iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 14h

Good night from Minnesota

Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

An example of useful, concrete, actionable AI guidance in the new MIT report: Don't use AI detection tools in the classroom.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

First time visiting the Pacific Northwest. The place is breathtaking

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Interesting contradiction in how institutions handle AI

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Journals can't find reviewers or get reviews in on time, and they're doing everything they can to fix it (offering fake points, useless certificates) -- except doing the one thing that would actually work: paying reviewers for their time & expertise with real money

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Excellent points on AI use for grad students:

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Huge faculty recruitment effort at the University of Chicago -- a division-wide, open-rank search looking to hire about 20 faculty across 5 research areas in biology. Come be our colleague! Full announcement: uchicago.app.box.com/s/ckih9zv3rj...

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Our new friendly neighborhood monolith. Maybe an unpopular opinion but I love it

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Just start writing. My new post: substack.com/home/post/p-...

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Chicago in the summer is unbeatable

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Visited the grand canyon last year and a rainbow appeared *inside* the canyon

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Chicago riverwalk, memorial day weekend

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Wabash Avenue bridge, Chicago, today

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Fabulous day in Chicago. Feels like summer 🌞

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

🧬 AI in Genomics Symposium next week! We're bringing together leading scientists from across academia and industry pushing the boundaries of AI in genomics research Join us May 8 at the University of Chicago - KCBD Auditorium, 9:30–5:00, reception to follow. No registration needed!

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Visited Zion National Park for the first time - impossible to convey how beautiful it is

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

I'm generally a fan of AI, but I just don't see how this is going to improve polling. Will just make an already messy data even more biased and problematic

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

We're searching for the next Director of the Duchossois Family Institute at UChicago The most exciting leadership role in microbiome science right now: lead faculty, cutting-edge cores, and an FDA-approved facility for microbiome therapeutics Email/DM me if interested apply.interfolio.com/182203

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Last week I took one of my favorite Chicago photos of all time. This city is LONG

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

In 1800 (not that long ago!) the average life expectancy was ~30 years.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Our new paper, where we use metabolic modeling to show Fusobacterium grows faster in colorectal tumor vs normal tissue microenvironments, and use computational + experimental approach to find specific metabolic pathways driving host-microbiome interactions in cancer www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

My favorite Chicago photos of 2025

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Amazing journal cover for the new Trends In Microbiology special issue on geographic diversity in microbiology www.cell.com/trends/micro...

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

This project was brilliantly led by Sabrina Arif, and is a close collaboration with @fluca2406.bsky.social's lab, and the Global Microbiome Conservancy (Mathieu Groussin and Mathilde Poyet)

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

3. Specific microbes like Bifidobacterium adolescentis (influenced by dairy intake) directly affected metabolic gene expression.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

2. High-diversity microbiomes elicited a stronger host transcriptional response, while low-diversity microbiomes triggered epithelial restructuring & glycolysis – a stress response that characterizes several chronic inflammatory diseases.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

1. Urban microbiomes triggered stronger host immune responses, including TNF signaling and bacterial antigen recognition.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

We used a cell culture-based experimental system, treating colonic epithelial cells with live gut microbiomes from rural and urban individuals from different populations (Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Malaysia, US). We found super interesting results👇

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

🧬 🦠 🏙️ Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host? Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Indiana Dunes National Park, yesterday

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Never seen our campus like this before. Like every single tree decided to turn red at the same moment

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

So funny that this is still the top search term for biorxiv. Like asking what is the impact factor of pubmed. Or your local library.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Night heron, spotted at the Garden of the Phoenix

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Garden of the Phoenix in Hyde Park is a gem

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Update from Chicago. The situation is dire. Complete anarchy. Please send the national guard asap to put an end to this lawlessness

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

This is not just HHMI. All Chan Zuckerberg Initiative funding calls are CLOSED. The Gates Foundation has no Grand Challenges funding opportunities. I've never seen anything like this. Private foundations have just decided to stop supporting biomedical research.

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