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Michael Gilman

@gilman.bsky.social

2.1K followers 490 following 1.3K posts

Scientist, entrepreneur, ex-biopharm exec, former FM radio jock, lifelong hockey fan, aspiring guitar player and mixologist, #immigrant, #BioSky. CEO, Arrakis Therapeutics and a variety of other things. https://www.michaelgilman.net/disclosures/

www.michaelgilman.net

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 37m

Restocking

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 16h

This evening’s cocktail output, posted without further comment.

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 18h

I’m pretty sure that this trained medic, whatever else you may think about him, totally knows there’s no such thing as a 650% discount.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

Dr Oz: "Drugs for lung diseases are discounted massively. The president highlighted 650%. Significant discounts ... "

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 1d

Proud of my alma mater. (Do we still say that?)

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 1d

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source:
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 1d

I think the frogs are winning.

jen sometimes aph 🌻 @bunnibytz.bsky.social · 1d

ht: @nocontextmr.bsky.social

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 1d

I'm not sure that 1 and 2 together are a reasonable ask fwiw.

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 1d

Her baby in her placenta?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

RFK Jr: "Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at 8 months pregnant -- she's an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School -- and she is saying 'F Trump' and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. The level of Trump Derangement Syndrome is now a pathology."

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 2d

Looks like a fun read.

Nobel Prize in literature goes to Hungarian novelist for work confronting ‘apocalyptic terror’ | CNN

The 2025 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to László Krasznahorkai, a Hungarian novelist who said his dark and difficult novels aim to examine reality “to the point of madness.”

www.cnn.com

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 2d

Best part of winning the Nobel Prize at Berkeley is the parking.

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 4d

Um, wow.

Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 4d

please read my memo www.theverge.com/business/793...

Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You’re doomed

Bari Weiss has sold her company, The Free Press, to manage the decline of broadcast news at CBS. How many ways can it go wrong?

www.theverge.com

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 4d

I REALLY wonder what John thinks about his new boss.

John Dickerson @jdickerson.bsky.social · 4d

Our essay on the judiciary and the executive defining where the line is: substack.com/profile/5411...

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 4d

Hat-tip to the AMAZING podcast, A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs.

Episode 59: “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Jerry Lee Lewis

Episode fifty-nine of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Jerry Lee Lewis. Click the full post to read liner notes, link…

500songs.com

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 4d

Fun little tidbit. Halfway through, Lewis tosses his piano stool offscreen. At around the 2:00 mark it comes flying back, supposedly tossed by the famously stuffy and conservative Allen, who was obviously getting into things.

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 4d

Hard to imagine how mind-blowing this Jerry Lee Lewis performance on the Steve Allen show must have been for 1957 America. youtu.be/vkUYjSu8GIA?...

Jerry Lee Lewis (Steve Allen 1957) Shakin' in Colour

YouTube video by Lucio Vids

youtu.be

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 4d

What's so delightful about Monday's laureates is that they were clearly not waiting around the phone for this call to come in.

Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · 4d

I still love this nugget, but I also love the email I got yesterday evening (my time) that said "Dr. Ramsdell is currently living his best life and is off the grid on a pre-planned hiking trip."
I wonder if he knows yet?

bsky.app/profile/gilm...

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 5d

Love this story about one of today's Nobel winners, Mary Brunkow.

(She and colleague Fred Ramsdell, working at Celltech (RIP), uncovered the role of Foxp3 in the development of Tregs.)

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 5d

Yep, and this leads to some of the sweetest stories.

Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 5d

Apologies, here's the link to the AP story.

The Nobel Prize in medicine goes to 3 scientists for work on the human immune system

They won for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, which is one way the body helps keep the immune system from getting out of whack and attacking your own tissues..

apnews.com

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 5d

Love this story about one of today's Nobel winners, Mary Brunkow.

(She and colleague Fred Ramsdell, working at Celltech (RIP), uncovered the role of Foxp3 in the development of Tregs.)

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Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 7d

Served six drinks this evening. But this Old Cuban is the only one I managed to capture. If you’ve never had one, you should!

Have a great weekend, everyone.