Raphael

Organic chemist |• Nerd l • Together, we can make beautiful molecules.

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

Let me, a young man in my desperation, go and hunt. Maybe I will kill an elephant, or the elephant will kill me, but either way, my poverty ends. Birth and death are inevitable elemental aspects of human nature.

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@Shadaya_Knight You begin to understand why Winky D chooses to keep his distance. The kind of thinking and reasoning coming out here are disappointing — not because of disagreement, but because they reflect a stinking lack of depth, nuance, and critical thinking.

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

Mbiri yababa
Yandituma
Yati chienda unoita basa….

[Black Coalition for Diversity @diversify_today]

This Child Protection Month: Know the law. Protect a child.

Every child deserves safety, dignity, protection, & a future full of possibility.

Protecting kids means stronger systems & empowered youth.

#ChildProtectionMonth #GirlsRights #YouthLeadership #Education #SRHR #STEM

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@FabrizioRomano Bro update 😭😭😭

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@MviringiHosia @EdsonMustapha I don’t get the excitement or hope, these people are cut from the same cloth.
The only reason why he sounds like this is because he is being sidelined.

[LLONER 🦅🪐 @eyojoel77]

I remember dating someone who would often share her feelings and expectations with me. She was essentially telling me how to love and treat her. Although I listened, I didn't truly apply what she said because I was still figuring myself out and assumed she'd always be around. To my surprise, she eventually left and ceased all communication. At first, I felt betrayed and harbored resentment towards her. However, I soon realized that she had been communicating her needs all along, while I had chosen to act according to my own whims. The lesson here is: if someone consistently communicates with you and your actions don't align with their messages, don't be taken aback when they choose to distance themselves. This holds true for all types of relationships, including friendships.

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@muvengwa_t You should have asked sei madaro

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@__Kalebra @sachemchoiceszw

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@druski lol 😂 bro you actually so good at this 😭😭🤣🤣🤣

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

Outcome: uncertain
Effort: non-negotiable
Consistency: routine 🤝

So it has been almost four months since this happened, and if I am honest, it has been one of the hardest pills to swallow in my career.

My first Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship application, submitted with University of York, was evaluated at ~92% and awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence. ✨

In other words: objectively excellent… but apparently not quite elite enough this time around. The academic equivalent of receiving a very prestigious loser’s medal. 😂

Jokes aside, the MSCA Seal of Excellence is granted to proposals that meet the high-quality threshold under Horizon Europe but cannot be funded due to budget limitations. It reflects recognition by an international panel of independent experts and confirms that the proposal met the programme’s rigorous standards for scientific excellence, impact, and implementation.

As frustrating as the outcome was, receiving this recognition on a first submission gave me confidence in the originality, competitiveness, and ambition of the project. More importantly, the process reinforced that excellence is not only about strong science, but also about precision, clarity, timing, and execution at every level.

There is still work to do, and I take that seriously. I leave this experience sharper, more reflective, and motivated to come back stronger.

So we learn, refine, and keep moving. 🔁🎯

#MSCA #SealOfExcellence #HorizonEurope #UniversityOfYork #ResearchExcellence #AcademicJourney #Persistence

[Stilez Clearance & Logistics @decisionkuda]

Container loading. 🚛📦

Your trusted partner for sourcing, purchasing, and shipping from China to your destination.

Contact: [phone]/[phone]

@redmarketsunday
@iMisred @te_hub @Raphael17189292 @raphaelkylej #redmarketsunday #Shipping #ChinaSourcing #Logistics

[Black Coalition for Diversity @diversify_today]

Our Website is live

https://t.co/q7bGRkMTO8

[Black Coalition for Diversity @diversify_today]

Different stories. Shared purpose.
Diversity is not a checkbox. Inclusion is not a slogan. Equity is not optional.
When every voice is heard, innovation deepens. When barriers fall, talent rises. When opportunity is shared, communities transform.

[ʜᴀʀʀʏ!ᴍᴀғғʏ 𝕏 @harrymaffy_zw]

Was on my way to Town from Chinhoyi ndikati rega nditakurewo 2o3 passengers muVezel yangu. then on our way ndanga ndichiridza zvangu Winky D, song iye yekuti drink up zvikanzi nemumwe song iyoyo Winky akanyorerwa neAI ndangoti achipedza kutaura ndikamisa mota yangu ndikati sarai

[Ruffin Perri-Greno @gyina_yie]

📢 CALLING AFRICAN FOUNDERS​
The Accelerate Africa Startup Programme 2026 is now accepting applications from early-stage founders building global businesses that solve Africa’s biggest challenges.​
​
FOCUS AREAS​
The programme supports bold, early-stage ventures working on:​
▪ Scalable solutions addressing Africa’s biggest challenges​
▪ Technology-driven and innovation-led businesses​
▪ High-growth startups with global ambition​
​
ELIGIBILITY HIGHLIGHTS​
✅ Startups based and operating in Africa​
👥 At least two co-founders required​
🌍 Strong vision to build a global brand from Africa​
📊 Early-stage ventures solving meaningful problems​
👩‍💼 Teams with a female co-founder are strongly encouraged​
⏱️ Availability to fully engage in programme sessions and coaching​
​
WHAT’S AVAILABLE​
✔ One-on-one support from experienced founders and operators​
✔ Expert-led workshops (tech, legal, financial)​
✔ Access to a strong founder peer network​
✔ No application fee or upfront equity required​
✔ Potential investment of USD 250,000 – 500,000​
✔ Direct access to the Future Africa fund​
​
📅 Application deadline: July 25, 2026​
🔗 Apply here: https://t.co/xPFr5HYLVe​
​
NOTE: This funding opportunity is not administered by GrowthAfrica. Please direct all application-related inquiries to the programme organisers.​
​
Photo credit: Dennis Bett, Deed Technologies #africa

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

When clinical trial design erases $600 million in market value overnight, it is a reminder that in oncology, biology is only part of the equation. Study design can be just as consequential.

The pursuit of anti-angiogenic therapies has long been defined by bold ideas, repeated setbacks, and relentless reinvention. More than four decades ago, Judah Folkman introduced a transformative concept: rather than attacking tumors directly, deprive them of their blood supply and starve them of the oxygen and nutrients required for growth. Elegant in theory, difficult in practice.

Translating that idea into effective medicines proved far more challenging than many expected. Early anti-angiogenic approaches, ranging from endogenous inhibitors such as endostatin to nucleic acid based therapies targeting abnormal vessel formation, produced inconsistent outcomes. Monoclonal antibody programs also faced repeated disappointments before VEGF inhibition finally delivered a clinical breakthrough with Avastin in metastatic colorectal cancer, validating angiogenesis as a therapeutic target.

Interestingly, where oncology struggled, ophthalmology flourished. VEGF directed therapies transformed treatment for wet age related macular degeneration, with agents such as Lucentis, Eylea, Beovu, and Vabysmo collectively building a market worth roughly $10 billion.

Cancer biology, however, rarely stays still. Tumors adapt. As VEGF blockade became established, researchers uncovered compensatory vascular escape mechanisms that could sustain angiogenesis despite VEGF inhibition. One of the most compelling was the DLL4/Notch signaling pathway, which rapidly became a major focus for drug development, including programs pursued by Regeneron. Preclinical data looked promising and expectations were high, but clinical translation again proved unforgiving. Toxicity concerns, narrow therapeutic windows, and inconsistent efficacy ultimately limited the success of anti-DLL4 strategies, whether used alone or in combination with anti-VEGF therapies.

Fast forward to 2026, and Compass Therapeutics appeared poised to reignite optimism in angiogenesis drug development, until pivotal trial data brought a familiar challenge back into focus: the complexity of crossover trial design.

As reported by BioSpace, CEO Thomas Schuetz explained the issue directly during the company’s investor call:

“54% of patients crossed over from the paclitaxel alone control group, meaning 85% of patients ultimately received tovecimig. This group of crossover patients lived an incredibly long time. The overall survival for this group was 12.8 months… Patients who did not cross over had an overall survival of 6.1 months.”

That observation cuts to the heart of the paradox. Patients who received treatment later through crossover appeared to survive substantially longer than many who received therapy earlier, challenging one of oncology’s core assumptions that earlier intervention should generally translate into greater survival benefit. Yet crossover provisions are often required on ethical grounds, ensuring patients in control arms can access promising therapies. Scientifically, however, that ethical safeguard can blur efficacy signals. By counting crossover patients within the original control population under intention to treat analysis, survival in the control arm was effectively elevated, narrowing the apparent treatment gap and pushing overall survival below statistical significance.

Compass will likely work closely with the FDA to further dissect the data and clarify treatment effect. But financial markets rarely reward nuance. Investors tend to react to black and white endpoints, not datasets that require careful interpretation.

In drug development, science may write the story, but trial design often determines how that story is read.

Source: BioSpace
https://t.co/DmDSgyJQrx

[Béatrice🔸Leydier 🥐 @BeaLeydier]

Anybody want to come work with me? We're hiring for a cool policy job in my smol research team in DC to work on global education and health. It's a combo of technical academic work and translation work, on a variety of frontier and cool projects. Link below!!

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

Too many discovery programs burn capital because they optimize execution before defining success.

A team was preparing to commit $3M to a screening campaign. Strong biology. Experienced scientists. Well-built assays. But one critical piece was missing: a clearly defined target product profile that determined what a true hit should be.

Strategy was reworked before a single dollar was wasted.

Outcome:
• $1.2M total campaign cost, preserving $1.8M in capital
• 5 validated active hits with reproducible activity
• 6 months accelerated against projected timelines
• Promising PK/PD characteristics emerging across lead chemotypes

The breakthrough was not better science. It was sharper strategic thinking.

High-value scientific leadership is often less about doing more experiments and more about ensuring the experiments being run are the ones that matter.

#DrugDiscovery #MedicinalChemistry #LeadOptimization #BiotechStrategy #TranslationalScience #PharmaInnovation #RAndDLeadership #OncologyResearch #ScientificStrategy #Biotech

[NIHR Global Health @NIHRglobal]

We are funding applied research to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in low-resource settings. Low and middle income-led, multidisciplinary projects with real-world impact are encouraged.

Find out more and apply by 8 July 2026 ➡️ https://t.co/ix86zfB8gt

[Raphael @raphaelkylej]

@Beno10_MFC Angles on a straight line ?