Yuval Levin: Have an Argument.
Disengagement—not disagreement—is the real failure of our politics.
www.thefp.com/p/yuval-levi...

Today we remember our founding & the principles that this great nation was built on, that although we do not always live up to its ideals, it is those ideals, especially the liberty that pluralism affords, that will remain a beacon of hope for a more perfect union. As Madison wrote in Federalist 10:

Out today from The Perry Lab, our work suggesting how exposure to high fructose in pregnant mice or developing neonates directly affects neurodevelopment. In @natureportfolio.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... @mskcancercenter.bsky.social @weillcornell.bsky.social.

5. Alissa then performed a whole bunch of experiments to demonstrate that WNK1 acts downstream of CSF1R (M-CSF receptor) to inform macrophage differentiation.

4. M-CSF-stimulated macropinocytosis is required for differentiation of myeloid progenitors into macrophages🤯.

3. M-CSF stimulates macropinocytosis across all myeloid progenitor and monocyte populations. Props to Alissa for setting up this beautiful system to analyze macropinocytosis in non-adherent cells.

2. 2. Neonatal and hematopoietic myeloid progenitors (MPs) lacking WNK1 (or with WNK kinase inhibited) differentiate into neutrophils instead of macrophages in response to M-CSF🤯. Also true for human MPs. Monocytes lacking WNK1 also fail to differentiate into macrophages.

The paper is a behemoth, including a ton of interesting data in the supplement. Out of the interest of time, I will sum it briefly.
1. Mice that conditionally lack WNK1 under a CSF1R promoter-driven Cre die by 4 weeks of age because the lack tissue-resident macrophages.

New study by Alissa Trzeciak in The Perry Lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social is out! The best way to explain the journey is if I compared it to the Director's Cut of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Let's just say, it wasn't submitted in March 2025.
Link: rdcu.be/eoaRm
Writeup: edin.ac/3FtYS5B

Embarrassingly slow to post this, but The Perry Lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social has graduated its first PhD student! It was a great couple of weeks for Shasha, a @weillcornell.bsky.social IMP student. He received The Schmidt Science Fellowship, had his paper accepted (out soon), and defended!

Very honored to be among this group of incredible scientists, including TWO OTHERS from our Immunology Program @weillcornell.bsky.social @wcm-imp.bsky.social, to receive this from @lupusresearch.bsky.social www.lupusresearch.org/lupus-resear...
@mskcancercenter.bsky.social

I have the most important talk of my young academic career coming on Monday. So, naturally, my wife & I went to our favorite brewery (Troeg's, 3.5h away) for the special yearly release of our favorite beer. Always remember your priorities.

This sort of slipped under the radar a bit, but we
@justinperryphd.bsky.social received the @americancancersoc.bsky.social Research Scholar Grant for our work @mskcancercenter.bsky.social. www.cancer.org/research/acs...

I feel compelled to point out how horribly she treats others too.

Good luck @drjbhattacharya.bsky.social. Looking forward to seeing how you handle the questioning.

Confirmation hearing, March 5 at 10AM ET.
help.senate.gov/hearings

Excited for today's Boo-Yah @thevfoundation.bsky.social event. Honored to be amongst esteemed colleagues for such an important cause.