KenOliveLab

The ghost of USAID enters and the room gets quiet...

100% this

Among the highest compliments that I've received have been the times colleagues mentioned that their lab reviewed one of my papers in their journal club.

Finally, a huge thanks to all of our incredible students at #CSHLPDAC25. This was a standout class who leaned into the science, the questions, and... UNO! Look forward to seeing you all at meetings for many years to come!

and Channing Der (RAS), Jen Jen Yeh (Tumor/Stroma subtyping). Also, a huge shoutout to my fellow course directors, Marina Pasca de Magliano, Ben Stanger @benstanger01.bsky.social, and Tony Hollingsworth.

Howard Crawford @hccvpdac.bsky.social (Tumor Bio I), Herve Tiriac @htiriac.bsky.social ‬ (Model Systems II), Teresa Zimmers @teresazimmers.bsky.social ‬ (Cachexia), Costas Lyssiotis @lyssiotislab.bsky.social, Rushika Perera @rushika-perera.bsky.social (Autophagy), Faiyaz Notta (Genetics/Genomics)..

So, I dropped the ball in my #CSHLPDAC25 posts. Huge shout out to all of the instructors I didn't get to highlight with photos, including: Ingunn Stromnes (Immunology I), David DeNardo (Immunology II), Bryson Katona (Epidemiology and Early Detection)...

Every time a school implements this policy, behavior problems go down and learning metrics go up. If you need to talk to your kid, you call the main office, just like every prior generation did in the past.

OMG I've never supported a measure more. As does every single teacher I've ever met. Both my kids schools ban phones and it changes every aspect of behavior for the kids. All for the better.

Computational biologist extraordinaire Dr. Elana Fertig ‪@fertiglab.bsky.social‬ asks "what's your QUESTION?" Please be nice to your friendly neighborhood computational scientist!

In our second talk on cancer-associated fibroblasts, Dr. Mara Sherman from MSKCC digs into the functional relationships of CAFs with other cells in pancreatic cancer at #CSHLPDAC25.

Next up, course director (and fellow Hedgehog pathway afficianado) Dr. Marina Pasca de Magliano from UMich gave the first of two lectures on fibroblasts in the pancreas, preneoplasia, and PDAC.

Dr. Laura Wood gave a fascinating lecture on precursor lesions and the spectacular 3D pathology tools that she and her extended team at JHU have developed to quantify pancreatic pathology.

Kicking off the morning with end-to-end coverage of gastroenterology for #PDAC, from the inimitable Dr. Ben Stanger @benstanger01.bsky.social! #CSHLPDAC25

Radiology and Radiation Oncology - Dr. Eugene Koay from MD Anderson tells us they both are RAD!

Now a masterclass on the medical oncology of #pdac from Dr. Andrew Aguirre at DFCI, highlighting the coming wave of RAS inhibitors in PDAC. #cshlpdac25

Next up, an overview of pancreatic cancer surgery from suregon-scientist Dr. Fil Bednar ‪@filbednar.bsky.social‬ (a former student in our class!). #cshlpdac25

First up, Dr. Aatur Singhi @pancpathologist.bsky.social‬ at U. Pittsburgh with an overview of pancreatic cancer pathology

Excited to welcome a whole new class of students to the 2025 Cold Spring Harbor course on pancreatic cancer #CSHLPDAC25! This year we have twenty two course instructuors reach to share their expertise on all aspects of PDAC biology, medicine, and research. Ready for an exciting week!

Look what bloomed in my office today! Finally got this one healthy enough to bloom annually.

And now for postdoc #2 at #aacr2025, our very own Dr. Marie Hasselluhn! @columbiacancer.bsky.social

@alvarocuriel.bsky.social in situ!

(also I'm giving a talk on RAS inhibition and angiogenesis in PDAC at 10:20, room S100A)

Big day today at #aacr2025! @alvarocuriel.bsky.social is presenting his work on BMAL2, a master regulator of PDAC hypoxic response (poster 2570) and Dr. Marie Hasselluhn is presenting her work on role of CAF/myeloid crosstalk in PDAC immunosuppression in PDAC (poster 1501). Come check them out!

On my way to #aacr2025 in Chicago, can't wait to see my many friends and colleagues who will be there. Please check out posters from my postdocs @alvarocuriel.bsky.social and Marie Hasselluhn!

Awesome. Hope to see you there Carlos!

Thanks Carlos!!!

For my lab, that means continuing our (accelerating!) efforts to cure pancreatic cancer. In all this chaos, I am lifted by the extraordinary progress being made with the introduction of RAS inhibitors and the opportunity to place our small role in this advance. We will persist.

Meanwhile, the mission of our medical school remains unaltered: "to transform human health by driving discovery, advancing care, and educating future leaders". The best thing we can do right now is protect our students and future leaders and continue to provide the best science eduation possible.

Moreover, the very students this order purports to protect are equally impacted by these cuts. How are ANY students benefitting from this action? The cruelty embedded in this order is transparent to all.