iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jenna Christensen @christensenlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

My department, Molecular Biosciences at Northwestern, is hiring an Assistant Professor this year! We are a broad department that covers many aspects of biology. It's a fantastic department to work in and Evanston is a great place to live! Happy to answer ?s molbiosci.northwestern.edu/faculty-sear...

molbiosci.northwestern.edu

Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences: Department of Molecular Biosciences - Northwestern University

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Our latest review is out. We take a deep dive into the human mutations in microtubule motors that drive devastating neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Taking in motor protein biophysics, animal models of disease as well as patient phenotypes. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Graphical abstract summarising the impact of defective microtubule motors on axonal transport. Kinesins (green) and dyneins (magenta) maintain balance along the length of the axon. When disease causing mutations cause either hyper or hypo activity, the loss of balance results in axon dieback.

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TK (Takashi DY) Kozai @bioniclab.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

OMB must answer substantive comments. It can batch and dismiss form letters. So make yours impossible to average away: "[200.340] I'm in year 3 of a 5-year PhD funded by an R01. This rule means my advisor's grant can end before I defend." One section. One fact. One consequence.

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Xin Xiang @xianglab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Really happy to share our latest work on the dynactin complex. We were so surprised to find that overexpression of dynactin p50 causes part of the dynactin complex to form clusters that contain our recently discovered dynactin assembly factor VezA/vezatin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A model of dynactin cluster formation upon p50 overexpression.

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Jenna Christensen @christensenlab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Aga Kendrick and I are co-chairing a session, “Intracellular Transport Logistics across Scales” at #CellBio2026, December 12-16, in San Diego this year! 🔬🌞 Abstract deadline for talks is JUNE 9. To be considered for our session, select “Cytoskeleton and Motility” as a topic area. See you there!

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IBiS Northwestern @ibisatnu.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Congratulations to IBiS Preceptor Dr. Keara Lane for receiving a prestigious NSF CAREER award! news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026...

news.northwestern.edu

Promising young researchers receive NSF CAREER awards

Grants recognize individuals who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar

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Domenico Modaffari @dmodaffari.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Happy to share that the bulk of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! We followed SsdA, the A. nidulans ortholog of yeast RNA-binding protein Ssd1, and found it forms motile mRNP puncta in hyphae. [1/7] www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Federal Policy Changes and Career Stability Among NIH K-Award Recipients Among NIH K-award recipients, 96% perceived recent federal policy changes as negatively affecting research career stability; 18% report being much less likely to continue research vs 1 year ago jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

jamanetwork.com

Federal Policy Changes and Career Stability Among NIH K-Award Recipients

This cross-sectional study uses survey data to evaluate how National Institutes of Health (NIH) K awardees perceive the effects of federal policy on research career stability and intentions to pursue ...

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American Society for Cell Biology @ascbiology.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

From MBoC… Cells move cargo in clever ways. John Salogiannis (University of Vermont) reveals how the protein AcbdA helps peroxisomes hitchhike on early endosomes—connecting intracellular transport with fatty acid metabolism. www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10....

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Leading Edge Fellows Program @leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor. The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2. www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/

Candid photo of Zara Weinberg. She has short red hair, bangs and glasses. She is laughing.

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Willow Coyote-Maestas @willowcoyote.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed. She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.

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Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

🚨 SCOTUS just issued a decision in the NIH grant termination cases. And it's awful. In plain English, the likely result of this is that SCOTUS just re-terminated ~900 NIH grants worth over $1.9 billion in unspent funds This is an atrocious decision by Justice Barrett & the right wing of the Court.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Retweet to save a life

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I NEED to tell you the story of Tae Heung “William” Kim. He's a graduate student at Texas A&M where he's working on a vaccine for Lyme disease. He's a *legal permanent resident* of the United States. And he's been in ICE detention for 12 days & counting, transferred Tuesday to South Texas.

From left to right, Dr. Albert Mulenga, William Tae Heung Kim, Dr. Thu Thuy Nguyen, Dr. Alex Kiarie Gaithuma, Dr Hassan Hakimi and Emily Bencosme Cuevas. Kim is a Texas A&M researcher who was detained in San Francisco last Monday despite being a permanent resident of the United States and a green card holder.

COURTESY OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

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Melissa Kane PhD @cornymel.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

As stressful as it is to run a laboratory in the US right now, my thoughts are often with the NIH staff living in the awful chaos trying to preserve the whole enterprise. I’m grateful for every moment they choose not to give up. These people are the only thing keeping it from entirely collapsing.

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

My second NCR was awarded, one day early. NIH staff must be working around the clock to push funding out. Let's thank our POs and SROs and all NIH staff for working selflessly to keep science progressing in this sh*tshow.

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Science Homecoming @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Jenna Christensen, molecular biologist and Missouri native, writes: “The message that this sends to young people is clear – science is not a stable career.” Cuts to federal research risk losing the next generation of scientists.🧪🏠 @christensenlab.bsky.social www.mycouriertribune.com/cuts-to-scie...

mycouriertribune.com

Cuts to science funding jeopardize next generation of scientists - Courier-Tribune

My research advisor Tara Allen helped me apply for summer research programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), where I got my first taste of scientific research by working full-time in a...

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Amanda Alker @atp-alker.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

This perspective highlights why federal research opportunities (e.g. NSF REU internships, NSF GRFP fellowships and grant-supported technician positions) were fundamental for me to advance in the academic research ranks. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to become a scientist #saveNSF

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Morgan Carter @morgancarterphd.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Every academic has an angel on one shoulder saying "wow this is a brilliant proposal" and a devil on the other saying "yea, no this is crap". The devil likes to be particularly loud...

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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

This is exactly what I was describing yesterday. So much very questionable verbal guidance. If you get a verbal order that you believe is illegal or unethical, don’t act on it. Instead, summarize it by email back to the person who spoke it to you and ask for confirmation.

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Ian L Morgan @ianlmorgan.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Jay, please stop gaslighting early career researchers.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin @raskin.house.gov · 17/06/2025

Today I’m leading 152 House Democrats in challenging Trump's devastating cuts to life-saving NIH research grants. Congress—not Trump—controls federal spending. Trump must do his job, “faithfully execute” the laws and stop violating the Constitution to undercut public health.

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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.

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@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Proud to be a signatory on this letter in support of the courageous staff at the NIH who penned the Bethesda Declaration to decry the ongoing politicization and damage to the US biomedical research infrastructure which has been the envy of the world.

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

How is this supposed to happen when institutional training grants are being terminated and delayed, fewer individual fellowships are being funded and the directorate that funds STEM education is being dismantled? It is so disappointing to see this doublespeak from scientific leaders

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 03/06/2025

If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow. The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.

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Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

My mom, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2000, passed away Friday at the age of 93. She took a chemo regimen called R-CHOP, which allowed her to celebrate 5 more birthdays and hold her great-grandchild. Thank you to scientists giving us those extra years with her. #ThanksNIH

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KLAB - finding a cure for GI dysmotility at #HarvardStrong @klab.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Principal Investigator submitting grant proposals for federal funding Circa June 2025

Person using lawnmower with a Twister bearing down upon his yard

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Joshua G. Schraiber @jgschraiber.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

HMMER is crucial to our modern understanding of protein biochemistry and has almost certainly generated at least a 10-fold return on investment for every dollar the US government has spent on funding it.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Proud to sign on this this open letter. Join me.... www.standupforscience.net/open-letter-...

standupforscience.net

Open Letter in Support of Science — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

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Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 24/05/2025

I’ve seen some academic presentations over the last few weeks that I was surprised to find myself genuinely moved by. I don’t know, there’s something beautiful about people thinking hard and honestly about things they care about, and trying to explain why, in a world that manifestly DGAF.

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Gc Rox @gcrox.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

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Wyoming Wormboy @wyomingwormboy.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

BTW. If you’re a scientist and are feeling hollowed out, depressed, fried, frustrated, confused, and simply exhausted by everything, I understand you. You are perfectly sane and you are not alone.

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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I am late to this but @lastweektonight.com is doing better journalism on the Trump-induced crisis in American public health than most other "real" mainstream media outlets. Watch it, all of it. #RFKMustGo. youtu.be/8H34jcpEsFs?...

youtu.be

RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

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Gottardi Lab @carajgottardi.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

"If NIH budget money, designated by Congress to be spent on medical cures, doesn’t go out over the next few months, all US scientists are looking at budget cuts that will not just take away cures but harm local economies." donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...

donmoynihan.substack.com

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Jenna Christensen @christensenlab.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Happy that we were able to contribute to this cool work from the Salogiannis lab on the discovery of a novel regulator of peroxisome hitchhiking on early endosomes!

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

ACTION ITEM-----ACTION ITEM Implementation of Schedule F This is what a lot of us have been worried about. This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs. BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD... 1/n

media.tenor.com

the word alert is in a purple circle

ALT: the word alert is in a purple circle

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American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) @aacu.org · 22/04/2025

More than 150 leaders of America's colleges, universities, and scholarly societies issued "A Call for Constructive Engagement" in response to the ongoing government intrusion into #highered. Read the full statement: www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...

Black and gray graphic with red ampersand followed by a white line and "AAC&U Public Statement" in all-caps white text.

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Caroline Bartman @cbartman.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

The integrated stress response (ISR): what happens to my body everytime I look at the New York Times

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

(2) FUTURE FUNDING at NSF Here's why I rate this issue as 🚨🚨: It's a call to action! Things are being decided now! Calls to your elected representatives MATTER. ESPECIALLY TO THESE 13 PEOPLE!!! These 13 reps forms the House subcommittee that sets NSF appropriations. Live there? Give 'em a call.

Hal Rogers
John Carter
Ben Cline
Tony Gonzales
Andrew Clyde
Mark Alford
Dale Strong
Riley Moore
Grace Meng
Glenn Ivey
Joe Morelle
Madeleine Dean
Frank Mrvan

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

If this shit keeps up I will go back to listening to Bright Eyes, I will do it, don’t TEST me. You want to make me feel like everything is out of my control like I’m 14 again? FINE. I’m gonna play that shit so loud with the windows down and you’ll have to hear that sad boy yowling TOO.

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Rep. Jan Schakowsky @schakowsky.house.gov · 09/04/2025

Make no mistake about it: Trump's reported decision to freeze funding at Northwestern University will put life-saving cures and critical research at risk. This freeze won't protect the Jewish students Trump claims to defend, it will instead undermine their academic endeavors.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 05/04/2025

I've already had two federal grants terminated and face a 33% pay cut due to future terminations. It's painful, but not as painful as the conversations I'm having every day with brilliant trainees in graduate school and postdoctoral positions who see little future for themselves in US science.

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Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Stepwise photobleaching of the economy

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Chrystal Starbird @drstarbird.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Finally got the notice. Very sad day for the MOSAIC program that supported some of the most amazing scientists I know, as well as some of the awesome people on my lab.

Letter from the NIH indicating that my grant has been terminated (though it seems we can keep the remaining funds for this year?)

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ACLU @aclu.org · 02/04/2025

BREAKING: We're suing the National Institutes of Health over their politically-motivated purge of research grants. This is an unlawful attack on scientific progress that puts lives at risk.

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