Tara Fischer
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tarafisch.bsky.social
Tara Fischer
@tarafisch.bsky.social
860 followers 1.1K following 49 posts
Molecular Cell Biologist. Organelles + immunity 🔬🧫🦠 Science + Labor 🤝 UAW Local 2750
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tarafisch.bsky.social
Tara Fischer @tarafisch.bsky.social · Dec 1
Apropos *first* post! We’ve discovered a central mechanism for how activation of STING induces NFkB related immune signaling - M1-linked/linear ubiquitin chains! I’m so excited to share it with you all, out now in t.co/zCIf2E4h2z a thread 1/X:
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-024-00291-2
t.co
Reposted by Tara Fischer
needhibhalla.bsky.social
It’s not hard to read this and see this as a blue print for what they want to do for all federal granting institutions, including the NIH
miriamposner.com Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 3d
When I think about how exquisitely careful NEH staff were to be fair, impartial, and rigorous, and how much work people put into grants so small they’re pocket change…I just want to scream.
Fired Scholars and Big Grants to Favored Projects: Inside Trump’s N.E.H.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
rosalafersousa.bsky.social
🚨🚨 @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social is a force. Her voice carries power, truth, and courage—threats to the regime.

The only thing authoritarians fear more than a voice they cannot control is a chorus. So let’s give them one: speak up, speak loudly, and don’t stop. Stand with Jenna. ✊🇺🇸
jenna-m-norton.bsky.social Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 4d
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.

www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.
TikTok video by Jenna
www.tiktok.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
clairedeo.bsky.social
New preprint 🥳! We made photoclickable HaloTag ligands to precisely control protein labeling on living cells. With it, we can do some cool multicolor stuff. Huge congrats to Franzi and all co-authors! Check it out 👇

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 13, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
jenna-m-norton.bsky.social
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.

www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.
TikTok video by Jenna
www.tiktok.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
sherylnyt.bsky.social
NEW: Jenna Norton, an NIH employee who is openly critical of Trump & RFK Jr, has been put on "non-disciplinary" administrative leave. She says the administration is trying to "scare and silence me." An HHS official, asked to comment, called her a radical leftist.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
N.I.H. Worker Who Criticized Trump Health Policies Says She Is on Administrative Leave
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
dulaclab.bsky.social
An remarkable new undergraduate course conceived and taught by our amazing colleague and Dean of Science Jeff Lichtman: "Genuinely Hard Problems" I wish I was an undergrad again!... 🤣🧪🧬🧠
@harvardmcb.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @harvard.edu

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
No one knows the answer, and that’s the point — Harvard Gazette
“Genuinely Hard Problems” pilots novel approach to scientific education.
news.harvard.edu
November 12, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
grimalkina.bsky.social
We are in the midst of an all-out attempt to exclude the global majority from science. Watson was clear about where he fell on that. I would trade every single dinner, meeting, seminar, fancy campus, and prestigious donor for my incredible friends to be safer. Their science is worth far more.
November 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
grimalkina.bsky.social
Jeremy, I have followed your science advocacy on this platform with respect, but I find this thread deeply hurtful and sad and I am going to tell you why. While my wife did her postdoc at CSHL, she and our many dear friends had to endure the racist rhetoric of this man, which did constant harm
jeremymberg.bsky.social Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 10d
On one evening, the speakers were divided up and went to dinner parties hosted by some of the wealthy folks who lived around Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. My dinner was delightful, with good conversation with our host (the mayor of a nearby village), his friends, and some other speakers.

34/41
November 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
rhodamine110.bsky.social
A new, nerdy paper. We figured out (some) of the rules underlying cell-permeability of probes and designed ligands that light up, grab, and move proteins around. Awesome @hhmijanelia.bsky.social x @uwmadison.bsky.social x @stjuderesearch.bsky.social collaboration! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 27, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
drugmonkey.bsky.social
The cut rate labor business of grant funded academic science revealed in one tweet.
khajdarovic.bsky.social Kaitlyn Hajdarovic, Ph.D @khajdarovic.bsky.social · 28d
What I don’t understand here is how laboratories will continue to run without grad student labor- lab techs are paid similarly without the ability to get fellowships/training grants to defray costs. Postdocs are more expensive.
jbenmenachem.com jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 28d
Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs

- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
October 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
labonnelab.bsky.social
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Donate to Paul Maddox for Congress in NC 11
Paul is running for Congress because there’s a sickness in Washington, and no one is working to cure it.
secure.actblue.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
pihanson.bsky.social
Collaborative. Creative. Impactful. Come join us in Ann Arbor! For more information and application link see jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/675674/f...
October 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
allstrike.bsky.social
IT'S ALMOST HERE!!
#NoKingsDay is around the corner. Gonna be a BIG event at @nihvigils.bsky.social and @27unihted.bsky.social We're going to play TWO SETS - one at the beginning and one at the end.
#fucktrump #punk #punkrock #resist #FightFascism #AntiAuthoritarian #FuckICE #FightTheNazis
October 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
angierasmussen.bsky.social
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.
October 11, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
fedsworkforyou.bsky.social
NO TO ILLEGAL RIFS

TRUMP AND VOUGHT ARE HURTING AMERICA

Gather at the Office of Management and Budget (near WH, exact location to come)

Monday, October 13, 2pm

DM us if you were RIFed (or had coworkers who were RIFed) and would like to speak
October 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM
tarafisch.bsky.social
Amazing
luckytran.com Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Oct 8
🎵 They did the Monster Slash 😭 @ellecordova.bsky.social
October 9, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
npr.org
Some federal workers support the government shutdown, even as President Trump threatens to use this moment to lay off employees and cut funding to programs.
Why some federal workers aren't scared by the threat of shutdown layoffs
Some federal workers support the government shutdown, even as President Trump threatens to use this moment to lay off employees and cut funding to programs.
n.pr
October 7, 2025 at 11:57 AM
tarafisch.bsky.social
I signed @uthealthhouston.bsky.social alum!
Are you an alum outraged by Trump's attacks on universities? Defend your school now by signing this alumni petition in support of these 9 universities as well as campus communities across America. alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...
Trump attacks 9 universities: Sign the alumni petition to defend your school now
Are you an alum outraged by Trump's attacks on universities? Defend your school now by signing this alumni petition in support of these 9 universities as well as campus communities across America.
alumni.controlshift.app
October 3, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
greenrat.bsky.social
Neat trick if you polycolonal ab's suck. Incubate them with fixed cells with a KO of your protein of interest, then spin. Protocol here: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/ass...
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky
On the left - western blot of B16F10 cells wt and KO for CDK8. Our in house produced antibodies give a lot of unspecific bands. On the right same probes with antibodies preincubated with fixed CDK8 KO cells - there is a specific band and faint unspecific bands, which can be probably eliminated with increase of amount of KO cells.
October 2, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
jenna-m-norton.bsky.social
That’s a lot of science we left on the table.
jeremymberg.bsky.social Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Oct 1
Here is NIDDK

61% as many new R01s in FY25 as in FY24.

17/n
October 3, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
joshtpm.bsky.social
Being Ready to Lose Well, Perseverance and How Not to Be Lost talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/being...
Being Ready to Lose Well, Perseverance and How Not to Be Lost
On Monday I saw a bunch of people on Bluesky mentioning and...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
docsirianni.bsky.social
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com/p/nearly-imp...
"Nearly impossible for NIH staff to do our jobs": Jenna Norton's speech for the Civil Servants Coalition
At the Capitol, Monday 9/29
scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
normative.bsky.social
This is sort of a classic prisoners' dilemma: If nobody defects, nobody has "priority". Which makes it essential that universities coordinate a united front.
brendannyhan.bsky.social Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Oct 2
Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy
October 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Tara Fischer
gregggonsalves.bsky.social
This is extortion. Faculty, students, staff, alumni across the country need to get to their Presidents & Trustees today. Just say no. This blackmail only works if most everyone folds. Capitulation now means the end of American higher education for a generation. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:55 AM