"Talent is universal, access must be designed, and excellence must be intentional!"
Inspiration talk by Donita Brady at #ASBMB2026. Donita has worked tirelessly to bring access to Penn and beyond. Congrats on winning the Ruth Kirschtein Award!
Please check out our latest publication where we find that caspase-3, which mediates what is thought to be an immunologically silent form of cell death is important for protecting against bacterial infections. Congrats to the whole team for making this possible.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Congratulations to Kahlilia Morris-Blanco (@pennepigenetics.bsky.social), @taabaman.bsky.social (BioBio) & @ralphwhiteiii.bsky.social (@penncbio.bsky.social) on being featured in @wiley.com's Index of Inspiring Black Scientists! tinyurl.com/2s4bkyfs
Please join us for the Cold Spring Harbor Asia @cshlnews.bsky.social meeting on Bacterial Infection & Host Defense this May 11-15 in Suzhou, China! We have a fantastic lineup of speakers. Abstract deadline is March 6. Hope to see you there!
Author summary The immune system uses specialized sensors called inflammasomes to detect infection and trigger protective responses. These responses are carried out by enzymes known as caspases, which...
STEM Black History Fact 27/28
Dr. William Montague Cobb was a founder of modern physical anthropology and used anatomy to counter scientific racism.
www.pbs.org/education/bl...
Our Cell Death in Immunity and Inflammation session was phenomenal today at #ASBMB2026.
A pleasure to co-organize this with Cornelius Taabazuing @taabaman.bsky.social.
@ragoninstitute.bsky.social @upenn.edu
Jianbin Ruan, @katbarnett.bsky.social, Kasia Groburz, & @pedrosvdr.bsky.social
Dr. Cornelius Taabazuing
Dr. Cornelius Taabazuing
PennMedCSO
Check out our latest work led by two talented postdocs, Madhura @mkulkarni.bsky.social and Chris. We find that CASP4/5 can cleave and activate CASP3/7, acting as initiators of both pyroptosis and apoptosis. Notably, both are needed for full pathogen defense!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Feeling incredibly grateful to join this amazing cohort of scientists! Thanks to all my mentors that have helped get me this far.
www.bwfund.org/news/bwf-ann...
If you've ever wondered if there's anybody who could be a potential mentor to you, now there is an index to help you find mentors with similar interests.
www.wiley.com/research/ind...
In complementary work, the Boucher lab also found that CASP4/5 directly cleave CASP3/7, and specificity is engendered mainly by the exosite. Check out thier beautiful biochemistry below.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Help your students see the possibilities of careers in STEM fields by providing them with diverse role models.
