Patrick Kerstein

"Humans aren’t very efficient movers—until you put us on a bicycle, when we become some of the most energy-efficient land travelers in the animal kingdom."
www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...

Dear funding agencies,

I know we all want to discover the wonder drug that will cure the horrible diseases, but to do that, we need to invest in basic, unsexy, foundational research on how the systems work. Funding can’t all be drug development.

Sincerely,
Looking for basic research grants.

Genetic tuning of retinal ganglion cell subtype identity to drive visual behavior Nature Communications - This study reveals that graded expression of the transcription factor BRN3B fine-tunes the identity and function of melanopsin-expressing ipRGC subtypes in the retina....

Our paper is out today! In @tiffmschmidt.bsky.social lab, we identified a single transcription factor, BRN3B, that shapes multiple, key features that define diverse ipRGC subtypes🧬👁️🐭

Basic Science Is The Foundation Of Future Cures Injecting partisan politics into American basic science would be terrible for the US: for the economy, and for development of future treatments for diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer's.

That view is exceptionally naive.

As @narosenblum.bsky.social and I wrote last fall, “basic scientific research [is] a long-term investment, one that only governments have the time horizon to make, and it brings enormous payoffs.”

It can’t just be moonshots and looking for unicorn behemoths.

Come be my colleague! We are hiring for two tenure-track positions. www.reed.edu/dean_of_facu...

Thanks!

Paper submitted! Preprint to come.

Purdue student detained by ICE and taken to troubled Louisiana holding facility Yeonsoo Go, 20, was detained after her immigration hearing in Manhattan and taken away by ICE agents.

Go, a college student, has a dependent visa (her mother, an Episcopal minister, is here on a religious worker visa), which doesn't expire until Dec. But when she tried to renew it early, ICE nabbed her and sent her halfway across the US to a detention center.
www.wthr.com/article/news...

Miami is hiring a neurobiologist! I am excited to welcome a new colleague to our Neuroscience community! Please share!

miamioh.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/miamio...

Reminder! Tenure track position in Genetics at Trinity College Dublin! Come join us, we're nice... 😊 Please repost! 🙏

Mount Holyoke College in lovely western Massachusetts is hiring a tenure-track neuroscientist. Amazing students and fantastic faculty support - please share!
mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...

Hi all, we got a grant for a cool project that will follow up of our paper published a few months ago (see below). We will explore how light acts as a morphogen to instruct PCP. If you are looking for a postdoc position and interested in this topic, please reach out!

Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention

Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published
Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention
@iansample.bsky.social writes @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Got stunning fluorescence microscopy images? 🌈🔬 SDB wants to feature YOUR work for #FluorescenceFriday! We highlight images from SDB members with a short description and the image creators 📸. Fill out the form to be featured: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

I just submitted my feedback. It was quick and easy. I encourage others to please, please do the same.

I think a lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to get approval to work on animals in the first place. You have to have a clear & well-researched justification for every experiment. You have to fully explain why there is no other way to address the question without animals 1/

“Why Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎

Given the SCOTUS ruling yesterday, it's seems possible....even highly likely....that the NIH IDC ruling will now only apply to the states that filed. If you're in a red state, that means 15% IDCs might be a reality soon.

Former DOGE engineer says federal waste and fraud were 'relatively nonexistent' NPR's Juana Summers talks with Sahil Lavingia, who worked for the Department of Government Efficiency as a software engineer assigned to the Department of Veterans Affairs, about his experience.

“I personally was pretty surprised, actually, at how efficient the government was,” Sahil Lavingia told NPR's Juana Summers.

This is worse than many appreciate because it is not merely a delay. Many institutions such as mine are TERMINATING these otherwise active grants if the NoA is delayed by more than a month because they cannot afford to keep the grant supported personnel on payroll

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.

A study finds, US based academic research institutes account for 50% of new medical drugs in the last 4 years. 🧪

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

#science #savescience #stat

Yeah! Congrats!

Distinct functional domains of Dystroglycan regulate inhibitory synapse formation and maintenance in cerebellar Purkinje cells Communications Biology - Genetic manipulation of functional domains on Dystroglycan reveals distinct developmental roles in inhibitory synapse formation and maintenance in cerebellar cortex.

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the National Institutes of Health | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Senate hearing on the FY26 NIH budget with Jay Bhattacharya
June 10, 10am ET
www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-r...

Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.

There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.

There is no replacement (yet) for animal models in medical research The NIH is “reducing animal use in research.” But there is no replacement for animal models.

It is beyond disturbing when the NIH and HHS Directors do not understand that animal models are essential in research

www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/a...

YouTube video by CNN Fareed’s Take: Trump is gutting what made American science great

important historical perspective on the value of federal funding of basic research at universities: "These are the building blocks of America's extraordinary strength, created over the last 100 years, and they are now being dismantled in 100 days" 🧪

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qk4...

A screenshot of the termination notice showing "Outstanding Investigator Grants"

A screenshot of the termination notice with "This award is terminated effective the date of this award, due to unsafe antisemitic actions that suggest the institution lacks concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students." highlighted

Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab

A chocolate cake with red and white decorations and lit candles shaped as the number 75. Bold text reads: ‘The NSF Turns 75 Today. What has it done over the past 7 decades?’ The background is a celebratory red with a spray-paint texture.

HAPPY 75th, NSF!

We’re celebrating this milestone by highlighting some of NSF’s most transformative accomplishments—innovations that have shaped our world and continue to drive progress in health, technology, the environment, and beyond.

Read on 🧵(1/11):