Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
@microbeminded.bsky.social
organismal biologist & geneticist | PI at med school in Houston | amazed by microbial superpowers | he/him
#microbiome #Celegans #spacebiology #firstgen 🧫 🦠 🧪 🧬
GS: https://bit.ly/goog-schol-buck-sam
ORCID: 0000-0002-4347-3997
#microbiome #Celegans #spacebiology #firstgen 🧫 🦠 🧪 🧬
GS: https://bit.ly/goog-schol-buck-sam
ORCID: 0000-0002-4347-3997
Pinned
To all the newskies, welcome! #HiSciSky
As #firstgen PI at BCM in Houston, my lab studies how the #microbiome alters host physiology using genetics & genomics in #Celegans. Our lens is #BasicResearch, but aim to promote human health on earth and beyond.
🧪🖥️🧬 #AcademicSky #MicroSky 1/3
As #firstgen PI at BCM in Houston, my lab studies how the #microbiome alters host physiology using genetics & genomics in #Celegans. Our lens is #BasicResearch, but aim to promote human health on earth and beyond.
🧪🖥️🧬 #AcademicSky #MicroSky 1/3
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
I signed. I was supported by a GRFP during my thesis research and its award reinforced that I was a scientist during my training.
Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io
September 26, 2025 at 5:25 AM
I signed. I was supported by a GRFP during my thesis research and its award reinforced that I was a scientist during my training.
I signed and was supported by this program as a graduate student myself.
Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
jasonjwilliamsny.github.io
September 26, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I signed and was supported by this program as a graduate student myself.
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
More foundations should do this:
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research
The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.
www.rwjf.org
August 30, 2025 at 8:58 PM
More foundations should do this:
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
CDC is no longer surveilling outbreaks caused by campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibrio and Yersinia. What could go wrong?
The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses.
As of July 1, a critical surveillance program is monitoring for only two pathogens instead of the usual eight.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
As of July 1, a critical surveillance program is monitoring for only two pathogens instead of the usual eight.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses
As of July 1, a critical surveillance program is monitoring for only two pathogens instead of the usual eight.
www.nbcnews.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:02 AM
CDC is no longer surveilling outbreaks caused by campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibrio and Yersinia. What could go wrong?
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
This EO, combined with the retirement of Noni Byrnes at CSR/NIH, makes me very concerned about peer review at the NIH
“This [executive] order further weakens our nation’s ability to conduct and support scientific research across various fields by replacing experts with ideologically driven political stooges who have no expertise and no business making decisions on academic research.”
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Trump Order Puts Politics Above Peer Review, Researchers Say
The executive order says senior appointees must review grants, and it demands awards be easier to terminate. Research groups say it undermines science.
www.insidehighered.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This EO, combined with the retirement of Noni Byrnes at CSR/NIH, makes me very concerned about peer review at the NIH
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
“This appears to be the administration's response to Congress: An attempt to place a major roadblock to any new funding and establish the structure that will formally exert the ideological control that it wants.”
Great reporting from @jtimmer.bsky.social
arstechnica.com/science/2025...
Great reporting from @jtimmer.bsky.social
arstechnica.com/science/2025...
New executive order puts all grants under political control
All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.
arstechnica.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:57 AM
“This appears to be the administration's response to Congress: An attempt to place a major roadblock to any new funding and establish the structure that will formally exert the ideological control that it wants.”
Great reporting from @jtimmer.bsky.social
arstechnica.com/science/2025...
Great reporting from @jtimmer.bsky.social
arstechnica.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
I am honored to be selected as an ASCB fellow! SO much thanks to those who nominated me and provided letters of support!
And congratulations to the other Fellows selected! 🎉🥳🎊
And congratulations to the other Fellows selected! 🎉🥳🎊
Meet the 14 scientists named 2025 ASCB Fellows! Honored for excellence in research, mentorship, and service, they’ll be recognized at Cell Bio 2025 this December in Philadelphia.
Read more: www.ascb.org/society-news...
Read more: www.ascb.org/society-news...
Fourteen Visionary Scientists Named 2025 ASCB Fellows - ASCB
The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is proud to announce the election of 14 outstanding scientists as 2025 ASCB Fellows—a prestigious honor recognizing their exceptional contributions to cell...
www.ascb.org
August 7, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I am honored to be selected as an ASCB fellow! SO much thanks to those who nominated me and provided letters of support!
And congratulations to the other Fellows selected! 🎉🥳🎊
And congratulations to the other Fellows selected! 🎉🥳🎊
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
#NatMicroPicks
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Precise virulence inactivation using a CRISPR-associated transposase for combating Enterobacteriaceae gut pathogens - Nature Biomedical Engineering
A self-transmissible CRISPR-associated transposase system encodes a nanobody payload to treat Shiga toxin infections.
www.nature.com
August 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
#NatMicroPicks
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
>80% microb species detected by metagenomics are undetected by metaproteomics; because existing workflows rely on incomplete reference DBs, underutilize spectral data and don't robustly incorporate FDR control.
Here, a new workflow (uMetaP) seems to improve everything.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, a new workflow (uMetaP) seems to improve everything.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ultra-sensitive metaproteomics redefines the dark metaproteome, uncovering host-microbiome interactions and drug targets in intestinal diseases - Nature Communications
The gut microbiome is key to health, yet its protein functions remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors present uMetaP, ultra-sensitive metaproteomics workflow that combines the timsTOF Ultra and ...
www.nature.com
August 5, 2025 at 9:15 PM
>80% microb species detected by metagenomics are undetected by metaproteomics; because existing workflows rely on incomplete reference DBs, underutilize spectral data and don't robustly incorporate FDR control.
Here, a new workflow (uMetaP) seems to improve everything.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, a new workflow (uMetaP) seems to improve everything.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Excited to have our new mini review on Microbiome Metabolism out today in I&I as part of the @asm.org New Voices in Microbiology collection! Check it out!
🧫🧪
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
🧫🧪
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Infections as ecosystems: community metabolic interactions in microbial pathogenesis | Infection and Immunity
Microbial communities are present on nearly every surface of the human body. These
microbiomes exist as dynamic ecosystems that are influenced by heterogeneous nutritional
and chemical landscapes, the...
journals.asm.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Excited to have our new mini review on Microbiome Metabolism out today in I&I as part of the @asm.org New Voices in Microbiology collection! Check it out!
🧫🧪
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
🧫🧪
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Here the authors propose that gut #microbiota derived peptides exhibit potential for prevention and treatment of human metabolic disorders www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Polypeptides synthesized by common bacteria in the human gut improve rodent metabolism - Nature Microbiology
Two polypeptides synthesized by common bacterial strains in human gut microbiota lower body fat and blood glucose and increase bone density, improving the metabolism of rodents.
www.nature.com
July 31, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Here the authors propose that gut #microbiota derived peptides exhibit potential for prevention and treatment of human metabolic disorders www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
You can get an accurate estimate of total bacterial biomass from stool metagenomes by simply normalizing by host read count, without needing any additional measurements.
Excellent work by UW Master's student Gechlang Tang in @asm.org #mSystems Journal.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
🧵
Excellent work by UW Master's student Gechlang Tang in @asm.org #mSystems Journal.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
🧵
Metagenomic estimation of absolute bacterial biomass in the mammalian gut through host-derived read normalization | mSystems
In this study, we asked whether normalization by host reads alone was sufficient to
estimate absolute bacterial biomass directly from stool metagenomic data, without
the need for synthetic spike-ins, ...
journals.asm.org
July 31, 2025 at 3:33 PM
You can get an accurate estimate of total bacterial biomass from stool metagenomes by simply normalizing by host read count, without needing any additional measurements.
Excellent work by UW Master's student Gechlang Tang in @asm.org #mSystems Journal.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
🧵
Excellent work by UW Master's student Gechlang Tang in @asm.org #mSystems Journal.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
🧵
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.
July 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
For the life of me, I cannot fathom the rationale for any of this. Utter wanton destruction of one of the best research ecosystems in the world.
NEW
The White House is blocking the NIH from awarding new research grants for the rest of the fiscal year
Chokes off billions in research funding
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol... with @nidhisubs.bsky.social
The White House is blocking the NIH from awarding new research grants for the rest of the fiscal year
Chokes off billions in research funding
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol... with @nidhisubs.bsky.social
Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding
The National Institutes of Health can’t award grants to outside researchers under a new White House restriction.
www.wsj.com
July 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
For the life of me, I cannot fathom the rationale for any of this. Utter wanton destruction of one of the best research ecosystems in the world.
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Well, none of us may ever get funded again but in the meantime, here's some new science!
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
A lateralized sensory signaling pathway mediates context-dependent olfactory plasticity in C. elegans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.25.666858v1
July 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Well, none of us may ever get funded again but in the meantime, here's some new science!
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Tomorrow SCOTUS quietly decides if Trump administration can illegally cut grants tied to DEIA. This and today's bombshell announcing no new NIH grants is an orchestrated assault. We need to scream from rooftops.
The Trump admin already got slapped down by Judge Young, who said he’d “never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable."
Now, Trump’s begging SCOTUS to let him cut NIH grants that focus on gender, race, and LGBTQ+ research anyway.
zurl.co/g2R1Q
Now, Trump’s begging SCOTUS to let him cut NIH grants that focus on gender, race, and LGBTQ+ research anyway.
zurl.co/g2R1Q
Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to let it move forward with NIH grant cuts
A federal judge in June ordered the Trump administration to continue paying out roughly $783 million in National Institutes of Health grants.
zurl.co
July 30, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Tomorrow SCOTUS quietly decides if Trump administration can illegally cut grants tied to DEIA. This and today's bombshell announcing no new NIH grants is an orchestrated assault. We need to scream from rooftops.
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
“Withholding or suspending these funds would jeopardize that trust and hinder progress on critical health challenges facing our nation. Ultimately, this is about finding cures and seeing them through to fruition.”
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...
14 Republican senators urge White House to release delayed NIH funds
Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) is leading the letter making the ask of OMB director Russ Vought.
www.politico.com
July 25, 2025 at 6:31 PM
“Withholding or suspending these funds would jeopardize that trust and hinder progress on critical health challenges facing our nation. Ultimately, this is about finding cures and seeing them through to fruition.”
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Seeing this published is even better than eating sweets! I am so happy and proud of whole @lisamaierlab.bsky.social, especially Lisa and @jdlcz.bsky.social who walked the funny/exciting/rocky road with me until the very end. Check it out!
#science #microbiome #health
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #microbiome #health
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Non-antibiotics disrupt colonization resistance against enteropathogens - Nature
Non-antibiotic drugs from a wide range of therapeutic classes can alter the ability of gut commensals to resist invasion by enteropathogens, a previously underappreciated side effect of such drugs.
www.nature.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Seeing this published is even better than eating sweets! I am so happy and proud of whole @lisamaierlab.bsky.social, especially Lisa and @jdlcz.bsky.social who walked the funny/exciting/rocky road with me until the very end. Check it out!
#science #microbiome #health
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #microbiome #health
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Future of NIH in the hands of five senators.
Write to them if you are in
PA -McCormick
WV - Moore Capito
ME - Collins
AL - Britt
LA - Cassidy
Write to them if you are in
PA -McCormick
WV - Moore Capito
ME - Collins
AL - Britt
LA - Cassidy
July 16, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Future of NIH in the hands of five senators.
Write to them if you are in
PA -McCormick
WV - Moore Capito
ME - Collins
AL - Britt
LA - Cassidy
Write to them if you are in
PA -McCormick
WV - Moore Capito
ME - Collins
AL - Britt
LA - Cassidy
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
A potent bacterium in the human gut can supercharge the effects of some cancer drugs in mice — and researchers are now planning a clinical trial to test whether it could do the same in people. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Found: a human gut microbe that makes cancer therapy more effective in mice
Cancer therapies called checkpoint inhibitor drugs, which ratchet up the immune system, work better when this bacterium is around.
www.nature.com
July 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A potent bacterium in the human gut can supercharge the effects of some cancer drugs in mice — and researchers are now planning a clinical trial to test whether it could do the same in people. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
It's an honor to be recognized for advocating for what you believe "that everyone belongs in computational biology and that all ideas are valued equally, recognizing that diversity of thought and background drives scientific excellence" doi.org/10.1093/bioi...
The 2025 Outstanding Contributions to ISCB Award—Dr Lucia Peixoto
Every year, the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) presents the Outstanding Contributions to ISCB Award in recognition of a society mem
doi.org
July 16, 2025 at 12:32 AM
It's an honor to be recognized for advocating for what you believe "that everyone belongs in computational biology and that all ideas are valued equally, recognizing that diversity of thought and background drives scientific excellence" doi.org/10.1093/bioi...
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
Reposted by Buck Samuel 🪱🦠🧬🔬
"NIH [.. is] instructed to nominate replacements that are aligned with the priorities of the administration of US President Donald Trump — and have been warned that political appointees might still override their suggestions and hand-pick alternative reviewers".
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities
The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.
www.nature.com
July 15, 2025 at 6:01 AM
"NIH [.. is] instructed to nominate replacements that are aligned with the priorities of the administration of US President Donald Trump — and have been warned that political appointees might still override their suggestions and hand-pick alternative reviewers".
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...