iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

The graduate student in the lab Houda Mesnaoui getting busy at the late night poster session of an outstanding #RNA2026 @rnasociety.bsky.social meeting!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

What an amazing moment this always is. Such a privilege to hood @sciencealyssa.bsky.social who recently graduated from the lab and already sailing into the biomedical world. Congratulations Dr. Risner once more for an incredible journey!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Publication alert! The first part of the work by the talented DMD/PhD student in the lab Christina Kingsley is out in American Journal of Pathology, adding to our scarce knowledge on #RNAi the #oral stratified epithelium and #oral_cancer #cell_cell_junctions www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Apical enrichment of the RNAi machinery in oral stratified epithelia is disrupted in oral cancer

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSC) is characterized by low survival rates, which exposes gaps in our understanding of the disease. Although …

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

The postdoc in the lab Carlos Gomez nailing it at the #AACR2026 - come check his work!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Congratulations to the postdoc in the lab, Carlos Gomez for obtaining an AACR @theaacr.bsky.social Early-Career Scholar Award for the upcoming Annual Meeting in San Diego! Well done Carlos! @muschollings.bsky.social

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The recent Cancer Biology and Immunology retreat of MUSC’s Hollings Cancer Center was a big success! Huge congratulations to the postdoc in the lab Carlos Gomez for winning 2nd place award for an outstanding presentation!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

We had a blast celebrating the season, birthdays, and another year of science in an appropriate fashion by playing “Publish or Perish”! I also loved my present, I think the lab knows a thing or two…Happy Holidays from our lab!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

The graduate students in the lab Houda Mesnaoui and Jordan Jarvis gathering crowds at the @ascbiology.bsky.social #CellBio2025!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Congratulations to the PhD Students in the lab Houda Mesnaoui and Jordan Jarvis for obtaining not one, but TWO MUSC awards each: a T32 Research Enhancement Initiative Award and an Emerging Scholars Travel Award to participate in the upcoming @ascbiology.bsky.social Cell Bio meeting. Well done both!

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Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

@sciencealyssa.bsky.social, @kourtidislab.bsky.social & co investigate the PIWI-piRNA pathway in #coloncancer using a nuanced bioinformatic and cell-based approach, linking the downregulation of PIWIL2 to disease progression, transposable element activation and DNA damage. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Representative images of Caco2+LZRS, PIWIL2 KO+LZRS and PIWIL2 KO+PIWIL2-FLAG cells grown in anchorage independent conditions after 7 days.

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Big day for the lab today! Our DMD/PhD student Christina Kingsley and the PhD student Jordan Jarvis won 1st place poster and 1st place oral presentation Awards, respectively, during the MUSC College of Graduate Studies #ResearchDay! Congratulations to both!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I had a blast riding alongside more than 1500 bike riders for #lowvelo and #Hollings Cancer Center @muschealth.bsky.social to help raise money for life-saving #cancer #research! The fundraising continues, help me reach our goal! To learn more and donate: fundraise.musc.edu/fundraiser/6...

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

The big day is here! We ride again on November 1st across #Charlestonsc to support the vital mission of Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC to discover new cures and fight #cancer. 100% of donated funds go directly to life-saving cancer #research. Learn more and donate: fundraise.musc.edu/fundraiser/6...

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Alyssa Risner @sciencealyssa.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

It has been a little while since I have posted here on BlueSky but a huge thank you to the Kourtidis Lab team for making my defense so special! It is an honor!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Huge congratulations to Alyssa Risner @sciencealyssa.bsky.social for doing a phenomenal job and successfully defending her Thesis! Very proud of her for her hard work and outstanding contributions, but also for her being a true team player. Well done Dr. Risner, best of luck in the new life ahead!

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Very insightful by Martin Schwartz, as always: Why would anyone want to be a scientist?

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Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

🧪Phuong Le, Jeanne Quinn, @jfhorner.bsky.social @carajgottardi.bsky.social & co show that the adhesion protein α-catenin has a key modification that allows dividing cells to stay better connected to their neighbours, helping the tissue stick together during mechanical stress. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

The phosphorylated form of α-catenin localizes to the apical portion of adherens junctions. The image shows 3D surface rendering using Imaris software of a confocal image of a dividing kidney epithelial cell line (Madin–Darby canine kidney or MDCK cells). Phosphorylated α-catenin is shown in magenta and adherens junctions are in green.

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Fletcher Lab @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

The NTDscope is a portable brightfield, darkfield, and fluorescence microscope used for the diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Check out our latest preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

A pie graph worth keeping in mind as the NIH budget plummets jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... for 356 new FDA drugs approved

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Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 23/03/2025

"When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order." Iya Prigogine, Noble prize-winning chemist

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

me, as a senior PI: US science as we know it may be ending? Review these cool manuscripts? Serve on these grant review panels? Yes! All in! Going down in a blaze of glory!

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Ankita Jha @ankita13jha.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

As scientist I am going through difficult times (this is understatement of the year for me!!). Past one and half months have been horrible, however I am trying to pick myself up and super excited to share my postdoc work with the community! #cellmigration www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

CD44 and Ezrin restrict EGF receptor mobility to generate a novel spatial arrangement of cytoskeletal signaling modules driving bleb-based migration

Cells under high confinement form highly polarized hydrostatic pressure-driven, stable leader blebs that enable efficient migration in low adhesion, environments. Here we investigated the basis of the...

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I wrote a book The Creative Destruction of Medicine (2013, title adopted after Schumpeter). This title of the book for what we are now seeing in the U.S. is just The Destruction of Medicine.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 14/02/2025

Make no mistake. This is an all-out attack on health in America. Not only is the EIS vital to controlling infectious disease; it was where a remarkably high fraction of our public health leaders received formative training and experience. www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/t...

statnews.com

CDC cuts expected to devastate Epidemic Intelligence Service, a ‘crown jewel’ of public health

Members of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service were warned Friday that many of them were about to be fired

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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

The new policy to comply with the temporary restraining orders (TROs) was issued today, February 12. The first TRO, however, was issued on January 31. The NIH memo reveals that the agency has been in violation of these orders for almost two weeks.

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Kourtidis Lab @kourtidislab.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Some good news: we were finally able to submit a no cost extension for one of my grants…

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Dr.Dr. Helene Andrews-Polymenis @hpolymenis.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Threats to the NIH and our research infrastructure hit me twice- once as a scientist, and again as a patient whose next option will be a clinical trial. Remember that there are real people’s lives at stake.

media.tenor.com

a phone case that says " do n't forget me " next to a phone

ALT: a phone case that says " do n't forget me " next to a phone

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TanentzapfLab @tanentzapflab.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Top 10 ways American Science can survive the 15% indirect cap: 1. Breed special transgenic mice that can run for days in tiny hamster wheel turbines to keep lights on. 2. Get athletic program staff to donate 1% of their salaries to the research thus raising 100 billion dollars a year.

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Holden Thorp @holdenthorp.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

My editorial on the indirect cuts. This is an opportunity for campuses to come together to make the case for higher education. Leaders need to step up and ask for support and lead. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

A direct hit

Late last week, the Trump administration set off a frenzy in the US scientific community when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that indirect cost reimbursement for federally funded re...

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Laura White @laurakwhite.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

“…since the courts ordered a full resumption in grant funding, the agency approved a handful of grants accounting for 2.2% of its typical volume. An NIH official says a small number of grants are being approved by NIH leadership, but nearly all grants remain frozen.”

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Garcia-Mata Lab @rhopower.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Following @peiferlabunc.bsky.social lead (and borrowing some of his language 😉), I sent a letter to our local newspaper, which was published today. Thanks for the inspiration Mark! www.toledoblade.com/opinion/lett...

toledoblade.com

To the editor: Science funding lifts economy, saves lives

As a biology professor at the University of Toledo, I have the privilege of teaching students about the intricate workings of life and training the next ...

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 10/02/2025

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk "Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

chng.it

Sign the Petition

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

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Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins slams the Trump admin’s NIH cuts as “poorly conceived” and says she has called RFK to “to express my strong opposition to these arbitrary cuts in funding for vital research.” She says he promised to “re-examine this initiative” if confirmed as HHS secretary.

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

How to get 146% return on investment? The NIH. That's just the economic benefit. Biomedical research promotes human health.

the yield on NIH research for economic activity

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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

BREAKING: A federal judge has determined that the Trump administration is violating his order lifting the blanket spending freeze on federal grant programs. He is orderin gthe administration to immediately unfreeze funds, including for NIH and the IRA. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

BREAKING: 22 states sue NIH over Trump administration's new 15% cap on overhead for federal research grants. Suit filed federal court in Boston contends lifesaving research 'will grind to a halt' under the policy. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Whenever you hear someone sneer about scientific research that seems useless to them — “they’re studying the spit of lizards?!” — remind them that’s exactly how we got Ozempic. globalnews.ca/news/9793403...

globalnews.ca

How a Canadian scientist and a venomous lizard helped pave the way for Ozempic - National | Globalnews.ca

In 1984, Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist from the University of Toronto, discovered a hormone that helped pave the way for popular diabetes drugs such as Ozempic.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

I am not a lawyer, but Stuart is (Ph.D., education policy, Univ of Arkansas; a J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School, editor of the Harvard Law Review; and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance from the University of Georgia. about.me/stuartbuck 1/2

about.me

Stuart Buck on about.me

I am a Philanthropy in Houston, Texas. Visit my company website.

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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Here's a very important update from the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) on the proposed cuts to NIH Indirect costs: "Every year since 2017, the annual spending bill that funds NIH has included language prohibiting the Administration from making changes to F&A cost rates" 1/2 🧪

Section 224 of Public Law (PL) 118–47 as carried forward by PL 118-158:

SEC. 224. In making Federal financial assistance, the provisions relating to indirect costs in part 75 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, including with respect to the approval of deviations from negotiated rates, shall continue to apply to the National Institutes of Health to the same extent and in the same manner as such provisions were applied in the third quarter of fiscal year 2017. None of the funds appropriated in this or prior Acts or otherwise made available to the Department of Health and Human Services or to any department or agency may be used to develop or implement a modified approach to such provisions, or to intentionally or substantially expand the fiscal effect of the approval of such deviations from negotiated rates beyond the proportional effect of such approvals in such quarter.

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Laura White @laurakwhite.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Here is a sample follow-up email I just wrote that might be useful for researchers contacting their legislators about the removal of the no cost extension form from eRA commons. Use/share/adapt freely. My gut says this one is a winnable fight, and house offices are picking up the phones for me.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for taking my call just now. Attached are the two notices I have seen from colleagues at peer institutions about the removal of the No Cost Extension form (and potentially the entire process) from eRA Commons. I also have heard the Johns Hopkins Research Council has some information that unobligated balances will no longer be allowed on NIH grants.

As I said, this is a common mechanism that Colorado researchers (and those across the US) use to be able to plan and execute federally funded biomedical research. Research gets delayed for numerous reasons so extensions are crucial for the work we do here and to keep people employed.

I appreciate you passing this along to Peter so that Congressman Crow's office can look into this.

Best regards,

Laura

eRA service desk response regarding NCE unavailability

UNC Chapel Hill notice from office of sponsored programs regarding the NCE initial request form being removed from eRA commons, with an expected memo to be sent out regarding the change (ETA ????)

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Thanh Neville, MD, MSHS @thanh-neville.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

I am in year 2 of a 5yr NIH R01 grant that aims to bring the @3wishesprogram.bsky.social to #LA's underserved patients. It took me 3 years (4 tries) to get this grant. I have research coordinators & investigators whose salaries depend on the grant. I am so angry right now. #medsky

cnn.com

All federal grants and loan disbursement paused by White House | CNN Politics

The White House budget office has ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, according to an internal memorandum sent Monday.

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Science Magazine @science.org · 27/01/2025

The National Institutes of Health has clarified the restrictions on travel, purchasing, and meetings that President Donald Trump’s new administration imposed on NIH staff last week, easing some concerns about measures that set off chaos within the agency. scim.ag/3WD2g3j

scim.ag

NIH memo addresses ‘confusion’ about restrictions imposed by Trump, easing some concerns

Memo from acting director to staff allows some purchasing, and suggests travel and study sections could soon resume

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