Kerry J. Laing, PhD

There are 1,700 ballots that need signature confirmation. That is enough to change the election.

Go. Check. Your. Ballot.

komonews.com/news/local/s...

Welcome to Seattle!

Mesenchymal thymic niche cells enable regeneration of the adult thymus and T cell immunity - Nature Biotechnology T cell immunity declines with thymic atrophy, but thymic cell grafts rescue T cell function.

This is interesting for a number of reasons. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Woman, making a scary jesture, standing in a large open coffin. The coffin is lined with what looks like red velvet. I shall neither confirm nor deny that this person is me!!

Happy Halloween!! 👻 🧛 🎃🦇🧙‍♀️

Autoimmune response to C9orf72 protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Nature An analysis of T cell responses in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis shows that the C9orf72 antigen is a key target of autoimmune responses in the disease, and identifies C9orf72 epitopes that are recognized.

Amazing to see data from the Sette group that may help in the fight against ALS; a disease that my mum lost her battle with nearly 4 years ago. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Safety and immunogenicity of investigational herpes simplex virus-2 vaccines in adults with recurrent genital infection HSV529 and G103 are investigational therapeutic vaccines for genital herpes. HSV529 is a replication-defective HSV-2. G103 contains three recombinant …

Our little herpes vaccine study got published. Thanks to coauthors and study sites and volunteers. Also, thanks to the reviewers for appreciating the scientific contributions despite the limitations of a small trial. 🧪💉https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25011181

Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91 Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

JUST IN: Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

🧬 Sharing an exciting new pre-print from the team! We stimulated healthy blood cells with 11 different treatments used in immunology research & created single-cell profiles to compare responses. Hopefully an invaluable resource for immunology/disease researchers 📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Few hours left!!! Cytokines 2025: Submit your abstract for an oral or poster presentation by June 30th! Student and post-doctoral travel grants are still available. Don’t miss out!
seattle.cytokinesociety.org
#Cytokines #Immunology #innate #adaptive #conferences #Seattle

A colleague, a friend and a brilliant scientist. The US lost a trusted vaccine expert to an anti-science purge at #ACIP

Americans should be outraged.

Except when you are in a zoom meeting. That zoom meeting window seems to be the universal sign for “keep talking to me no matter how many indicators of I can’t talk right now I point out”!

Beach rocks stacked to look like two cartoonish people; one big, one small. The rocks used as heads each has a pair of barnacles that make it look like the rocks have eyes. The rock people—not in an AC/DC way, by-the-way—are standing on a rocky beach with a wee bit of dried seaweed in the foreground. 🤘🏼🗿

Just a couple of rock heads hanging out at the beach #beachart

Information from the National Weather Service- Seattle. Severe Thunderstorm Outlook valid for Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Hazard Risks Up to 15-29% chance of severe hail (greater than 1" in diameter) for the Bellevue/Seattle area 5-14% chance of severe wind gusts (greater than 58 mph) 2-4% chance of a tornado What should you do? Monitor the latest forecasts Follow a trusted weather source and check back frequently Have a plan in case a warning issued for your area

NWS Seattle is noting an unusual risk of severe thunderstorms today, primarily in the late afternoon through the evening. The primary hazards are:
⛈️ Hail in excess of 1" diameter
🍃 Wind gusts in excess of 58mph
🌪️ Possible isolated tornado

Well said Tad Williams, well said: “A man who will not listen carefully to advice honestly given is a fool. Of course, a man who blindly takes any advice he receives is a bigger fool.” #reading

Killing PEPFAR means killing millions of people All to save 0.08 percent of the budget.

They’re killing off PEPFAR, one of the most successful global health programs *ever*, which prevents HIV & keeps those living with HIV healthy & non-infectious. Killing PEPFAR means a lot more HIV-related death & many more new infections globally.

How sad and incredibly shocking. I remember Fiona well. Gone far too soon.

Seattle scientists fight back against Trump cuts, disinformation “No one is coming to save us from this,” said Abraham Flaxman, a professor at the University of Washington. “We’re going to have to save ourselves.”

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

#standupforscience

Many, many thanks to all who attended, the speakers, and to the incredible @sufsseattle.bsky.social organizers!!!

I post this, not just because my career and livelihood are on the line with the illegal cuts and chaos of the current administration and DOGE, but because the cessation of science will impact the nation as a whole. (2)

Great article that highlights the Stand up for Science rally that many of us supported yesterday, and our colleague Chetan spoke at. The cuts to science impact us all. (1)

Over 100 people have gathered for the Stand Up for Science rally outside of the Mural Amphitheater at the Seattle Center. The rally is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m..

Updates on the event will be provided on this thread.

Photo via @emorudphoto.bsky.social

Bob Ferguson at a Stand Up for Science podium

Washington governor Bob Ferguson speaking at the Seattle Stand Up for Science rally. Just bragged about his 58-3 record of suing the last Trump admin as AG and promising to keep it going #standupforscience

Ah yes. Free EMBOSS tools in there a fabulous.

Comment: Pending cuts to medical research would harm all in state | HeraldNet.com As UW medical scientists, we urge Washingtonians to defend the NIH’s life-saving research funding.

Patrick Mitchell (@psmitchej.bsky.social), Thornton Thompson and I wrote an OpEd, with support from 650+ biomedical researchers across Washington State (450+ at time of submission).

www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm...

List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...

NIH indirects case update:

Hearing ongoing now, and I'll try to live tweet some notable exchanges.

Prior to more detailed arguments, Judge Kelley starts off with a few point questions to both sides:

(I'm paraphrasing here)

I am a scientist, in large part, because of an REU experience that changed the course of my college experience. I dropped my pre-med focus once I realized what grad school was and how it could open doors to careers I didn’t know existed. This would be a massive loss to STEM workforce development.

Yes. Trying to find more time to get back to this.

Opinion | American Science is Under Attack (Gift Article) The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.

“legislators must exercise their constitutional responsibilities to oppose unqualified candidates for important federal positions, constrain damaging actions by the executive branch and give science agencies the resources needed…This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose.” 🧪🩺

I’m hiring for a Senior Data Scientist / Data Developer role at EvE Bio, a non-profit! It requires substantial #rstats experience, including #Shiny.

It’s a hybrid role located in Durham, NC.

If you are interested and qualified, please apply or reach out to me w Qs.

jobs.lever.co/convergentre...

Pencil sketch of a woman with a punk hairstyle.

Seemed like a sketchy kind of day #hobbyart

Yes, and near campus businesses that sell food and other items to people working at the University and science institutions.