Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Sep 8

This is so ravens core (derogatory)

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

MLB (Bot) @mlbbot.bsky.social · Sep 7

PANDEMONIUM IN BALTIMORE

The Orioles were getting no-hit, down to their final out and down by three runs ... they won the ballgame 😤

2 50 190

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · Sep 3

They keep losing in court because everything they’re doing is illegal

500 4.7K 23K

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Aug 21

The practical upshot is that justice delayed is justice denied; or to be more precise, a lab which had to fire all of its researchers and halt work on groundbreaking research isn't going to be able to ever restore itself to the same position it would have been without a multi-year pause in funding.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Aug 21

TL;DR: 5 justices say Trump doesn't have to immediately restore the funding, but 5 *also* signal that the underlying directives are unlawful.

That sends a fairly strong (if mixed) message that Trump will lose these cases *eventually,* but only once they're brought in the Court of Federal Claims.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Aug 21

Splitting 5-4 (with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent), #SCOTUS grants *partial* stay to Trump administration in NIH funding case; holds that challenges to grant terminations (but *not* the underlying guidance) need to be filed in the Court of Federal Claims:

21 300 860

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

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

🚨 SCOTUS just issued a decision in the NIH grant termination cases. And it's awful.

In plain English, the likely result of this is that SCOTUS just re-terminated ~900 NIH grants worth over $1.9 billion in unspent funds

This is an atrocious decision by Justice Barrett & the right wing of the Court.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Aug 21

Splitting 5-4 (with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent), #SCOTUS grants *partial* stay to Trump administration in NIH funding case; holds that challenges to grant terminations (but *not* the underlying guidance) need to be filed in the Court of Federal Claims:

www.supremecourt.gov

10 130 220

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Maxwell Madden @maxwellmadden.bsky.social · Aug 21

Excited my PhD work in @brianmathur.bsky.social’s lab is now published and available!

Bertoglio lab (FMC/UFSC) @bertogliolab.bsky.social · Aug 20

Serotonin and psilocybin activate 5-HT1B receptors to suppress cortical signaling through the claustrum
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Serotonin and psilocybin activate 5-HT1B receptors to suppress cortical signaling through the claustrum - Nature Communications

Our basic understanding of neuromodulation in the claustrum remains limited. Here Madden et al., identify a key mechanism by which serotonin and the psychedelic psilocybin modulate cortical signalling...

doi.org

1 8 22

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Aug 19

Gunnar Henderson from the Orioles walks up to The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani and it hits every time, both in-person and on game broadcasts (that "woo-hoooo, yee-hooo" is transcendent)

1 1

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Aug 14

Thanks for this article, Kristen -- as a current Baltimorean who grew up in Calvert County and attended public schools there from K-12, I appreciate the Banner covering this. The BOE's actions are shameful but sadly not surprising, but I'm glad to know how many folks were out there protesting.

1

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Jonathan VanRyzin @jwvanryzin.bsky.social · Aug 13

I am SO EXCITED to share this one! The latest paper from the lab is online in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social. We show microglia prune NAc astrocyte processes during abstinence from cocaine-self ad which drives later drug seeking behavior.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Abstinence from cocaine self-administration promotes microglial pruning of astrocytes, which drives cocaine-seeking behavior

Rodent drug self-administration leads to a compromised ability of nucleus accumbens astrocytes to maintain glutamate homeostasis as well as to reducti…

www.sciencedirect.com

2 16 36

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Aug 7

awesome!!

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · Jul 31

A reminder about the importance of healthcare to every single state

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

2 52 160

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Jonathan VanRyzin @jwvanryzin.bsky.social · Jul 29

Excited to see our most recent project published in @npp-journal.bsky.social !
We show that the timing of THC exposure during development—prenatal vs. postnatal—leads to opposite effects on social behavior and microglial function in the amygdala. Timing matters!

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

Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala - Neuropsychopharmacology

Neuropsychopharmacology - Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala

www.nature.com

1 5 9

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Jul 23

New paper from our group out in @npp-journal.bsky.social today on the effects of gestational cannabis exposure!

pegmccarthy.bsky.social @pegmccarthy.bsky.social · Jul 23

Excited to announce our latest production! @jwvanryzin.bsky.social @aemarquardt.bsky.social @um-mind.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala - Neuropsychopharmacology

Neuropsychopharmacology - Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala

www.nature.com

3 5

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Jul 10

Powerful story from Kate Zernike from the NYT

Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.

[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts

www.nytimes.com

4 33 64

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Jul 6

Despite all the handwringing about “intellectual diversity” the reality is that higher ed exposes young people to a vastly different array of people and experiences than almost anything else you can do.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Jul 6

going to college, living in an international dorm and meeting brown kids from africa, dark-skinned kids with african features from india, spanish-speaking chinese kids from argentina, and many others changed the way i understood the world in some pretty fundamental ways

26 290 1.9K

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · Jun 27

SCOOP: NIH appears to be disregarding last week's court order to stop screening grants using a process a judge ruled illegal.

This has many NIH staffers confused and worried about the legality of their actions.

Exclusive: NIH still screens grants in process a judge ruled illegal

Directives by the Trump administration are still being applied to grant applications despite court order.

www.nature.com

4 110 210

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Aatish Bhatia @aatishb.bsky.social · Jun 23

We pored through more than 900 grants worth $2.6 billion that the Trump administration canceled at Harvard.

“This is larger than any individual grant,” a researcher told us. “What we are losing is a future.”

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

With @emmbadger.bsky.social and @ethansinger.bsky.social

A treemap of terminated research grants at Harvard

9 120 270

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · Jun 17

"The bill directs what is likely the largest single sale of national public lands in modern history to help cut taxes for the richest people in the country....all without hearings, debate or public input." wilderness.org/articles/med...

250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package

The bill mandates disposal of over 2 million acres of BLM and National Forest lands; public lands eligible for sale in the bill encompass over 250 million acres, including local recreation areas, wild...

wilderness.org

59 600 920

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Jun 16

Mayor Brandon Scott appears to be doing something right, but somehow this remarkable, record setting decline in violence doesn't quite make national headlines the way the opposite does

www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...

Baltimore’s homicide rate dropped to a historic low last month, defied racial trends

Baltimore ended April with five homicides, the lowest monthly total in recent memory.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com

52 530 2K

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · Jun 16

BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.

100 3.6K 14K

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Jun 16

For instance: If murders in Baltimore were UP 40%, then Mayor Brandon Scott would be a national figure. Instead it's gone down that amount so no one knows who he is.

40 240 2.3K

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

jenna ruddock @ruddock.bsky.social · Jun 14

One block over from the White House: the aspirational security line setup

entire block of crowd control barricades arranged to accommodate a long line of people at security, empty

470 3.8K 18K

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Jun 9

@pegmccarthy.bsky.social @um-mind.bsky.social @cp-cellreports.bsky.social

Ashley Marquardt @aemarquardt.bsky.social · Jun 9

New paper from my PhD work out in Cell Reports today! We find that playfulness is associated with markedly distinct gene expression profiles in the medial amygdala of male vs. female rats and show that inhibitory neurons play a key role. Really proud of this one! www.cell.com/cell-reports...

The transcriptome of playfulness is sex biased in the juvenile rat medial amygdala: A role for inhibitory neurons

Marquardt et al. explore the “transcriptome of playfulness” in the medial amygdala, demonstrating that the gene signatures associated with playfulness are largely distinct in male and female rats. Thr...

www.cell.com

1 1 4

Reposted by Ashley Marquardt

Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 9

Breaking news: Staff at the National Institutes of Health have issued a declaration calling on their director to depoliticize the agency and reverse spending cuts.

NIH staff and biomedical community sound alarm about agency politicization, funding slowdown

In test of NIH director’s support of dissent, NIH staff sign Bethesda Declaration urging reversal of grant cuts and freezes

scim.ag

9 160 410