Kourtidis Lab

The subcellular topology of the RNAi machinery is multifaceted and reveals adherens junctions as an epithelial hub - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - The subcellular topology of the RNAi machinery is multifaceted and reveals adherens junctions as an epithelial hub

Very happy to share our latest work revealing that localization of the #RNAi machinery at #adherens junctions is a universal feature of #epithelial cells and tissues. Great work and team effort by Joyce Nair-Menon, the lab and collaborators! @sciencealyssa.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The phosphorylated form of α-catenin localizes to the apical portion of adherens junctions. The image shows 3D surface rendering using Imaris software of a confocal image of a dividing kidney epithelial cell line (Madin–Darby canine kidney or MDCK cells). Phosphorylated α-catenin is shown in magenta and adherens junctions are in green.

🧪Phuong Le, Jeanne Quinn, @jfhorner.bsky.social @carajgottardi.bsky.social & co show that the adhesion protein α-catenin has a key modification that allows dividing cells to stay better connected to their neighbours, helping the tissue stick together during mechanical stress. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Well done Rachel, Amy and amazing Team!

😄

Hope you get it through…we have delays on getting non-competing 2nd yr etc NOAs too, hopefully it’s only delays due to the current mess…

Oh no! Get well soon Diana!

Yes, we got one approved late February - after many days though that not even the NCE “button” on eRA commons was available…are you having issues with yours?

The NTDscope is a portable brightfield, darkfield, and fluorescence microscope used for the diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Check out our latest preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Fascinating!

graph of NIH basisfor new drugs

A pie graph worth keeping in mind as the NIH budget plummets jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... for 356 new FDA drugs approved

"When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order." Iya Prigogine, Noble prize-winning chemist

"When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order."

Iya Prigogine, Noble prize-winning chemist

me, as a senior PI: US science as we know it may be ending? Review these cool manuscripts? Serve on these grant review panels? Yes! All in! Going down in a blaze of glory!

😂

Fantastic work Ankita and especially amidst all that’s happening - huge congratulations!

CD44 and Ezrin restrict EGF receptor mobility to generate a novel spatial arrangement of cytoskeletal signaling modules driving bleb-based migration Cells under high confinement form highly polarized hydrostatic pressure-driven, stable leader blebs that enable efficient migration in low adhesion, environments. Here we investigated the basis of the...

As scientist I am going through difficult times (this is understatement of the year for me!!). Past one and half months have been horrible, however I am trying to pick myself up and super excited to share my postdoc work with the community! #cellmigration
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

I wrote a book The Creative Destruction of Medicine (2013, title adopted after Schumpeter).

This title of the book for what we are now seeing in the U.S. is just The Destruction of Medicine.

CDC cuts expected to devastate Epidemic Intelligence Service, a ‘crown jewel’ of public health Members of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service were warned Friday that many of them were about to be fired

Make no mistake. This is an all-out attack on health in America.

Not only is the EIS vital to controlling infectious disease; it was where a remarkably high fraction of our public health leaders received formative training and experience.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/t...

The new policy to comply with the temporary restraining orders (TROs) was issued today, February 12. The first TRO, however, was issued on January 31. The NIH memo reveals that the agency has been in violation of these orders for almost two weeks.

We just got it through this morning…some relief at least…

Some good news: we were finally able to submit a no cost extension for one of my grants…

a phone case that says " do n't forget me " next to a phone ALT: a phone case that says " do n't forget me " next to a phone

Threats to the NIH and our research infrastructure hit me twice- once as a scientist, and again as a patient whose next option will be a clinical trial. Remember that there are real people’s lives at stake.

Top 10 ways American Science can survive the 15% indirect cap:

1. Breed special transgenic mice that can run for days in tiny hamster wheel turbines to keep lights on.

2. Get athletic program staff to donate 1% of their salaries to the research thus raising 100 billion dollars a year.

“…since the courts ordered a full resumption in grant funding, the agency approved a handful of grants accounting for 2.2% of its typical volume. An NIH official says a small number of grants are being approved by NIH leadership, but nearly all grants remain frozen.”

Halt on Trump administration’s cuts to NIH research payments expanded nationwide A federal judge issued a nationwide temporary pause on plans by the NIH to substantially slash research overhead payments.

STAT story

www.statnews.com/2025/02/11/j...

To the editor: Science funding lifts economy, saves lives As a biology professor at the University of Toledo, I have the privilege of teaching students about the intricate workings of life and training the next ...

Following @peiferlabunc.bsky.social lead (and borrowing some of his language 😉), I sent a letter to our local newspaper, which was published today. Thanks for the inspiration Mark!
www.toledoblade.com/opinion/lett...

Sign the Petition Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify
Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk
"Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins slams the Trump admin’s NIH cuts as “poorly conceived” and says she has called RFK to “to express my strong opposition to these arbitrary cuts in funding for vital research.” She says he promised to “re-examine this initiative” if confirmed as HHS secretary.

the yield on NIH research for economic activity

How to get 146% return on investment?
The NIH. That's just the economic benefit.
Biomedical research promotes human health.