Alison Kohan

There are days in life that shake you.

I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵

a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on

Tribute to Paul W. Berg

Today would have been my dad’s 100th birthday.

Standing up for science in Philly!

Trainees who applied for an NIH diversity fellowship whose applications were withdrawn/not being reviewed, there's a NYTimes reporter who wants to talk, especially interested in applicants with disabilities. DM me & I'll put you in touch, will keep all contact confidential. Please amplify

I’d like to sincerely thank various scholars and activists on Bluesky, especially Black scholars and activists, for giving me the language to express that “anti-DEI” means “segregationist”.
That concept has been very helpful in forming my resolve to fight the efforts to re-segregate my university.

Amid today’s massive NIH cuts to universities, please know that my research colleagues:

- Develop new cancer treatments for kids
- Are curing sickle cell disease
- Build new tech to help premature babies survive
- Prevent teens from dying of drug overdose
- And more

#NIH #MedSky #research #science

ATTENTION

If you are someone who had an F31-Diversity (or similar) application submitted this cycle, please DM me here, contact me on signal (jeremymberg.78), or email me at jeremymberg@gmail.com.

I will keep all information confidential.

2/n

I have learned from several sources that NIH staff tried to find out how to transfer F31-diversity applications to other program announcements for funding but were not able to do this. I don't know whether this was technical (regulations) or ideological.

1/n

Abstract submission for the 48th European Lipoprotein Club Meeting is live! Come for the science, networking, and beautiful venue at Lake Starnberg in Bavaria! Outstanding speaker lineup - more info: eas-elc.org

I held an NIDDK Kirschstein career development award as a postdoc, and like a lot of my peers, it was a major boost to my career and my ability to become an independent and creative scientist. One of the many important early career programs at NIH.

I hope the UAW or whoever students and postdocs are paying union dues to are up on Capitol Hill fighting for them right now

Can’t wait!

@mcuban.bsky.social Please DM me if you are amenable to a conversation. I am at Pitt and was head of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the NIH institute most focused on fundamental discovery from 2003-22. I have a good understanding of NIH from both inside and out.

Please tell your representative:

1) I'm not just a teacher in your district, I'm essentially an entrepreneur running a small business.
2) I employ XX people at good wages, ranging from $Y-Z.
3) Blocking the operation of the NIH prevents this and damages our local economy

I think early career folks are scared not to sound like experts (at least I was). But the opposite is better for reviewers — simple writing, straightforward but important hypotheses, clear articulation of the new/exciting idea, justification for being the right lab to test it. No jargon required.

Calling all Pitt, CMU and Chatham University undergrads interested in immunology and microbiology! Applications for
MIDS Program Scholars are due Jan 15th! Providing PAID research experiences for those from diverse and underrepresented groups. pmi.pitt.edu/research/mid...

📌

I am missing the bookmark button! #blsky has the amazing papers and science (yay!), but I haven’t figured out how to save posts/links for later reading. Any suggestions?

Long a ‘Crown Jewel’ of Government, N.I.H. Is Now a Target

Research supported by NIH has led more than 100 Nobel Prizes and has supported more than 99% of drugs approved by federal regulators from 2010 to 2019.
But come January, NIH may face a wrecking ball
nytimes.com/2024/12/01/h...

Elucidating the spatiotemporal dynamics of glucose metabolism with genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors Recent years have seen the rapid development of genetically encoded fluorescent sensors that can achieve specific and sensitive monitoring of metabolites in glucose metabolism. In this perspective, Li...

I missed this memo
"One type of complex, called the glucosome, contains 4 glycolytic & gluconeogenic enzymes. In response to metabolic & signaling manipulation, glucosomes display different sizes & switch metabolic activities fm glycolysis to the PPP to serine biosynthesis in normal & cancer cells"

400+ years after the "First Thanksgiving" most Americans have no idea that the Wampanoag people are still here. My tribe, the Aquinnah Wampanoag, is on Martha's Vineyard and we're still fighting for our land and rights. We’re also doing some cool stuff. 🧵👇 if you’d like to learn more & support us

Reclaimed: The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation - ABC Audio Today, the Navajo Nation has no guaranteed right to use the water that flows in and around their reservation. But this year, that may change — and the future of the tribe will be decided. A long-await...

New podcast about Navajo fight for water rights. I knew some Natives on their reservation didn't have water, didn't realize it's *most* people and even if they have running water, they have to haul their drinking/cooking water. And of course it's bc of colonization.

abcaudio.com/podcasts/rec...

Research in Chornobyl zone restarts amid ravages of war The area surrounding the nuclear reactor was a science hotspot — until it was on the front line of the Ukraine war.

🦫🦫🦫 It looks like you can now read my feature for @natureportfolio.bsky.social on how scientists are finding ways to restart research in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone -- including reverse engineering Soviet water infrastructure to support beavers 🦫🦫🦫 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

There are many layers here, but I want to comment on one aspect of these findings for now--the editorial board representation. Some will see this and immediately think: we need to get more POC on our boards! I understand that impulse, but encourage you to think a few steps down the game tree 1/n.

Entire thread is worth a read.