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Paul Robson

@paulrobson.bsky.social

89 followers 38 following 6 posts

Professor of molecular cell biology at The Jackson Laboratory studying human evolution, development, and disease.

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Paul Robson @paulrobson.bsky.social · Aug 28

Nice piece from our JAX Communication team outlining our efforts within the MorPhiC Consortium towards characterizing the function of all human protein coding genes:
www.jax.org/news-and-ins...

MorPhiC: Cellular modeling at scale

JAX plays key role in national effort to decode the function of every human gene.

www.jax.org

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Paul Robson @paulrobson.bsky.social · Apr 12

Great work from @zukailiu.bsky.social defining the first mesenchymal cells in human development as trophoblast-derived, and adding to the examples of evolutionary co-option of viral sequences contributing to our uniquely ape/human features. #hiPSC #MorPhiC #EvoDevo
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Redirecting

doi.org

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Paul Robson @paulrobson.bsky.social · Feb 9

A good explainer of NIH indirects so folks can better understand why the latest Trump/Musk move is so shocking. Not to mention the estimated 2.7x economic return on investment and better health for the nation/world that NIH funds bring.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/08/n...

What are indirect research costs? A quick explainer in light of NIH’s sweeping policy change

National Institutes of Health slashed overhead costs allowed under its grants to match private foundations, but the two don't account for expenses in the same way.

www.statnews.com

Reposted by Paul Robson

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Jan 28

American science and medicine has been thrown into chaos and uncertainty over the past week. Here are some stories to get up to speed. 1/12

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Reposted by Paul Robson

Ilan Schwartz @germhuntermd.bsky.social · Jan 22

Scientific advancements aside, this is economically irresponsible

Every $1 spent by NIH generates $2.46

For example, in 2023, $47B in NIH spending generated ~$93B

Halting NIH spending will LOSE the US a lot of money (and talent)

An image of NIH campus. Text says : With annual budget of more than $47 billion, NIH is the largest single public funder of biomedical and behavioural research in the world. In fiscal year 2023, NIH funding generated an estimated $92.89 billion in economic activity

Every state and almost every congressional district received a share of NIH investment
Each year, NIH awards over 60,000 grants that directly support more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 different institutions
In fiscal year 2023, every $1 of NIH funding generated approximately $2.46 of economic activity

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Paul Robson @paulrobson.bsky.social · Dec 5

Impressive longevity, with reproductive fitness. But I’m not sure what is more impressive, a bird laying an egg at age 74 or a biologist tracking it in the wild (for 68 years), amongst 3 million other Laysan albatrosses. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Wisdom: World's oldest known wild bird lays egg at '74' - BBC News

Laysan albatross Wisdom was spotted with her new partner and egg at a Pacific Ocean refuge.

www.bbc.com

Paul Robson @paulrobson.bsky.social · Nov 27

“… RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research …”, down from its current platinum standard?

Paul Robson @paulrobson.bsky.social · Nov 19

A worrying correlation. Causation may be through known direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of the syncytiotrophoblast, defects in which are a known cause of developmental heart disease. Also worrying, in 20 years time, is an increase in schizophrenia, as seen with the 1918 pandemic.