Schmidt Science Fellow in the Chandel Laboratory at Northwestern University studying the intersection of mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation
Chicago, IL
Joined February 2014
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Rogan Grant retweeted
To add to this using an analogy…
It’s like claiming that infinite compute could enable us to perfectly simulate life on an alien planet we’ve only ever observed through a telescope.
Am I missing something?
Where do the inputs to train this simulation come from? Compute is not the bottleneck in biology.
It’s estimated we have only sequenced genomes for 1% of eukaryotic species, and DNA is just the beginning.
Infinite compute can’t help you simulate a system that’s never even been observed or measured.
Excited to be named a 2026 Toffler Scholar! Many thanks to the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust for their generous support. Looking forward to sharing what we learn!
Meet @RoganAGrant , one of the 2026 Toffler Scholars.
Rogan, a postdoctoral fellow at @NorthwesternU , is asking:
What can people who age with exceptional memory teach us about resistance to neuroinflammation?
Follow Rogan’s work at tofflertrust.org/.
Rogan Grant retweeted
Taurine lowers inflammaging by regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages @CellCellPress
cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092… @VishwaDeepDixi1 @Yale
Rogan Grant retweeted
Happy to share an exciting paper pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.26… by Dr. Bercin Cenik @bkcenik from our lab in collaboration with Vijay Ramani's lab @GladstoneInst @UCSFMedicine revealing how SETDB1 selectively silences specific retrotransposons, particularly ERVK and ERV1, while LINE/L1 elements follow a different regulatory molecular logic. Bercin used long-read RNA-seq and a telomere-to-telomere genomic information to uncover TE regulation at single-locus resolution, revealing that even elements within the same family can behave differently. The big takeaway for me is that Genome defense is not one-size-fits-all. Distinct transposable elements rely on different layers of epigenetic mechanisms to regulate repression. @NU_BMG_SQE @NUFeinbergMed @PNASNews @theNASciences @theNAMedicine #epigenetics #retrotransposons
Rogan Grant retweeted
This is great. Now I look forward to the specifics. The devil is in the details. This is 90% an experimental design problem & 10% an AI problem. If u get the former right, the latter will just work like magic.
🧵 Biohub, @ENERGY, @NIH, and new funding partners today announced a major expansion of an international effort to generate and make accessible the data enabling predictive AI models of biology. Together, the organizations are investing $1.8 billion in funding, data, computation and new measurement technology - largest coordinated commitment to map the biology of the cell to power development of digital models of biology. bit.ly/3UhjoxD
Rogan Grant retweeted
1/ I have long dreamed of systems that could causally model human neurobiology across scales, from molecular to behavioral.
In @Nature, delighted to share our efforts at creating xenocortical mice where human organoids grow to occupy most of mouse cortex.
Rogan Grant retweeted
We already have special research funds for diseases that impact our military. Hegseth has requested a $1.5 TRILLION budget.
Still, the DOD is diverting funds for medical research at NIH.
Stopping lifesaving treatments & cures to help wage foreign wars. This must end.
ALT ‘Outrageous’: Pentagon Secretly Working to Divert Billions From National Institutes of Health “These funds were provided for lifesaving medical research, not as extra money for the Department of Defense,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
Rogan Grant retweeted
Requiring biomedical PhD students to write a dissertation before graduation is outdated - I think that establishing a preprint/publication requirement in lieu of a dissertation is better for students and better for the scientific community.
Rogan Grant retweeted
Targeting CCL5–CCR5 axis with a CCR5 antagonist normalized hematopoiesis , the Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and improves healthspan in aged mice. Full paper available here rdcu.be/fCbYG
Rogan Grant retweeted
This is exactly how AI hype turns real science into fake news.
Yes, Moderna used AI and computational algorithms in this cancer program, especially to analyze tumor mutations and select neoantigens.
But this is NOT a story about ChatGPT, LLMs or the recent generative AI boom suddenly curing cancer.
Moderna and Merck started this program in 2016. The first patient was dosed in 2017. The technology has been developed and clinically tested for years.
The actual breakthrough is personalized mRNA cancer therapy + Keytruda showing positive Phase 3 results in melanoma.
That is already huge. There is no need to rewrite it as “AI cured cancer.”
I am very pro AI, but pretending every scientific breakthrough happened because of today's AI hype makes the whole field look less credible.
In an era where anyone can generate convincing nonsense in seconds, accurate and authentic posts will become much more valuable.
Rogan Grant retweeted
Microglia activation by derepression of endogenous retroviruses drives inflammation and cellular senescence @NatureNeuro nature.com/articles/s41593-0…
Rogan Grant retweeted
another day, another doubt about reading comprehension in america
🚨 BREAKING: Newly revealed texts show Dr. Anthony Fauci privately told top Biden health officials in January 2021 that post-vaccine fever and inflammation could “theoretically” be associated with first-trimester miscarriage.
Days later, Fauci publicly said there were “thus far no red flags” for pregnant women.
Rogan Grant retweeted
Inflammation Keeps Us Alive. It's Also Making Us Sick. nytimes.com/interactive/2026… via @NYTimes
Rogan Grant retweeted
Transcriptional regulation of disease-relevant microglial activation programs: Neuron cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S08… @NeuroCellPress
Rogan Grant retweeted
So, blueprints are just pieces of paper- they need materials, builders, and capital. Unless the WH plans to HEAVILY invest NEW money into science, this is just pushing peas around the plate of an insufficient American science budget and the next gen of scientists will suffer.
In response to @POTUS's call for a revival of America's scientific enterprise, today I’m releasing Science: A New Golden Age.
This report is a blueprint for renewing American scientific leadership for the 21st century.
Rogan Grant retweeted
Juneteenth marks a day of liberation. But it's also a reminder of how far we still have to go as a state and as a nation.
Happy Juneteenth, Illinois!
Rogan Grant retweeted
Excited to share our new paper out today in @NatureMetabolism! "Hyperglycosylation is a metabolic driver of Alzheimer’s disease"
*We bridged spatial metabolomics (MALDI-MSI glycomics + lipidomics + isotopic pulse-chase tracing) directly to experimental biochemistry (genetic knockdown of glycan enzymes + glucosamine supplementation in AD models) and real-world public health data (EHR analysis showing glucosamine use linked to faster MCI-to-AD progression and worse survival).
**Key takeaway: The AD brain shows conserved hyperglycosylation driven by ramped-up glycan biosynthesis — not just a byproduct, but a causal driver. Reducing it helps cognition; boosting it (e.g., via glucosamine) worsens outcomes.
***We applied cutting-edge spatial tech to functional validation and clinical translation.
Full open-access paper: nature.com/articles/s42255-0…
Huge thanks to the incredible team, collaborators (incl. Matt Gentry, Stefan Prokop, @ji0ngbi0n , Yi Guo, @lichenbiostat, Ralph Deberardinis & others), and the patients/families who make this work possible.
