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What’s up with Downes?

@gbdownes

Dad of two, Professor of Biology @UMass, rare disease researcher and advocate, SPINES @MBL director, and runner. I use zebrafish to study the genetic control of locomotion and epilepsy genes. πŸ§ͺ🧬🧠

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03.07.2023
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Latest posts by What’s up with Downes? @gbdownes

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Delays in awards and funding calls worry NIH-funded researchers Many programs may be pushed into the next fiscal year, and some could face funding gaps

NIH funding is back in limbo, and it’s a mess. Between a 90% drop in new funding notices and White House spending blocks, only about 800 new awards have been made, less than a third of the usual rate.
If these "spend plans" don't clear soon, we’re looking at a major gap in biomedical research.

04.03.2026 16:48 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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Henrietta Lacks' Family Reaches Settlement in Fight Over Her Stolen Cells Details of the Novartis agreement aren't public, but the family says it is pleased with the outcome.

A long overdue reckoning for Henrietta Lacks β€” the Black woman whose cancer cells led to breakthroughs but were harvested without her consent. Novartis has settled a lawsuit by Lacks’ estate that alleged the pharmaceutical giant profited off her cells.
https://bit.ly/3NgCeBs

03.03.2026 21:55 πŸ‘ 427 πŸ” 223 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 12
Danio rerio Annotation ReportTwitterFacebookLinkedInGitHubNCBI Insights BlogTwitterFacebookYoutube

Some exciting news! NCBI has finished the annotation pipeline for our new #zebrafish reference sequence GRCz12tu:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/refseq/annot...

This is a big step up in data depth and quality and should be super helpful going forward.

15.05.2025 16:23 πŸ‘ 67 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 4
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A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad β€” the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years

11.02.2026 03:43 πŸ‘ 25560 πŸ” 7253 πŸ’¬ 411 πŸ“Œ 540

πŸ“Œ

09.05.2025 14:07 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Trump administration restructures federal health agencies, cuts 20,000 jobs The reduction in force comes along with a reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services, consolidating 28 divisions to 15.

In the aftermath of a global pandemic, and in the midst of two major public health crises (the ongoing measles and bird flu outbreaks), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announces that it is cutting 20,000 full-time jobs.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

27.03.2025 16:05 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Today I lost an NIH grant training clinicians to do research about intimate partner violence with perinatal women.

More women are murdered in the perinatal period than die of obstetric complications.

I didn't just lose a grant. We lost an entire cohort of people building careers to prevent that.

22.03.2025 00:19 πŸ‘ 28972 πŸ” 9079 πŸ’¬ 851 πŸ“Œ 490

Elite universities have totally lost their way. No leadership, no courage, and few protections around scholarship.

10.03.2025 20:20 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Who funds biomedical research? @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

10.03.2025 17:12 πŸ‘ 615 πŸ” 306 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 25

They have already fired people at the NOAA aquarium.

10.03.2025 20:01 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Very true. This is why we don't use Methylene Blue, especially when performing behavioral analysis.

10.03.2025 19:15 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Big congratulations to Madison Riffe, a spectacular graduate student in my lab! She wrote this review as part of @biologyopen.bsky.social Future Leader Review. Her idea! Madison is looking for a postdoc so reach out if you're interested. Whatever lab she selects will be VERY lucky to land her. (4/4)

10.03.2025 19:13 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

If these disorders do constitute a new disease class, it could present an opportunity for understanding them, developing new therapies, and combining patient advocacy efforts. (3/4)

10.03.2025 19:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We review the clinical findings of these diseases and the efforts to model them in cells and animal systems, including #zebrafish. (2/4)

10.03.2025 19:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Neurogenetic disorders associated with mutations in the FERRY complex: a novel disease class? Summary: This Review provides a summary of cellular and molecular data about TBCK, PPP1R21, and FERRY3, components of the FERRY complex, and compares clinical symptoms observed upon their mutation.

I'm excited to share that we have a new paper out! This is a review about a #RareDisease. We propose that #TBCK Syndrome, #PPP1R21 related intellectual disability, and #FERRY3 intellectual disability, all rare disease, may constitute a new disease class. (1/4)
journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...

10.03.2025 19:13 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

"This is direct censorship of scientific research.”

06.03.2025 03:03 πŸ‘ 29 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ¦—πŸ¦—πŸ¦—

04.03.2025 17:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.

US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.

https://go.nature.com/4kd1vIu

25.02.2025 21:53 πŸ‘ 674 πŸ” 286 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 26
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Here at DOGE, We’ve Streamlined Every Aspect of America’s Collapse "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave representatives of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency access to the federal payment system la...

"I promise, America will soon be the Cybertruck of countriesβ€”uglier than you could have imagined, built for rich chuds, borderline inoperable, and on fire."

08.02.2025 15:00 πŸ‘ 14765 πŸ” 3739 πŸ’¬ 264 πŸ“Œ 167

Hi all, I am in contact with a reporter at Science magazine who would like to talk with a trainee or mentor who successfully applied for an equity/DEI-related NIH training grant or a training supplement but have not received the Notice of Award and probably won't get the grant.

06.02.2025 01:10 πŸ‘ 230 πŸ” 198 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 2

πŸ“Œ

03.02.2025 18:48 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Universities are the target, doesn’t matter if they’re wearing a target or not.

03.02.2025 17:58 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

*some things

01.02.2025 02:18 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Reminder that @europepmc.org is a mirror of Pubmed with better search and that it indexes *all* bioRxiv preprints (as well as ResearchSquare), not just the ones funded by NIH like chauvinist Pubmed

31.01.2025 20:44 πŸ‘ 299 πŸ” 157 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 6

If you like my comments, don’t forget to like and subscribe.

01.02.2025 02:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We don’t wear lab coats very much either, but I’m not about to let this sponsorship opportunity go to waste!

01.02.2025 02:07 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I personally envision our lab coats emblazoned with logos, like a race car driver.

31.01.2025 22:48 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Hope this is real.

31.01.2025 03:35 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Now we get to see which institutions really walk the talk versus those that support diversity only when it’s fashionable. Taking notes.

31.01.2025 03:20 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This seems like a you problem.

31.01.2025 01:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0