Ashley Connors

PhD Candidate👩🏼‍🔬 @NCState studying #toxicology #immunology #PFAS #macrophage #zebrafish🐟
Previously in 🐭🧠 #neuroendocrinology
Views = my own. She/her

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

The first paper of my graduate school career has been published!! Drake Phelps and I, along with our co-authors Giuliano Ferrero, Jamie Dewitt, and Jeff Yoder review how #PFAS impact innate #immune function across species. Please give it a read!

https://t.co/SsDUXFhM6B

[Science News @ScienceNews]

People can spread this version of hantavirus to each other. What makes Andes virus special?
https://t.co/tT5riI8oNq

[Thomas G. Dietterich @tdietterich]

Attention @arxiv authors: Our Code of Conduct states that by signing your name as an author of a paper, each author takes full responsibility for all its contents, irrespective of how the contents were generated. 1/

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@deaflibertarian Just a heads up: Benadryl use has been linked with an increased likelihood of dementia. It’s been recommended to use Zyrtec or Claritin instead.

My older sister has also been developing random new food allergies. The latest one is oats, one of her favorite foods. 😢

[PFPC - The Fluoride Education Project @PFPC10]

The recent U.S. FDA characterization of baby formula as “safe” is entirely misleading.

In the FDA dataset, about two-thirds of the infant formulas tested had detectable PFAS. The highest levels were found in soy-based formula samples, especially powder soy-based formulas.

These detections were mainly driven by PFBA, with some soy powder samples containing around 30-34 ppt.

@bennettpeer @Nathan_Donley

https://t.co/m03teSSwWZ

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

FYI - People are confusing "hantavirus has a long incubation period" with "covid was contagious before symptoms showed up."

Incubating ≠ contagious.

Andes virus is not an upper-airway, high-shedding respiratory virus. It evolved for a very different survival strategy.

[Dr Kareem Carr @kareem_carr]

I think we can all agree the government telling scientists what to publish is catastrophically bad. When I say they're annihilating American science, this is what I mean.

[Josh Trebach, MD @jtrebach]

Hi, medical toxicologist/ER doctor here 👋

here’s what you need to know about medetomidine in the illicit opioid supply

[Dr. Catharine Young @DrCatharineY]

The hill I will die on - we have to rethink graduate training.

“Scientists are trained for a world where data speaks for itself. Where misinformation moves slowly. Where scientific expertise naturally rises above noise. That world is gone.”

https://t.co/hWv5M8SQjk

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@captKangol Or bored out of your mind

[Michael Albert, MD @MichaelAlbertMD]

In the late 1950s, a drug called thalidomide was widely prescribed in Europe and Australia as a highly effective treatment for morning sickness in pregnant women. The manufacturer assured doctors that the drug was completely safe.

However, thalidomide is a chiral molecule, meaning it exists in two mirror-image forms. While one form successfully cured nausea, the other was highly teratogenic. The drug crossed the placental barrier and interfered with the development of fetal blood vessels, leading to a global catastrophe. Over 10,000 babies around the world were born with severe limb deformities, often missing their arms and legs entirely.

The United States largely avoided this tragedy thanks to an FDA inspector named Frances Kelsey, who famously stonewalled the drug's approval by demanding more safety data, despite facing massive pressure from the manufacturer.

This averted disaster directly resulted in the passage of the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Amendment, which fundamentally defined the modern regulatory framework for the FDA. Prior to this amendment, the regulatory bar was essentially just proving that a drug wouldn't acutely kill people (kind of like the current bar for most recreational peptides). The 1962 amendment introduced a much higher standard: pharmaceutical companies were now legally required to conduct controlled clinical trials to prove that their drugs were not only safe, but also actively effective for their intended use.

The gap between the old standard and this new requirement was massive. In fact, roughly two-thirds of the drugs that had previously passed the 1938 safety requirements ended up failing the new 1962 efficacy bar. This historical context is often cited by public health experts today when defending the FDA's grueling, multi-phase clinical trial requirements against critics who argue for faster drug approvals or unregulated access to experimental compounds.

[Sarah Orr @sarahorrwhat]

Excited to share our new paper! 🐝🎉Chronic exposure to the insecticide sulfoxaflor alters gene expression in bumblebee ovaries, suppresses reproduction, and changes behavior—ultimately impairing colony function.
Take a look:
https://t.co/R0Q3X30hRo

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@ginasfsydnee We have a six foot tall tree from Armarkat. It’s several years old and has held up great with two cats. The cubbies are nice and roomy, and our chonky boy loves to lounge on the platforms. Our tree is similar to this one: https://t.co/HgZNNhuiWm

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@dramaticweasel

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@TerribleMaps @JasonWilliamsNY This is Arizona Robbins erasure.

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@Bannef_ One of mine did that! Luckily, switching to a cloth shower curtain liner got him to stop. He’ll still chew on ziplock bags and other plastic film, though. 🤦🏼‍♀️

[Karl Mehta @karlmehta]

Columbia and NYU researchers tracked 11,000 people for 20 years.

Urine tests before. Urine tests after.

When they switched to clean water, their risk of dying from cancer and heart disease dropped 50%.

Here's what was in their water the entire time: 🧵

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@emilyjobot My husband legit got me one of those Lego flower kits for Valentine’s Day bc he couldn’t find any cat-safe bouquets he liked

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@aliciaandrz Meanwhile one of mine was yelling at me to let her outside. Like, girlie, there’s a tornado watch!

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@dst6n01 Incidentally, the Ologies podcast episode list would be a great resource for this particular suffix. They also have kid-friendly “Smologite” episodes on their website.

[Ashley Connors @AM_Connors]

@vjayebroder @aliciaandrz Seconding this. The cats won’t like it, even with toys and such, but it’s what I would do with my two.