Igor Brodsky

Reminder to register for the Midwinter Conference of Immunologists at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA! Join us for some great science and the opportunity to talk to junior and senior colleagues in a beautiful setting!!
www.midwconfimmunol.org

A bad thing is unfolding at NIH this week: It looks like the Trump administration is trying to replace key civil servant scientific leaders, the Institute Directors, with political hires. These directors control the NIH budget, tens of billions.

A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪

😱

Democratic leaders failed us again. Time to get some new leaders. Indivisible's weekly newsletter with analysis and action

We just launched the biggest primary program in Indivisible’s history. Help us (literally) send Schumer and the surrender caucus a message. open.substack.com/pub/ezralevi...

Amazing show

😱

The Coming Out of a Transgender Scientist "I know that I am making the right decision because whenever I think about changing my gender role, I am flooded with feelings of relief."

We're disappointed to see Ben Barres's powerful book "The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist" among the ~400 titles removed from the Naval Academy Library. Needless to say, we're proud to have published his book and will keep it — and his memory — alive.

My quote of the day

As I reflect on my life, I recognize that our greatest achievements often arise from our most profound struggles. Embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. It is through these trials that we learn, adapt, and ultimately succeed.

Marie Curie

Medical Research Funding: Timeline — Unbreaking How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

We have a new timeline up today on our Medical Research Funding page, documenting the onslaught of political, legal, and bureaucratic attacks on medical research since January:

unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

😫 so sorry and sad to hear about this Michael!! This is crazy.

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending' A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...

The US funds the bulk of biomedical research globally by far. It's not like other countries can simply take up the slack. The more likely: people leave research, new people don't become researchers. There is no happy ending. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

October 28, 2025 In the election of 1920, Americans handed a landslide victory to the Republicans and their presidential candidate Warren G.

The Depression began after Wall Street stocks crashed 96 years ago today, @hcrichardson.bsky.social reminds us. She cites a wildly off-base claim heard then & now:

"Republican leaders blamed poor Americans for the Great Depression, saying they drained the economy because they refused to work hard."

The UofA is hiring for a Principal Scientist in cancer immunology! This isn’t a typical academic position—we're looking for a scientist with a great idea but needs time/resources to translate and commercialize. Please repost and apply if interested!

arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

New US Dark Age incoming.

Looking for a home for your biochemistry preprint? We publish studies into biological molecules or chemical approaches that illuminate biological processes.

See what we publish... buff.ly/YMsrNDQ

...or learn about our changes to peer review buff.ly/HwDx1hq

Is this accurate?!? Re Harvard CCB

"Chemistry and Chemical Biology will go down to four or five admits, one of the professors added."

Reversing peanut advice prevented tens of thousands of allergy cases, researchers say A decade ago, research said giving young children peanut products can prevent allergies. A new study says that, 10 years later, tens of thousands of U.S. children have avoided allergies as a result.

A decade ago, research said giving young children peanut products can prevent allergies. A new study says that, 10 years later, tens of thousands of U.S. children have avoided allergies as a result. n.pr/4o3hKJO

Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾

CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow embodied what a journalist should be: someone who holds power to account instead of capitulating to it.

Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.

For more information about the Friday night massacre at CDC, I wrote up an analysis of who got terminated and what that means for public health.

Grateful to @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for supporting and amplifying. We are in really terrible trouble.

rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-death-...

RIFs at CDC.

Destroying the Epidemic Intelligence Service, NCIRD, NCIPC & a dozen other areas/divisions/branches will cause enormous harm and suffering to America, and indeed to the whole world.

Call your Reps about it.

Then call them again.

My quote of the day

Nobody ever thanks you for saving them from the disease they didn't know they were going to get.

William Foege

NO KINGS NIH --Defend Medical Research · Mobilize **In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger and stronger. “NO KINGS” is more than just a slogan—it’s the foundation our nation was built upon. Bo...

One week from today, in front of NIH, 10am-12pm

Rally to Defend Medical Research

NIH/Medical Center Metro stop
Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20814

www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...

This is great. Thanks 🙏🏼 for these @lizneeley.bsky.social. Meeting the Moment is a bit of light in the darkness.

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

Tertiary lymphoid structures support the development of allergen-specific progenitor CD4+ T cells Tissue-resident memory CD4+ T cells (TRM) are key sentinels of the adaptive immune response that provide a rapid, robust inflammatory response upon reactivation in non-lymphoid tissues. While CD4+ TRM...

Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by acute, intermittent, recurrent episodes of airway inflammation. A decade of work developing the tools, techniques and collaborations needed to figure out how CD4+ T cells in the lungs propagate disease can be found here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Week 38 Oct 4-10, 2025 - failure state

News accelerated as I wrote this week‘s debrief (proper post tomorrow, meanwhile get some sleep, friends)

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

I think the past few weeks have shown that, regardless of political affiliation, even media companies respond to effects on their bottom line. If you are upset with changes in your primary news source, consider changing it. Support the numerous organizations that value and deserve your patronage.