Kamphorst LAB

🚀 NY-CURES Launch — Championing State-Wide Investment in Science! 🚀

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Excited to head to Japan in November to present at the CSHA meeting on Immunoreceptor Signaling and Therapeutic Applications.
Abstract deadline is next week!
www.csh-asia.org?content/1343

The high (I)COSt of costimulation for exhausted T cells ICOS agonists are being investigated for cancer immunotherapy based on the idea that they will reinvigorate exhausted CD8+ T cell anti-cancer immunity. Humblin et al. unexpectedly find the opposite—th...

It was a privilege and a pleasure for both myself and @menezesnmaria.bsky.social‬ to preview a great upcoming article in @cp-immunity.bsky.social‬ by @kamphorstlab.bsky.social‬ showing an unexpected inhibitory role for ICOS in exhausted CD8+ T cells.

www.cell.com/immunity/abs...

BREAKING NEWS: a government watchdog confirmed the Trump administration is breaking the law by blocking NIH funds.
 
How many kids with cancer or grandmas with Alzheimer’s have to get closer to death while crucial research is stalled? 

Trump must end this illegal funding freeze.

NIH broke law by withholding funding: GAO A congressional watchdog determined Tuesday that the Trump administration broke the law when it directed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cancel hundreds of research grants earlier this y…

Hopefully a nudge in the right direction
thehill.com/homenews/543...

The costimulatory molecule ICOS limits memory-like properties and function of exhausted PD-1+CD8+ T cells Understanding regulation of progenitor exhausted CD8+ T (Tpex) cell differentiation is important for immunotherapies. Humblin et al. report that sustained ICOS costimulation is detrimental to PD-1+CD8...

Thank you for the contribution of all co-authors! And the great review process at Immunity! urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=htt...

Our paper is out! Check out this beautiful story where we uncovered that the costimulatory molecule ICOS is detrimental for PD-1+ CD8 T cells.
Sustained ICOS signaling reduces memory-like features of progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells in chronic viral infection and liver cancer.

These are extremely challenging times for early-career faculty. Here is my office's small contribution to make their hard and important work a bit easier:

Download our curated and comprehensive database of funding opportunities for early-career faculty.

Here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

She Lobbied for a Carcinogen. Now She’s at the E.P.A., Approving New Chemicals. (Gift Article) Lynn Dekleva, who recently took a senior role at the agency, once led an aggressive effort by industry to block regulations on formaldehyde.

By itself, this is certainly not the most important issue we're confronting right now. But it's emblematic of the pervasive, destructive, anti-science efforts.
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/c...

I am sure a lot more science programs will have to make these tough decisions

The importance of delivering Recherche d'Avenir – research for the future In recent years, several European countries, including France, have reduced their investment in scientific research, with biomedical research taking a significant hit. The primary casualty is basic re...

'In 2024, a budget cut of €900m shocked the scientific community. More recently, additional amendments to this budget proposed further cuts of €630m, along with an extra €534m reduction to the France 2030 program. These cuts threaten not only basic research but also higher education'

We are too! DM me or find me on Signal at zacharybrennan.20

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s idea of efficiency is stopping research on curing cancer.

March is still a long time from now. We need to stop the bleeding. Talk to your patients. Reach out to your patient advocates and community scientist - call your representatives! Make some noise.

Are the Trump team’s actions affecting your research? How to contact Nature Use this form to share information with Nature’s news team, or to make suggestions for future coverage.

Use this form to tell us how the new US administration is affecting your research, or suggest future coverage

https://go.nature.com/42SyoUu

but how come NIH/NCI advisory council meeting that was scheduled for tomorrow 2/13, so that grants submitted in June 2024 and received high scores in Fall 2024 would be awarded, was canceled this afternoon?

In my lab, we analyze patient samples and develop preclinical models to understand why some patients respond to immunotherpies and others don't. We write grants to support our research. Only 9%, really the top, are funded. But now, NCI/NIH tare not awarding grants even to top scores.

Effective February 10: NIH Federal Advisory Committee meeting notices to the Office of the Federal Registare are now on hold. This affects NIH's ability to move forward with National Advisory Council/Board meetings that were previously noticed as having open and closed sessions and with Scientific Review Group (study sections and Special Emphasis Panels) meetings and Boards of Scientific Counselors that had not yet been noticed with a Federal Register Notice. As such, NIH will cancel those meetings on a day-by-day basis until additional guidance is received. Scientific Review Group meetings and Boards of Scientific Counselors that were previously noticed are moving forward.

Internal NIH guidance updated yesterday. Just canceling stuff each day from here on out I guess, pending new guidance. Killing science off both slowly and incredibly rapidly.

a cartoon character says " just let me know " ALT: a cartoon character says " just let me know "

ATTENTION

If anyone has received a NoA after the "pause", please DM me with information about the mechanism and institute or center.

THANK YOU

The deadline to submit an abstract for a poster presentation is Feb 20. Register now 👉 hubs.la/Q034zC0H0 #KSCancerImmune25

So the first year of one our #NIH grants ended on 1/31 and we have not received the Notice of Award for year 2. I'm so confused now--is there an NIH freeze or not? Wasn't it blocked by a judge? Has anyone else received a NOA since this debacle? #academicsky #medsky

Absolutely. Dozens of them. See also www.chronicle.com/article/were...

Trump Team Dismantles Efforts to Find a Cure for Cancer and Other Deadly Disorders and Diseases President Trump’s Administration is imposing a new policy to cap indirect costs for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants at 15 percent, which would cut billions of dollars in funding fo...

Press release by the appropriations subcommittee on NIH budget slashing by @delauro.house.gov 🙏

awful

YES. Need to say this loudly and often! This 2.46x is also the short-term ROI. Long-term ROI (more difficult to estimate) may ~10x. Highest for any gov't spending. And the source of discoveries necessary for all new drugs (industry important too but without NIH funded science there's no foundation)

Save NIH and NSF Research Funding ⭑ 5 Calls On February 7, the Trump administration moved to cut billions of dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science …

First time calling politicians - it felt GOOD! Empowering - might call them again tomorrow, and the day after - get out there! this 5calls website will tell you who to call and provide a draft script #science will #prevail. 5calls.org/issue/nih-ns...

The loss of AMERICAN science will have ripple effects on jobs and economic growth. At the same time China and other countries are investing heavily in science @schumer.senate.gov @nadler.house.gov

@altnih4science.bsky.social
Are study sections and council meetings happening at NIH this week?

Extremely disappointed to see HHMI decide to kill their Inclusive Excellence program, including terminating the current IE3 awards to over a hundred institutions effective this year in the middle of a 6-year grant. I was hoping HHMI (and other private funders) would continue to lead the way.

ok, back now. Just a little scare. Hopefully