Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
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zandrea.bsky.social
Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
@zandrea.bsky.social
1.9K followers 670 following 700 posts
Virologist & Professor, Pitt Dept. of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and former Director of @Pitt-PMI.bsky.social
Seattle native living in Pittsburgh.
Website: http://ambrose-lab.com
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zandrea.bsky.social
Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D. @zandrea.bsky.social · Feb 24
This is why research funding is important to me.
NIH research funding supports medicine and my lab
zandrea.bsky.social
Go Hawks! Phew! Looking forward to a Super Bowl in Gov. Newsom’s state when Green Day and a Puerto Rican man wearing a dress! #GoHawks 💚💙
January 26, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
warren.senate.gov
“Please get the truth out about our son.”

Read and share the statement from the parents of Alex Pretti, the VA ICU nurse who was shot and killed by border patrol.
January 25, 2026 at 5:30 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
Snow day
Snow still falling in Pittsburgh
January 25, 2026 at 5:42 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
Not 2016, but rather 2010. My street. Getting ready for another one!
Snowmageddon 2010, Pittsburgh, PA
January 23, 2026 at 11:23 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
“Federal law requires these panels to review applications for all but the smallest grants before funding can be awarded, meaning that the ability of those institutes to issue new grants could soon be frozen.”
maxkozlov.bsky.social Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 5d
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.

That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.

A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.

A short 🧵
Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026
Thirteen of the agency’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members.
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
RFK Jr. appointee Kirk Milhoan has just clearly stated, out loud, that he wants to experiment on the people of the United States by seeing what happens as vaccination coverage plummets and infectious diseases spread.
Screenshot from STAT article that says "What we're going to have is a real-world experience of when unvaccinated people get measles," he said. "What is the new incidence of hospitalization? What's the incidence of death?"
January 22, 2026 at 7:47 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
The U.S. House and Senate appropriations bill was released today, which includes NIH funding. Sounds like it took a lot of negotiations to keep a flat overall budget.
jeremymberg.bsky.social Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 7d
Now for the money...

Overall, the budget is essentially flat.

The biggest winner is NINDS with a 5.9% increase. The biggest losers are NIEHS and NIDDK.

4/5
A table of funding for fiscal year 2025 and proposed for fiscal year 2026 by institute and center.
January 20, 2026 at 6:33 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."

- Martin Luther King, Jr., 1959
January 19, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
seattlesports710.bsky.social
All season long, the #Seahawks have been arguably the NFL's most complete team.

That all-three-phases formula was on full display once again in Seattle's 41-6 dismantling of the 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round.
sports.mynorthwest.com/nfl/seattle-...
Seattle Seahawks ride all three phases to NFC title game
The Seattle Seahawks put that complementary approach on full display in their 41-6 dismantling of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round.
sports.mynorthwest.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
manigarm.bsky.social
I have some bad news. One, if you need to use ChatGPT for your graduate application letter, you are not ready for graduate school.

Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.
planetdr.bsky.social Sarah Hörst @planetdr.bsky.social · 10d
An impressive number of graduate applications this year used the phrase “curiosity-driven approach” 🤔
January 17, 2026 at 10:46 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
Careful Seattle/WA friends, especially if you have small kids!
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 11d
A family from South Carolina brought their measles infections to airports, ferries and various locations in Washington state.

The health department says that they didn’t know they had measles.

But this is why unvaccinated people are a danger to communities, not just themselves.
January 16, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
pitt-pmi.bsky.social
Congratulations to PMI student Jenna Nosek from the DeLuca lab, who will be defending her thesis next week! 👏
Jenna Nosek's thesis defense entitled "Accessibility of the HSV-1 genome throughout productive infection" will be held on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
January 16, 2026 at 3:21 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
So excited to have Madison Bandini from the @natesherer.bsky.social lab present her research at our seminar series today!
Madison Bandini seminar
January 14, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
ash.hematology.org
ASH is urging Congress to finalize FY 2026 appropriations with strong NIH funding. NIH investment drives breakthroughs in hematology while cuts put progress and patients with hematologic conditions at risk. Join us in the #Fight4Hematology: https://ow.ly/EMLZ50XWrLz

#ResearchSavesLives #HemeSky
January 13, 2026 at 10:08 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
Aaron Rodgers demonstrating tonight the importance of elderly people 👴🏻 getting vaccines 💉 to remain productive and healthy. 🤠
January 13, 2026 at 4:14 AM
zandrea.bsky.social
We need protease control legislation to win the War on Protein
Twitter post from The The White House: “We are ending the war on protein
January 12, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
arghavansallesmd.medsky.social
I thought this was a joke but it’s an actual post from the White House: “we are ending the war on protein”

How about ending the war on the health of this country?
Shadowy photo of rfk jr with text “WE ARE ENDING THE WAR ON PROTEIN”
January 12, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
candylovely.bsky.social
Keith Porter who was shot and killed by an off duty ICE officers mother speaks.😞😔🙏🙏 Keith Porter also has a Go-Fund-Me-page"
January 12, 2026 at 6:16 AM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
govpritzker.illinois.gov
January 11, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
nicholasbednar.bsky.social
I can't describe how bad Minneapolis feels right now. My neighbors are pulling kids out of school. The public schools are offering remote learning until 2/12. We are having conversations in our alleys about how to protect ourselves. It feels like a military occupation with a blockade.
chadbourn.bsky.social Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 18d
The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.
January 9, 2026 THE HONORABLE TIM WALZ Governor of Minesota 130 State Capitol 75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bivd. St. Paul, MN 55155 THE HONORABLE JACOB FREY Mayor of the City of Minneapolis City Hail 350S. Fifth St., Room 330 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Dear Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, It is my responsibility as Secretary of Agriculture to ensure sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars by climinating fraud, waste and abuse in all programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The widespread and systemic fraud associated with federal benefit programs in the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis demonstrate an inability to handle federal resources without additional oversight and accountability measures in place. During your tenures as Governor of Minnesota and Mayor of Minneapolis, numerous non-profits and businesses have defrauded the federal government in what a federal prosecutor in Minnesota called "a staggering, industrial-scale fraud".! Most notably, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit— Feeding Our Future defrauded U.S. taxpayers of nearly $250 million in federal funds given to them by the Minnesota Department of Education.? This fraud scheme involved USDA funding provided to the State of Minnesota to feed hungry children under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). As of late November, 78 defendants had been charged in what the Department of Justice characterized as the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country? Other recent examples of'alleged fraud in Minnesota include exploitation of the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program", a scheme to defraud the Housing Stabilization 1-Whut te know about Minnesoca' "industrial-scale fraad" scandal, as more charges are fled and Trump weighs in, "CES Nows (Dic. 19, 3025) available at ht:/www.cbsnews.com/news/atas-do-know-alonesota-frawf-candal were-changes-fled- tump-water. /Federal Jury Finds Feeding Our Future Masternind and Co-D… Services Program", and alleged fraud in daycare centers*, Your Administrations have refused additional accountability and oversight, claiming that criticism of rampant fraud and abuse is "racist." While the full extent of fraud in Minnesota is not yet known, it is clear that, under your leadership- or lack thereof fraudsters can take advantage of federal funds and the American taxpayer with impunity. This necessitates federal action to protect taxpayer dollars until adequate safeguards can be established. Despite a staggering, wide-reaching fraud scandal, your Administrations refuse to provide basic information or take common sense mcasures to stop fraud. In fact, rather than conlin your SNAP rolls are accurate to prevent continuing fraud, you asked the courts to block USDA's directive to recertify the State's SNAP recipients. Recent news reports also emerged that the Minnesota Department of Human Services repeatedly reported incorrect information about SNAP to the federal government.? The Trump administration refuses to allow such fraud to continuc. Therefore, because of your failed Icadership and abysmal financial management oversight, 1 am notifying you that, effective immediately, I am suspending payments on all active awards and any future awards from USDA to the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis, currently totaling over $129.18 million. Within 30 days, you shall provide USDA with payment justifications for all federal dollar expenditures from January 20, 2025, to the present. Going forward, all transactions on awards to the State of Minnesota or the City of Minneapolis will require such payment justification. If those payment justifications are not received, awards will remain suspended. While your Administrations have turned a blind eye to documented fraud, the Trump Administration has made clear that fraud, waste, and abuse are unacceptable. The American people deserve to know that their taxpayer dollars are helping those in need-not criminals. …
January 10, 2026 at 4:29 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
I'm so proud of Zac! He came to the lab with his own research hypothesis on how HIV capsid binds to different host factors during infection. His great work was published last year in mBio & he developed new tools to study host protein interactions with capsid during infection - stay tuned for more!
pitt-pmi.bsky.social Pitt Program in Microbiology & Immunology @pitt-pmi.bsky.social · 20d
Congratulations to PMI student Zac Ingram from the @zandrea.bsky.social lab on his upcoming thesis defense! 👏
Zachary Ingram's defense will be held on Monday, January 12, 2025 at 3 pm and is titled "Spatiotemporal binding of cyclophilin A and CPSF6 to capsid regulates HIV-1 nuclear entry and integration."
January 7, 2026 at 2:29 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
Vaccines work.
vscooper.micropopbio.org Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 21d
The @asm.org statement in response to the changes in the childhood immunization schedule:

asm.org/press-releas...
Jan. 5, 2026 The rationale for the recent updates to the U.S. childhood immunization schedule is, at best, uncertain and sets a potentially dangerous precedent for public health. Whatever improvements may be needed to the process the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has followed in the past to update vaccine recommendations, it is unclear what scientific evidence led to these new guidelines. Protecting a country’s public health presents unique challenges that are specific to that country’s population. The prevalence of diseases in the U.S. is not the same as it is in other countries, and public health recommendations should be made based on the public health challenges faced by the American people. The changes by the CDC will reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11. This includes narrowing the recommendation for the flu, which has already contributed to the deaths of at least 9 children this season and a near record number of pediatric flu deaths last season. Vaccines are a safe and effective tool to prevent the spread of infectious disease and infection-related deaths, and they have saved and continue to save lives. While we concur with National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya that “science demands continuous evaluation,” that must occur with full transparency and input from the scientific community. The schedule changes weaken vaccine recommendations at a particularly critical time. It is crucial that expert consultation and a review of scientific evidence be included in the decisions that impact the health and safety of the country.
January 6, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
triblive.bsky.social
HBO hosts free coffee truck for AGH employees ahead of 'The Pitt' season 2
HBO hosts free coffee truck for AGH employees ahead of ‘The Pitt’ season 2
Fans of “The Pitt” are excitedly awaiting the season two premiere of HBO Max series, which will return at 9 p.m. on Thursday after an Emmy Award-winning first season. But no group is looking forward to the next installment more than the people who work at Allegheny General Hospital. The
triblive.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:10 PM
zandrea.bsky.social
Just sayin. #GoHawks
Traditionally when new popes are elected, the Seattle Seahawks go to the Super Bowl.
January 4, 2026 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D.
radplanets.com
the “Lemon, it’s Wednesday” scene from 30 rock but it’s edited to say Liz: What a year, huh? Jack: Lemon, it’s January 3rd.
January 3, 2026 at 4:49 PM