Tom Murray
@tfmurray.bsky.social
Professor/Provost Emeritus, Creighton University, Dept of Pharmacology & Neuroscience. Alum of University of Washington & NIMH Lab of Preclinical Pharmacology. Co-author of Veterinary Psychopharmacology.
47 year old REI summit parka purchased when there was only 1 REI store.
What’s the oldest article of clothing you still wear? I just pulled out a 29-year-old puffy coat that is still plenty puffy.
December 3, 2025 at 5:04 PM
47 year old REI summit parka purchased when there was only 1 REI store.
RIP Nancy Zahniser
Blast from the past 👵🏻
1997 catecholamines Gordon Research Conference
(when doing dopamine research was far less trendy but so much more fun)
1997 catecholamines Gordon Research Conference
(when doing dopamine research was far less trendy but so much more fun)
November 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
RIP Nancy Zahniser
28.5% of the population in Lexington, NE have lost their jobs. This likely represents the majority of jobs in Lexington.
28.5% of the jobs in Lexington, gone.
Tyson Foods announces that they’ll be closing a major beef-processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska with 3,200 employees.
Lexington has a population of 11,205.
Nebraska overwhelmingly voted for the orange felon over VP Kamala Harris.
I hope they’re enjoying their vote.
Lexington has a population of 11,205.
Nebraska overwhelmingly voted for the orange felon over VP Kamala Harris.
I hope they’re enjoying their vote.
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
28.5% of the population in Lexington, NE have lost their jobs. This likely represents the majority of jobs in Lexington.
The most popular over-the-counter cough suppressant is a psychedelic drug
open.substack.com/pub/higherpl...
open.substack.com/pub/higherpl...
The most popular over-the-counter cough suppressant is a psychedelic drug
Dextromethorphan is an NMDA receptor antagonist, like ketamine
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The most popular over-the-counter cough suppressant is a psychedelic drug
open.substack.com/pub/higherpl...
open.substack.com/pub/higherpl...
Not really: Focus on Official Names: The NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) has undergone updates, removing the ability for employees to enter or modify preferred names (nicknames) and clearing previously entered ones.
It is in the same vein as using Barack Obama’s middle name.
August 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Not really: Focus on Official Names: The NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) has undergone updates, removing the ability for employees to enter or modify preferred names (nicknames) and clearing previously entered ones.
NIH: The quiet engine of science is being dismantled open.substack.com/pub/yourloca... Great summary of current threats to research.
NIH: The quiet engine of science is being dismantled
And what you can do
open.substack.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
NIH: The quiet engine of science is being dismantled open.substack.com/pub/yourloca... Great summary of current threats to research.
Vaping etomidate (“Space Oil”) has become a thing open.substack.com/pub/higherpl... New GABAergic substance use story.
Vaping etomidate (“Space Oil”) has become a thing
Do we actually understand the endocrine effects of etomidate?
open.substack.com
April 23, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Vaping etomidate (“Space Oil”) has become a thing open.substack.com/pub/higherpl... New GABAergic substance use story.
Your Grant in Review: Virtual Meetings drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/04/11/y... I had a non-CSR study section Zoom meeting in March delayed and now switched to an asynchronous format for May. This definitely reduces quality of review.
Your Grant in Review: Virtual Meetings
I have reviewed grants for NIH with study sections that meet in person, sections that meet via video conferencing and sections that use an online forum approach. The latter is sometimes call “…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
April 11, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Your Grant in Review: Virtual Meetings drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/04/11/y... I had a non-CSR study section Zoom meeting in March delayed and now switched to an asynchronous format for May. This definitely reduces quality of review.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/s... The 6 April article is a tired, clickbait driven approach focusing on adverse effects. See Am J of Psych 03,2024 in users for >3 y, no indication of dose escalation.
After “The White Lotus,” Lorazepam Lives On in Memes and Merch (Gift Article)
“The White Lotus” Season 3 may be ending, but the medication that has become synonymous with it has found a new life in memes and merchandise.
www.nytimes.com
April 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/s... The 6 April article is a tired, clickbait driven approach focusing on adverse effects. See Am J of Psych 03,2024 in users for >3 y, no indication of dose escalation.
Reposted by Tom Murray
Tufekci starts her second paragraph stating that people who brought up a lab leak were labeled “kooks” or “cranks”.
Let me tell you, when I brought up that possibility, neither the head of the NIH, NIAID, or Wellcome thought I was a crank.
Instead, they encouraged me to investigate further.
Let me tell you, when I brought up that possibility, neither the head of the NIH, NIAID, or Wellcome thought I was a crank.
Instead, they encouraged me to investigate further.
March 16, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Tufekci starts her second paragraph stating that people who brought up a lab leak were labeled “kooks” or “cranks”.
Let me tell you, when I brought up that possibility, neither the head of the NIH, NIAID, or Wellcome thought I was a crank.
Instead, they encouraged me to investigate further.
Let me tell you, when I brought up that possibility, neither the head of the NIH, NIAID, or Wellcome thought I was a crank.
Instead, they encouraged me to investigate further.
Sandhill cranes retuning to Platte river for the night.
March 12, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Sandhill cranes retuning to Platte river for the night.
For all my birder follows with impressive telephoto lenses, here are iPhone photos of thousands (current total census=585,000) of Sandhill cranes returning to the Platte River for the night.
March 12, 2025 at 5:16 PM
For all my birder follows with impressive telephoto lenses, here are iPhone photos of thousands (current total census=585,000) of Sandhill cranes returning to the Platte River for the night.
Exactly, the next question should be "tell me how that algorithm works."
So I wish our media would internalize the idea that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If a guest says that a keystone of America’s safety net actually is rotted through with waste and fraud, then the next step should be to demand proof of that!
Mike Johnson on Elon Musk: "We meet late into the night in his office and we've looked at that. What he's finding with his algorithms crawling through the data of Social Security system is enormous amounts of fraud, waste, and abuse."
March 3, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Exactly, the next question should be "tell me how that algorithm works."
Given the retirement of Francis Collins it is noteworthy that as he described NIH staff, he too was an "individual of extraordinary intellect and integrity, selfless and hard-working, generous and compassionate." This characterization unfortunately will not apply to Jay Bhattacharya.
March 3, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Given the retirement of Francis Collins it is noteworthy that as he described NIH staff, he too was an "individual of extraordinary intellect and integrity, selfless and hard-working, generous and compassionate." This characterization unfortunately will not apply to Jay Bhattacharya.
He will never reach the level of scientific accomplishment and impact of Fauci and Collins.
From your soon-to-be NIH Director: "Control over grant funding...and an amoral willingness to marginalize dissident scientists will buy a lot of silence."
Indeed.
Indeed.
March 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM
He will never reach the level of scientific accomplishment and impact of Fauci and Collins.
Grossly unqualified. Accomplishments include senior author on spurious seroprevalence study underestimating COVID-19 infection fatality rate, and advocating policy of intentional mass infection to achieve herd immunity to the virus prior to vaccine introduction.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Controversial health economist is Trump’s pick to head NIH
Researchers have mixed views on nomination of Jay Bhattacharya to head biomedical research agency
www.science.org
December 2, 2024 at 9:48 PM
Grossly unqualified. Accomplishments include senior author on spurious seroprevalence study underestimating COVID-19 infection fatality rate, and advocating policy of intentional mass infection to achieve herd immunity to the virus prior to vaccine introduction.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
To Haught’s incisive description add inability to understand developmental biology.
3. Watching this crowd gloat over Laura Helmuth's departure from Scientific American, I'm struck by how Catholic theologian John Haught described fundamentalism: an inability to abide nuance and ambiguity; an inability to accept multiple answers, explanations, or layers of meaning.
November 19, 2024 at 12:14 PM
To Haught’s incisive description add inability to understand developmental biology.
Rather than a shifting voting preference of demographics as hyped by media, the main issue of the election seems to be folks that chose not to vote. Trump's popular vote was similar to 2020 (75.1 vs 74.2 million) while Harris tallied almost 10 million less than 2020 Biden (71.8 vs 81.3 million).
November 13, 2024 at 7:37 PM
Rather than a shifting voting preference of demographics as hyped by media, the main issue of the election seems to be folks that chose not to vote. Trump's popular vote was similar to 2020 (75.1 vs 74.2 million) while Harris tallied almost 10 million less than 2020 Biden (71.8 vs 81.3 million).
Regarding Imane Khalif, her critics don’t understand biology or human development. For example Swyer’s syndrome demonstrates that genotype does not guarantee phenotype. There are many other examples of such developmental disorders.
August 13, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Regarding Imane Khalif, her critics don’t understand biology or human development. For example Swyer’s syndrome demonstrates that genotype does not guarantee phenotype. There are many other examples of such developmental disorders.
For @edyong209.bsky.social #birds and others. An example of urban Midwestern (Omaha) birding. This was pre-tornadoes and the lad hasn't been back yet.
April 28, 2024 at 8:12 PM
For @edyong209.bsky.social #birds and others. An example of urban Midwestern (Omaha) birding. This was pre-tornadoes and the lad hasn't been back yet.
www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/o... Agree 100%!!!
March 22, 2024 at 1:07 PM
www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/o... Agree 100%!!!
It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life nature.com/articles/d41...
Great read with an important perspective. Being disordered makes proteins “versatile communicators”, able to respond rapidly - binding to different partners and transmitting different signals. @philipcball
It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life
The view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book. The view of biology often presented to the public is ov...
nature.com
February 5, 2024 at 6:57 PM
It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life nature.com/articles/d41...
Great read with an important perspective. Being disordered makes proteins “versatile communicators”, able to respond rapidly - binding to different partners and transmitting different signals. @philipcball
True, but I’m still insulted when GS citation # and h index are the only source provided. Everyone knows that both are inflated and hence, I’m insulted.
Sadly, statistics from Google scholar are a staple of promotion and tenure letters.
October 27, 2023 at 12:53 PM
True, but I’m still insulted when GS citation # and h index are the only source provided. Everyone knows that both are inflated and hence, I’m insulted.
Stimulation of Neurite Outgrowth in Cerebrocortical Neurons by Sodium Channel Activator Brevetoxin-2 Requires Both … pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36135748/
Stimulation of Neurite Outgrowth in Cerebrocortical Neurons by Sodium Channel Activator Brevetoxin-2...
N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play a critical role in activity-dependent dendritic arborization, spinogenesis, and synapse formation by stimulating calcium-dependent signaling pathways. Previo...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 7, 2023 at 7:06 PM
Stimulation of Neurite Outgrowth in Cerebrocortical Neurons by Sodium Channel Activator Brevetoxin-2 Requires Both … pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36135748/
From a big hole to a dazzling facility the CL and Rachel Werner Center for Health Sciences Education at Creighton University is ready for students!
August 16, 2023 at 12:13 AM
From a big hole to a dazzling facility the CL and Rachel Werner Center for Health Sciences Education at Creighton University is ready for students!