Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
@bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
Official BlueSky account for the Lab of Pamela Bjorkman at the California Institute of Technology. Structural Biology 🔬 Immunology🥼Virology 🦠 Vaccine 💉 www.its.caltech.edu/~bjorker
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Caltech Mourns the Passing of President Emeritus and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore
David Baltimore, President Emeritus and the Judge Shirley Hufstedler Professor of Biology, Emeritus at Caltech and a co-recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, passed away on Sept...
www.caltech.edu
Mourning the loss of David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate and President Emeritus of Caltech. His groundbreaking work on reverse transcriptase reshaped our understanding of genetics and paved the way for advances in cancer and HIV research. A true giant in science. www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...
In memory of the exemplary scientist David Baltimore, who passed on September 6th, TWiV has re-issued its 100th episode featuring a discussion with him on viruses. Our lab was incredibly fortunate to work with and learn from him since he joined @caltech.edu almost 28 years ago. tinyurl.com/2md4kknj
TWiV Special: David Baltimore, remembered
TWiV re-issues our 100th episode which featured a discussion of viruses with David Baltimore, an exemplary scientist and Vincent' exemplary mentor, who passed on 6 September 2025.
tinyurl.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
In memory of the exemplary scientist David Baltimore, who passed on September 6th, TWiV has re-issued its 100th episode featuring a discussion with him on viruses. Our lab was incredibly fortunate to work with and learn from him since he joined @caltech.edu almost 28 years ago. tinyurl.com/2md4kknj
Mourning the loss of David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate and President Emeritus of Caltech. His groundbreaking work on reverse transcriptase reshaped our understanding of genetics and paved the way for advances in cancer and HIV research. A true giant in science. www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...
Caltech Mourns the Passing of President Emeritus and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore
David Baltimore, President Emeritus and the Judge Shirley Hufstedler Professor of Biology, Emeritus at Caltech and a co-recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, passed away on Sept...
www.caltech.edu
September 9, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Mourning the loss of David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate and President Emeritus of Caltech. His groundbreaking work on reverse transcriptase reshaped our understanding of genetics and paved the way for advances in cancer and HIV research. A true giant in science. www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...
Science saves countless lives. But proposed cuts to NIH & NSF threaten to shut down labs & stall progress millions of families are counting on.
Urge Congress to protect and restore funding for medical research. Act now: tinyurl.com/24p2n4fc #ScienceSaves #FundNIH
Urge Congress to protect and restore funding for medical research. Act now: tinyurl.com/24p2n4fc #ScienceSaves #FundNIH
Stand up for Cures, Not Cuts
Medical Research Saves Lives – But Progress Is At Risk.
Congress is considering a 40% cut to life-saving cures, which would shut...
tinyurl.com
September 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Science saves countless lives. But proposed cuts to NIH & NSF threaten to shut down labs & stall progress millions of families are counting on.
Urge Congress to protect and restore funding for medical research. Act now: tinyurl.com/24p2n4fc #ScienceSaves #FundNIH
Urge Congress to protect and restore funding for medical research. Act now: tinyurl.com/24p2n4fc #ScienceSaves #FundNIH
Exciting news! A few weeks ago, the TWiV podcast reviewed a paper from Michael Letko's lab (@fviromics.bsky.social) featuring one of our graduate students as a co-first author. Give it a listen!
www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-12...
www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-12...
TWiV 1223: Someone is guano be sick
TWiV reviews RFK Jr.''s MAGA report with non-existent literature citations, a new fungus that could further devastate North American bats, surveillance of avian influenza viruses through bird guano in...
www.microbe.tv
July 4, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Exciting news! A few weeks ago, the TWiV podcast reviewed a paper from Michael Letko's lab (@fviromics.bsky.social) featuring one of our graduate students as a co-first author. Give it a listen!
www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-12...
www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-12...
in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social : Mapping essential somatic hypermutations in a CD4-binding site bNAb informs HIV-1 vaccine design doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... "Here, we created a library of IOMA variants in which each SHM was individually reverted to the inferred germline counterpart [...]"
May 23, 2025 at 4:45 AM
in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social : Mapping essential somatic hypermutations in a CD4-binding site bNAb informs HIV-1 vaccine design doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... "Here, we created a library of IOMA variants in which each SHM was individually reverted to the inferred germline counterpart [...]"
Cross-reactive sarbecovirus antibodies induced by mosaic RBD nanoparticles: doi.org/10.1073/pnas... "We present approaches to elicit and identify cross-reactive mAbs that recognize conserved receptor-binding domain (RBD) epitopes using mosaic RBD nanoparticle immunizations in animals." @pnas.org
May 23, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Cross-reactive sarbecovirus antibodies induced by mosaic RBD nanoparticles: doi.org/10.1073/pnas... "We present approaches to elicit and identify cross-reactive mAbs that recognize conserved receptor-binding domain (RBD) epitopes using mosaic RBD nanoparticle immunizations in animals." @pnas.org
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
Analysis of Terminated NIH Grants with Word Clouds
First, using the titles of grants not to Columbia...
Gender and DEI predominate
First, using the titles of grants not to Columbia...
Gender and DEI predominate
March 29, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Analysis of Terminated NIH Grants with Word Clouds
First, using the titles of grants not to Columbia...
Gender and DEI predominate
First, using the titles of grants not to Columbia...
Gender and DEI predominate
from Deborah Fuller and @psmitchej.bsky.social at University of Washington: "Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short" ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/03/31/c...
Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short • Ohio Capital Journal
Nearly every modern medical treatment can be traced to research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Cuts from President Trump and Elon Musk will critically harm research on cancer treatment, ...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
March 31, 2025 at 5:41 PM
from Deborah Fuller and @psmitchej.bsky.social at University of Washington: "Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short" ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/03/31/c...
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
The 2025 Wolf Prize Laureate in Medicine, Professor Pamela J. Bjorkman “For pioneering innovative strategies to overcome viral defenses through novel antibody-focused approaches” @caltech.edu wolffund.org.il/pamela-j-bjo... @bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
Pamela J. Bjorkman
Wolf Prize Laureate in Medicine 2025
wolffund.org.il
March 10, 2025 at 7:38 PM
The 2025 Wolf Prize Laureate in Medicine, Professor Pamela J. Bjorkman “For pioneering innovative strategies to overcome viral defenses through novel antibody-focused approaches” @caltech.edu wolffund.org.il/pamela-j-bjo... @bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
An unvaccinated child died during a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, marking it the first U.S. death from the highly contagious respiratory disease since 2015. Vaccines against the disease are safe & effective, and measles was once considered eliminated. @apnews.com
apnews.com/article/meas...
apnews.com/article/meas...
A Texas child who was not vaccinated has died of measles, a first for the US in a decade
A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas. It's the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the U.S. since 2015.
apnews.com
February 27, 2025 at 6:24 PM
An unvaccinated child died during a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, marking it the first U.S. death from the highly contagious respiratory disease since 2015. Vaccines against the disease are safe & effective, and measles was once considered eliminated. @apnews.com
apnews.com/article/meas...
apnews.com/article/meas...
Congratulation to @jacobparresau.bsky.social and @elowitzlab.bsky.social for their new publication in @cellpress.bsky.social on competitive protein dimerization networks!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Contextual computation by competitive protein dimerization networks
Competitive dimerization networks, in which protein monomers dimerize in various combinations,
can perform diverse biochemical computations and can adapt those computations for
different cell contexts...
www.cell.com
February 26, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Congratulation to @jacobparresau.bsky.social and @elowitzlab.bsky.social for their new publication in @cellpress.bsky.social on competitive protein dimerization networks!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
from @nature.com "almost all grant-review meetings remain suspended at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), preventing the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research from spending much of its US$47 billion annual budget."
go.nature.com/4k8Njjx
go.nature.com/4k8Njjx
Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order
The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep a funding freeze in place, leaving researchers in limbo.
go.nature.com
February 20, 2025 at 8:35 PM
from @nature.com "almost all grant-review meetings remain suspended at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), preventing the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research from spending much of its US$47 billion annual budget."
go.nature.com/4k8Njjx
go.nature.com/4k8Njjx
@caltech.edu asked Dr. Pamela Bjorkman "if overusing antibiotics can be harmful. Should we worry about overusing vaccines too?" The short answer is no.
Swipe to learn more from Caltech's Pamela Bjorkman.
#AskCaltech at caltech.edu/AskCaltech. 1/2
Swipe to learn more from Caltech's Pamela Bjorkman.
#AskCaltech at caltech.edu/AskCaltech. 1/2
January 27, 2025 at 1:52 AM
@caltech.edu asked Dr. Pamela Bjorkman "if overusing antibiotics can be harmful. Should we worry about overusing vaccines too?" The short answer is no.
Swipe to learn more from Caltech's Pamela Bjorkman.
#AskCaltech at caltech.edu/AskCaltech. 1/2
Swipe to learn more from Caltech's Pamela Bjorkman.
#AskCaltech at caltech.edu/AskCaltech. 1/2
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
Designed mosaic nanoparticles enhance cross-reactive immune responses in mice @cellcellpress.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
@bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
@anamnestic21.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
@bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
@anamnestic21.bsky.social
Designed mosaic nanoparticles enhance cross-reactive immune responses in mice
Computational methods were used to design mosaic nanoparticle vaccines displaying
receptor-binding domains of SARS-CoV-2 variants and sarbecoviruses. Immunization of
naive and pre-vaccinated mice elic...
www.cell.com
January 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Designed mosaic nanoparticles enhance cross-reactive immune responses in mice @cellcellpress.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
@bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
@anamnestic21.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
@bjorkman-lab.bsky.social
@anamnestic21.bsky.social
Update on Campus Operations: Caltech’s campus will remain closed on Thursday, January 9. The Institute intends to resume operations on Friday, January 10, pending continued assessments of the situation. Individuals who do come to campus for essential positions are advised to wear a K/N95 mask.
January 9, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Update on Campus Operations: Caltech’s campus will remain closed on Thursday, January 9. The Institute intends to resume operations on Friday, January 10, pending continued assessments of the situation. Individuals who do come to campus for essential positions are advised to wear a K/N95 mask.
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
Please join us in welcoming our newest Professor of Chemistry, Sandeep Sharma! 👋
His group's research efforts are directed towards developing algorithms that solve the problem of electronic structure theory. He loves to spend time with his family and enjoys playing racket sports.
Welcome, Sandeep!
His group's research efforts are directed towards developing algorithms that solve the problem of electronic structure theory. He loves to spend time with his family and enjoys playing racket sports.
Welcome, Sandeep!
January 3, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Please join us in welcoming our newest Professor of Chemistry, Sandeep Sharma! 👋
His group's research efforts are directed towards developing algorithms that solve the problem of electronic structure theory. He loves to spend time with his family and enjoys playing racket sports.
Welcome, Sandeep!
His group's research efforts are directed towards developing algorithms that solve the problem of electronic structure theory. He loves to spend time with his family and enjoys playing racket sports.
Welcome, Sandeep!
After more than 4 years, the infamous and dangerous hydroxychloroquine paper has finally been officially retracted! 🎉
Many criticized this unfounded publication, but a huge thank you to @elisabethbik.bsky.social for leading the charge!
#Immunology #Virology #Science #COVID19
Many criticized this unfounded publication, but a huge thank you to @elisabethbik.bsky.social for leading the charge!
#Immunology #Virology #Science #COVID19
Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted
Study on hydroxychloroquine by Didier Raoult and colleagues gets pulled on ethical and scientific grounds
www.science.org
December 18, 2024 at 2:20 AM
After more than 4 years, the infamous and dangerous hydroxychloroquine paper has finally been officially retracted! 🎉
Many criticized this unfounded publication, but a huge thank you to @elisabethbik.bsky.social for leading the charge!
#Immunology #Virology #Science #COVID19
Many criticized this unfounded publication, but a huge thank you to @elisabethbik.bsky.social for leading the charge!
#Immunology #Virology #Science #COVID19
A bit old but here is a great visual representation from @science.org of the fact that vaccines do work and help keep infectious diseases at bay.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Here's the visual proof of why vaccines do more good than harm
See year by year how vaccines beat back nine dangerous infectious diseases
www.science.org
December 14, 2024 at 10:46 PM
A bit old but here is a great visual representation from @science.org of the fact that vaccines do work and help keep infectious diseases at bay.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
It’s easy and quick, find who your representatives are and let them know you support fact-based healthcare! -> www.safecommunitiescoalition.org/rfk
We MUST keep vaccines.
have you written your Senator to let them know?
have you written your Senator to let them know?
December 14, 2024 at 10:38 PM
It’s easy and quick, find who your representatives are and let them know you support fact-based healthcare! -> www.safecommunitiescoalition.org/rfk
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
5️⃣4️⃣ Elisabeth Bik (1966- ) 🇳🇱 #womeninSTEM @elisabethbik.bsky.social Microbiologist, she worked on cholera epidemics in India & Bangladesh. Internationally recognised for her work in detecting image manipulation. 2021 Maddox Prize & 2024 Einstein Foundation award.
www.statnews.com/2024/02/28/e...
www.statnews.com/2024/02/28/e...
December 14, 2024 at 4:17 PM
5️⃣4️⃣ Elisabeth Bik (1966- ) 🇳🇱 #womeninSTEM @elisabethbik.bsky.social Microbiologist, she worked on cholera epidemics in India & Bangladesh. Internationally recognised for her work in detecting image manipulation. 2021 Maddox Prize & 2024 Einstein Foundation award.
www.statnews.com/2024/02/28/e...
www.statnews.com/2024/02/28/e...
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
PLEASE do not feed raw milk to your cats. Or your kids. Or yourself. #H5N1
There are two fatal cases of H5N1 in cats in California. Both cats had been fed raw milk from the recalled lot in the ongoing outbreak associated with Raw Farms. The milk wasn’t tested. But an astute veterinarian tested the cats for flu based on clinical suspicion.
#VetMedsky #IDsky #OneHealth
#VetMedsky #IDsky #OneHealth
Cats in L.A. County die after drinking recalled raw milk
Los Angeles County health officials are investigating the deaths of two cats who became ill after drinking recalled H5N1 bird flu-infected raw milk.
www.latimes.com
December 13, 2024 at 4:12 AM
PLEASE do not feed raw milk to your cats. Or your kids. Or yourself. #H5N1
Reposted by Bjorkman Lab @ Caltech
Stanford alums have written the university president and provost to protest their handling of a student journalist, who is facing 3 felony accusations after covering a protest:
"It was wrongful for the University to direct his arrest and encourage his prosecution" drive.google.com/file/d/1jIx1...
"It was wrongful for the University to direct his arrest and encourage his prosecution" drive.google.com/file/d/1jIx1...
Stanford alumni letter.pdf
drive.google.com
December 10, 2024 at 1:37 AM
Stanford alums have written the university president and provost to protest their handling of a student journalist, who is facing 3 felony accusations after covering a protest:
"It was wrongful for the University to direct his arrest and encourage his prosecution" drive.google.com/file/d/1jIx1...
"It was wrongful for the University to direct his arrest and encourage his prosecution" drive.google.com/file/d/1jIx1...
Excited to host @cwolberger.bsky.social today at @caltech.edu for our Biology and Biological Engineering Seminar!
December 10, 2024 at 11:03 PM
Excited to host @cwolberger.bsky.social today at @caltech.edu for our Biology and Biological Engineering Seminar!
TWiV 1173 is out! "TWiV reviews nominees to head NIH, FDA, and CDC, cervical cancer decline following HPV vaccination, local dengue in Texas, human isolate of H5N1 virus is transmissible and virulent in animal models, and [...]." www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-11...
TWiV 1173: Holy Cow! Convergent evolution!
TWiV reviews nominees to head NIH, FDA, and CDC, cervical cancer decline following HPV vaccination, local dengue in Texas, human isolate of H5N1 virus is transmissible and virulent in animal models, a...
www.microbe.tv
December 10, 2024 at 8:19 PM
TWiV 1173 is out! "TWiV reviews nominees to head NIH, FDA, and CDC, cervical cancer decline following HPV vaccination, local dengue in Texas, human isolate of H5N1 virus is transmissible and virulent in animal models, and [...]." www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-11...