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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬

@microbeminded.bsky.social
3.4K followers 3K following 214 posts

organismal biologist & geneticist | PI at med school in Houston | amazed by microbial superpowers | he/him #microbiome #Celegans #spacebiology #firstgen 🧫 🦠 🧪 🧬 GS: bit.ly/goog-schol-buck-sam ORCID: 0000-0002-4347-3997

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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Derailed and delayed by weather in Chicago yesterday, but excited to catch up with everyone at C. elegans #MAPSS + #DevCell 2026 today!!
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Javier Apfeld @javierapfeld.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Worm friends, we need your help! For the next C. elegans Mentor Match cycle, we’re gathering testimonials from past mentors and mentees. One of our biggest challenges is recruiting new mentees, and hearing directly from past participants could really help. Please record a short video, and share!
padlet.com
C. elegans Mentor Match Testimonials
Made with Padlet
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
"Currently proposed policies are likely to lead to ~1000 (~10%) fewer new and competing grants being funded in fiscal year 2026 than would have been funded in years with historically normal levels of multiyear funding." goodscience.substack.com/p/understand...
goodscience.substack.com
Understanding and Modeling NIH Research Grant Success Rates and the Impact of “Multiyear Funding”
This is a guest post from Jeremy M.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
So... I got more information about this plan. The most important points follow on the next posts. 1/3
A slide with recommendations about peer review scores.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 29/05/2026
This is bad. Bad for researchers. Bad for science. Bad for universities. Bad for professional associations. For example: 1. Every award would be vetted by political appointees, who could overrule peer reviewers and deny the award if it doesn't advance the president's priorities. 1/🧵
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Opening for a #postdocjob in modeling of #genetics of host- #microbiome interactions in #Celegans at @bcmhouston.bsky.social — take a look here: www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44... Questions or apply via cover letter, CV, and references to bucks [at] bcm.edu . Hiring ASAP! #microsky #jobs 🦠🪱🧬
linkedin.com
Baylor College of Medicine hiring Postdoctoral Fellow in Genetics of Host-Microbiome Interactions in Houston, TX | LinkedIn
Posted 7:15:27 PM. Company DescriptionBaylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, is…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
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Kavita Babu @kavita-babu.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
So great to see @usbumer1's cool story out at @commsbio.nature.com! Funding thanks DBT and India Alliance. Umer et al have found a role for the neuropeptide FLP-15 in worm foraging. Thanks to all authors and our collaborators @monikakscholz.bsky.social lab. www.nature.com/articles/s42...
nature.com
FLP-15 functions through the GPCR NPR-3 to regulate local and global search behaviours in Caenorhabditis elegans - Communications Biology
FLP-15 neuropeptide regulates foraging in C. elegans via NPR-3 in dopaminergic neurons, controlling reversal dynamics and spatial exploration during off-food search
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Gavin Woodruff @weirdworms.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
WormTagDB: a systematic survey of endogenously tagged proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans and roadmap toward the tagged proteome academic.oup.com/g3journal/ad...
academic.oup.com
WormTagDB: a systematic survey of endogenously tagged proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans and roadmap toward the tagged proteome
Abstract. Endogenous protein tagging in Caenorhabditis elegans enables the direct visualization and manipulation of proteins in vivo, providing native read
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 05/05/2026
Breaking News: The FDA has blocked publication of research that found widely used Covid-19 and shingles vaccines were safe.
nyti.ms
F.D.A. Blocked Publication of Research Finding Covid and Shingles Vaccines Were Safe
The agency’s scientists and data contractors reviewed millions of patient records for studies that were pulled back before release.
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Talmo Pereira @talmo.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
We tracked mice in space! This video shows our estimate of their self-induced centripetal force during circling in 3D 👩‍🚀 Preprint thread below 👇
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Antebi Lab @antebilab.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
🚨Publication @micropub7n.bsky.social www.micropublication.org/journals/bio... PoC study by Y. Park: deconvolving the C. elegans proteome to organ- & tissue-level ageing trajectories expands the use of single-worm proteomics data as a powerful tool to study dynamic cellular changes during ageing.
micropublication.org
Deconvolution of Single-Organism Omics Resolves Cellular and Tissue Dynamics during Aging | microPublication
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Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
What is the mutation rate in natural vs laboratory populations? What are the typical divergence times among and within species? In #GENETICS, Wei et al. analyzed the evolution of clonal #Celegans genotypes collected and sequenced in Santeuil wood, France.🪱 🔗 buff.ly/1rINY0W
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Very cool study by @emilyleptich.bsky.social and @rnareylab.bsky.social showing insulin regulation of learning and memory in #Celegans! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
journals.plos.org
INS-17 acts as a nutrient deprivation signal to mediate adult IIS-regulated associative behaviors in C. elegans
Author summary Insulin signaling is a diverse actor that regulates many processes essential for life from growth and development, aging, cognition, among many others. However, how insulin signaling re...
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Katherine Aird @airdlab.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
The lab is expanding and hiring both a postdoc and staff scientist! See more on our website: airdlab.com. We study how metabolism and cell cycle states drive tumor progression, therapy response, and immune interactions. Candidates interested in mechanistic cancer biology are encouraged to apply.
airdlab.com
Aird Lab
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Tera Levin @teralevin.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Bacterial immune proteins have repeatedly evolved to become parts of eukaryotic immunity. But how? Our new preprint uncovers a recent horizontal transfer event & shows how eukaryotes co-opted a toxic bacterial immune protein 🦠🧪🧵 1/
Microscopy image showing yeast cells expressing a fluorescently tagged version of the amoeba TirC protein. TirC forms filaments that span the yeast cells.
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Dr. Mandy Joye @oceanextremes.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Must watch - the #NationalScienceFoundation is being torn down, brick by brick. Pls share widely.
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Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · 27/03/2025
OUT NOW: Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice #microsky 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice - Nature Microbiology
InducTn-seq, a method for inducible mutagenesis followed by transposon insertion site sequencing, enables temporal control of transposition to bypass population bottlenecks and enable the quantificati...
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
A behind the scenes look at our tiny astronauts and their microbiomes being prepped for space camp on the International Space Station! www.instagram.com/reel/DXrnBE9... #CBIOMES #SpaceBiology #NASA #microbiome #wormsinspace #Celegans 🧪 🪱 🦠 🚀
instagram.com
International Space Station on Instagram: "What can worms teach us about living in space?🪱 CBIOMES just wrapped up aboard the space station, and the results could help us improve methods to protect a...
1,640 likes, 18 comments - iss on April 28, 2026: "What can worms teach us about living in space?🪱 CBIOMES just wrapped up aboard the space station, and the results could help us improve methods to p...
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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 28/04/2026
🚨Microbial genomics researchers🚨 Terrific FREE web apps from @midauthorbio.bsky.social midauthorbio.com/#freetools No coding or command line required ✅ breseq, A+ microbial variant calling ✅ SprayNPray, taxonomic profiling of metagenomes ✅ Pseudofinder 🔎 pseudogenes ✅ GToTree, phylogenomic trees
midauthorbio.com
Middle Author Bioinformatics
This website describes a start-up company that specializes in bioinformatics analysis, software development, and teaching/outreach.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
My thoughts on Director Bhattacharya's Fireside Chat at the NAM workshop (a long 🧵) Overall (1) He clarified what he said that NIH is doing with regard to improving replication. While these are concrete steps, they seem either naive or dependent of unproven technology. Time will tell. 1/30
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Coleen Murphy @ctmurphy1.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Super important thread on what we are losing in the US: our whole education system
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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Identification of bacterial signals that modulate enteric sensory neurons to influence behavior in C. elegans -in @currentbiology.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Identification of bacterial signals that modulate enteric sensory neurons to influence behavior in C. elegans
Estrem et al. show that bacterial polysaccharides, including peptidoglycans, activate the enteric sensory neuron NSM to regulate feeding and locomotion in C. elegans, while pathogen-derived metabolite...
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Intentionally dismantling American leadership in science, degrading agency independence, reducing programmatic capacity, slashing budgets ... all while claiming that they are advancing 'gold standard' science. It is well past time for more to enter the arena & defend scientists & institutions.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Breaking: Trump has fired the membership of the National Science Board, which is oversees NSF. I have confirmed separately with multiple now-former members of NSB.
democrats-science.house.gov
Ranking Member Lofgren Reacts to Latest Trump Scheme to Undermine Science | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
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Waggoner Lab @labwaggoner.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Genome editing of phylogenetically distinct bacteria using cross-species retron-mediated recombineering @natbiotech.nature.com @gladstoneinst.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Final timepoint for #CBIOMES completed on the #ISS this week! On the video is the live view of Earth below the ISS while our #Celegans move through microfluidic chambers. On orbit operations are done, now our worms wait in stasis for their return ticket. #WormsinSpace #SpaceBiology #Microbiome 🧪 🚀
View from ISS of Earth (over the Amazon) while #CBIOMES worms were being recorded.
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Cell Host & Microbe @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
How to measure microbiome health? Commentary proposes adaptive coherence: capacity of host-microbiome systems to sustain integrated function via reorganization. Reframes health as emergent & relational, w/measurements of adaptability/functional integrity www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
We've known the gut-brain axis is a key underpinning of Parkinson's disease. Today, for the 1st time, a gut microbiome signature denoting risk found in healthy individuals with genetic predisposition nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Microbiome signature of Parkinson’s disease in healthy and genetically at-risk individuals - Nature Medicine
Microbiome analysis suggests that gut microbial changes in Parkinson’s disease evolve progressively from healthy individuals to genetically at-risk individuals to clinically affected patients, with th...
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Cameron Thrash @jcamthrash.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Nutrient availability shapes the diversity and structure of microbial communities www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #jcampubs
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Sandhya Koushika @wormlockholmes.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
So cool.... A landmark finding Protein-templated synthesis of dinucleotide repeat DNA by an antiphage reverse transcriptase | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Protein-templated synthesis of dinucleotide repeat DNA by an antiphage reverse transcriptase
Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) are widespread bacterial anti-phage systems that use unconventional mechanisms of polynucleotide synthesis. We show that DRT3, which comprises two dist...
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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 14/04/2026
Some #bacteria polymerize excess carbon into polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a biodegradable storage polymer. This study shows that #PHB -producing bacteria kill #Celegans nematodes by disrupting pharyngeal & intestinal function @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4cFAwDz
Bacteria producing PHB harm C. elegans in multiple ways. Top: Model of how bacterially produced PHB affect C. elegans and which mechanisms can be alleviated by nuc-1 knock out. PHB, poly-β-hydroxybutyrate; Dar, deformed anal region. Bottom: Transmission electron micrograph of bioplastic polyhydroxybutyrate granules filling the intestine of C. elegans. Imaged by Gregor Hendricks, PHD at UMass Chan Medical School Electron Microscopy Core.
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Jordan Ward @gotworms.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Great to see this out. Practical guidance on how to use protein depletion systems in C. elegans
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
#WormsinSpace update: since launch day, our tiny #Celegans astronauts and their microbes have been living in microgravity. #ISS astronauts have unpacked #CBIOMES (below), and will take their first looks at these host-microbiome studies tomorrow! #microbiome #NASA #ISS #SpaceBiology 🚀 🪱 🧪 🦠
International Space Station astronauts poking heads out from inside NG CRS-24 capsule with CBIOMES experiments in MERLIN incubator just behind them.
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Our tiny #Celegans astronauts are 30m out from docking with the #ISS! Tune in live here plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-vi... #CBIOMES #spacebiology #microbiome #wormsinspace 🚀🧪🪱🦠
Screenshot of live feed highlighting CBIOMES
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Next launch attempt of thousands of tiny astronauts on 4/11/26 at 7:40am EST! www.nasa.gov/missions/sta... #wormsinspace #microbiome #spacebiology #Celegans #CBIOMES
nasa.gov
NASA’s Northrop Grumman CRS-24 Mission Overview  - NASA
NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-24, will deliver approximately 11,000 pounds of science and supplies to the International Space Station. This m...
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From the Labs at Baylor College of Medicine @bcmfromthelabs.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
A #NASA-funded study on the #ISS brings together B. Samuel @microbeminded.bsky.social, S. Vanapalli and M. Driscoll to address #microgravity effects on the #gutMicrobiome and what that means on long missions. bit.ly/4clyhnP @bcmhouston.bsky.social @texastech.bsky.social @rutgersu.bsky.social
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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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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
#Artemis is circling the Moon right now. And later this week, our team's experiment launches to the #ISS. Tiny worms. Defined gut microbiomes. Here's why the two are connected. 🧵 #WormsinSpace #CBIOMES #Celegans 🧪 🪱 🧬 🚀 1/n
CBIOMES team - Buck Samuel, Monica Driscoll, Shilpa Akella, Atiyya Soroyia, Siva Vanapalli, Ciara Hosea and Bushra Rhaman. Not pictured: Dana Blackburn. Collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Tech and Rutgers University.
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
#Artemis did not disappoint! Got an amazing view of the launch yesterday from NASA Kennedy Space Center. Hard to describe, but the feeling in my bones was something else and unexpected! 🚀🧪
Montage of Artemis II launch photos
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Super excited to be at Kennedy Space Center for a #NASA project ( #wormsInSpace launching next week, but more on that later ) AND to be able to see the launch of #Artemis II! To the moon and stars!! 🚀🌖 🧪
Picture of Kennedy space Center at sunrise.
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Paul Guinnessy @paulguinnessy.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Big news from #arXiv. They are "spinning out of Cornell University and into a new independent non-profit later this year." "We are launching the search for a Chief Executive Officer to lead the new organization and ask for your help in spreading the word." #scholarlypublishing #preprints #academia
jobs.chronicle.com
Chief Executive Officer - New York City, New York (US) job with arXiv | 37961678
arXiv seeks its first CEO to champion open, free scientific discovery and guide the platform’s next chapter as an independent nonprofit.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Attention Science Communicators! We are conducting a survey on the landscape of science communication & need your help gathering experiences. Please send this to #SciComm ppl you know. We want to get as thorough a sense of the state of the field as we can. umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
A block of text that says "Scientists at the University of Miami are carrying out a research study on trends in the field of science communication. 

For this survey we are defining science communication as work that is done: 

• by a technical subject area expert in some field related to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, 
• outside of classroom settings 
• aimed at the public 

If you are 18 years of age or older and work or recently worked in this field (full-time, part-time, or as a side project), please click the link below to complete a short survey. If you are interested in learning more about this research study, please e-mail us at Julia.wester@miami.edu. In the body of your email please provide your full name, and if you would prefer to be contacted by phone, your phone number and the best time to reach you. Contacting us for more information does not commit you to participating, and should you decide to participate you may terminate your participation at any time."
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Javier Apfeld @javierapfeld.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
We in the C. elegans community are lucky to have the #wormfeed. Big shout out to @microbeminded.bsky.social for creating such a wonderful gathering place. And you can pin the wormfeed to your homescreen: bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Javier Apfeld @javierapfeld.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint! Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago. How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Thread 1/
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Jordan Ward @gotworms.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Excited to see this out in the world. The CGC is launching a curated strains collection, the first being protein degradation systems and this is a pilot primer to pair with it authored by myself, Dave Reiner, Ann Rougvie, and Aric Daul. We review the state of the field and provide use guidance (1)
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
I signed. I was supported by a GRFP during my thesis research and its award reinforced that I was a scientist during my training.
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Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬 @microbeminded.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
I signed and was supported by this program as a graduate student myself.
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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
More foundations should do this: "Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions" www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
rwjf.org
Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research
The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
CDC is no longer surveilling outbreaks caused by campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibrio and Yersinia. What could go wrong?
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
This EO, combined with the retirement of Noni Byrnes at CSR/NIH, makes me very concerned about peer review at the NIH
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