Christina Fitzsimmons
banner
fitzsimmonscm.bsky.social
Christina Fitzsimmons
@fitzsimmonscm.bsky.social
Asst. Prof of Biochem. & Mol. Bio. at Michigan State.
Previously at Harvard, NCI, UCSF, and Macalester | aging | cancer | chembio | metabolism | enzymology | RNA modifications | mass spec | STEMEd | runner | boardgamer | LE fellow | my views
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of you eyes and ears.”
The Department of Labor has just posted its second Nazi slogan (in the original, "Germany for Germans") in the last two days.

No one believes this is a coincidence.

They are telling America exactly who they are and what they intend.
January 14, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
He didn't shoot her in the head at point blank range because he felt like he was in danger. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he was furious that she wasn't afraid of him. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he felt emasculated.
January 9, 2026 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
All the latin speaking Soccer/Football nations should boycott the US World Cup right now. If we don't even follow our own laws we obviously will ignore the international ones. This makes us a rogue nation. Make America Great, my ass. He has turned us into a damn untrustworthy POS
January 3, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Just really fucking angry at how unnecessary this all is and the pathetic cowards who let it happen.

Do your constitutionally mandated job and put him in jail before he does it to you first.
January 3, 2026 at 3:23 PM
2025 Reading wrap-up
1. Favorite fiction: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
2. Favorite nonfiction: Prequel by Rachel Maddow
3. Favorite re-read: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
4. Favorite new-to-me author: Becky Chambers
5: First read of 2026: Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson
January 1, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
BREAKING: WATCH the full 60 Minutes CECOT segment here. This was sent to me anonymously. It appears to be the segment CBS' Bari Weiss killed. www.muellershewrote.com/p/watch-the-...
WATCH: The 60 Minutes CECOT Segment
I was sent the CECOT segment anonymously in a group chat.
www.muellershewrote.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.

If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers
We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!
www.sosaneurolab.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.

The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.

www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
All of the cities where I trained (undergrad, grad school, postdoc) were places with excellent public transit and bicycling infrastructure. I knew I could never afford a car as an undergrad or grad student. But non-car transit options made these opportunities possible.
public transportation was one major reason I went to grad school in San Francisco over some other choices. I knew I couldn't afford a car on my stipend. It was also a potent lesson on where accessible public transportation, like BART, is allowed to go (SF and the Easy Bay) and where it isn't (Marin)
When I was a new graduate in the year of our economic catastrophe 2008, I lived in NYC. Which was similarly great because a Metrocard is a damn sight cheaper than a car, gas, and insurance. Public transportation is for class and racial mobility. Which is why Americans are poisoned against it.
November 4, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Zara Weinberg was a brilliant light both in and out of science. She changed the lives of everyone she interacted and loved for the better. Her legacy will live on through all of us and we will fight for a better world on behalf of her memory.
October 30, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Looking to start your own lab? 🧬🧪 The Helmholtz Institute Würzburg (HIRI) is offering group leader positions in RNA biology, RNA medicine & RNA technology. Apply by October 31 at www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/jobs-tale...
E15 Groups
The Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Researchopens a call for
www.helmholtz-hiri.de
October 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.
Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize
Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.
n.pr
October 10, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
IMO this hasn't gotten enough attention: a recent memo at NIH announces that peer review will be devalued in determining which grants get funded, granting more power to political appointees to make decisions based on the admin's whims over scientific merit

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research - KFF Health News
The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to po...
kffhealthnews.org
October 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
UPenn professors have responded forcefully to the Trump administration's that colleges sign a "compact" in order to secure funding:

"When an invitation is accompanied by consequences for not accepting it, it is in fact a threat, not an invitation." aaup-penn.org/statement-by...
Statement by the AAUP-Penn Executive Committee on the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education | AAUP–Penn
October 2, 2025 We have received reports that Penn has been “invited” to sign a so-called “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” by the federal government, and that failing to do so wou...
aaup-penn.org
October 2, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Pritzker: "In any other country, if federal agents fired upon journalists & protesters when unprovoked what would we call it? If officials marched down streets harassing civilians & demanding their papers, what would we say? I don't think we'd have trouble calling it what it is: authoritarianism"
September 29, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
It has been 7 years and these are still just as relevant!
Wow, it's the 5th anniversary of the #9ReplyGuys thread on Twitter, posted by me & @shrewshrew.bsky.social.

#WomenInSTEM who post about harassment & sexual misconduct get a lot of misogynistic replies.
We (a woman & a man in science) tried to categorize them.

THE NINE TYPES OF REPLY GUYS 🧵
September 23, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Laura is awesome and I can't wait to hear about all the cool work her lab is doing! Prospective students you should definitely reach out!
September 15, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Excited to announce the opening of the @fitzsimmonslab.bsky.social at @michiganstateu.bsky.social dept. of biochemistry & molecular biology! (1/3)
August 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
www.nytimes.com
August 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective at preventing measles.
As the US hits a 33-year high in measles infections, there is now a "race" to find a treatment for the disease.

One pharma company "is banking on a continuing decline in vaccination rates to fuel a need for measles treatments—and in turn, more investor interest"

🎁 link

www.wsj.com/health/healt...
The Race to Find a Measles Treatment as Infections Surge
The measles vaccine was so effective the disease was considered eliminated in the U.S., but a resurgence of outbreaks is spurring a need for drugs.
www.wsj.com
August 8, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Christina Fitzsimmons
Wow. A group of top scholars at Harvard just sent a letter to its president, Alan Garber, warning against surrendering to Trump.

Signatories include Steven Levitsky, Dani Rodrik, Ryan Enos, Theda Skocpol, and Steven Walt.

Someone forwarded it to me. Read it here:
July 31, 2025 at 3:35 PM
The Bio Dept. @macalestercollege.bsky.social is looking for a tenure-track assistant professor in molecular genetics. I got my BA here and can say without a doubt that Mac really launched my scientific journey. Applications due Sept 15th!
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30197
Macalester College, Biology
Job #AJO30197, Assistant Professor in Molecular Genetics, Biology, Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
academicjobsonline.org
July 28, 2025 at 3:41 AM