Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

Happy to announce the publication using advanced models to understand how T cells mediate efficient immunoediting in early sarcomas.

This was a collaboration between Julie Cheung and Brian Hunt
in the lab

Thanks to Cancer Cell for publishing our work.

www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...

NEW: In an unprecedented move, the NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding.

NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and told to expect placements by political appointees.

"No vaccine was tested more extensively than the RNA vaccines, and no vaccine was given to more people than the mRNA vaccines, & they were found to be incredibly safe...and effective. They saved 20 million lives, & they stopped a pandemic that was shutting down the world."
-Drew Weissman

The problem with believing vaccines are dangerous is that by the time you realize you’re wrong, it’s too late and someone you love dies of a preventable disease.

Florida is about to find this out the hard way.

RFK Jr. rolled out that old chestnut again about how healthy Americans were in the 60’s, so here’s a fact check.

In 1965:

-42% of American adults smoked; it’s 11% now.

-The infant morality rate was 24.7/1000; it’s 5.6/1000 now.

-Overall life expectancy was 70 years; it's about 77 years now.

A bizarre dogma has emerged among the anti-mRNA crowd that the only data we have on vaccines is from the original trial papers, rather than the HUGE volume of studies that came out subsequently...

🚨 New Publication!!!

I’m thrilled to share our latest study, “Clonotype-Enriched Somatic Hypermutations Drive Affinity Maturation of a Public Human Antibody Targeting an Occluded Sarbecovirus Epitope”.
www.cell.com/cell-reports... [1/4]

Nature: Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility

go.nature.com/3HDx4wD

cc Jay Bhattacharya

America Is Abandoning One of the Greatest Medical Breakthroughs www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

To have this paper appear the same day that RFK Jr is canceling all mRNA vaccine funding is further indication that irony is not dead, even though we might all be soon.

A 33-year-old ex-Marine police officer was shot at the CDC by someone who believed he was hurt by the Covid vaccine. The policeman was a father of two with another baby on the way --->

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...

So proud of Celeste Robles @celeste-robles.bsky.social for being selected as a 2025 Gilliam Fellow! Thrilled to be joining the Gilliam community @hhmi.org
www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...

Beaming with pride that Jordan Polster, a student in my lab at Yale, was selected for the #Gilliam #Fellowship from @hhmi.org

I look forward to mentoring Jordan and participating in the various mentorship workshops.

Jordan - congrats! And I can’t wait to see your research advance!

Congratulations 2025 Gilliam Fellows and Advisors! 🎉

The Gilliam Fellows Program launches promising PhD students into impactful scientific research careers while fostering inclusive training environments.
Through this program, HHMI supports both graduate students and their faculty thesis advisors.

BIG NEWS:

“Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.”

Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle!

www.axios.com/pro/health-c...

The NIH budget will INCREASE by $400 million — not slashed by 40%, as Trump proposed — according to a proposal by Senate appropriators, says Sen Murray.

"Some have asked if there will even be an NIH by [2029]. The commmittee's resounding message is yes—Congress has your back", she says.

In preparation of today's mark-up of the NIH appropriations bill in the Senate and other activities, I sent this note to Senator Susan Collins' office.

1/2

Extra kudos and thanks to all the staff at NIH and NSF and other federal funding agencies for working extra hard in very small windows of opportunity to get grants reviewed and funds released before the attention-addled federal policies change again (on an hourly basis).

Breaking News: Brown University was said to have reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding. nyti.ms/459nQzY

Reviewer #3 feedback.

holy shit lmao

New paper! Combining epidemiology and experiments uncovers surprising drug-host-microbiome-pathogen interactions. Congrats @amankumar25.bsky.social, Robyn Tamblyn, and the rest of the team.

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