that. Excellent universities did that. Diversity did that. International cooperation did that. Artemis II is a perfect example of what we can do at our best. Welcome home, Integrity crew!

depths of wikipedia@depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 8mo ago

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D.@sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Scientists. I want you to think of science communication projects you'd like to make happen in your neighborhood/town/city. Really think about it for a moment. Imagine that you're funding it yourself. How much is the minimum you'd need to make it happen?

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 10mo ago

It's hard to express what it meant to watch Maurice, Natalia, Celeste, and Rhea tell their stories—in their own voices—this morning. The segment revealed a brutal reality: homelessness at this scale isn't about personal failure. It's the result of policy choices and systems built to exploit people.

When the employed are pushed into homelessness

In America we are taught hard work is the key to success. But despite having full-time jobs, many families are locked out of the rental housing market, due to low wages, soaring rents and poor credit,...

cbsnews.com

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Some news: tomorrow at 9am, Ted Koppel + CBS Sunday Morning will air a two-part story on the devastating surge of full-time workers being pushed into homelessness. I'll be interviewed along with two families from There Is No Place for Us. It would mean a lot if you'd watch and help spread the word.

The Xylom@thexylom.com · 11mo ago

EXCLUSIVE: A new analysis by The Xylom's @alexip718.com shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on H-1B skilled workers — and how this delicate balance might be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration.

The Most Detailed Maps of H-1B Visa Holders Joining America's Top Research Institutions

A new analysis by The Xylom shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on the specialized knowledge of H-1B skilled workers — and how this…

thexylom.com

Nsikan Akpan@monscience.bsky.social · 11mo ago

If you read one story about the autism announcement, make it @amymaxmen.bsky.social's. One detail that others miss: "Fevers can harm the mother and the developing fetus, she said, adding that fevers are more strongly associated with autism than Tylenol." kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

‘Sick to My Stomach’: Trump Distorts Facts on Autism, Tylenol, and Vaccines, Scientists Say - KFF Health News

The White House’s autism announcement exaggerates links to Tylenol, misleads on vaccines, and sets back the field by ignoring decades of research, scientists say.

kffhealthnews.org

Gregg Gonsalves@gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 11mo ago

So many academics are on HB-1 visas. This is another attack by #RussellVought on universities and scientific research. Stop telling me anything this administration does is in good faith or with any sort of policy goal except destruction.

Justin Wolfers@justinwolfers.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion. Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.

Emily Costa, PhD@emcosta.bsky.social · 11mo ago

It's true, but also my favorite thing is talking to folks about what we know, what we don't, and why when it comes to cancer research so...hit a girl up! (P.S. one of the earliest targeted therapies ever is for the BCR-ABL1 fusion and we still study gene fusions as a way to target various cancers!)

Hank Green@hankgreen.bsky.social · 11mo ago

It's like, "Oh, you think that a special tea will undo a TMPRSS2–ERG fusion that just gave a prostate cancer cell all the tissue-invading abilities of a hyperactive blood vessel? Let me know how that works out."

Mark Histed@markhisted.org · 12mo ago

The VC model is the antithesis of good basic science. Basic science is best when many labs are funded over the long-term, when many different scientists pursue their own ideas. Let a thousand flowers bloom —and support them. VC investment is about relentless, exponential growth.

But starting in the late 1980s, that investment in basic science began to pay off, driving a revolution in the molecular biology of cancer. Though it took decades, the cancer investment increase in the 1970s has led to a cornucopia of new cancer cures today. Immunotherapies, CAR-T cell treatments, checkpoint inhibitors, and precision drug targeting are all a product of that basic science work. And that progress has contributed to increased quality of life. Between 1991 and 2019, the risk of dying of cancer dropped by 31%. This is a common story for basic scientific research: it's a long-term investment, one that only governments have the time horizon to make, and it brings enormous payoffs. The payoffs are both economic, generating jobs, and in better health, generating cures. And the US scientific research system is complex, painstakingly constructed, and easy to
Alondra Nelson@alondra.bsky.social · last yr.

“a court order can’t reinstate months of lost treatment for a cancer patient… It’s hard to put a price on the value of research that might be years away from a new drug or treatment...It’s even harder for those who have been kicked out of clinical trials…where the stakes are clearly life or death”

WIRED@wired.com · last yr.

Attempting to eliminate funding for certain kinds of “woke” studies, the Trump administration erased hundreds of millions of dollars being used for cancer research. www.wired.com/story/how-tr...

Scott L Greer@scottlgreer.bsky.social · last yr.

Expired: patient-centeredness is efficient Tired: patient-centeredness improves quality Wired: patient-centeredness fights fascism

Scott L Greer@scottlgreer.bsky.social · last yr.

May, also free in @lancetrh-europe.bsky.social with a great @obshealth.bsky.social team: health and patient-centric health systems are a key determinant of populist radical right voting. Better health and better health care can mean fewer people quitting political activity or voting far right

Deva Woodly@devawo.bsky.social · last yr.

I just like to post these data from time to time to puncture the mythological aura of mid 20th c protests. They were less popular than pretty much any 21st c mass action & people criticizing them used the same lines. Protest is about people coming together, shaping narratives, & building power.

Polling data from Harris & Associates 1966. Q: Do you approve of what Freedom Riders are Doing? 22% approve 61%disapprove18%no opinion.