Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · 5d

The Trump admin has been targeting whistleblowers, from the #FEMA36 to the countless other patriotic public servants and scientists across NIH, CDC, NASA, and more who spoke out about the danger posed by the chaos in our federal agencies. This is an concerted, autocratic effort to silence dissent.

RFK Jr fires top NIH scientist weeks after she files whistleblower complaint

Jeanne Marrazzo’s complaint reportedly involved the Trump administration’s hostility toward vaccines

www.theguardian.com

4 49 110

Ruth Montgomery @rrmsky.bsky.social · 5d

New research from Dixit lab @yalemed.bsky.social showing nerve-associated macrophages (NAMs) decline in aging which impairs the breakdown of fat and increases inflammaging. Dixit addresses the biology of aging and intercommunication between nerves and macrophages. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Nerve-associated macrophages control adipose homeostasis across lifespan and restrain age-related inflammation - Nature Aging

Gonzalez-Hurtado, Leveau and colleagues characterize adipose resident tissue macrophages across lifespan in mice, finding that nerve-associated macrophages, which mitigate inflammation and control lipolysis and catecholamine resistance, are lost during aging.

www.nature.com

2 3

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Larry Ferlazzo @larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 19d

Taliban Bans Books by Women in Afghanistan’s Universities www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/w...

Taliban Bans Books by Women in Afghanistan’s Universities

www.nytimes.com

9 14 28

Ruth Montgomery @rrmsky.bsky.social · 18d

Congratulations to our outstanding @yalemed.bsky.social colleague @virusesimmunity.bsky.social

HHMI @hhmi.org · 19d

🎉 Congratulations to HHMI Investigators Clifford Brangwynne and Akiko Iwasaki, the two winners of the 30th annual Keio Medical Science Prize. This international prize, awarded by Keio University in Tokyo, honors scientists who have made major contributions to the fields of medical or life sciences.

1

Ruth Montgomery @rrmsky.bsky.social · Sep 4

Count on #macrophages to promote health! Congratulations to my @yalemed.bsky.social colleagues for this very novel paper.

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Sep 4

Discovery of a new type of immune cell in fat tissue that promotes infllammaging (chronic inflammation with aging)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Nerve-associated macrophages control adipose homeostasis across lifespan and restrain age-related inflammation - Nature Aging

Gonzalez-Hurtado, Leveau and colleagues characterize adipose resident tissue macrophages across lifespan in mice, finding that nerve-associated macrophages, which mitigate inflammation and control lip...

www.nature.com

1

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Jonathan Kagan @jkagan1.bsky.social · Aug 23

mRNA technologies: Unlimited potential to improve human health. I spoke with the fantastic Erin Shumaker at POLITICO to discuss this topic and its applications to cancer, autoimmunity and beyond.
@erinlschumaker.bsky.social
@politico.com
@cornertx
#mRNA #Cancer
politi.co/3VjfRvu

Losing the mRNA arms race

politi.co

3 35 90

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Aug 1

#Resource

Proteomic characterization of varicella-zoster virus–host protein interactions and infection-induced changes in a neuronal cell line identifies potential targets for drug discovery and molecular insights into severe disease.

#MicroSky

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

Multi-proteomic profiling of the varicella-zoster virus–host interface reveals host susceptibilities to severe infection - Nature Microbiology

Proteomic characterization of varicella-zoster virus–host protein interactions and infection-induced changes in a neuronal cell line identifies potential targets for drug discovery and molecular insig...

www.nature.com

2 4

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

HIPC @hipcproject.bsky.social · Aug 6

Come get your curated #immune #assays from 1,000s of human subjects at our website
immunespace.org
🧪 #immunology #IDSky #ImmuneSky
immunespace.org/query/filters

giphy.com/gifs/Giflyti...

Analyze Lucky Charms GIF by Giflytics - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & share this Analyze Lucky Charms GIF by Giflytics with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

giphy.com

1 3

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

ASM @asm.org · Aug 4

On Aug. 1, ASM & partner societies filed an expanded amicus brief with SCOTUS to defend scientific integrity & protect early-career researchers. The brief highlights the harm caused by NIH grant terminations, including canceling the MOSAIC program. asm.org/press-releas...

Scientific Societies File Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Support of NIH Grantees

ASM and fellow societies filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, calling for the swift restoration of NIH grant funding supporting early-career scientists, such as the MOSAIC program.

asm.org

8 15

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · Jul 31

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.

8 78 260

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

HIPC @hipcproject.bsky.social · Jul 31

More insights from #IMPACC studies, including polymorphism that might protect in #covid19 in online publication.
Authors include: @skleinstein.bsky.social @bjoernpeters.bsky.social @sesmalab.bsky.social @vivianasimonlab.bsky.social @joanndarce.bsky.social ++ others
insight.jci.org/articles/vie...

Screen shot of paper entitled "MICBG4064A polymorphism reduces risk of mechanical ventilation and death during viral acute lung injury." From JCI Insight publication.

2 5

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

HIPC @hipcproject.bsky.social · Jul 29

Our collaborators identify chief predictor of #covid19 severity + death. Many authors include members of #IMPACC network: @rrmsky.bsky.social @bjoernpeters.bsky.social @skleinstein.bsky.social @sesmalab.bsky.social
@joanndarce.bsky.social @droferlevy.bsky.social
www.frontiersin.org/journals/med...

Frontiers | Baseline predictors for 28-day COVID-19 severity and mortality among hospitalized patients: results from the IMPACC study

IntroductionThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic threatened public health and placed a significant burden on medical resources. The Immunophenoty...

www.frontiersin.org

3 6

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Lisa Jarvis @lisamjarvis.bsky.social · Jul 25

Welp. www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Exclusive | RFK Jr. to Oust Advisory Panel on Cancer Screenings, HIV Prevention Drugs

The task force determines which preventive services insurers must cover at no cost to patients.

www.wsj.com

1 9 19

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · Jul 23

Three members of the NIH council of councils publish a letter to the editor, coming out against proposed budget cuts and recent grant terminations

“The NIH is not just a national treasure — it is a global beacon of biomedical excellence. … We must not weaken it.”

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Protect the integrity of the US National Institutes of Health

Letter to the Editor

www.nature.com

1 32 100

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Dan Tyrrell @danis1337.bsky.social · Jul 15

Really cool stuff! @dremilygoldberg.bsky.social @astratman.bsky.social @bbparis1984.bsky.social @balynzaro.bsky.social

bioRxiv Immunology @biorxiv-immuno.bsky.social · Jul 15

Neutrophil TLR2 signaling promotes lipid accumulation and vascular plaque growth https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.09.663961v1

1 3 6

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Amber Stratman @astratman.bsky.social · Jul 15

Excited to be involved with this work driven by @dremilygoldberg.bsky.social and her team! Read the preprint now!

"Neutrophil TLR2 signaling promotes lipid accumulation and vascular plaque growth"

bioRxiv Immunology @biorxiv-immuno.bsky.social · Jul 15

Neutrophil TLR2 signaling promotes lipid accumulation and vascular plaque growth https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.09.663961v1

1 5 9

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · Jul 14

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.

Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities

The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.

www.nature.com

46 790 1K

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Bérénice A. Benayoun, PhD @bbparis1984.bsky.social · Jul 14

Excited to see this new review piece that we wrote together with Jennifer Garrison and Alison Kochersberger on the modern tools and approaches to study #ovarian #aging out this week at @genesdev.bsky.social!
genesdev.cshlp.org/content/earl... #GeroSky #WomensHealth 🧪🧬
A 🧵1/3

Studying ovarian aging and its health impacts: modern tools and approaches

2 10 22

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

HIPC @hipcproject.bsky.social · Jul 9

Our collaborator Purvesh Katri, and others, discover a #signature of #immune health.

med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...

@stanfordimmunology.bsky.social

Immune ‘dysregulation’ present prior to infection predicts severe responses

Stanford Medicine-led research finds that a gene signature capturing immune health or dysfunction can forecast patient outcomes following subsequent viral or bacterial infections.

med.stanford.edu

1 3

Ruth Montgomery @rrmsky.bsky.social · Jul 1

Well annotated, curated, multiparameter FREE #immunology data, folks!

HIPC @hipcproject.bsky.social · Jun 30

Our project spans 8+ institutions, with human cohorts studied with multiplex transcriptional, #cytokine, and #proteomic assays; multiparameter #phenotyping of leukocyte subsets + many computational methods.
Get our #data for your own investigations.
#ImmuneSky #IDsky
immunespace.org

Page shows information about Human Immunology Project Consortium and the data from 174 studies, 52 diseases. https://immunespace.org

1 5

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Jun 27

New Science story about the beginnings of grant reinstatement.

www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH will reinstate 900 grants in response to court order

Projects touching on sensitive topics such as DEI had been illegally terminated, judge found

www.science.org

4 14 43

Ruth Montgomery @rrmsky.bsky.social · Jun 27

Wow, when lower IFN in aging is a good thing! Congratulations Chaz L and team. #ImmuneProfiling
#Aging Epigenetic attenuation of interferon signaling is associated with aging-related improvements in systemic lupus erythematosus | Science Translational Medicine www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Epigenetic attenuation of interferon signaling is associated with aging-related improvements in systemic lupus erythematosus

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus exhibit aging-related decreases in interferon signaling that correlate with improved disease activity.

www.science.org

3 7

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · Jun 24

“In a study that enrolled 5000 healthy adults before the flu season started and followed them until after it ended, the highest dose of the drug provided 76.1% protection from disease, compared with a placebo shot, its developer, Cidara Therapeutics, reported in a press release& on an investor call”

A single shot of a flu drug could outperform vaccines—and protect for an entire season

One injection of a long-lasting drug showed up to 76% efficacy in a large trial

www.science.org

3 13 47

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

STAT @statnews.com · Jun 25

News: The American Academy of Pediatrics says it will no longer take part in the process of ACIP meetings.

“We won’t lend our name or our expertise to a system that is being politicized at the expense of children’s health,” the group's president says.
www.statnews.com/2025/06/25/c...

CDC vaccine advisory committee to review long-approved immunizations

A leader of the CDC's reconstituted vaccine advisory committee said the panel would start a review of long-approved shots.

www.statnews.com

8 250 550

Reposted by Ruth Montgomery

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · Jun 24

“Cassidy’s comments — including that the panel’s upcoming meeting be canceled until it is “fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation” — represent the harshest condemnation of Kennedy’s actions by the senator, who ultimately cast the key vote that secured Kennedy’s confirmation.”

Cassidy calls to delay meeting of CDC's vaccine panel in challenge to RFK Jr.

A key GOP senator is calling for the CDC's vaccine meeting to be postponed after RFK Jr. shook up the panel.

www.statnews.com

4 19 58