Kylee Morrison
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kylee-morrison.bsky.social
Kylee Morrison
@kylee-morrison.bsky.social
83 followers 130 following 6 posts
Herpesvirologist. Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University. Postdoc - Kalejta Lab UW-Madison, PhD -Northwestern DGP. she/her
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Reposted by Kylee Morrison
pricelesssci.bsky.social
Very excited to share the first publication from the Price Lab, "Replication-competent adenovirus reporters utilizing endogenous viral expression architecture", is now online at Journal of Virology!
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Replication-competent adenovirus reporters utilizing endogenous viral expression architecture | Journal of Virology
This research provides powerful new tools to rapidly study adenovirus gene expression and replication. By integrating fluorescent and secreted luciferase reporters into native viral regulatory element...
journals.asm.org
September 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
gcrox.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Position (Please re-post)
A funded postdoctoral position, will open in 2026 to study aspects of Neisseria gonorrhoeae pathogenesis, antigenic variation, genetics, or physiology.
If interested in more information, please contact Hank Seifert
h-seifert@northwestern.edu
September 5, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
amersocvirology.bsky.social
As RFK testifies in front of the Senate today, ASV wants to emphasize the risks posed by his decisions related to virus outbreaks and the public health of Americans. Together with our partner organizations, we call for RFK's resignation: asm.org/press-releas...
Joint Statement Calling for Secretary Kennedy Resignation
The American Society for Microbiology released a joint statement calling for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
asm.org
September 4, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
jeremymberg.bsky.social
New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated.

[Gift Link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
www.nytimes.com
August 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
avgoustilab.bsky.social
Excited to share our latest paper on how macroH2A is targeted by IE1 during HCMV infection- featured as an editors pick in Nature Communications! Fantastic work by Laurel and team!!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Human cytomegalovirus induces neuronal gene expression through IE1 for viral maturation - Nature Communications
HCMV rearranges the host cell to produce infectious virus but molecular details are still unclear. Here, the authors analyze the transcriptome of infected cells and show that HCMV turns on dormant neu...
www.nature.com
August 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
kylee-morrison.bsky.social
First day of the Morrison Lab at Western Michigan University! 👩🏻‍🔬🧫🧬

Lots of work to do, excited to officially start this chapter!
August 15, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
uwmadisonmmi.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Mandel on receiving a NSF collaborative award to develop CRISPR technologies first in Vibrio bacteria and then adapt those broadly!
mmi.wisc.edu/news-departm...
August 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
harmitmalik.bsky.social
I don’t have a problem with someone evaluating my science abilities if I have the ability to examine theirs.

Let’s do televised qualifying exams for all the political appointees who will be evaluating science grants and proposals. Let’s start with directors of institutes and cabinet secretaries.
August 7, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
harmitmalik.bsky.social
Extra kudos and thanks to all the staff at NIH and NSF and other federal funding agencies for working extra hard in very small windows of opportunity to get grants reviewed and funds released before the attention-addled federal policies change again (on an hourly basis).
July 30, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
avgoustilab.bsky.social
Postdoc positions available! Please re-post!

Are you interested in how viruses manipulate chromatin? Are you excited to discover unknown facets of molecular biology? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Come check us out at:
avgoustilab.org
Avgousti Lab
Investigating viral manipulation of host chromatin dynamics
avgoustilab.org
June 26, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
whatthefugacity.bsky.social
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Come At Me, Bro | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
I propose an alternate strategy: I shall fight Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon in a televised cage match, the winner of which gets $2.7 billion in federal grants and the power to uphold or des...
www.thecrimson.com
May 28, 2025 at 7:09 AM
kylee-morrison.bsky.social
Hello BlueSky friends! I am wildly grateful and excited to share that I'm joining the Biological Sciences Dept at Western Michigan University as an Assistant Professor this fall! My lab will study host-virus interactions required for HCMV infectivity. Go Broncos! 💛🦠🧫🤎
May 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social
This is what can be achieved today due to longstanding federal support of academic basic science alongside close partnership of universities, private industry and NIH intramural initiatives. An ecosystem worth not just saving but doubling down on!

innovativegenomics.org/news/first-p...
First Patient Treated with Personalized CRISPR Therapy, Developed in Just Six Months
The first on-demand CRISPR therapy for an infant with a rare metabolic disease developed by the IGI and collaborators around the world.
innovativegenomics.org
May 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
Multiple long-range cis interactions generate CTCF insulator-dependent viral chromatin domains in quiescent HSV-1 genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.08.652945v1
May 9, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
johandelsman.bsky.social
Please share the letter from the Coalition for the Life Sciences re termination of ongoing NIH grants. It's a breach trust betw researchers and govt, bad for trainees, potentially fatal for patients in clinical trials, and diminishes the US science. www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
CLS Calls on the Trump Administration to Restore Research Funding - The Coalition for the Life Sciences
On April 14, 2025, CLS Chair Jo Handelsman and Exec Director Adrienne Hallett sent a letter outlining the tremendous consequences of terminating research and asking that it be reinstated.
www.coalitionforlifesciences.org
April 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
jkpfeiff.bsky.social
Terry Dermody and I wrote an op-ed about chronic diseases ("Make America Healthy Again"), the role of viral infections, and how virologists can help. www.post-gazette.com/opinion/gues...
Terrence S. Dermody and Julie K. Pfeiffer: To tackle chronic disease, turn to the virologists
Despite the United States being a global leader in many areas, Americans are not healthy. Life expectancy is lower than in other industrialized nations,...
www.post-gazette.com
April 28, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
angierasmussen.bsky.social
This is the way to fight back. Not just rejecting illegal demands, but also arguing affirmatively for the value of university research.
joshtpm.bsky.social Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · Apr 14
Coinciding with it's "No" letter Harvard has refashioned its university homepage into essentially an advertisement for the social benefits of university research. This is the current front page.
April 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
uwmadisonrna.bsky.social
www.wpr.org/news/prospec...
Prospective UW-Madison grad students lose funding offers amid federal cuts
Students enrolled in science Ph.D programs are typically paid and have their tuition covered. But with current federal funding uncertainties driven by the Trump administration, faculty scientists said...
www.wpr.org
March 19, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
brodskyigorlab.bsky.social
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...
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.
www.forbes.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
standupforscience.bsky.social
Our work is far from done—science is still under attack.

We’ve got ideas, but we want to hear from you. What’s worrying you most? What should we do next? How can we grow this movement together?

Fill out this quick form to share your thoughts & stay connected: forms.gle/7EEQMZUveXN9...
How do we keep Standing Up for Science?
A heartfelt thank you for everyone that Stood Up for Science with us on March 7th—whether it be volunteering, donating, sharing, or attending in event, we're forever indebted to people like you who ca...
forms.gle
March 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
natesherer.bsky.social
Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...
Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D Obituary February 20, 2025 - Cress Funeral and Cremation Services
View Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D's obituary, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.
www.cressfuneralservice.com
March 2, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
itsafronomics.bsky.social
In today's episode of doomerism isn't a strategy, here's a list of things you can do today to make the world around you suck a little bit less:

Pick ONE thing and do it.
bsky.app/profile/itsa...
What are some actions you can take TODAY? Become a “Friend of the Library” Call your state representatives Boycott businesses rolling back DEI Read & fund independent journalists and magazines Join a Mutual Aid network Donate to environmental justice organizations Support minority authors and artists Pass out Know Your Rights cards to the undocumented Organize a local or school-based protest Follow, elevate, and fund minority voices online Donate to reproductive justice organizations Volunteer at homeless or DV shelters Send money to your local food banks Join the local school board Attend town hall meetings and voice your opinion Start book clubs centered on Black history Fundraise for supplies K-12 teachers may need Donate to legal funds that protect LGBTQ+ people Start a scholarship for underserved students Host community action conversations Work on research about the marginalized Integrate DEI into every part of your business Migrate from Twitter to Bluesky (it’s so good) Support businesses that stand by humanity Stand up to people bullying the vulnerable Donate to Public Citizen and federal worker unions Find joy in the in between and don’t lose hope
February 18, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
kakape.bsky.social
“Perhaps what’s most disheartening is what feels like the absence of widespread opposition to this unraveling. ...
This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose.”
By Harold Varmus 🧪
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
amersocvirology.bsky.social
Vaccines work! As measles cases have recently been reported in Alaska, Georgia, New York, Rhode Island and Texas, it's important to remember that prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, measles killed 400-500 people and resulted in ~48,000 hospitalizations per year.
Graph showing that prior to 1963 when the measles vaccine was introduced, there were around 300,000-700,000 measles cases per year. Within a few years of the vaccine, the number of cases fell below 20,000/year. There were a blips where cases rose, but shortly after the second vaccine dose was recommended in 1989, annual cases have generally been well below 1,000 cases. In 2000, measles elimination was declared in the US. Now we have sporadic outbreaks that typically spread among unvaccinated people. Chart is from Center for American Progress and is based on CDC data on measles cases.
February 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Kylee Morrison
blackinmicro.bsky.social
A statement from the BMA Board Members to the BMA Community and Beyond.

Additional alt text to follow due to the character limit.
The statement reads: We are disappointed in the rapid capitulation by some U.S. institutions and organizations to recent attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. At their core, these weak arguments are fueled by the familiar underlying assumption that people from Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized identities cannot be excellent and therefore have not ‘earned’ our place in public intellectual life. However, we have always been competent, hardworking, and creative people who have contributed positively to society at large, across sectors but especially in science. We reject these attempts at silencing and erasure and will continue to be a place of respite and community in these turbulent times. To our members, your talent, skills, and safety are important! To our friends and allies, you may be feeling like everything happening is out of your control, but we want you to know that your voice and actions can make a difference. We want to point you towards some immediate actions that you can take. These are the top 3 issues we are concerned about and what you can do about it if you mirror our concerns. Freezing of federal funding and cutting grant programs for scientific research that have any connotation of being “DEI.” The potential confirmation of RFK Jr., a vocal anti-vaccination proponent, as the head of HHS. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) removed their ABRCMS and IDEAAS webpages in addition to some scientist spotlights and written articles highlighting the current and historic contributions of microbiologists who are a part of marginalized communities including LGBTQIA+, Women, Indigenous and Black, as well as others page that could be considered “‘DEI”. Many have now been reinstated with changes to language (i.e. removing terms like “equity” and “marginalized”), and the statements released by ASM did not acknowledge the harm that they have caused to their members and showed no remorse for their actions.
February 4, 2025 at 7:46 PM