Ashley Marquardt
@aemarquardt.bsky.social
Neuroscientist & Program Manager @ UM-MIND / University of Maryland SOM • big Baltimore believer • overly superstitious Ravens/Os/Terps fan (she/her)
This is so ravens core (derogatory)
September 8, 2025 at 3:34 AM
This is so ravens core (derogatory)
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
PANDEMONIUM IN BALTIMORE
The Orioles were getting no-hit, down to their final out and down by three runs ... they won the ballgame 😤
The Orioles were getting no-hit, down to their final out and down by three runs ... they won the ballgame 😤
September 7, 2025 at 2:18 AM
PANDEMONIUM IN BALTIMORE
The Orioles were getting no-hit, down to their final out and down by three runs ... they won the ballgame 😤
The Orioles were getting no-hit, down to their final out and down by three runs ... they won the ballgame 😤
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
They keep losing in court because everything they’re doing is illegal
September 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
They keep losing in court because everything they’re doing is illegal
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
The practical upshot is that justice delayed is justice denied; or to be more precise, a lab which had to fire all of its researchers and halt work on groundbreaking research isn't going to be able to ever restore itself to the same position it would have been without a multi-year pause in funding.
TL;DR: 5 justices say Trump doesn't have to immediately restore the funding, but 5 *also* signal that the underlying directives are unlawful.
That sends a fairly strong (if mixed) message that Trump will lose these cases *eventually,* but only once they're brought in the Court of Federal Claims.
That sends a fairly strong (if mixed) message that Trump will lose these cases *eventually,* but only once they're brought in the Court of Federal Claims.
Splitting 5-4 (with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent), #SCOTUS grants *partial* stay to Trump administration in NIH funding case; holds that challenges to grant terminations (but *not* the underlying guidance) need to be filed in the Court of Federal Claims:
August 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The practical upshot is that justice delayed is justice denied; or to be more precise, a lab which had to fire all of its researchers and halt work on groundbreaking research isn't going to be able to ever restore itself to the same position it would have been without a multi-year pause in funding.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
🚨 SCOTUS just issued a decision in the NIH grant termination cases. And it's awful.
In plain English, the likely result of this is that SCOTUS just re-terminated ~900 NIH grants worth over $1.9 billion in unspent funds
This is an atrocious decision by Justice Barrett & the right wing of the Court.
In plain English, the likely result of this is that SCOTUS just re-terminated ~900 NIH grants worth over $1.9 billion in unspent funds
This is an atrocious decision by Justice Barrett & the right wing of the Court.
Splitting 5-4 (with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent), #SCOTUS grants *partial* stay to Trump administration in NIH funding case; holds that challenges to grant terminations (but *not* the underlying guidance) need to be filed in the Court of Federal Claims:
www.supremecourt.gov
August 21, 2025 at 8:52 PM
🚨 SCOTUS just issued a decision in the NIH grant termination cases. And it's awful.
In plain English, the likely result of this is that SCOTUS just re-terminated ~900 NIH grants worth over $1.9 billion in unspent funds
This is an atrocious decision by Justice Barrett & the right wing of the Court.
In plain English, the likely result of this is that SCOTUS just re-terminated ~900 NIH grants worth over $1.9 billion in unspent funds
This is an atrocious decision by Justice Barrett & the right wing of the Court.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Excited my PhD work in @brianmathur.bsky.social’s lab is now published and available!
Serotonin and psilocybin activate 5-HT1B receptors to suppress cortical signaling through the claustrum
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Serotonin and psilocybin activate 5-HT1B receptors to suppress cortical signaling through the claustrum - Nature Communications
Our basic understanding of neuromodulation in the claustrum remains limited. Here Madden et al., identify a key mechanism by which serotonin and the psychedelic psilocybin modulate cortical signalling...
doi.org
August 21, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Excited my PhD work in @brianmathur.bsky.social’s lab is now published and available!
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
I am SO EXCITED to share this one! The latest paper from the lab is online in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social. We show microglia prune NAc astrocyte processes during abstinence from cocaine-self ad which drives later drug seeking behavior.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Abstinence from cocaine self-administration promotes microglial pruning of astrocytes, which drives cocaine-seeking behavior
Rodent drug self-administration leads to a compromised ability of nucleus accumbens astrocytes to maintain glutamate homeostasis as well as to reducti…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 13, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I am SO EXCITED to share this one! The latest paper from the lab is online in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social. We show microglia prune NAc astrocyte processes during abstinence from cocaine-self ad which drives later drug seeking behavior.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
July 31, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Excited to see our most recent project published in @npp-journal.bsky.social !
We show that the timing of THC exposure during development—prenatal vs. postnatal—leads to opposite effects on social behavior and microglial function in the amygdala. Timing matters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We show that the timing of THC exposure during development—prenatal vs. postnatal—leads to opposite effects on social behavior and microglial function in the amygdala. Timing matters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala - Neuropsychopharmacology
Neuropsychopharmacology - Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala
www.nature.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Excited to see our most recent project published in @npp-journal.bsky.social !
We show that the timing of THC exposure during development—prenatal vs. postnatal—leads to opposite effects on social behavior and microglial function in the amygdala. Timing matters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We show that the timing of THC exposure during development—prenatal vs. postnatal—leads to opposite effects on social behavior and microglial function in the amygdala. Timing matters!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper from our group out in @npp-journal.bsky.social today on the effects of gestational cannabis exposure!
Excited to announce our latest production! @jwvanryzin.bsky.social @aemarquardt.bsky.social @um-mind.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala - Neuropsychopharmacology
Neuropsychopharmacology - Timing matters: modeling the effects of gestational cannabis exposure on social behavior and microglia in the developing amygdala
www.nature.com
July 23, 2025 at 7:10 PM
New paper from our group out in @npp-journal.bsky.social today on the effects of gestational cannabis exposure!
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Powerful story from Kate Zernike from the NYT
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts
www.nytimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Powerful story from Kate Zernike from the NYT
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Despite all the handwringing about “intellectual diversity” the reality is that higher ed exposes young people to a vastly different array of people and experiences than almost anything else you can do.
going to college, living in an international dorm and meeting brown kids from africa, dark-skinned kids with african features from india, spanish-speaking chinese kids from argentina, and many others changed the way i understood the world in some pretty fundamental ways
July 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Despite all the handwringing about “intellectual diversity” the reality is that higher ed exposes young people to a vastly different array of people and experiences than almost anything else you can do.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
SCOOP: NIH appears to be disregarding last week's court order to stop screening grants using a process a judge ruled illegal.
This has many NIH staffers confused and worried about the legality of their actions.
This has many NIH staffers confused and worried about the legality of their actions.
Exclusive: NIH still screens grants in process a judge ruled illegal
Directives by the Trump administration are still being applied to grant applications despite court order.
www.nature.com
June 27, 2025 at 5:29 PM
SCOOP: NIH appears to be disregarding last week's court order to stop screening grants using a process a judge ruled illegal.
This has many NIH staffers confused and worried about the legality of their actions.
This has many NIH staffers confused and worried about the legality of their actions.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
We pored through more than 900 grants worth $2.6 billion that the Trump administration canceled at Harvard.
“This is larger than any individual grant,” a researcher told us. “What we are losing is a future.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
With @emmbadger.bsky.social and @ethansinger.bsky.social
“This is larger than any individual grant,” a researcher told us. “What we are losing is a future.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
With @emmbadger.bsky.social and @ethansinger.bsky.social
June 23, 2025 at 1:35 PM
We pored through more than 900 grants worth $2.6 billion that the Trump administration canceled at Harvard.
“This is larger than any individual grant,” a researcher told us. “What we are losing is a future.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
With @emmbadger.bsky.social and @ethansinger.bsky.social
“This is larger than any individual grant,” a researcher told us. “What we are losing is a future.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
With @emmbadger.bsky.social and @ethansinger.bsky.social
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
"The bill directs what is likely the largest single sale of national public lands in modern history to help cut taxes for the richest people in the country....all without hearings, debate or public input." wilderness.org/articles/med...
250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package
The bill mandates disposal of over 2 million acres of BLM and National Forest lands; public lands eligible for sale in the bill encompass over 250 million acres, including local recreation areas, wild...
wilderness.org
June 17, 2025 at 10:16 AM
"The bill directs what is likely the largest single sale of national public lands in modern history to help cut taxes for the richest people in the country....all without hearings, debate or public input." wilderness.org/articles/med...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Mayor Brandon Scott appears to be doing something right, but somehow this remarkable, record setting decline in violence doesn't quite make national headlines the way the opposite does
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...
Baltimore’s homicide rate dropped to a historic low last month, defied racial trends
Baltimore ended April with five homicides, the lowest monthly total in recent memory.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com
June 16, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Mayor Brandon Scott appears to be doing something right, but somehow this remarkable, record setting decline in violence doesn't quite make national headlines the way the opposite does
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
June 16, 2025 at 6:23 PM
BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
For instance: If murders in Baltimore were UP 40%, then Mayor Brandon Scott would be a national figure. Instead it's gone down that amount so no one knows who he is.
June 16, 2025 at 6:50 PM
For instance: If murders in Baltimore were UP 40%, then Mayor Brandon Scott would be a national figure. Instead it's gone down that amount so no one knows who he is.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
One block over from the White House: the aspirational security line setup
June 14, 2025 at 10:48 PM
One block over from the White House: the aspirational security line setup
New paper from my PhD work out in Cell Reports today! We find that playfulness is associated with markedly distinct gene expression profiles in the medial amygdala of male vs. female rats and show that inhibitory neurons play a key role. Really proud of this one! www.cell.com/cell-reports...
The transcriptome of playfulness is sex biased in the juvenile rat medial amygdala: A role for inhibitory neurons
Marquardt et al. explore the “transcriptome of playfulness” in the medial amygdala,
demonstrating that the gene signatures associated with playfulness are largely distinct
in male and female rats. Thr...
www.cell.com
June 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
New paper from my PhD work out in Cell Reports today! We find that playfulness is associated with markedly distinct gene expression profiles in the medial amygdala of male vs. female rats and show that inhibitory neurons play a key role. Really proud of this one! www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Breaking news: Staff at the National Institutes of Health have issued a declaration calling on their director to depoliticize the agency and reverse spending cuts.
NIH staff and biomedical community sound alarm about agency politicization, funding slowdown
In test of NIH director’s support of dissent, NIH staff sign Bethesda Declaration urging reversal of grant cuts and freezes
scim.ag
June 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Breaking news: Staff at the National Institutes of Health have issued a declaration calling on their director to depoliticize the agency and reverse spending cuts.
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
"Tanner, a chemist at the Univ. of Mississippi working to develop a novel approach for treating glioblastoma, was notified in April that the grant was terminated.
“I would like to cure brain cancer,” Dr. Tanner said. “I think that's not particularly controversial.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
“I would like to cure brain cancer,” Dr. Tanner said. “I think that's not particularly controversial.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Gutting of America’s Medical Research: Here Is Every Canceled or Delayed N.I.H. Grant
Some cuts have been starkly visible, but the country’s medical grant-making machinery has also radically transformed outside the public eye.
www.nytimes.com
June 8, 2025 at 6:12 PM
"Tanner, a chemist at the Univ. of Mississippi working to develop a novel approach for treating glioblastoma, was notified in April that the grant was terminated.
“I would like to cure brain cancer,” Dr. Tanner said. “I think that's not particularly controversial.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
“I would like to cure brain cancer,” Dr. Tanner said. “I think that's not particularly controversial.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Hi! I specialize in medication toxicity. All available, real-world data has proven mifepristone is actually even safer than many over the counter medicines.
Mortality rates:
Mifepristone: 0.65/100,000
Penicillin 2/100K
Viagra 4/100K
Pregnancy in the US: 22/100,000 (some states see rates >60/100K)
Mortality rates:
Mifepristone: 0.65/100,000
Penicillin 2/100K
Viagra 4/100K
Pregnancy in the US: 22/100,000 (some states see rates >60/100K)
Dr. Marty Makary said Monday that the FDA will review the pill’s safety, after Sen. Josh Hawley amplified a bogus “study” on mifepristone and RFK Jr. said he asked Makary to conduct a “complete review."
www.jezebel.com/thanks-to-th...
www.jezebel.com/thanks-to-th...
Thanks to These Stellar Men and a Bogus Study, the FDA Will Needlessly Investigate the Abortion Pill
Dr. Marty Makary said Monday that the FDA will review the pill’s safety, after Sen. Josh Hawley amplified a bogus “study” on mifepristone and RFK Jr. said he asked Makary to conduct a “complete review...
www.jezebel.com
June 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Hi! I specialize in medication toxicity. All available, real-world data has proven mifepristone is actually even safer than many over the counter medicines.
Mortality rates:
Mifepristone: 0.65/100,000
Penicillin 2/100K
Viagra 4/100K
Pregnancy in the US: 22/100,000 (some states see rates >60/100K)
Mortality rates:
Mifepristone: 0.65/100,000
Penicillin 2/100K
Viagra 4/100K
Pregnancy in the US: 22/100,000 (some states see rates >60/100K)
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
RFK Jr's "MAHA" report is filled with references to studies that literally do not exist, or that completely misinterpret the studies' findings.
“We did not publish a paper.. on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title,” says one cited researcher.
www.notus.org/health-scien...
“We did not publish a paper.. on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title,” says one cited researcher.
www.notus.org/health-scien...
The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.
www.notus.org
May 29, 2025 at 12:35 PM
RFK Jr's "MAHA" report is filled with references to studies that literally do not exist, or that completely misinterpret the studies' findings.
“We did not publish a paper.. on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title,” says one cited researcher.
www.notus.org/health-scien...
“We did not publish a paper.. on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title,” says one cited researcher.
www.notus.org/health-scien...
Reposted by Ashley Marquardt
Every single step of my career since I started grad school has involved a lot of “now do all this stuff you don’t know how to do, with minimal training.”
I tell my children that a PhD is really a degree in teaching yourself things.
I tell my children that a PhD is really a degree in teaching yourself things.
May 27, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Every single step of my career since I started grad school has involved a lot of “now do all this stuff you don’t know how to do, with minimal training.”
I tell my children that a PhD is really a degree in teaching yourself things.
I tell my children that a PhD is really a degree in teaching yourself things.