James Fraser
@fraserlab.com
Professor and Chair @UCSF/@UCSF_BTS - dynamic structural biology and open science - (he/him) - fraserlab.com
Reposted by James Fraser
As soon as NIH decided that preprints were A-OK we started preprinting everything.
The biggest negative is that now once we've preprinted I lose interest in the actual peer-reviewed article. Which for me isn't a big deal (I'm tenured) but my folk aren't. So I need to force myself to keep up on it
The biggest negative is that now once we've preprinted I lose interest in the actual peer-reviewed article. Which for me isn't a big deal (I'm tenured) but my folk aren't. So I need to force myself to keep up on it
January 12, 2026 at 8:25 PM
As soon as NIH decided that preprints were A-OK we started preprinting everything.
The biggest negative is that now once we've preprinted I lose interest in the actual peer-reviewed article. Which for me isn't a big deal (I'm tenured) but my folk aren't. So I need to force myself to keep up on it
The biggest negative is that now once we've preprinted I lose interest in the actual peer-reviewed article. Which for me isn't a big deal (I'm tenured) but my folk aren't. So I need to force myself to keep up on it
Do you have a repo I can look at invite github.com/fraserlab if private if you are comfortable?
fraserlab - Overview
fraserlab has 2 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
github.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Do you have a repo I can look at invite github.com/fraserlab if private if you are comfortable?
This is cool - is it: app.benchmate.ai/pricing or something you are writing?
Benchmate.ai
app.benchmate.ai
January 12, 2026 at 3:57 PM
This is cool - is it: app.benchmate.ai/pricing or something you are writing?
Reposted by James Fraser
Happy new year #teamtomo! We've resumed our OHSU tomo journal club, and this year I am going to be sharing it on bluesky. This week we did a roundtable, where attendees each brought a paper and did a 3-5 minute discussion of what they thought was cool about it. Here are the papers they discussed!
January 8, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Happy new year #teamtomo! We've resumed our OHSU tomo journal club, and this year I am going to be sharing it on bluesky. This week we did a roundtable, where attendees each brought a paper and did a 3-5 minute discussion of what they thought was cool about it. Here are the papers they discussed!
Me too. Just trying to brainstorm ideas that might incentivize more retirement without a forcing function of a hard cutoff
January 7, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Me too. Just trying to brainstorm ideas that might incentivize more retirement without a forcing function of a hard cutoff
Sorry. I misread! Many reacting strongly the other way - they should just be forced to retire at age X.
January 7, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Sorry. I misread! Many reacting strongly the other way - they should just be forced to retire at age X.
I think the trouble is that people are still competitive- and don’t have an off-ramp for their identity as a scientist. I’m with you, I’ll exit stage right when the time comes. But I see many who don’t….
January 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
I think the trouble is that people are still competitive- and don’t have an off-ramp for their identity as a scientist. I’m with you, I’ll exit stage right when the time comes. But I see many who don’t….
from: hhmicdn.blob.core.windows.net/policies/Inv... "expanded phase out" of 5 years, rather than going through competitive renewal (7 years if successful and 2 years if not)
January 7, 2026 at 7:36 PM
from: hhmicdn.blob.core.windows.net/policies/Inv... "expanded phase out" of 5 years, rather than going through competitive renewal (7 years if successful and 2 years if not)
Based partially on observations of this working: bsky.app/profile/fras...
A point in favour of this: an off ramp exists for HHMI investigators and many actually take it
January 7, 2026 at 7:29 PM
Based partially on observations of this working: bsky.app/profile/fras...
A point in favour of this: an off ramp exists for HHMI investigators and many actually take it
January 7, 2026 at 7:29 PM
A point in favour of this: an off ramp exists for HHMI investigators and many actually take it
I agree it’s hard. Much like convincing them to retire. But the alternative isn’t retiring. It’s renewing their R01.
January 7, 2026 at 7:23 PM
I agree it’s hard. Much like convincing them to retire. But the alternative isn’t retiring. It’s renewing their R01.
People just don’t do it though. I think an off-ramp program would allow people to hold their heads high, maintain identity as a scientist ,etc.
Trying to brainstorm policy ways to get people to do actually do it.
Trying to brainstorm policy ways to get people to do actually do it.
January 7, 2026 at 7:20 PM
People just don’t do it though. I think an off-ramp program would allow people to hold their heads high, maintain identity as a scientist ,etc.
Trying to brainstorm policy ways to get people to do actually do it.
Trying to brainstorm policy ways to get people to do actually do it.
Great. I don’t think advocating for either or both of these are mutually exclusive. Need many policy ideas for this problem…
January 7, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Great. I don’t think advocating for either or both of these are mutually exclusive. Need many policy ideas for this problem…
Tenure is tenure.
www.nytimes.com/1990/10/21/s...
And I knew and really loved Howard (TAed his ethics class for many years)…
www.nytimes.com/1990/10/21/s...
And I knew and really loved Howard (TAed his ethics class for many years)…
Campus Life: Berkeley; Biochemist, 71, Fights Mandatory Retirement (Published 1990)
www.nytimes.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Tenure is tenure.
www.nytimes.com/1990/10/21/s...
And I knew and really loved Howard (TAed his ethics class for many years)…
www.nytimes.com/1990/10/21/s...
And I knew and really loved Howard (TAed his ethics class for many years)…
Yes. We have such programs but - How do you get them to transition out to free up resources? Hence the reverse K99 as a potential off ramp policy…
January 7, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Yes. We have such programs but - How do you get them to transition out to free up resources? Hence the reverse K99 as a potential off ramp policy…
The problem is people don’t retire. What’s a policy solution to help?
January 7, 2026 at 6:55 PM
The problem is people don’t retire. What’s a policy solution to help?
I also do- but I’ll tell you there aren’t really any levers of incentives to get people to do that
January 7, 2026 at 6:55 PM
I also do- but I’ll tell you there aren’t really any levers of incentives to get people to do that
The alternative isn’t no money. It’s 4-5 years of them renewing.
January 7, 2026 at 6:54 PM
The alternative isn’t no money. It’s 4-5 years of them renewing.
It’s called coercion! People won’t retire…
January 7, 2026 at 6:54 PM
It’s called coercion! People won’t retire…
A reverse K99 would be interesting...
2 or 3 years of R01 type funding to wind down followed by 2-3 years of funding for supplies as you are hosted as an emeritus professor - and ineligible for future grants as a PI
2 or 3 years of R01 type funding to wind down followed by 2-3 years of funding for supplies as you are hosted as an emeritus professor - and ineligible for future grants as a PI
My postdoc advisor is an advocate for the “post faculty fellow” positions and in theory it sounds like a super cool idea.
That being said if anyone is wanting to do one in my lab, Please email me a CV and cover letter.
That being said if anyone is wanting to do one in my lab, Please email me a CV and cover letter.
Jonathan Hodgkin retired a while ago, and is working at the bench as an emeritus fellow in his former trainee's lab
January 7, 2026 at 4:41 PM
A reverse K99 would be interesting...
2 or 3 years of R01 type funding to wind down followed by 2-3 years of funding for supplies as you are hosted as an emeritus professor - and ineligible for future grants as a PI
2 or 3 years of R01 type funding to wind down followed by 2-3 years of funding for supplies as you are hosted as an emeritus professor - and ineligible for future grants as a PI
Congrats Andrew! Glad my old CypA lab notes were helpful
January 6, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Congrats Andrew! Glad my old CypA lab notes were helpful
Reposted by James Fraser
What an extraordinary joy it is to finally be able to share this work with the world. If any of you are excited by chemoproteomics or new tools on the covalent warhead toolbox I think this paper may be right up your alley 💕
Is arginine the new cysteine?! Check out our lab's latest in collaboration with @ianseiple.bsky.social's team where we introduce ninhydrin as a selective covalent warhead and probe targeting reactive arginines.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Ninhydrin as a covalent warhead for chemical proteomic-enabled discovery and selective engagement of reactive arginines
Covalent molecules have emerged as next-generation therapeutics and as powerful tools for perturbing fundamental biological processes. Chemical proteomic methods to screen for reactive proteinaceous a...
www.biorxiv.org
January 6, 2026 at 5:28 PM
What an extraordinary joy it is to finally be able to share this work with the world. If any of you are excited by chemoproteomics or new tools on the covalent warhead toolbox I think this paper may be right up your alley 💕
Imagine if biorxiv automated such notifications using “email”. What a service it would be!!!
January 5, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Imagine if biorxiv automated such notifications using “email”. What a service it would be!!!