Christman Lab

Why is #NIHfunding critical to early-stage clinical research? @ucsandiego.bsky.social #bioengineering professor Karen Christman explains.
Biomaterials from the @christmanlab.bsky.social are in clinical trials to heal heart conditions, from heart attacks to congenital defects.

AIMBE has launched our new Citizen Advocate for Science Letter: takeaction.io/aimbe/scienc...

We ask the broader scientific community to widely share this letter (✍️ <1 minute) with friends, family, and other concerned citizens to urge their elected officials to protect biomedical research funding 👇

Volumetric printed biomimetic scaffolds support in vitro lactation of human milk-derived mammary epithelial cells 3D-printed breast tissue models pave the way for cutting-edge lactation research.

The latest tissue we are tackling is the mammary gland
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We set out to quantify U.S. academic contributions to medicines. The results stunned even us From 2020 to 2024, universities contributed patents underpinning 50% of FDA-approved drugs. 87% of those academic breakthroughs came from American institutions.

The astounding contribution of US academic science to new medicines

www.statnews.com/2025/06/06/u...

Celebrating the latest Aguado Lab publication with a Strawberry Fraisier cake! L to R smiling: Megan Chavez, co-author, Brandon Vogt, first author, and Brian Aguado, senior author/PI.

Huge congrats to Brandon Vogt & friends on our on Science Advances @science.org paper!!! We leveraged hydrogel biomaterials & AI tools from Dean Ho’s lab at NUS to determine sex-dependent drug combinations that target valve myofibroblasts! 🎯
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@jacobsschool.bsky.social

A Clearer Look at Diabetic Kidney Disease via New Optical Imaging Technology Researchers have developed a powerful new way to look inside kidney tissues, without needing to stain or damage the tissue samples. The new technique reveals early signs of disease often missed by tra...

Congratulations Professor Shi (@stimulatedraman.bsky.social) for your outstanding work imaging diseased tissue. Your contributions will no doubt lead to life-saving cures. Our gratitude to you!

today.ucsd.edu/story/a-clea...

Could be huge. Especially for those terminated in the anti-DEI purge.

"...NIH will allow individuals whose mentored career development awards prematurely ended on or after January 1, 2025, to be eligible to apply for a new mentored career development award"

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

🚨 A new rule would let career scientists like NSF/NIH program officers be replaced by political appointees

Already 14,000+ public comments, deadline is Friday

📣 Comments can be short. Courts consider them—and scientists with NSF/NIH experience are especially impactful

Speak up! shorturl.at/WKuBj

Northwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025

The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:

1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.

It’s time more people understood this.

Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.

"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...

Well this is truly insane...

Research at risk: Life-saving heart pumps for babies | Cornell Chronicle After receiving a stop-work order from the federal government, the future of a device to help children with heart defects is uncertain.

One of grants frozen at Cornell: $6.7M (4 yrs) to develop heart pumps for babies born w/ heart defects.

It took decades of work to get to point of prepping device for in-human clinical trials. No private company could do this.

The cruelty of the Trump administration is heartbreaking. So to speak.

New Notice on No Cost Extensions (or lack thereof)

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

A screen capture of the AIMBE advocacy webpage with 3 advocacy letters outlined in red boxes: STEM Training Pipeline, NIH & NSF Indirect Cost Caps, and FY26 Funding.

🚨 AIMBE is calling on the biomedical research community to take a minute to send our 3 new advocacy letters urging Congress to:

1. Protect the STEM Training Pipeline (e.g., NIH MOSAIC, T32s, MARC, etc.)

2. Oppose Indirect Cost Caps

3. Support Research Funding in FY2026

aimbe.org/advocate/wri...

Great work with our long time collaborator Nathan Gianneschi, PhD on a new minimally invasive treatment strategy for acute myocardial infarction with implication for other inflammatory and ischemic conditions. Our outstanding former PhD students Josh Mesfin and Kendal Carrow, PhD led the work.

Deaths from heart disease down 75%, that’s NIH.

Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH.

HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH.

99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH.

Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.

Leveraging the microbiome to combat antibiotic resistant gynecological infections npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - Leveraging the microbiome to combat antibiotic resistant gynecological infections

Big milestone for the Cyphert lab - check out our first publication in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance! This paper was led by a team of amazing grad students: Tanya, Aryak, and Yumie and undergraduates Julie, Arlene, and Sidhant. @jacobsschool.bsky.social #newPI www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Computer Science Professor Earns Undergraduate Mentorship Award for Going the Extra Mile, Literally Ryan Kastner, a professor in the Jacobs School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, recently received the prestigious award for undergraduate research faculty mentoring fro...

Congratulations to #computerscience Professor Ryan Kastner, honored for exceptional undergraduate mentorship by there Computing Research Association! This is a first for @ucsandiego.bsky.social!
Kastner is also a @qi-ucsd.bsky.social affiliate.
today.ucsd.edu/story/comput...

the word alert is in a purple circle ALT: the word alert is in a purple circle

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...

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POV: Plenary lecture at the Society For Biomaterials - definitely my best SFB selfie yet! 📸 Thank you to the SFB community for the 2025 Young Investigator Award - my lab is committed to our mission to understand sex chromosome biology & develop better treatments for all! @jacobsschool.bsky.social

Next week, I will be at Humanities Unlocking Biomaterials' inaugural meeting and 50th Annual Meeting of Society For Biomaterials in Chicago! Come meet me to discuss your work and learn about Cell Biomaterials!
#HUB, #SFB, #Biomaterials

Trump Administration Has Begun a War on Science, Researchers Say (Gift Article) Nearly 2,000 scientists urged that Congress restore funding to federal agencies decimated by recent cuts.

On a letter I signed
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/s...

As I was saying #RFKJr, #Trump, #Musk and #Vought are intent on destroying science, public health and healthcare in America.

Honored to be elected an AAAS fellow. I've been very fortunate to work with a great team of staff, students, and postdocs at UC San Diego. Funding from the NIH has led to our work being translated to patients, and I'm hoping this critical funding can continue so we can further impact patient lives.

From 2010 to 2016 (latest data I have ), NIH research contributed to EVERY drug approved by the FDA

Calling all biomaterial scientists and computational researchers to attend the Biomaterials Network Annual meeting April 8 in Chicago.

If you are attending #SFB, please consider joining our Biomaterials Network Meeting!

The 3/14 deadline to finalize the FY2025 budget is fast approaching! ⌛

AIMBE has developed a new advocacy letter (<1 min to send) for the scientific community to urge Congress to support our federal science agencies, including NIH, NSF, FDA, ARPA-H, CDMRP, and more 👇

takeaction.io/aimbe/suppor...

Researchers at every UC campus and five comprehensive cancer centers are pushing cancer research in bold new directions and extending life-saving treatments and prevention strategies to more people who need them. But the nation’s bedrock source of public funding for biomedical research is under attack.

At UC San Diego, Dr. Dan Kaufman is developing immune-based therapies using engineered natural killer (NK) cells to combat aggressive liver cancer. With NIH support, his work offers new hope—but without it, life-saving advancements could stall. bit.ly/4bwGHrG