Lynda Coughlan
@virusnerdette.bsky.social
790 followers 790 following 25 posts
Irish virologist/vaccinologist @UMmedschool @UMCVD, Associate Prof, viruses, adenoviral vectors, influenza, vaccines, immunology, scicomm, STEM
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Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
Faculty Professor Associate - Full-Time | Vaughn Cooper
We are recruiting Faculty microbiologists in three (3) different, complementary, and collaborative areas at the University of Pittsburgh associated with the School of Medicine. 1) Fundamental researc...
www.linkedin.com
Finally got some good grant news last week as Cosette's
F31 was awarded (only 5 months after submitting JIT & 10 months after receiving a fundable score 😱). Better late than never I guess! Congrats Cosette, we are super proud of you & thankful to fantastic co-mentors/collaborators🎉
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
For our #flowcytometry peeps, would you like to have a single fix/perm protocol that is optimised for everything? One that preserves fluorophores while allowing simultaneous TF and cytokine staining? How about 100-fold cheaper?

You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Death from sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) in a child in Los Angeles
SSPE is a rare sequel of #measles infection that appears years after the initial infection, and is uniformly fatal. So sorry for this family. As things are going on the US, we'll be seeing more of these cases.
Child dies from rare measles-related complication, LA County health officials say
Health officials reported the death of a Los Angeles County child from a complication of measles infection acquired during infancy.
abc7.com
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Rolling the dice on a vaccine preventable illness is never the better option. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a rare and fatal complication of measles that can occur several years after the original infection. This is sad, this is avoidable. Vaccinate kids!
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
Los Angeles child dies from rare measles complication years after recovery
The county health department said the death is a "painful reminder" of how dangerous measles can be in unvaccinated people.
www.nbcnews.com
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Hearing rumor of a 2/3rds reduction in admissions to a graduate program. “The rest are made up by direct admits.”

This is an inevitable response to financial pressures caused by unionized salary gains, NIH chaos and overall funding uncertainty.
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
So... I did some analysis of grants that did receive noncompetitive renewals.

In particular, I looked a those award where the title of the grant changed.

Warning: The results are just what I expected, but oooph...

1/4
a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .
ALT: a man with his eyes closed is wearing a plaid shirt and a blue jacket .
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
“This isn’t just about 211 missing R01 grants. This is about the 211 PIs (or multi-PI groups) that are not getting a new grant. This is about at least 422-844 non-PI level investigators who are not having their salaries covered.”
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Operation Warp Speed was arguably one of the most successful policy initiatives in recent history, accelerating vaccine delivery that saved millions of lives.

It’s remarkable to see some now urging the leaders who backed it to disown the achievement.
I’m curious what they are doing with F awards. Very few seem to have been awarded. We have a student with a fundable F31 score well under the interim payline reviewed LAST AUGUST now waiting 4.5 months after submitting JIT docs 🤬 NIH reporter also showing negligible awards (from NIAID). Devastating
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
This is despite continued use of multiyear funding. My estimate is the multiple funding has blocked the awarding of ~1500 grants, had grants been funded on the usual annual basis. This includes 4-year R01s, excess 2-year R21s, and other awards.

2/2
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Updating my analysis now that August data should be relatively complete.

Not great news...

The rate of investment of the appropriation is not increasing and it seems unlikely that the entire appropriation will be committed this year.

1/2
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Public health is under assault. The purge of CDC leadership, people with decades of experience guiding the nation’s response to health threats, dismantles the very programs and direction that keep Americans safe from infectious diseases, chronic illness, injuries, and violence.
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
WARNING WARNING WARNING

#ResearchAdmini

I am hearing reports of NIH Awards being issued with ~15% indirect cost rate without comment. I believe the hope is that they will be accepted with noticing this.
a woman stands in front of a white board with the words you need to be careful written on it
ALT: a woman stands in front of a white board with the words you need to be careful written on it
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Inspired by @deniswirtz.bsky.social and team, I'm collating a database of #PhD and #postdoc fellowships in the #EU. I'm standardising the information an entry needs, making it easier to (1) search and (2) contribute - and I would appreciate input, especially from other #ECR! Please share!

1/3
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Nature @nature.com · Aug 22
The US Supreme Court has derailed researchers’ efforts to reinstate almost $2 billion in grants issued by the NIH. The court’s decision represents a remarkable reversal, allowing the Trump team to proceed with its science cuts.

go.nature.com/3JsraiA
US Supreme Court allows NIH to cut $2 billion in research grants
The decision will hinder lawsuits against grant terminations, legal specialists say.
go.nature.com
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
The damage Republicans have done to the US scientific enterprise is incalculable.

And Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski bear blame for this. They voted to confirm RFK Jr and Bhattacharya and the Trump anti-science nominees. It’s not just Trump: the quisling R’s in Congress helped.
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
Followup: the interesting answer to this conundrum is that Harvard's funding was cut off at the level of the NIH-university reimbursement system, not at the level of the program officers and individual grants. POs believe that the grants are still live, and NIH systems show them as live.
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
NIH: After review, we note that you have a large unspent balance on your grant. Please explain immediately.

me: well, uh, yeah, one reason we're not spending on that grant is because NIH terminated it in May along with all the rest of federal funding to Harvard, maybe you don't remember
Reposted by Lynda Coughlan
We are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine