Austin Shull
banner
youngshull.bsky.social
Austin Shull
@youngshull.bsky.social
Husband | Dad | Cancer Biologist | Educator

Director; Center for Inquiry, Research, & Scholarship (CIRAS) at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina
Pinned
Hi #bluesky!
I’m Austin. I’m a mol bio professor at a small liberal arts college. I run a cancer genomics/biology lab driven by undergraduates.

I’m also director of scholarship at my institution where promoting research mentorship of students is my #1 goal
My biggest takeaway from the “AI will replace Education” people is that they had a shitty understanding of education beforehand.
November 18, 2025 at 2:15 AM
TFW when you send a paper to a former student that you thought they would like, and they respond, “I read it just the other day and was amazed” ❤️
a man wearing a red sweater and tie is sitting on a couch and says mmhm
ALT: a man wearing a red sweater and tie is sitting on a couch and says mmhm
media.tenor.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by Austin Shull
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Me making bioinformatics figures all day today
November 8, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Thrilled about our new publication in Frontiers Cell Dev Bio. w/ the Adi Dubash lab at Furman!

In this paper, we identified that desmosomal cadherin Dsg-2 can regulate the ECM in keratinocytes via NF-kB signaling, potentially providing a link between junctional control & inflammatory signaling.
Frontiers | The desmosomal cadherin Desmoglein-2 controls extracellular matrix expression and remodeling via NF-κB signaling in keratinocytes
Desmogleins are transmembrane cadherin proteins and obligate members of the desmosome, a cell-cell adhesion complex which connects adjacent cells and provide...
www.frontiersin.org
October 31, 2025 at 5:18 PM
@edsbs.bsky.social on its 40th anniversary, I will be going to my local school board to make sure this speech is taught in my kid’s schools.
Dusty Rhodes talks about "hard times": Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, Oct. 29, 1985
YouTube video by WWE
youtu.be
October 29, 2025 at 9:57 PM
@stevengodfrey.bsky.social ESPN GameDay talking about too much money influencing College Football right now.
Suspect Guilty GIF
ALT: Suspect Guilty GIF
media.tenor.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Austin Shull
October 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
While prepping my intro bio students for an exam, I’ve been telling them:

“Think about your HS lit course: It taught you to read for plot points, character development, setting, and overarching themes

That thinking will help you way more on my exams than memorizing terms.”
a person holding a book that says once upon a time on it
ALT: a person holding a book that says once upon a time on it
media.tenor.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Start talking to your kids about a 6-0 Presbyterian Blue Hose
October 11, 2025 at 10:01 PM
“At PC, it’s not publish or perish..I do this because I love it….It’s fun. And our students feel that enthusiasm. They see they can do really cool, meaningful work right here.”

Great job Francie on communicating the impact research has at a SLAC like Presbyterian College.
Presbyterian College professor’s work helps shape the future of space astronomy
At first glance, the heart of the Milky Way might seem an unlikely place to find one of the coldest substances in the universe. Yet Dr. Frances Cashman, assistant professor […]
www.presby.edu
October 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Me submitting a grant two days before the shutdown:
a man is standing on the beach looking at his phone
ALT: a man is standing on the beach looking at his phone
media.tenor.com
October 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I’m thankful for the opportunity @asbmb.bsky.social provided to let me write this Op-Ed article for ASBMB Today.

I realize the notion of using generative AI for writing is controversial, but I hope this perspective is helpful.
Writing with AI turns chaos into clarity
Associate professor shares how generative AI, used as a creative whiteboard, helps scientists refine ideas, structure complexity and sharpen clarity — transforming the messy process of discovery into ...
www.asbmb.org
October 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
@edsbs.bsky.social As Gamecock fan, multiple false starts from a Gamecock offense is an oddly comforting ASMR to experience again. Like a bing TV sitcom that you’re putting on for the 100th time.
September 14, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Austin Shull
Oct 27 for life sciences (neuro) and Oct 28 for psychology (cog neuro). Not a lot of time but worth the effort. Best of luck to everyone.
September 8, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Austin Shull
🚨 ACADEMIC JOB ALERT!
We are hiring up to 2 tenure-track faculty (assistant/associate). Columbia is a fun, rapidly growing, & very livable city and USC is a great place to work. If you'll be on the market, I encourage you to take a look and consider applying.

jobs.academyhealth.org/job/assistan...
jobs.academyhealth.org
September 2, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Austin Shull
There are currently 11 acting Institute and Center directors at NIH and this will add another. Two more and the majority of these positions will be vacant.
Hearing from multiple sources that Jon Lorsch is stepping down as NIGMS Director to become Deputy Director for Extramural Research, a job he has held in an acting capacity for some time.
September 2, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Austin Shull
Yes, it was carefully hidden in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1... )

1/2
September 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Happy First Day of School!
August 28, 2025 at 1:01 AM
🚨 New publication alert!

Our new study shows how training PharmD students can address breast cancer disparities in rural communities. Patients visit pharmacies 2-3x more than PCPs, uniquely positioning PharmDs to deliver accessible health education. 🧵

rdcu.be/eBfSL
Leveraging Pharmacy Education through a Train-the-Trainer Model to Enhance Breast Cancer Literacy in Rural Communities
rdcu.be
August 18, 2025 at 6:44 PM
@edsbs.bsky.social I’m at the zoo in SC in this August heat. A lot of goths in attendance. I respect their commitment to the game. 🫡
August 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Austin Shull
Jerome Adams was President Trump's Surgeon General. He is calling out the current administration for its dehumanizing language and tying it to the shootings at CDC last week. This isn't a partisan issue. Violence against public health workers is wrong full-stop. www.statnews.com/2025/08/09/c...
Former surgeon general: The CDC shooting must be a wakeup call
“When influential figures amplify falsehoods, they legitimize the anger that leads to violence,” writes former Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
www.statnews.com
August 11, 2025 at 11:14 AM
@jasonkirk.fyi @edsbs.bsky.social @celebrityhottub.bsky.social

We need a deep drive in old colleges who had football teams like the former Alabama Presbyterian College football team known as the “Predestinarians”

www.lostcolleges.com/alabama-pres...
August 8, 2025 at 1:36 AM
You know, smashing windows doesn’t really help with the whole “Stop Comparing Us to Nazis” defense.
THREAD: All over the country, immigration officers are smashing car windows to get at the people inside.

As we began tracking incidents, my @propublica.org colleague @nicolefoy.bsky.social and I had two questions: First, is this legal?

Second, is it, well, normal? Was this happening before? 1/
August 7, 2025 at 11:18 PM
August 7, 2025 at 11:02 PM