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Kristen Brennand

@kristenbrennand.bsky.social

370 followers 490 following 29 posts

Stem cell scientist in a genomics world🧬🧠. Mom to a third-grader! 🌈🦄. Wife. Runner🏃‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏂. Immigrant 🇨🇦. @MountSinaiNYC to @YaleMed. she/her.

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Kristen Brennand @kristenbrennand.bsky.social · Jan 27

I figured today was as good a day as any to introduce myself over here!

My lab combines stem cell models and genome engineering to study how the interactions between genes and environments contributes to brain disease. The only thing I find more rewarding than scientific discovery is mentoring…

a cartoon chipmunk is jumping in the air with his arms outstretched and the words `` hello it 's me again '' .

ALT: a cartoon chipmunk is jumping in the air with his arms outstretched and the words `` hello it 's me again '' .

media.tenor.com

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Jul 15

Update on funding curves and late non-competitive renewals.

First, funding curves for new and competitive renewals.

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Graph showing NIH funding for new and competitive renewal grants for fiscal year 2025 compared to fiscal year 2024. The fiscal year 2025 curve is substantially below the fiscal year 2024 curve.

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Denise Jurczyszak @denisescience.bsky.social · Jul 15

Hi y'all, I am on the job hunt due to a recent layoff. I have expertise in virology, neuroimmunology, and drug discovery. I am passionate about performing creative hypothesis-driven research to make discoveries that will benefit human health and quality of life. Pls reach out if you'd like to chat!

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Beth Stevens @bethstevenslab.bsky.social · Feb 11

Pls sign and share!

Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · Feb 10

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify
Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk
"Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

Sign the Petition

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

chng.it

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Kristen Brennand @kristenbrennand.bsky.social · May 21

Thank you for the reminder! Just commented!

Reposted by Kristen Brennand

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · May 21

Rightfully, the cuts to Medicaid (over 10M people will lose their health care) and the tax cuts for the rich have been the story of the disastrous Republican budget bill.

But I read the whole thing. And there are some hidden rats in there you need to know about.

1/ A quick🧵

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · May 2

Good thread that does not even include the NIH director disbanding the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · May 1

Time to catch up on the past week’s news about science and medicine in the US. Whew. 1/10

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Flora Rutaganira @frutag33.bsky.social · Apr 21

Hello Community!
Are you a postdoc/grad student preparing to launch a faculty search? Do you have a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship & community engagement? Apply to the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium: www.berkeleystanfordnextgensymposium.com! Pls repost! (1/3)

Flyer for the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium (including QR code in top right corner). This symposium highlights the work of exceptional early-career scientists in the broad field of quantitative biological and biomedical sciences, with a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship, and community engagement. These early career scientists are preparing to launch a faculty search. Applications are due May 30th, 2025.

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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · Apr 25

“We speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.”

Colleges are finally standing up to Trump, taking their lead and nerve from Harvard, whose sharp response clearly stunned the White House.

At last, college presidents are standing up to Trump

A letter signed by more than 400 university heads offers a sharp rebuke to the bully-in-chief.

www.motherjones.com

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Apr 23

The notice and COMMENT PERIOD OPENED TODAY AND CLOSES MAY 23.

Anyone who would like to register an objection or comment should go to this page and click on the green “public comment” button at the top:

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

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Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduc...

www.federalregister.gov

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Apr 16

It has taken decades to get to this point, but stem cells for Parkinson's disease showing promise in 2 clinical trials
nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...

Clinical trials test the safety of stem-cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease

Transplanting dopamine-releasing neurons into the brain is a promising regenerative therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Two clinical trials show that it is safe, but more evidence is needed to prove its ...

nature.com

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Kristen Brennand @kristenbrennand.bsky.social · Apr 14

I am beyond thrilled to highlight @mbfneuro.bsky.social's thesis work! I've learned so much through his studies and am excited to take this project in new directions!

Michael Fernando, PhD @mbfneuro.bsky.social · Apr 9

I’m so proud and beyond thrilled to share the final product of my thesis work from @sinaibrain.bsky.social , now published in @nature.com! Here, we explored the complex functional impact of rare neurexin-1 deletions across human glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Phenotypic complexities of rare heterozygous neurexin-1 deletions - Nature

How NRXN1 variants affect multiple neuropsychiatric disorders is explored.

www.nature.com

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Michael Fernando, PhD @mbfneuro.bsky.social · Apr 9

Phenotypic complexities of rare heterozygous neurexin-1 deletions - Nature

How NRXN1 variants affect multiple neuropsychiatric disorders is explored.

www.nature.com

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Kristen Brennand @kristenbrennand.bsky.social · Apr 1

Thank you to @booker.senate.gov for standing up and speaking for so many Americans.

Sen. Cory Booker @booker.senate.gov · Mar 31

I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:

Live: Speaking on Trump, Musk, and America’s Moral Moment on the Senate Floor | Senator Cory Booker

YouTube video by Senator Cory Booker

youtube.com

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Sen. Cory Booker @booker.senate.gov · Mar 31

I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:

Live: Speaking on Trump, Musk, and America’s Moral Moment on the Senate Floor | Senator Cory Booker

YouTube video by Senator Cory Booker

youtube.com

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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · Apr 1

A picture is worth a thousand words.

The administration says they're cutting a trillion in government spending. So far, 2025 spending is $1.89 trillion. It was $1.76 trillion at the same time last year. Spending is on pace to increase by 7.4% from last year.

www.marketwatch.com/story/despit...

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Mar 28

🚨 Over 70 graduate programs in the biological and biomedical sciences have frozen or slashed admissions.

The consequences are profound—how many brilliant minds are being shut out of research entirely? How much future discovery is being lost before it even begins?

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Graduate Reductions Across Biomedical Sciences (2025)

docs.google.com

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Science Magazine @science.org · Mar 27

The NIH plans to resume posting notices of new solicitations for grant proposals. But there’s a catch: The HHS and DOGE will review each draft notice to ensure the research that will be funded aligns with the priorities of President Trump’s administration, Science has learned. scim.ag/3DJsafL

Trump officials will screen NIH funding opportunities

Staff at biomedical agency worry about political interference in setting priorities

scim.ag

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Mar 23

A pie graph worth keeping in mind as the NIH budget plummets jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... for 356 new FDA drugs approved

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Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · Mar 21

The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up.

If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.

Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.

Cancelled NIH grant information submission form

Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NIH grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025. Data from this form will be used to update the Rescinded NIH...

forms.gle

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Mar 19

MIT offering travel advice (or rather do not travel advice) for international visitors and green card holders.

If folks at other institutions are receiving similar guidance, please consider sharing here.

Please be as safe as you can.

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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · Mar 11

Free Mahmoud Khalil. It's important to protect speech, even, perhaps especially, when we don't agree what's being said. If we don't support other people's First Amendment rights, then who will protect ours? We have to all be in this together.

Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 @judiciarydems.senate.gov · Mar 10

Free Mahmoud Khalil.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Mar 9

Bluetorial: Women, courage, and leadership

What follows will include some generalizations based on population averages of what I have experienced over the course of my career. There are, of course, exceptions in every group who are substantially more to one extreme or the other.

a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on

ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on

media.tenor.com

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Mar 7

NIH just posted this news announcement.

"Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR)"

NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity

The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually.

www.nih.gov

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · Mar 5

BREAKING: Federal judge issues a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking NIH from implementing its "Rate Change Notice" that would dramatically cut payments under grants.

Judge Angel Kelley had previously issued a TRO blocking the change. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
ON MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
ANGEL KELLEY, D.J.
These three cases came before the Court on an emergency basis on Monday, February 10,
2025. The National Institutes of Health ("NIH") issued a Supplemental Guidance to the 2024
NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates (NOT-OD-25-068) ("Rate Change Notice") on Friday night, February 7, 2025, slashing and capping previously negotiated indirect cost rates on all existing and future grant awards for biomedical research, with an effective date of February
10. This Notice impacts thousands of existing grants, totaling billions of dollars across all 50
states-
-a unilateral change over a weekend, without regard for on-going research and clinical trials. The imminent risk of halting life-saving clinical trials, disrupting the development of innovative medical research and treatment, and shuttering of research facilities, without regard for current patient care, warranted the issuance of a nationwide temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo, until the matter could be fully addressed before the Court.
Following full briefing and oral argument by the parties, as well as review of accepted
amicus briefs, the Court GRANTS a nationwide preliminary injunction.

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