Quinn Sievers

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Of course it helps us the most if you can afford a regular subscription.

I understand not everyone can. We often have sales and we have certain discounts for like students and academics, etc. Feel free to DM me, I’m happy to help figure out if any discounts might apply.

Senate committee endorses NIH budget increase, rebuking Trump administration’s proposed 40% cut Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday

Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/n...

YouTube video by NEJM Group How Win Ratios Work | NEJM Evidence

The win ratio method is gaining traction in #RCTs. Is it just a trend or a smarter way to look at composite hierarchical outcomes? We break it down in our latest Stats, STAT!📊 in NEJM Evidence. youtube.com/watch?v=jKtF... #stats @nejm.org @sarahgorey.bsky.social @chardin.bsky.social @ai.nejm.org

This was great!!!

New Implant Offers Hope for Easing Rheumatoid Arthritis

"The SetPoint System is an inch-long device that is surgically implanted into the neck, where it sits in a pod wrapped around the vagus nerve...The device electrically stimulates the nerve for one minute each day."

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/h...

Definitely thought this was human skin

Representatives of expert groups to be barred from work supporting CDC’s vaccine advisers The reshaping of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel has continued, with the apparent barring of reps of medical associations from ACIP work groups.

The dismantling of the science-driven #ACIP continues, with members of professional groups (pediatricians, family docs, obgyns, etc) that have liaison status on the panel that shapes #CDC's vaccination policy told they are biased, can't serve on ACIP work groups. www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/c...

Mechanism of cytarabine-induced neurotoxicity - Nature Certain antimetabolites used to treat cancer are more neurotoxic than others, and it is now shown that this is due to their greater tendency to generate DNA double-stranded breaks, whereas less n...

“We therefore propose that gemcitabine could be a safer alternative chemotherapeutic agent for AML treatment without some of the harsh side effects of high-dose cytarabine.“

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Mechanism of cytarabine-induced neurotoxicity | Nature

Ranin, excellent choice

Senate committee endorses NIH budget increase, rebuking Trump administration’s proposed 40% cut Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday

Senate committee endorses NIH budget increase, rebuking Trump administration’s proposed 40% cut www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/n...

Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs - Nature Mouse models show that respiratory infections from viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can trigger metastasis of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, a finding supported by epidemiological d...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs | Nature

The funding cuts to the NIH are going to ripple outwards into biotech and pharma in the coming years. Fewer academic labs —> fewer biotechs being spun out —> fewer star biotechs being acquired by pharma.

Natural molecular glues spur next-gen small molecules for ‘undruggable’ targets - Nature Biotechnology Inspired by natural molecular glues, drug hunters are chasing protein–protein interactions with next-gen small molecules tuned for enhanced tissue specificity and reduced toxicity.

I think this article, which discusses non-degrader molecular glues, offers multiple examples of how NIH-funded academic labs have made the foundational discoveries that are now the basis of some of the most exciting biotechs like Revolution Medicines.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The NYC #Legionnaires outbreak has grown to 22 cases, with 1 death. Cases have been reported in Central Harlem (ZIP codes 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 & 10039) & bordering communities. Sounds like cooling towers (multiple?) may be the source??? www.nyc.gov/site/doh/abo...

When is a Monomer not a Monomer? The Top Three Ways Your Favorite Fluorescent Protein Oligomerizes in Cells Many commonly used fluorescent proteins form dimers producing artifacts in a variety of experimental settings. Learn how to avoid these artifacts.

💡 Always a good time to be reminded: "if you fuse your protein of interest to GFP or EGFP to study the protein's behavior ... you are using a tag with a serious drawback."
Same goes for anything that doesn't have 'm' in its name (looking at you, dTomato and StayGold)

Close Calls and Skipped Lines: The Fraught State of Organ Donation Podcast Episode · The Daily · 07/30/2025 · 30m

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Vinay Prasad departs the FDA Vinay Prasad, a top FDA official, is out after less than 3 months on the job.

Vinay Prasad, who was named to replace Peter Marks as head of #FDA's biologics division, is out.
Extremely short tenure.
www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/v...

Wait this is really bad then!

Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding The National Institutes of Health can’t award grants to outside researchers under a new White House restriction.

The NIH can’t award ANY grants to outside researchers under new WH restriction, reports @wsj.com.

The pause came in the form of a footnote from OMB Director Vought, in a document that doles out federal funds to the NIH.

Prelude to rescissions, especially after his comments over the weekend?

What does “outside researchers” mean?

Very important

YouTube video by STAT Research funding has unexpected benefits. A lizard study led to Ozempic.

Also, the lab blowing lizards off branches with leaf blowers is kind of funny BUT so many incredible breakthroughs have come from weird science. Ozempic and maunjaro had their origins in studies of Gila monster lizard metabolism!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIPY...

Hmmm. As someone points out in the comments, Vought’s daughter has cystic fibrosis and takes Trikafta, a “miracle” drug whose development was in part made possible by NIH-funded research on the molecular and genetic basis for cystic fibrosis.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Picture of a smiling person holding up a copy of a book.

First copies of my book are here!! As a new faculty member, I realized that in addition to my research job, I also had a leadership job…and I wasn’t prepared for that.

This book is the guide I wish I’d had then, with the goal of helping others now.
 
jenheemstra.com/book

Humoral determinants of checkpoint immunotherapy - Nature Rapid extracellular antibody profiling reveals a contribution of autoantibodies to the effectiveness of checkpoint immunotherapy for cancer.

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Humoral determinants of checkpoint immunotherapy | Nature

A neomorphic protein interface catalyzes covalent inhibition of RASG12D aspartic acid in tumors Mutant RAS proteins are among the most prevalent drivers of human cancer, and the glycine to aspartic acid mutation at codon 12 (G12D) is the most common variant. Mutation-selective covalent inhibitor...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... A neomorphic protein interface catalyzes covalent inhibition of RASG12D aspartic acid in tumors | Science

Beyond the native repertoire Design of T cell receptors by artificial intelligence is poised to accelerate cancer immunotherapy

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Beyond the native repertoire | Science

BBO-10203 inhibits tumor growth without inducing hyperglycemia by blocking RAS-PI3Kα interaction BBO-10203 is an orally available drug that covalently and specifically binds to the rat sarcoma (RAS)–binding domain of phosphoinositide 3-kinase α (PI3Kα), preventing its activation by HRAS, NRAS, an...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... BBO-10203 inhibits tumor growth without inducing hyperglycemia by blocking RAS-PI3Kα interaction | Science

Director Vought: We write to ask you to fully implement the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, including funds appropriated for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The continuing resolution supp011s NIH initiatives across a range of critical research areas­cancer, cardiovascular disease, rare pediatric disorders, and more. These vital efforts are not only necessary to Make America Healthy Again, but also have a direct impact on American families, biomedical innovation, our economy, and competing with Communist China. We are concerned by the slow disbursement rate of FY25 NIH funds, as it risks undermining critical research and the thousands of American jobs it supports. Suspension of these appropriated funds - whether formally withheld or functionally delayed - could threaten Americans' ability to access better treatments and limit our nation's leadership in biomedical science. It also risks inadve11ently severing ongoing NIH-funded research prior to actionable results. We share your commitment to ensuring NIH funds are used responsibly and not diverted to ideological or unaccountable programs. We are confident Secretary Kennedy and Director Bhattacharya are well positioned to uphold gold standard research by ensuring that NIH awards are grounded in transparency, scientific merit, and a clear alignment with national interests. Our shared goal is to restore public trust in the NIH precisely because its work is focused on results, accountability, and real-world impact. Withholding or suspending these funds would jeopardize that trust and hinder progress on critical health challenges facing our nation. Ultimately, this is about finding cures and seeing them through to fruition. We respectfully request that you ensure the timely release of all FY25 NIH appropriations in accordance with congressional intent. Doing so will ensure continued momentum in curing disease, supp011ing American innovation, and delivering result…

Sincerely, Katie Boyd Britt John Boozman Shelly Moore Capito Bill Cassidy Susan Collins Lindsey O. Graham David H. McCormick Mitch McConnel Jerry Moran Lisa Murkowski Thom Tillis Todd Young Dan Sullivan Tim Scott

From @aaas.org check-in with Sudip Parikh: a letter by 14 Republican senators urge the Office of Management and Budget to release NIH funding. If this includes your state (AL, ME, WV, SC, KY, KS, AR, PA, NC, IN, AK), Sudip recommends contacting & thanking them for being American science leaders.