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Ann T. Tate

@annttate.bsky.social
2.2K followers 366 following 36 posts

Immune system evolution and host- parasite interactions. Associate Prof at Vanderbilt U

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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's fall, but here in Nashville it hasn't felt like it (thanks El Niño?). Nevertheless, I've been indulging in my favorite fall-associated poems, and wanted to share them: 1. Bavarian Gentians by D.H. Lawrence 2. Burnt Norton by T.S. Eliot 3. Spring and Fall (Gerard Manley Hopkins) (1/?)...
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Rich Meisel @richmeisel.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
My great technician is leaving the lab, and I'm trying to replace her. Are you or someone you know interested in evolutionary genomics research that combines animals experiments (with flies!) and molecular biology? Come work with me! Application info at the link evoldir.net/brian/evoldi...
evoldir.net
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I think about this constantly, considering that neither my baby nor I have been healthy for more than two days at a time since mid November. It takes a toll, for sure, and we can only hope there is some payoff later.
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Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Insect Infection, Immunity & Microbionts @royentsoc.bsky.social meeting at Milner Centre in Bath 16-17th April www.royensoc.co.uk/event/infect... with @annttate.bsky.social as keynote speaker. Should be fun!
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Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Pleiotropy increases with gene age in six model multicellular eukaryotes doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Reese Martin and Ann T Tate
doi.org
Pleiotropy increases with gene age in six model multicellular eukaryotes
Abstract. Fundamental traits of genes, including function, length, and Guanine-Cytosine (GC) content, all vary with gene age. Pleiotropy, where a single ge
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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Now published as version of record at @elife.bsky.social ! Layers of Immunity: Deconstructing the Drosophila effector response. The tools are now deposited in the VDRC (link ⬇️) elifesciences.org/articles/107... shop.vbc.ac.at/vdrc_store/d... #Drosophila #IDsky #SymbioSky #Infection #Immunology
eLife Assessment
This work provides one of the first important attempts to look at Drosophila immune responses against bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens in a way that combines the roles of four major arms in immunity (Imd signaling, Toll signaling, phagocytosis, and melanization) rather than studying them separately. The findings are compelling and the tools provided can be used as they are, or built upon, in various contexts.

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.107030.3.sa0Figure 1 validating the mutations usedFigure 3 summarising the survival results from a 14-genotype 25-pathogen panel.Tracking of mortality and pathogen growth over time, complemented by Figure 5 (not shown) looking at pathogen load upon death.
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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
We have a funded NERC PhD studentship! Selfish X chromosomes are these bizarre things where males carrying the selfish X suffer from imploding testes. Lots to do in this space, especially in evolutionary, stress, and infection biology. Please share! #PhDchat #AcademicSky @uniexecec.bsky.social
An advertisement for the project Cryptc consequences of a selfish X chromosome. It shows chromosome mapping indicating many inversions, flies with eye colour phenotypes (wild-type brighter than selfish X), and sections of testes that show ordered (wild-type) or deformed structure (selfish X).
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Congratulations Arun!!
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Pls RT: We are recruiting a postdoc (and potentially an RA or staff scientist) to work on the evolution of stage-structured immune systems! Experimental evolution, natural variation in immunity, and/or evo genomics in flour beetles (Tribolium). See ad here: my.vanderbilt.edu/tatelab/join...
Scale highlighting trade-offs between larval and adult beetles in response to infectionA teaser of panels illustrating potential approaches to studying stage-structured immune systems, including transcriptomics, experimental evolution, and experiments in wild-derived populations
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Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Not sure how many scientists here have tried Claude Code or similar command line coding assistants. I had a complicated family property tax problem that was best solved by a brute force Monte Carlo simulation approach, so I spent a few days coding up and analyzing a model with Claude Code.
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Ever wonder whether older genes contribute to more processes than younger ones, or whether gene duplication might break up pleiotropy over evolutionary time? Does it matter if we're talking about dev. vs. immune genes? Check out our new paper, headed by postdoc Reese Martin: doi.org/10.1093/evle...
doi.org
Pleiotropy increases with gene age in six model multicellular eukaryotes
Abstract. Fundamental traits of genes, including function, length, and Guanine-Cytosine (GC) content, all vary with gene age. Pleiotropy, where a single ge
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
A very cool technology that allows students to interact with John Maynard Keynes’ ideas as he develops them is called a book
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Rita Strack @ritastrack.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Sometimes authors summarize their responses to 3-6 major points raised by the reviewers in their resub cover letters or at the top of their rebuttal letters. This is so super helpful to editors, because it brings us right up to speed after not having read the paper/reviews for months. THANKS!!
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Get the word out far and wide. New opportunity from the Simons Foundation in the Eco-Evo space. 2026 Simons Graduate Fellowship in Ecology and Evolution Awards, due July 31, 2025, only for incoming PhD students who plan to start their PhDs in Fall 2026. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
simonsfoundation.org
Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution
The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
If you use AI to write/assist your manuscript reviews, please know that whatever time it saves on your end may well be spent manifold by the authors trying to sort legitimate human criticism from AI nonsense, emailing the journal office about their AI policy and asking for guidance, etc.
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Molecular Biology and Evolution @molbioevol.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Asgari & @annttate.bsky.social uncover the evolutionary forces shaping the multilayered regulation of signaling pathways by negative feedback loops. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf104 #evobio #molbio #regulation
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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
THIS IS HUGE! TWO Phase I HIV vaccine clinical trials have demonstrated that a stepwise mRNA-based vaccination strategy can SUCCESSFULLY activate AND advance immune responses toward producing broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs), a CRITICAL milestone in HIV prevention. Let’s talk about that! 🧪🧵⬇️
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging." Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. I wrote about my decision in TIME. time.com/7285045/resi...
time.com
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Ever wondered why your favorite immune signaling pathway is regulated by a simple (or complex) set of feedback loops, and how they might have gotten there? Check out our new paper on the evolution of signaling network topology in MBE, headed by postdoc Danial Asgari: doi.org/10.1093/molb...
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National Center for Science Education @ncse.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Teachers, we've partnered with Evolutionary Studies at Vanderbilt (@evolutionvu.bsky.social) to offer a workshop on evolution in celebration of the Scopes Trial 100th Anniversary. Please join us in Nashville on July 11! forms.gle/wECR4X2q5KCQ... #ScopesSymposium #iteachbio #EduSky #edchat
Flyer: Text reads: Using Evidence and Practical Applications to Overcome Misconceptions About Evolution, Nashville, July 11, 2025 at Vanderbilt. A Scopes Anniversary Workshop on Evolution for teachers.  Includes $50 stipend. Imagery is old chalkboard with photo cut-out of John Scopes. The text is drawn in chalk.
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Leslie Rissler @ljrissler.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
This is bad. Read the updates. www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
nsf.gov
Updates on NSF Priorities
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hi, no thanks @hmmvryintrstng.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
james surowiecki has discovered where the completely fabricated trump tariff rate has come from for each country "...for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us."
Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.

So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
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Tuuli Lappalainen @tuuliel.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
This is excellent; a very clear explanation of what’s at stake at Columbia.
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Kalev Freeman @uvmtraumalab.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Attention scientists! Wondering what else can you can do to advocate for research funding? Let's all submit Programmatic Requests to Members of Congress next month, and flood the zone in a show of public support for #NIH and #NSF! ! #SciComm #Science #Medicine #MedSky 🧬🔬🧪 Details below⤵️ 🧵 1/n
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
🧵"So this is how liberty dies..." Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up. I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9
This is a venn diagram showing how 69 Trump actions map onto domains covering: undermining democratic institutions; suppressing dissent and media; dismantling social protections; attacking science and education; destabilising the global order. A table version is available here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LZN7QnbSyFfUZJG8Sn1MWpK0VnfBtb0OSyZ1jxP3xBk/edit?usp=sharing
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Rick Huganir @rhuganir.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
This is the end of science as we know it if it stands—15% IDCs for all NIH Grants. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD
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Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
I usually reserve this account for my personal views; but today I want to represent my position as President of @asn-amnat.bsky.social to post a message that will shortly go out to the membership of the American Society of Naturalists from the ASN Executive Council
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Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Hello All, plz share. Last call for applications for a post-doc position in our lab to study immune function in frogs infected with the fungal pathogen Bd. Deadline is Feb 1, reviews will begin soon after. zamudiolab.org/2024/12/17/p...
zamudiolab.org
Post-Doc position in the KZLab! Immune responses to pathogen infections in frogs
We are looking for an NSF-funded post-doc in our lab in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. The work will examine immune mechanisms that potentially underlie…
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Randolph Nesse @randynesse.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
The Abstract deadline is Feb 3 for the 10th annual meeting of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health in Nashville. All welcome, esp. students and clinicians. Full info at iemph.org Please repost #EvMed 🧪 @evmed.bsky.social @sse-evolution.bsky.social @eseb.bsky.social
The 10th annual meeting of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
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Giacomo Bartolucci (he) @gbart.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
1/n Some time ago my colleague, excellent cook, and friend Ivan told me: "Cacio e pepe is the recipe that I screw up more often. Let's make a project studying systematically the physics of that sauce". Prepare to get cheesy, I'm glad to share the Cacio e paper preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2501.00536
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Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Hey All, plz repost, and share with grads, post-docs and disease folks! We are hiring a post-doc to work on mechanisms of immune responses of frog hosts to Bd infections. Deadline is February 1, 2025. Details for the position can be found at the link below. 🐸🐸🐸 zamudiolab.org/2024/12/17/p...
zamudiolab.org
Post-Doc position in the KZLab! Immune responses to pathogen infections in frogs
We are looking for an NSF-funded post-doc in our lab in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. The work will examine immune mechanisms that potentially underlie…
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
I love these #PlantsGiving resources, and think that a cool extension for my current EEID course would be to ID the pathogens that most threaten their cultivation or trip to your table; chime in with your faves!
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Dr. Lauren E. Fuess @laurenfuess.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Ecoimmunologists/Disease Ecologists of Bluesky please help spread the word that SICB DEDE is accepting applications for our Lochmiller Early Career Award, awarded to exceptional scientists in the field within 10 years of their PhD award date. Apply here by 12/1: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Text description of application materials:

Candidates should include:

1) One-page (<500 words) description of their work.
-->In the description of their work (<500 words), applicants should highlight how their work has contributed to the overall fields of ecoimmunology and/or disease ecology in recent years, as well as their potential for mentoring new and diverse scientists in these fields. Descriptions with more than 500 words will be disqualified.
2) Two reprints of their strongest works
3) A curriculum vitae.
4) Candidates must also have two letters of recommendation forwarded to the Awards Committee Chair (chair.dede@sicb.org).
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Congratulations to Dr. Reese Martin on an amazing Ph.D. defense! 🎉 Reese's dissertation explored the impact of genetic pleiotropy on immune system evolution... (🧵 1/4)
Tate lab group members with the new Dr. Reese Martin
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Jaap de Roode @jaapderoode.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
I am so excited to share the cover of my forthcoming @PrincetonUPress book on how animals use medicine and what we can learn from them! The book will come out on 4 March 2025, and can be pre-ordered here: hubs.ly/Q02SZyF-0
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Rich Meisel @richmeisel.bsky.social · 15/08/2024
Danial graduated last year and has continued on to a postdoc with @annttate.bsky.social where he's continuing to work on the evolution of immunity. And he's already got a preprint from work he's done in the Tate lab! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Positioning of negative feedback loops within immune signaling pathways influences host fitness through noise in AMP expression
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
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Lynda Delph @ldelph.bsky.social · 09/08/2024
We are looking for a new colleague to join our EEB group at IU.
The Department of Biology and Program in Animal Behavior at Indiana University invite applications for a tenure-track faculty position in Physiological Mechanisms of ANIMAL BEHAVIOR at the level of Assistant Professor.
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Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 05/08/2024
I am looking for students (postdocs welcome too) interested in serving on American Society of Naturalists committees (eg student research grants, DEI, etc). Please contact me if you are interested or have a student who might be!!
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 21/05/2024
Tenured! Thankful for my amazing lab members past and present, supportive colleagues, and patient family for helping me get this far!
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Rich Meisel @richmeisel.bsky.social · 25/04/2024
📄 New publication from the lab! Are you interested in subfunctionalization of gene duplications? Immune gene evolution? Blood sucking insects? Then check this out! academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Defensins of the Stable Fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) have Developmental-Specific Regulation and Evolve at Different Rates
Synopsis. Organisms produce antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) either in response to infection (induced) or continuously (constitutively) to combat microbes enc
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 06/03/2024
🧪 Our new paper on estimating the shape of the trade-off between investment in immunity and other fitness-related traits! Justin Critchlow, Arun Prakash, and K. Zhong used dose-dependent RNAi to dysregulate the brakes on beetle immune signaling. Check it out: journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Figure showing the costs of increasing investment in immunity.
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Rich Meisel @richmeisel.bsky.social · 13/02/2024
Please share with the soon to be and recent college grads in your life! We're taking applications for our PAID postbacc research program in evolutionary genetics! uh.edu/nsm/stegg-in...
uh.edu
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Volker Rudolf @volkerrudolf.bsky.social · 13/02/2024
AmNat fact 2: I learned that some of you think you need math in your paper to be published in The American Naturalist. That is incorrect. We love purely empirical papers just as much as pure theory & those that combine both. No bias here! (4/5)
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Leslie Rissler @ljrissler.bsky.social · 17/01/2024
LIFE - Leveraging Innovations From Evolution Yay! The DCL is finally out! NSF BIO seeks to catalyze research around convergent evolution to speed discoveries of nature-based solutions. Proposals to IntBIO (& more) are welcome. www.nsf.gov/pubs/2024/ns...
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 05/01/2024
If you want to keep that lovely buzz after finishing a good book, don't go and look at its reviews on goodreads.
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Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 25/10/2023
Congratulations to the new Dr. Justin Critchlow! It was a great defense, we are proud of you, and we'll miss you!
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Volker Rudolf @volkerrudolf.bsky.social · 26/09/2023
We are looking for a new Data Editor AmNat @asn-amnat.bsky.social to start in 2024. In 2021, we pioneered the use of a data editor to greatly improve the quality of data repositories for all published papers. More details are here: amnat.org/announcements/… Please repost to help spread the word
amnat.org
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