ᐯIᑕTOᖇ ᑎIᘔET, ᗰᗪ

San Diego Alligator Lizard
(𝘌𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘪)

One of my favorite creatures to come across on the trails near our home (after my heart stops for a second thinking they were a baby rattlesnake). Little T-Rex arms.

the effortless glide of a red-tailed hawk, torrey highlands, san diego

Pacific Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)
Cholla (Cylindropuntia) Cactus

Deer Canyon, Pacific Highlands Ranch, a short walk from home

Spent some time in the canyon this morning alongside this male Northern #Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), a species that can learn to mimic up to 250-300 bird songs, as well as other sounds like sirens, car alarms, and dog barks

Here he shared a medley of a about dozen imitations before flying off

Throw in the mouth pipetting we still practiced when I started working in the lab with strep, staph, pseudomonas, etc. and my blood tends to vaporize pathogens when I donate for opsonophagocytic killing assays.

Science has yet to devise a hyperimmunization protocol more intensive and comprehensive than internship and residency training in pediatrics

A friend just told me that the red shoulder hawk is a buteo hawk which hunts ground game like rabbits and mice. Accipiter hawks like sharp-shinned or Cooper's would hunt the finch. Somehow, the finch has evolved not to fear this kind of hawk.

Our neighborhood red-shouldered hawk has a little house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) that he's been mentoring.

I wonder what kind of trouble these guys are going to get into ...

Happy President's Day to all the animals scientifically named after President Obama including Spangled darter 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢 𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢, trapdoor spider 𝘈𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘪, Western Striolated Puffbird 𝘕𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘪, and 𝘖𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴, an extinct polyglyphanodontian lizard from the Late Cretaceous

*the little shimmy after take off*

Fun to See: an Osprey Taking a Bath

San Elijo Lagoon, Solano Beach, CA

The fire-bellied snake (Leimadophis epinephelus) is the only known natural predator of poison dart frogs

It has evolved immunity to their powerful neurotoxins that bind to and lock open voltage-gated sodium channels in nerve and muscle cells, causing massive over-stimulation, paralysis, and death

Let me in real close this morning here in Pacific Highlands Ranch (San Diego) but still shared one soft hoot and a head bob 🦉 Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

I will be giving talks at UC San Diego (Dept Bioengineering) and Sanford Burnham Prebys Institute this coming Friday and the following Tuesday in La Jolla.

I will talk about 3D mapping of solid tumors and new CAR T therapies to resolve them.

Hope to see you there.

our neighborhood rodent control officer here in Pacific Highlands Ranch (San Diego)

red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus)

A festival of filtered light through this grove of Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in Reinhardt Regional Park the hills above Oakland, CA

We deserve dignity in our future leaders

For example, I remember a gracious and empathetic President and First Lady who treated all Americans with respect and vigorously championed innovative research for disease cures and evidence-based clinical care for children and other vulnerable populations

Visiting NY Academy of Sciences

February 1st (dead of winter)
#UCSanDiego #Blimp #75°F

Distinguished UC San Diego Climate Scientist Awarded Crafoord Prize Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a renowned climate scientist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Crafoord Prize — one of the world’s most pre...

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said it was awarding Ramanathan the Crafoord Prize in Geosciences for his groundbreaking work that has “laid the foundation for our understanding of how small particles and gases that accumulate in the atmosphere contribute to climate change.”

"Bear" (2005) Tim Hawkinson
Eight granite boulders
23.5 feet high
185 tons (370,000 pounds)
UC San Diego Campus
Stuart Collection

Grant Writing Training Improves Funding Odds for Faculty Early career researchers improved their confidence in writing grants and increased their success in securing funding after an intensive course on the subject.

@ucsdhealthsci.bsky.social @ucsdfacaffairs.bsky.social

www.the-scientist.com/grant-writin...

Headline: "Scientists discover emperor penguin colony in Antarctica using satellite images"

Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.

We're going to randomise patients in SNAP to: 1) clopidogrel vs no clopidogrel (CLOPIDO SNAP #1) and; 2) aspirin vs clopidogrel for those already on aspirin (CLOPIDO SNAP #2).

Repurposed drugs block toxin-driven platelet clearance by the hepatic Ashwell-Morell receptor to clear Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia The clinically approved drugs ticagrelor and oseltamivir fortify a pathway of platelet-mediated immunity to clear staphylococcal bacteremia in mice.

An earlier article we contributed on the underlying mechanisms www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Bridging specialties: repurposing platelet drugs prescribed by cardiologists to help infectious disease doctors treat Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia The platelet is the most important cell in the bloodstream in providing endovascular immunity against Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Both quantitative and qualitative thrombocytopenia have been ...

Pleased to share our brief commentary on how antiplatelet drugs such as ticagrelor (Brilinta) may have an intriguing beneficial action toward effective treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and endovascular infection

#drugrepurposing

Piercing pathogens: A new anti-biofilm strategy A bacterial cell settles onto a nondescript surface. It is plump, healthy and functioning as it should. Nothing appears amiss.

a "Bed of Nails" to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens

"NANOPILLARS" are the novel anti-biofilm strategy

Bioengineering of materials (e.g. catheters) to mimic structures naturally found on the wings of cicadas that mechanically pierce and kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa