Jim Fessenden

PR professional @UMassMedical, science writer, outdoor enthusiast, child wrangler. Tweets are my own.

[UMass Chan Medical School @UMassChan]

Marcus Ruscetti, PhD, is one of 13 researchers to receive the 2026 Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize: https://t.co/8xeCiOrYQY

Dr. Ruscetti will test if eliminating senescent cells in the liver can improve responses to immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer. @Marcus_Ruscetti @psscra

[nature @Nature]

Nature research paper: Determinants of successful AAV-vectored delivery of HIV-1 bNAbs in early life

https://t.co/AjM66mSq8r

[Cell @CellCellPress]

Now online! DNA mutagenesis driven by transcription factor competition with mismatch repair https://t.co/u6A8ukymGd

[Ed Reznik @EdReznik]

I'm reading the RQ paper from the Spinelli lab (https://t.co/Gj1HjQ6gvY) and aside from the fantastic discovery, I have to say that the writing, the actual scientific prose, is just so, so good. It's plain and direct and compelling. No one writes like this anymore (that I read):

[PitarresiPhD @PitarresiLab]

It feels weird to celebrate in this current climate, but really proud of my group for our paper getting accepted at Cell Reports, in collaboration with the Foskett lab at Penn!

Congrats Jessica Peura, Calvin Johnson, and @Nikita2106!!

[Nature Cancer @NatureCancer]

Online now!

@CantorLab reports that increased DNA end resection in BRCA-deficient, PARP inhibitor-resistant cancers leads to increased sensitivity to DNA nicks, limiting tumor formation in mice, and propose the therapeutic exploration of nickases

👇
https://t.co/UzEAScLekY

[UMass Chan Medical School @UMassChan]

PhD students are closing out the @MassCPR Symposium at UMass Chan today, including @harvardmed student Wanyu Li and @UMassChan student Milky Abajorga, who discussed koala retrovirus (KoRV-A), a threat to the koala population along with brushfires, human settlements and chlamydia.

[Jim Fessenden @JRFess05]

Victor Ambros, @UMassChan scientist and 2024 @NobelPrize in Medicine laureate talks getting the call that he won this morning.

[nature @Nature]

Stem cells reverse woman’s diabetes — a world first https://t.co/0iz4olRaFP

[Maria Jesús Galdos @mjesusgz]

Bermont 🍂🍁🍂
#Vermont #photography #naturelovers #X #travel #destinations #fallcolors #autumn #landscape #scenery

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Sharing a nice write-up from @UMassChan highlighting @tse_elegans and her recent companion papers from my lab that were published last week in @ImmunityCP and @CellReports . https://t.co/b1F0t5fyi7

[Megan A. Taros @megataros]

Hi friends. I’m leaving journalism. And in the few days since I’ve began my transition in my new role it’s become very clear to me how cruelly journalism treated me.

For starters, I’ve always been treated like a newbie. I was never enough. Never experienced or educated enough.

[Jim Fessenden @JRFess05]

Scot Wolfe, PhD, leads collaborative effort @UMassChan to refine prime editing, research shows increased dNTP improves efficiency @NatureBiotech @LubanLab @ESontheimerLab https://t.co/ByiHGkmuw3

[Marcus Ruscetti Lab @Marcus_Ruscetti]

Very appreciative of Jim and rest of the Communications team for the nice write-up of our recent work!

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

Good timing! 😂

https://t.co/W9stit137X

[UMass Chan Medical School @UMassChan]

Oligonucleotide backbone research takes big step: Breakthrough by Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, & Ken Yamada, PhD, of @UMassChan enhances stability & durability of potentially therapeutic platform in @NatureBiotech study: https://t.co/ALoWLz96tE @KhvorovaL @RTI_UMassChan @MBLScience

[Jim Fessenden @JRFess05]

@joe_sheehan Red Sox? Mookie is long gone. Sale is hurt again. No J.D. or Bogarts.

[Jon Watts @jwattsgroup]

New work on targeting the lung now out in PNAS - we show that dimeric asymmetric siRNAs are bioavailable in the lung and efficiently block SARS-CoV-2 infection. Collab with @KhvorovaL, Jennifer Wang, @FitzgeraldKate and others at @UMassChan @RTI_UMassChan https://t.co/gAAKyRjYiK

[Dr. Jen Gommerman @JenGommerman]

1/ Big weekend for those of us thinking about eliciting mucosal immunity for protection against SARS-CoV-2. New studies by @florian_krammer, @VirusesImmunity and @McMasterU herein as well as an update on our own work.

[New York Times Opinion @nytopinion]

“Covid-19 becoming a milder disease is not a decision the virus will make, it’s a decision that all of us can make if we take advantage of the vaccines that can control spread and reduce disease burden,” writes @andrewpekosz. https://t.co/SkIS1lPctW