Ayokunle Olanrewaju
@olan.bsky.social
Scientist, teacher, immigrant 🇳🇬🇨🇦🇺🇸, advocate, soccer player. Assistant Professor, Univ. of Washington Bioengineering & Mechanical Engineering. He/him/his. Views = mine.
https://olan.science
https://olan.science
Pinned
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
LONG RAMBLING EMOTIONAL THREAD:
It's World AIDS Day. Since the Administration has decided to keep it quiet, I'd like to share my introduction to AIDS.
I grew up in Seattle. My mom remarried a man who had a brother who was a King County Sheriff's Deputy. His name was Terry and he was gay. 1/x
It's World AIDS Day. Since the Administration has decided to keep it quiet, I'd like to share my introduction to AIDS.
I grew up in Seattle. My mom remarried a man who had a brother who was a King County Sheriff's Deputy. His name was Terry and he was gay. 1/x
December 2, 2025 at 3:59 AM
LONG RAMBLING EMOTIONAL THREAD:
It's World AIDS Day. Since the Administration has decided to keep it quiet, I'd like to share my introduction to AIDS.
I grew up in Seattle. My mom remarried a man who had a brother who was a King County Sheriff's Deputy. His name was Terry and he was gay. 1/x
It's World AIDS Day. Since the Administration has decided to keep it quiet, I'd like to share my introduction to AIDS.
I grew up in Seattle. My mom remarried a man who had a brother who was a King County Sheriff's Deputy. His name was Terry and he was gay. 1/x
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
My wife has been HIV+ for 34 years. She’s alive today b/c work of activists who destigmatized the virus, pushed medical science to adapt & find ways to treat it, & advocated for gov health programs that helped fund her care. The current U.S. regime may want to go back in time, but we won’t let them.
December 2, 2025 at 1:27 AM
My wife has been HIV+ for 34 years. She’s alive today b/c work of activists who destigmatized the virus, pushed medical science to adapt & find ways to treat it, & advocated for gov health programs that helped fund her care. The current U.S. regime may want to go back in time, but we won’t let them.
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Someone get me (genetic epidemiologist) & my husband (school psychologist) on a podcast bc our rants on these people are...fiery. We spent 5y in the bay around these folks and oh boy.
I'm also so sick of these puff pieces that avoid saying plainly what this actually is. Shoddy science for eugenics.
I'm also so sick of these puff pieces that avoid saying plainly what this actually is. Shoddy science for eugenics.
December 2, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Someone get me (genetic epidemiologist) & my husband (school psychologist) on a podcast bc our rants on these people are...fiery. We spent 5y in the bay around these folks and oh boy.
I'm also so sick of these puff pieces that avoid saying plainly what this actually is. Shoddy science for eugenics.
I'm also so sick of these puff pieces that avoid saying plainly what this actually is. Shoddy science for eugenics.
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
On #WorldAIDSDay we remember the incredible activism that turned the tide on this deadly epidemic in the past
I’m sad that funding cuts by G7 nations are making such activism necessary yet again
www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...
I’m sad that funding cuts by G7 nations are making such activism necessary yet again
www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...
AIDS Activism, A Playbook For Global Health Advocacy
AIDS activism was exceptionally successful. Other areas of global health can and must use the AIDS activism playbook.
www.forbes.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:33 AM
On #WorldAIDSDay we remember the incredible activism that turned the tide on this deadly epidemic in the past
I’m sad that funding cuts by G7 nations are making such activism necessary yet again
www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...
I’m sad that funding cuts by G7 nations are making such activism necessary yet again
www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Happy Pre-Thanksgiving weekend everyone! In the spirit of overindulgence I invite you all to feast on a cornucopia of Arey lab preprints (okay only two)! And fittingly their themes happen to be in the realm food and drink! Settle down next to the metaphorical fire as I share the stories...
November 21, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Happy Pre-Thanksgiving weekend everyone! In the spirit of overindulgence I invite you all to feast on a cornucopia of Arey lab preprints (okay only two)! And fittingly their themes happen to be in the realm food and drink! Settle down next to the metaphorical fire as I share the stories...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
New, from an anonymous NIH insider: Trump is being pushed to spend more NIH money. The White House is ordering NIH to do multi-year budgets for awards. This budget trick means fewer awards, fewer labs funded, and lower paylines for researchers. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/alert-the-...
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/alert-the-...
Alert: The Trump administration is quietly slashing new NIH grant awards, and it's not via the budget
NIH’s sudden move to multiyear grant funding is forcing shocking cuts in the number of grants funded. This is an effective budget cut. It's bad, folks.
donmoynihan.substack.com
July 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
New, from an anonymous NIH insider: Trump is being pushed to spend more NIH money. The White House is ordering NIH to do multi-year budgets for awards. This budget trick means fewer awards, fewer labs funded, and lower paylines for researchers. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/alert-the-...
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/alert-the-...
This album - and others from Do Make Say Think - got me through countless work sessions in grad school. Feels like a fast track to a flow state whenever I listen to it 
Other Truths - Do Make Say Think (2009):
The debut album from the band, the album name came from words painted in their rehearsal space (an empty elementary school classroom).
The debut album from the band, the album name came from words painted in their rehearsal space (an empty elementary school classroom).
July 11, 2025 at 1:51 PM
This album - and others from Do Make Say Think - got me through countless work sessions in grad school. Feels like a fast track to a flow state whenever I listen to it 
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Congratulations to Alison Feder on receiving the SMBE 2025 Early-Career Excellence Award!
members.smbe.org/news/Details...
members.smbe.org/news/Details...
SMBE 2025 Faculty Award Winners
SMBE is delighted to announce our 2025 Faculty Award Winners!
Early-Career Excellence Award winner: Alison Feder
Alison Feder is an Assistant Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washingt...
members.smbe.org
June 27, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Congratulations to Alison Feder on receiving the SMBE 2025 Early-Career Excellence Award!
members.smbe.org/news/Details...
members.smbe.org/news/Details...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
New tools! GreenPy and ApplePy are fluorescent biosensors for pyruvate with huge responses (20–40x in vitro) and a range of affinities (10s of μM to mM). These should be game changers for imaging of metabolism! Great work by Shosei Imai @sikmys.bsky.social and team 👏. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
High-performance genetically-encoded green and red fluorescent biosensors for pyruvate
Pyruvate is the end-product of glycolysis and a central metabolite involved in many biochemical pathways. However, a lack of high-performance (i.e., Δ F / F > 10) single fluorescent protein (FP)-base...
www.biorxiv.org
April 19, 2025 at 6:42 AM
New tools! GreenPy and ApplePy are fluorescent biosensors for pyruvate with huge responses (20–40x in vitro) and a range of affinities (10s of μM to mM). These should be game changers for imaging of metabolism! Great work by Shosei Imai @sikmys.bsky.social and team 👏. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Excited to share that our study, on how T cells selectively sense foreign antigens with single-molecule sensitivity, is out! This work was led by the brilliant Will White, and done in collaboration with Jay Groves and David Baker @uwproteindesign.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
June 7, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Excited to share that our study, on how T cells selectively sense foreign antigens with single-molecule sensitivity, is out! This work was led by the brilliant Will White, and done in collaboration with Jay Groves and David Baker @uwproteindesign.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
A particularly cruel effect of cutting funding for tropical diseases is that a billion dollars worth of donated drugs are about to go to waste. #NotEfficient
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
'Neglected tropical diseases' now face even more neglect
U.S. aid cuts could jeopardize the supply of donated drugs that are hailed for their effectiveness in combating neglected diseases like river blindness, schistosomiasis and trachoma.
www.npr.org
June 6, 2025 at 6:15 PM
A particularly cruel effect of cutting funding for tropical diseases is that a billion dollars worth of donated drugs are about to go to waste. #NotEfficient
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Fascinating and important work. Too bad that “all communication related to the paper is under review by HHS, and we do not have approval to participate in press interviews” according to one of the authors.
What happened to #FreeSpeech?
www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/n... via @statnews.com
What happened to #FreeSpeech?
www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/n... via @statnews.com
Massive NIH study challenges use of race as a proxy for genetic ancestry in research
A large government study shows that Americans’ self-reported race is a poor proxy for their genetic ancestry.
www.statnews.com
June 6, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Fascinating and important work. Too bad that “all communication related to the paper is under review by HHS, and we do not have approval to participate in press interviews” according to one of the authors.
What happened to #FreeSpeech?
www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/n... via @statnews.com
What happened to #FreeSpeech?
www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/n... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
I'm a current Harvard graduate student and I found out today that I had my NSF GRFP terminated without notification. I was awarded this individual research fellowship before even choosing Harvard as my graduate school
May 22, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I'm a current Harvard graduate student and I found out today that I had my NSF GRFP terminated without notification. I was awarded this individual research fellowship before even choosing Harvard as my graduate school
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
I wrote this in a week where it felt like professoring while parenting (and equally, parenting while professoring) was impossible. This feeling ebbs and flows. Seems like Mothers Day is as good a time as any to share, maybe it will help someone else feel less alone.
The More Paradox
1/8
The More Paradox
1/8
May 11, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I wrote this in a week where it felt like professoring while parenting (and equally, parenting while professoring) was impossible. This feeling ebbs and flows. Seems like Mothers Day is as good a time as any to share, maybe it will help someone else feel less alone.
The More Paradox
1/8
The More Paradox
1/8
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
NSF will award ~1,000 instead of their usual ~2,000 Graduate Research Fellowships this year.
NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half
US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme recipients in 15 years.
www.nature.com
April 9, 2025 at 1:17 AM
NSF will award ~1,000 instead of their usual ~2,000 Graduate Research Fellowships this year.
NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Suffice to say - if you are a local philanthropist and would like to see infectious disease surveillance continue here in San Diego County, please reach out.
Without continued support, we'll lose our eyes on infectious diseases in our county, just as they're likely to surge.
Email on website 👇.
Without continued support, we'll lose our eyes on infectious diseases in our county, just as they're likely to surge.
Email on website 👇.
We were just notified that our contract to UCSD and Scripps Research to support wastewater surveillance in San Diego (searchcovid.info) was terminated immediately for the same reasons 👇.
That means no more genomic wastewater surveillance, and our proposed extensions to measles, Hep A, others, gone.
That means no more genomic wastewater surveillance, and our proposed extensions to measles, Hep A, others, gone.
April 7, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Suffice to say - if you are a local philanthropist and would like to see infectious disease surveillance continue here in San Diego County, please reach out.
Without continued support, we'll lose our eyes on infectious diseases in our county, just as they're likely to surge.
Email on website 👇.
Without continued support, we'll lose our eyes on infectious diseases in our county, just as they're likely to surge.
Email on website 👇.
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
"At a time when the world is down to a single drug that can reliably cure gonorrhea, the U.S. government has shuttered the country’s premier sexually transmitted diseases laboratory…& “no one should expect the private sector to step in to fill the gap… There is little money to be made in this arena”
CDC’s top laboratory on sexually transmitted diseases is shut by Trump administration
The Trump administration fired everyone in a CDC lab that is crucial to tracking drug-resistant gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. "We are blind," an expert says.
www.statnews.com
April 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
"At a time when the world is down to a single drug that can reliably cure gonorrhea, the U.S. government has shuttered the country’s premier sexually transmitted diseases laboratory…& “no one should expect the private sector to step in to fill the gap… There is little money to be made in this arena”
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Hot off the presses: big update to our work looking at how adaptive decoders influence neural representations.
We added heroic analyses to show in both experiments & models that the structure of what the brain learns is altered by adaptive decoders. Check it out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We added heroic analyses to show in both experiments & models that the structure of what the brain learns is altered by adaptive decoders. Check it out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
April 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Hot off the presses: big update to our work looking at how adaptive decoders influence neural representations.
We added heroic analyses to show in both experiments & models that the structure of what the brain learns is altered by adaptive decoders. Check it out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We added heroic analyses to show in both experiments & models that the structure of what the brain learns is altered by adaptive decoders. Check it out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
SCOOP: You've heard about the NIH terminating grants. I've learned of another, less visible way it's disrupting science: It’s removing some applications from peer review. Not rejecting them, but putting them on hold without saying why or if they'll ever be reviewed. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
The Quiet Way the NIH Is Stalling Some Research Before It Starts
A number of grant proposals have disappeared from scientists’ review pipelines, with little explanation. Applicants are bewildered and frustrated.
www.chronicle.com
April 2, 2025 at 7:35 PM
SCOOP: You've heard about the NIH terminating grants. I've learned of another, less visible way it's disrupting science: It’s removing some applications from peer review. Not rejecting them, but putting them on hold without saying why or if they'll ever be reviewed. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Visiting 9 WA legislative offices today with some awesome BioE colleagues to stand up for science! #AIMBE2025 @uwbioe.bsky.social @neuroamyo.bsky.social @lizwaynephd.bsky.social
March 31, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Visiting 9 WA legislative offices today with some awesome BioE colleagues to stand up for science! #AIMBE2025 @uwbioe.bsky.social @neuroamyo.bsky.social @lizwaynephd.bsky.social
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Had an eye opening day on Capitol Hill with my @uwbioe.bsky.social colleagues. We advocated for science by explaining how federal investment in research advances healthcare & trains our workforce! 💪
Bonuses:
rode the Senate train TWICE 🚂
👀 many offices carefully decorated with UW & WSU gear 🏈
Bonuses:
rode the Senate train TWICE 🚂
👀 many offices carefully decorated with UW & WSU gear 🏈
March 31, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Had an eye opening day on Capitol Hill with my @uwbioe.bsky.social colleagues. We advocated for science by explaining how federal investment in research advances healthcare & trains our workforce! 💪
Bonuses:
rode the Senate train TWICE 🚂
👀 many offices carefully decorated with UW & WSU gear 🏈
Bonuses:
rode the Senate train TWICE 🚂
👀 many offices carefully decorated with UW & WSU gear 🏈
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
There is still time to apply for this funded postdoc position! 👇🏾Applicants must apply using the link in the original post below to be considered. Please apply if interested!
Our lab is excited to hire a postdoctoral researcher to study the mechanisms that viruses use to ‘hijack’ TAM receptors in viral spread. We are looking for someone who is excited to learn new techniques and work in a highly collaborative team! Please share!
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/298...
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/298...
March 24, 2025 at 1:34 PM
There is still time to apply for this funded postdoc position! 👇🏾Applicants must apply using the link in the original post below to be considered. Please apply if interested!
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
🚨 ALL my remaining NIH grants were just terminated
Without philanthropic gifts, this is the end of
1️⃣ my career (as I know it)
2️⃣ @lgbtqhealthexce.bsky.social
3️⃣ our LGBTQ health equity work
Yet, reading about LGBTQ families in my kid's class reminded me: love knows no bounds 🌈
You with us?
Without philanthropic gifts, this is the end of
1️⃣ my career (as I know it)
2️⃣ @lgbtqhealthexce.bsky.social
3️⃣ our LGBTQ health equity work
Yet, reading about LGBTQ families in my kid's class reminded me: love knows no bounds 🌈
You with us?
March 22, 2025 at 10:03 AM
🚨 ALL my remaining NIH grants were just terminated
Without philanthropic gifts, this is the end of
1️⃣ my career (as I know it)
2️⃣ @lgbtqhealthexce.bsky.social
3️⃣ our LGBTQ health equity work
Yet, reading about LGBTQ families in my kid's class reminded me: love knows no bounds 🌈
You with us?
Without philanthropic gifts, this is the end of
1️⃣ my career (as I know it)
2️⃣ @lgbtqhealthexce.bsky.social
3️⃣ our LGBTQ health equity work
Yet, reading about LGBTQ families in my kid's class reminded me: love knows no bounds 🌈
You with us?
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
Incredible opportunity to study some fundamental science that leads to direct translation with a great mentor!
Our lab is excited to hire a postdoctoral researcher to study the mechanisms that viruses use to ‘hijack’ TAM receptors in viral spread. We are looking for someone who is excited to learn new techniques and work in a highly collaborative team! Please share!
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/298...
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/298...
March 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Incredible opportunity to study some fundamental science that leads to direct translation with a great mentor!
Reposted by Ayokunle Olanrewaju
There are days in life that shake you.
I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵
I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵
March 18, 2025 at 11:27 PM
There are days in life that shake you.
I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵
I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵