PhD Candidate👩🏼🔬 @NCState studying #toxicology #immunology #PFAS #macrophage #zebrafish🐟 Previously in 🐭🧠 #neuroendocrinology Views = my own. She/her
Raleigh, NC
Joined March 2021
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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!
doi.org/10.1080/1547691X.202…
Ashley Connors retweeted
Here is a comprehensive list of scientists and medical doctors confirmed so far to have been elected or reelected last night, across both parties and at the federal and state levels:
U.S. SENATE
Dr. Annie Andrews | South Carolina
@AnnieAndrewsMD | Pediatrician
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed | Michigan
@AbdulElSayed | Physician and epidemiologist
GOVERNORS
Dr. Amy Acton | Ohio
@AmyActonOH | Physician and former state health director
Dr. Josh Green | Hawaii
@GovJoshGreenMD | Physician
U.S. HOUSE: MEDICAL DOCTORS
Dr. Ami Bera | California
@RepBera
Dr. Richard Pan | California
@DrPanMD
Dr. Raul Ruiz | California
@RepRaulRuizMD
Dr. John Cowan | Georgia
@DrJohnCowan
Dr. Rich McCormick | Georgia
@RepMcCormick
Dr. Kelly Morrison | Minnesota
@kellymorrisonmn
Dr. Bob Onder | Missouri
@BobOnderMO
Dr. Herb Conaway | New Jersey
@RepHerbConaway
Dr. Adam Hamawy | New Jersey
@HamawyForNJ
Dr. Maxine Dexter | Oregon
@RepDexterOR
Dr. John Joyce | Pennsylvania
@RepJohnJoyce
U.S. HOUSE: SCIENTISTS AND MATHEMATICIANS
Dr. Jasmine Clark | Georgia
@jasmineforga | Microbiologist
Daniel Biss | Illinois
@DanielBiss | Mathematician
Sean Casten | Illinois
@RepCasten | Biochemical engineer and scientist
Dr. Bill Foster | Illinois
@RepBillFoster | Physicist
STATE LEGISLATURES
Dr. Jarod Fox | Florida House
Infectious disease physician
Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger | Minnesota Senate
@Amanda_MNHouse | Former forensic scientist
Two down, one to go! I had a wonderful time presenting my poster on using molecular docking to investigate how PFAS affect neutrophil function at the recent Environmental Data Science - Connect and North Carolina @SOToxicology meetings! So many insightful conversations!
ALT Ashley, center left, is presenting her poster to an attendee, left. The right half of the image is taken up by her poster. The text and images are mostly not legible. Photo credit: Tom Fuldner
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Ashley Connors retweeted
Amazing! Optogenetics gave scientists a way to switch neurons on or off with light and see how they shape memory, emotion and behavior. Literal sci-fi stuff. It transformed neuroscience.
And it began with studying how algae responds to light. This is why we fund basic research.
BREAKING NEWS
The 2026 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
Ashley Connors retweeted
Today we’re announcing the largest environmental damage payment in North Carolina history.
Chemours and DuPont are responsible for massive PFAS contamination of our water, especially in eastern NC.
This settlement is worth nearly $600m, with most funds going directly to local communities.
It was crucial that we got real money for our state, because the EPA completely failed. It gave these companies a slap on the wrist without even consulting us.
We just got North Carolina at least 20x what the EPA got for us.
This new money is in addition to the $1.2b Chemours has been required to spend by the previous court order to clean up their mess, but now that cleanup effort must also be financially guaranteed by DuPont - a key win to ensure the cleanup work continues.
My thanks to @NCDEQ for their partnership and dedication to clean water for our state.
abc11.com/post/chemours-accu…
Ashley Connors retweeted
I added this picture to my “spot the red flags” undergraduate safety training slide deck so damn fast
Ashley Connors retweeted
The replies to this post raise a lot of questions. Is measles actually dangerous, is the hospitalization number real, is the antibody thing overblown. These are fair questions and they have answers, so here's the evidence, with sources. TL;DR, the data are worse than my post. 🧵
Ashley Connors retweeted
Chemours dumped PFAS into the Cape Fear River for decades. It’s drinking water for 500,000 people.
The EPA just settled with them without ever calling us. Not one dollar is guaranteed to come to North Carolina.
That’s not a settlement. That’s a favor. I’m asking the court to toss it.
Ashley Connors retweeted
20-25% of all mammals are bats and megabats have such advanced intracellular innate immunity via APOBEC3s that their LINE 1 transposons in their genome are all extinct
huge part of what makes them great viral vectors in addition to like five other weird features
Ashley Connors retweeted
Insane new research. Scientists gave asthma patients free electric stoves to replace their gas stoves, then checked to see if symptoms improved.
Not only did symptoms improve, ditching gas was *better than medicine.*
Details in today's newsletter: climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/…
Ashley Connors retweeted
People can spread this version of hantavirus to each other. What makes Andes virus special?
sciencenews.org/article/ande…
Ashley Connors retweeted
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 retweeted
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
theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
Ashley Connors retweeted
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.
Ashley Connors retweeted
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.
Breaking News: The FDA has blocked publication of research that found widely used Covid-19 and shingles vaccines were safe. nyti.ms/49dtF24
