Christina (Chris) Tobin Kahrstrom

Associate or Senior Editor, Nature (Biological, Clinical, and Social Sciences) Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Nature (Biological, Clinical, and Social Sciences) Organization: Nature Portfolio Locations: New York or Jersey City – Hybrid Working Model Closing Date: September 2...

Nature is creating a new editorial position for someone with expertise in AI and its biomedical applications - check it out 👇 Application closes September 2nd.

springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...

Come and work with me!

The Nature Micro team is expanding and we're looking for someone to champion microbial ecology, plant micro & related areas for the journal

Knowledge of microbial ecology/plant micro is desirable but we're open to applications from all microbiologists

Link below 👇

Our paper out today in @nature.com shows the important role Bifidobacteria in the infant gut microbiota play in mediating optimal responses to vaccination.

Tariffs hit science labs: Trump levies raise cost of supplies Import taxes on staples such as microscopes, glassware and computer chips will affect institutions already feeling financial strain.

Everyone is (justifiably) freaking out about Trump's tariffs - and scientific labs are no exception. Costs of basics like glassware have already gone up, as @celestebiever.bsky.social reports in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Harnessing Bacterial Viruses to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections at University of St Andrews on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Harnessing Bacterial Viruses to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections at University of St Andrews, listed on FindAPhD.com

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
A funded PhD studentship is available for a joint project between my lab and @andreashaag.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

Reality bites: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A broad-spectrum lasso peptide antibiotic targeting the bacterial ribosome - Nature A new lasso peptide antibiotic exhibits broad-spectrum activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein synthesis, is unaffected by common resistanc...

Read the full paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New antibiotic that kills drug-resistant bacteria discovered in technician’s garden The molecule targets bacteria in a way that other drugs don’t.

Some positive news in these dark times...

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A broad-spectrum lasso peptide antibiotic targeting the bacterial ribosome Nature - A new lasso peptide antibiotic exhibits broad-spectrum activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein synthesis, is unaffected by common...

The latest discovery from the lab and great colleagues at McMaster and U Illinois, Chicago. Lariocidin, a new lasso peptide antibiotic that inhibits the ribosome. rdcu.be/efdha

NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion In FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report National Institutes of Health grants generated almost $95 billion in economic activity nationwide in FY 2024 according to a new report by United for Medical Research.

In 2024 NIH grant awards supported 407,782 jobs and $94.58 billion in new economic activity nationwide, the largest figure in the history of the report. www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

America Is Sleeping on a Powerful Defense Against Airborne Disease Treating clean indoor air as a public good would have protected Americans against more than COVID-19.

Thanks to @roxannek.bsky.social for this story in the Atlantic about AIR-BORNE--and air as a public good. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

“The most fundamental resource for progress in science is not the technologies or the buildings. It’s all the good people who do it,“ says former NIH director Francis Collins. “They are all of you who are here today to declare your support for this noble human enterprise.”

Elon Musk is a proven danger to good science, but the Royal Society won’t say so. That’s why I resigned | Kit Yates It is vital to act, and I urge colleagues to do so. How can we stand by and laud this man while he undermines scientific integrity? asks academic and author Kit Yates

🚨I promised I'd say more on the Royal Society and Elon Musk, so here it is. 🚨

I've resigned my position as Associate Editor at Royal Society's journal Open Science in protest at their lack of action over Elon Musk.

My op-ed in @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

When your kids ask you what you did to save US science in the crisis of ‘25, you will say that you showed up! Please spread the word and join us!!
@standupforscience.bsky.social

This is what ardent NYT _conservative_ Bret Stephens is saying.

Anyone with any sense knows that today was an absolute disaster and disgrace for the United States.

Not a shred of humanity or decency, an ambush of a democratic leader fighting tooth and nail for survival of his country. This adminstration has completely abandoned the values and aspirations that were hard-won on European soil only a few decades ago. A hard pill to swallow.

I think this is the closest many of us have ever got to seeing the real Trump. The only consistent thread in his entire unhinged rant was the love & praise for Vladimir Putin. Zelensky has more courage & dignity in his little finger than every member of Trump's regime & fan club combined.

A call for the United States to continue investing in science | mBio The U.S. life science research mission is critical not only to human health and understanding the natural world but also to agriculture and food production, technological innovations, socioeconomic pr...

From the editors of @asm.org journals, a call to action!

Below we discuss the U.S. scientific research enterprise and provide evidence and arguments we hope the ASM community can use to advocate for science.

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Trump and Vance’s meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office today “gave the lie to any claim that this administration’s policy is driven by any strategic effort to advance the interests of the United States, however misguided,” @davidfrum.bsky.social writes.

Read more: theatln.tc/SowY3Uin

Audio long read: Why kids need to take more risks — science reveals the benefits of wild, free play Listen to an audio version of a recent Nature Feature.

Why do kids need risky play, and how can they get more of it? There's now an audio version of my @nature.com feature up at @naturepodcast.bsky.social here, or wherever you get your podcasts

Macrophages recycle phagocytosed bacteria to fuel immunometabolic responses - Nature Phagocytosed bacteria can serve as an alternative nutrient source for macrophages, influencing their metabolic and immune responses through the recycling of microbial components, with the process regulated by nutrient-sensing mechanisms and bacterial viability.

Nature research paper: Macrophages recycle phagocytosed bacteria to fuel immunometabolic responses

https://go.nature.com/3XmyOPD

Inside the Collapse at the NIH Administration officials pressured the NIH to avoid clear advice from the agency’s own lawyers to restart grant funding now.

An important and shocking account of the carnage at NIH:

www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

It is obvious but worth repeating that regimes built on lies survive only as long as they can suppress truth. The promotion of complicit media (alternative facts) & denigration of objective media (facts) is not just desirable but essential. This process is being turbo-charged in the USA right now.

UK ‘falling short’ in fight against rise of superbugs resistant to antibiotics Antimicrobial resistance contributing to estimated 35,000 deaths a year in UK, and government ‘a long way’ from containing the problem, says NAO

"Of five domestic targets set in 2019, only one – reducing antibiotic use in food-producing animals – was met. Drug-resistant infections in humans have increased by 13% since 2018, despite a target to reduce them by 10%"

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Upheaval and firings at CDC raise fears about disease outbreak response Staff and observers worry that the agency may not be prepared for emerging threats including bird flu and insect-borne diseases.

Staff and observers worry that the agency may not be prepared for emerging threats including bird flu and insect-borne diseases.

Fungal impacts on Earth’s ecosystems - Nature This Review delves into the fungal kingdom, exploring the relationships among fungi, animals, plants and the environment, and investigating both the threats posed by fungi and their potential benefits...

Given increasing awareness of the oppportunities and threats posed by the myriad fungal species that share our ecosystems, this Review published in @nature.com synthesizes the state of knowledge from a One Health perspective.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Postdocs and PhD students hit hard by Trump’s crackdown on science As US federal grants remain frozen and budget cuts loom, anxiety and fear grip early-career researchers.

"Disruption and uncertainty are the enemy of science. And when disruption and uncertainty strike, “the people who lose their jobs are students and postdocs”.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Some NIH study sections will resume reviewing grants, but final funding decisions are still in limbo While some NIH study sections will resume, advisory council meetings, which make final funding decisions, seem to still be held up.

STAT story is up about study section restart.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/24/s...

More NIH job cuts coming? Agency's scientists already reeling after week of firings NIH is appealing loss of some lab leaders among in-house research program while bracing for the next actions from the Trump administration

Already bruised by the Trump administration’s first round of firings of federal workers, employees at NIH faced more bad news. NIH’s 27 institute directors were told this week that the agency must cut staffing back to 2019 levels, or at least 10% below its 2024 tally. scim.ag/3EP8gjy

I'm in beautiful Banff for the Keystone Microbiome meetings - looking forward to hearing all about the excellent science in the field.