Rajini Rao
@madamescientist.bsky.social
Scientist, professor, dog mom, gardener and cook. I <3 ion transporters.
Director, Graduate Program in Cellular & Molecular Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
ORCID: 0000-0002-1833-5971
Director, Graduate Program in Cellular & Molecular Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
ORCID: 0000-0002-1833-5971
✅Are you a Pre-Med student looking to boost your chances of getting into Med School?
✅Want to try an intensive research program before committing to a PhD?
✅Honing your skills for a competitive job in pharma/biotech?
Apply to our MS in CMM program: cmm.jhmi.edu/index.php/ms...
✅Want to try an intensive research program before committing to a PhD?
✅Honing your skills for a competitive job in pharma/biotech?
Apply to our MS in CMM program: cmm.jhmi.edu/index.php/ms...
November 23, 2025 at 5:55 AM
✅Are you a Pre-Med student looking to boost your chances of getting into Med School?
✅Want to try an intensive research program before committing to a PhD?
✅Honing your skills for a competitive job in pharma/biotech?
Apply to our MS in CMM program: cmm.jhmi.edu/index.php/ms...
✅Want to try an intensive research program before committing to a PhD?
✅Honing your skills for a competitive job in pharma/biotech?
Apply to our MS in CMM program: cmm.jhmi.edu/index.php/ms...
Reposted by Rajini Rao
🍼 Milk: good for babies… and organoids too?
Majood & Rao argue human milk—a living fluid rich in cells, bioactive molecules, & microbiome—could transform lactation biology & contamination research.
💡It's also a vital cell source for the development of 3D mammary #organoid models. 🧪
Majood & Rao argue human milk—a living fluid rich in cells, bioactive molecules, & microbiome—could transform lactation biology & contamination research.
💡It's also a vital cell source for the development of 3D mammary #organoid models. 🧪
![A dark purple, magenta, and white graphic with the following quote: “"[S]tudies on lactation historically rely heavily on animal models which fail to fully recapitulate human lactation physiology, or on healthy breast tissue that is difficult to obtain, especially during lactation, and has limited scalability. Differences between human and animal models include the number and location of mammary glands, the timing and trajectory of mammary gland development, and the composition of milk." The quote is attributed to the linked paper by Misba Majood & Rajini Rao in Pediatric Research, 2025. On the left, a photo of an infant nursing at their mother’s breast.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:in2pnzujy66a7qnesoxha6ar/bafkreievrsjxvz6knlexigeepmj7umheaubntfq2um2nsyx2kx3fovn2c4@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM
🍼 Milk: good for babies… and organoids too?
Majood & Rao argue human milk—a living fluid rich in cells, bioactive molecules, & microbiome—could transform lactation biology & contamination research.
💡It's also a vital cell source for the development of 3D mammary #organoid models. 🧪
Majood & Rao argue human milk—a living fluid rich in cells, bioactive molecules, & microbiome—could transform lactation biology & contamination research.
💡It's also a vital cell source for the development of 3D mammary #organoid models. 🧪
🤣
Looking forward to learning all about how the right should move left to win elections tomorrow. They should maybe dye their hair pink, learn to love pronouns.
November 5, 2025 at 4:37 AM
🤣
Reposted by Rajini Rao
its remarkable to see random suburbanites in their fucking PJs have more courage than the vast majority of america's political, social, and civil elites
October 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
its remarkable to see random suburbanites in their fucking PJs have more courage than the vast majority of america's political, social, and civil elites
Here come the exceptions!
news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...
news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...
Foreign Grads Seeking H-1B Status Avoid $100,000 Trump Fee (1)
Recent international college graduates who are sponsored for H-1B status while in the US won’t be subject to a $100,000 fee imposed on the program, according to new guidance from the Trump administrat...
news.bloomberglaw.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Here come the exceptions!
news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...
news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...
Expect deep cuts in PhD admissions throughout the US, including biomedical programs. The current model of PhD training and the current financial climate are simply not compatible. 🧪
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Expect deep cuts in PhD admissions throughout the US, including biomedical programs. The current model of PhD training and the current financial climate are simply not compatible. 🧪
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Rajini Rao
I just want to leave this here, so you can block all the US.GOV accounts with a couple of clicks.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
October 18, 2025 at 3:50 AM
I just want to leave this here, so you can block all the US.GOV accounts with a couple of clicks.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
I saw a patch of evening sun on the Celosia and this good boy understood the assignment 📷🐾
October 16, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I saw a patch of evening sun on the Celosia and this good boy understood the assignment 📷🐾
Remembering the NYT obit of Yvonne Brill, NASA rocket scientist, which began "She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children." 🤦♀️
Please join me in congratulating Woman on her appointment
Woman named as new Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first
October 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Remembering the NYT obit of Yvonne Brill, NASA rocket scientist, which began "She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children." 🤦♀️
Wrapping up a great conference on acid-base regulation in Copenhagen. Beautiful venue at the Royal Danish Academy. Our Canadian and European colleagues are aghast at the rapid dismantling of science and democracy in the US.
September 10, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Wrapping up a great conference on acid-base regulation in Copenhagen. Beautiful venue at the Royal Danish Academy. Our Canadian and European colleagues are aghast at the rapid dismantling of science and democracy in the US.
Reposted by Rajini Rao
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
Ladies and gentleman, this is the state of Goddard Space Flight Ctr of NASA today. Spouse just returned from a trip abroad to this 🤦♀️
August 26, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Ladies and gentleman, this is the state of Goddard Space Flight Ctr of NASA today. Spouse just returned from a trip abroad to this 🤦♀️
Strawberry 🍓 crostata for 4 yo Rhys’ birthday next door 🎉
August 23, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Strawberry 🍓 crostata for 4 yo Rhys’ birthday next door 🎉
If I wrote a book on the joy of picking tomatoes, would you read it? My writing style is irreverent, self deprecating humor
August 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
If I wrote a book on the joy of picking tomatoes, would you read it? My writing style is irreverent, self deprecating humor
Today's lesson in pointless security: Digitally signed PDFs cannot be merged w/o the signatures disappearing. Apparently, merging is a disallowed modification.
How do I know this? NIH returned the merged Other Support docs on our multi-PI RPPR because the signatures had disappeared 🤡
How do I know this? NIH returned the merged Other Support docs on our multi-PI RPPR because the signatures had disappeared 🤡
August 14, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Today's lesson in pointless security: Digitally signed PDFs cannot be merged w/o the signatures disappearing. Apparently, merging is a disallowed modification.
How do I know this? NIH returned the merged Other Support docs on our multi-PI RPPR because the signatures had disappeared 🤡
How do I know this? NIH returned the merged Other Support docs on our multi-PI RPPR because the signatures had disappeared 🤡
Nature forgives.
Rabbits decapitated the seedlings, bugs destroyed the zucchini and heat made the basil bolt. But we persevered - added chicken wire fencing, more compost and plenty of TLC. This was today's haul. No bushels of tomatoes this year, but a small harvest is better than no harvest. 🙏
Rabbits decapitated the seedlings, bugs destroyed the zucchini and heat made the basil bolt. But we persevered - added chicken wire fencing, more compost and plenty of TLC. This was today's haul. No bushels of tomatoes this year, but a small harvest is better than no harvest. 🙏
August 10, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Nature forgives.
Rabbits decapitated the seedlings, bugs destroyed the zucchini and heat made the basil bolt. But we persevered - added chicken wire fencing, more compost and plenty of TLC. This was today's haul. No bushels of tomatoes this year, but a small harvest is better than no harvest. 🙏
Rabbits decapitated the seedlings, bugs destroyed the zucchini and heat made the basil bolt. But we persevered - added chicken wire fencing, more compost and plenty of TLC. This was today's haul. No bushels of tomatoes this year, but a small harvest is better than no harvest. 🙏
Too many cherry tomatoes? Arrange them cut side down on parchment paper lined skillet and pour corn bread batter over it. Voila! Upside down cherry tomato corn bread. Courtesy of my daughter Anjana. #foodsky
August 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Too many cherry tomatoes? Arrange them cut side down on parchment paper lined skillet and pour corn bread batter over it. Voila! Upside down cherry tomato corn bread. Courtesy of my daughter Anjana. #foodsky
What does he want? 😂
August 9, 2025 at 11:29 AM
What does he want? 😂
The hypocrisy and political pandering from the NIH leadership is deeply disturbing and cannot be good for the future of evidence based scientific research in the US. 🧪
Incredibly well reported deep dive on NIH and health disparities research in STAT. 🧵
www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...
1/31
www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...
1/31
Jay Bhattacharya once studied health disparities. As NIH director, he’s allowed such research to wither
Jay Bhattacharya’s tenure as NIH director has seen health disparities research swept up in the Trump administration’s attack on DEI
www.statnews.com
August 1, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The hypocrisy and political pandering from the NIH leadership is deeply disturbing and cannot be good for the future of evidence based scientific research in the US. 🧪
🧪BREAKING: NIH has laid out 5 options for funding publications costs on grants (yes, FIVE!). This is hugely impactful.
Make your opinions known by September 15, fellow scientists.
🧪
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
Make your opinions known by September 15, fellow scientists.
🧪
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-25-138: Request for Information on Maximizing Research Funds by Limiting Allowable Publishing Costs
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Request for Information on Maximizing Research Funds by Limiting Allowable Publishing Costs NOT-OD-25-138. NIH
grants.nih.gov
July 30, 2025 at 6:30 PM
🧪BREAKING: NIH has laid out 5 options for funding publications costs on grants (yes, FIVE!). This is hugely impactful.
Make your opinions known by September 15, fellow scientists.
🧪
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
Make your opinions known by September 15, fellow scientists.
🧪
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
Reposted by Rajini Rao
few outcomes, except for 99% of FDA-approved drugs, 174 recipients of 104 Nobel Prizes, training ~30K MDs and ~10K PhDs per year to enter the workforce, and a 34% reduction in age-adjusted cancer deaths since 1990 -- the largest decrease in history
Now do the Department of Defense budget, Andrew.
“Washington has thrown billions at NIH for decades with little accountability and few measurable outcomes,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to Future Pulse.
www.politico.com/newsletters/...
“Washington has thrown billions at NIH for decades with little accountability and few measurable outcomes,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to Future Pulse.
www.politico.com/newsletters/...
NIH spending battle’s ripple effect
www.politico.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:26 AM
few outcomes, except for 99% of FDA-approved drugs, 174 recipients of 104 Nobel Prizes, training ~30K MDs and ~10K PhDs per year to enter the workforce, and a 34% reduction in age-adjusted cancer deaths since 1990 -- the largest decrease in history
One of the demands of being a 🌞morning person is a hot and savory breakfast. No cold muesli for me! By the time I’ve taken Samwise for a walk, tackled the most urgent and demanding jobs from work and checked on mom in India, I’m hungry! Thanks to Sammy 🐶 I made quick work of this pita melt #foodsky
July 29, 2025 at 11:37 AM
One of the demands of being a 🌞morning person is a hot and savory breakfast. No cold muesli for me! By the time I’ve taken Samwise for a walk, tackled the most urgent and demanding jobs from work and checked on mom in India, I’m hungry! Thanks to Sammy 🐶 I made quick work of this pita melt #foodsky
Reposted by Rajini Rao
I used to have time for defeatism on this subject and then after 2 weeks of lockdown the canals of venice were clear enough to see fish and the dolphins were back in the Ganga so yeah, the climate doomerism also now feels like an op
a point I make over and over re: climate change is that there’s no point at which it’s time to throw up your hands and give up, because each tenth of a degree you can prevent is worth it
2C is better than 2.1C is better than 2.2C and so on and so forth
2C is better than 2.1C is better than 2.2C and so on and so forth
New from me: An exclusive interview with David Suzuki, who talked about reaching the conclusion that humanity has failed in the fight against climate change, and why communities should start preparing for more destructive natural disasters #cdnpoli #cdnenviro
www.ipolitics.ca/2025/07/02/i...
www.ipolitics.ca/2025/07/02/i...
July 7, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I used to have time for defeatism on this subject and then after 2 weeks of lockdown the canals of venice were clear enough to see fish and the dolphins were back in the Ganga so yeah, the climate doomerism also now feels like an op
Reposted by Rajini Rao
Tell her, Hope!!
Hope Walz Perfectly Claps Back After Laura Ingraham Rips Her For Supporting Mamdani
"Get well soon, Laura" 😭
www.comicsands.com
July 7, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Tell her, Hope!!