Vince Luca, PhD
@thelucalab.bsky.social
530 followers 310 following 37 posts
We use structure-guided engineering to design biologics & immunotherapies. Associate Professor of Immunology, Director - Center for Antibody & Protein Engineering (CAPE) @ Moffitt Cancer Center www.thelucalab.org
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Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
danielvoliveira.bsky.social
If you’re around at the #NotchMeetingXIII poster session today, come by to check out Poster #9! 🧬✨
@anna_frontino will be there presenting our shared work on how Jagged1 variants shape liver vascular and biliary development.
Stop by to say hi and chat Notch!
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
deniswirtz.bsky.social
CAR T therapy has seen great effectiveness in liquid tumors, but little in solid tumors (e.g. ovarian cancer).

Here we developed hyper-migratory CAR TV cells to infiltrate en masse ovarian tumors. (Left: control CAR T cells; right CAR TV cells).

Read this here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
thelucalab.bsky.social
Good luck - ridiculous situation!
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
merz.bsky.social
I've been watching as NIGMS works their tails off to get R35 awards out the door before the end of the FY on 30 Sept. They all look great but this one really grabbed my attention.

It's about long "noncoding" (lnc) RNA's. Only, this one *does* encode peptides…

reporter.nih.gov/project-deta...
RePORT ⟩ RePORTER
reporter.nih.gov
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
agwrobel.bsky.social
Dear scientific community,

I am looking for two postdoctoral structural biologists to join my group at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford.

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
thelucalab.bsky.social
This makes me feel old/nostalgic/proud all at the same time. What a great crew!
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
resprofnews.bsky.social
University efficiency drives may have opposite effect, study finds.

The administrative burden in Australian universities is most keenly felt by teaching and research staff, according to a study from the University of Melbourne’s faculty of education.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...
University efficiency drives may have opposite effect, study finds - Research Professional News
Teaching and research staff say reforms mean more red tape for them, Australian survey reports
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
thelucalab.bsky.social
I should clarify. We’ve made minibinders to 5-6 different targets now. We don’t get 100% success rate for every binder, but we’ve gotten at least one hit out of 10-20 candidates screened (in line with the rates they indicate in the paper).
thelucalab.bsky.social
Bindcraft is awesome! If you haven’t already seen the preprint check out the final pub here. We’ve had nearly 100% success using it for the targets we’ve attempted.
martinpacesa.bsky.social
Exciting to see our protein binder design pipeline BindCraft published in its final form in @Nature ! This has been an amazing collaborative effort with Lennart, Christian, @sokrypton.org, Bruno and many other amazing lab members and collaborators.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
martinpacesa.bsky.social
Exciting to see our protein binder design pipeline BindCraft published in its final form in @Nature ! This has been an amazing collaborative effort with Lennart, Christian, @sokrypton.org, Bruno and many other amazing lab members and collaborators.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
thelucalab.bsky.social
I would guess it’s borne out of insecurity - they may not want the burden/responsibility for making final decisions. I think the same issue is pervasive in journal editors when reviewers are conflicted.
thelucalab.bsky.social
Did they really not list the cap in the article!?
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
dieworkwear.bsky.social
Am I crazy or did we just have a convo about how we can't fund cancer research?
Senator Marsha Blackburn tweets: "We're going to build a big, beautiful Golden Dome."
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
sanders.senate.gov
Donald Trump cut funding for cancer research by 31% in the first three months of his term.

This is an attack on every American family who has loved someone with cancer.
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
proftomellis.bsky.social
My dept in London at Imperial (Bioengineering) is recruiting a group leader at Professor level 🧑‍🎓 Please RT. It's a great place with world-class expertise in all sorts of biomedical & biological engineering topics like synthetic biology. It's also not in the USA. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
needhibhalla.bsky.social
"I would not have dared to dream that metastatic melanoma would become a treatable disease in my lifetime. Yet here we are today, with 43% of people diagnosed with metastatic melanoma living 10 years or more, due to treatments that we broadly refer to as cancer immunotherapy." Barry P. Sleckman, UAB
needhibhalla.bsky.social
The Senate Committee on Appropriations is holding a hearing on Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation on April 30 at 10:30am ET, chaired by Senator Susan Collins 🧪

www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/bio...
Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
www.appropriations.senate.gov
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
frutag33.bsky.social
Hello Community!
Are you a postdoc/grad student preparing to launch a faculty search? Do you have a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship & community engagement? Apply to the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium: www.berkeleystanfordnextgensymposium.com! Pls repost! (1/3)
Flyer for the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium (including QR code in top right corner). This symposium highlights the work of exceptional early-career scientists in the broad field of quantitative biological and biomedical sciences, with a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship, and community engagement. These early career scientists are preparing to launch a faculty search. Applications are due May 30th, 2025.
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social
Huge opportunity for postdocs gearing up for an academic job search, hosted by @stanford-chemh.bsky.social @berkeleymcb.bsky.social and UCSF!
frutag33.bsky.social
Hello Community!
Are you a postdoc/grad student preparing to launch a faculty search? Do you have a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship & community engagement? Apply to the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium: www.berkeleystanfordnextgensymposium.com! Pls repost! (1/3)
Flyer for the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium (including QR code in top right corner). This symposium highlights the work of exceptional early-career scientists in the broad field of quantitative biological and biomedical sciences, with a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship, and community engagement. These early career scientists are preparing to launch a faculty search. Applications are due May 30th, 2025.
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
danielconvissor.bsky.social
Actually, flip the headline. It's really "How the Federal Government Became so Dependent on Universities."

These competitively awarded, peer reviewed research grants produce tremendous returns on investment. New tech, health, science that benefit all people & businesses in the USA & world.
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
xanthakarp.bsky.social
Congratulations to Iva Greenwald and Gary Struhl for the Gairdner Award for their work on Notch!! It’s so lovely to have some good news in these difficult times. zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/columbia-gai...
Columbia Scientists Win International Award for Fundamental Research that Advances Understanding of Biology and Disease
zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu
thelucalab.bsky.social
My MIRA went to Council in September and was awarded on 02/01/2025. A colleague had a similar timeline for theirs, so it seems like some are getting through. Ours were both renewals (not sure that matters).
Reposted by Vince Luca, PhD
drstarbird.bsky.social
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!
drstarbird.bsky.social
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...
Schematic of potential complexes that form between TAM receptors and apoptosis cells or viruses at the cell surface
thelucalab.bsky.social
Can you clarify this a bit? I think most outsiders (self included) don’t understand the implications for NIH either way. I get the argument that dems should use the shutdown for leverage, but how specifically does the NIH benefit?