Check out Ryan Woodring, PhD's latest review in WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology: "Modeling Polymeric Drug Release: The Emerging Role of Machine Learning"
Link to article: go.unc.edu/WIRESMLRev
Substack simplified review of article: go.unc.edu/SStMLRev
I’ve reviewed hundreds of CVs for postdoc ads - only hired a few. They didn't use "pretty" sidebars or skill bars.✅ Bold + Underline your name in Every. Single. Citation. ✅ Match your skills to your publication titles. ✅ 3-5 bullets per role. One line each. No paragraphs.
go.unc.edu/SStPostDoc
We are hiring a Post Doc in Immunoengineering focused on cell-based therapies for autoimmune disease & Glioblastoma.
Seeking expertise in biomaterials + in vivo disease models (autoimmune/oncology preferred).
Send CV to ainsliek@email.unc.edu
Apply: unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/313...
@julienguyenlab.bsky.social @ratnanather.bsky.social @kristy-ainslie-lab.bsky.social @metecivelek.bsky.social @jessicaowinter.bsky.social @weigaolab.bsky.social @shenhui1986.bsky.social @davidodde.bsky.social @vannishanks.bsky.social @rmqueenvt.bsky.social @lenating.bsky.social
Myf fixed at 2025 levels.
Email overload isn’t just annoying and it can quietly affect professionalism. Missing a message can look like you’re ignoring someone when the reality is usually just noise and volume.
Link to post: lnkd.in/e7QsQsmi
Excited to share our open-access work exploring a different approach to treating multiple sclerosis: inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance rather than broadly suppressing the immune system.
Pub: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Substack: go.unc.edu/SStStiepelMS
Part 2 of 8 of series on the history of micro- and nanotechnology in therapeutics, vaccines & imaging! This installment dives into complex biologic carriers. These are systems that aren’t quite living but are more sophisticated than simple drugs & contain biologics.
Link: go.unc.edu/SStComplexBio2
A Brief History of Living Medicines: I just published the first post in a new series exploring the timeline of micro- and nanotechnology in therapeutics, vaccines, and imaging.
Part 1 focuses on living medicines: therapies that are alive at the time of delivery.
Link: go.unc.edu/SStLivingMed1
Running an academic research lab is hard.
I’ve learned that what matters most isn’t perfection, but clear expectations, consistent communication & shared responsibility.
My lab certainly isn’t flawless, but here are some thoughts on organizing a lab. go.unc.edu/SStManagement
Thinking about a PhD? Evidence shows that PhD success is driven primarily by the advisor–student relationship.
- What actually makes a good advisor and lab
- Questions every prospective PhD student should ask
- Common red flags that lead to regret
go.unc.edu/SStGradSelec...
Our new paper is out! Tracking the stability of DNA origami in-vivo is typically done with fluorescence, but are they still attached to intact DNA nanostructures? Here we introduce PLASTIQ, a method to quantify the structure of DNA nanostructures using tiny blood samples, ligations and PCRs!
Especially now, most programs interview many strong applicants and admit only a few. Yes, they’re evaluating you, but you should also be evaluating them. Advisor fit matters, and a bad mentor can make even a great project miserable.
go.unc.edu/STEMGradInte...
Excited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv: “Novel compounds derived from AR-12 that demonstrate host-directed clearance of intracellular Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium.”
Preprint: go.unc.edu/Salmonella20...
Substack about it: go.unc.edu/AISubSt
I recently spoke about how I use AI. The ideas and content are mine, with careful editing and ref checks, but AI helps me work faster and with fewer errors. I use it particularly for letters of recommendation, NIH grants, and scientific writing. go.unc.edu/AISubSt
New year, new platform to try!
I’m experimenting with Substack as a place to share my research and practical insights on grant writing & academic life.
go.unc.edu/NIHfactorpro...
go.unc.edu/AinslieTop10...
My site is called 'Kristy Engineers Immunity' if you want to check it out!
Wrapping up the year by celebrating the Top 10 Ainslie Lab papers (by citations + social buzz).
Proud of this team and grateful for our collaborators. Here’s to another year of impactful biomaterials science.
Baked goods for the lab from the past semester.
Strawberry cupcakes, apple cider doughnuts, raspberry cupcakes, Oreo cupcakes, vanilla coffee cupcakes, candy corn shortbread cookies and dark chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate frosting. 😋
My ERA commons is broken! 😆🫠
New preprint!
We evaluated 343 analogs of AR-12 (OSU-03012), a compound with host-directed anti-leishmanial activity. w/ RTI & Duke Chem, we identified the lysosome as a new anti-leishmanial target and developed analogs with improved potency and safety.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Yes, there was only one real reference and the others I couldn't find - they didn't exist.
While waiting for election results, I asked ChatGPT for the top 50 synthetic polymers used in drug delivery - with discovery years and references.
It got 35% of the years right and only 1 correct reference out of 40!
ainslielab.web.unc.edu/wp-content/u...
Thanks for posting our work!
Thrilled to congratulate Elizabeth Gurysh on her first-author paper in Nature Portfolio, showcasing exciting work on immunotherapy-driven clearance of orthotopic glioblastoma.
Open Access: rdcu.be/eIJmv
NSF today released instructions for the next round of applicants to its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. A key group—second-year Ph.D. students—is no longer eligible, and students who are still able to apply will face an unusually narrow timeframe. https://scim.ag/3KlQkQk
Group lunch at the newly reopened Med Deli! Great to see it open again and wonderful food as always!
Congrats High School student Jacob Bachelder on your first author pre-print publication in Chemrxiv! "Six-Array Transepithelial Electrical Resistance Device"
doi.org/10.26434/che...
Thanks!
Congrats Ryan Woodring on your 1st author pub "Biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolds enhance standard of care for glioblastoma via localized targeted therapy"
Open Access: go.unc.edu/AinslieLabTMZ
Over the years, I’ve baked cupcakes for lab members’ birthdays, colleagues at work, and friends in my neighborhood. Some of the students in the division asked me to collect the recipes, so I’ve put them together in a free PDF download: go.unc.edu/Cakes
Enjoy! 🧁
