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Michigan football's new 'circle of trust' for wide receivers
Michigan football's new offensive coordinator Jason Beck is implementing a 'circle of trust' for players to earn playing time.
CNN will host a California gubernatorial primary debate on May 5
CNN will host a California gubernatorial primary debate next month, a potential inflection point in a crowded campaign that Democrats are concerned could provide an opening for Republicans.
CNN will televise California gubernatorial primary debate in May
Elex Michaelson and Kaitlan Collins will moderate the event to be held in Los Angeles and airing across CNN's cable channels and streaming platform.
Live updates: Trump's massive military request faces tough climb, senator says
Get live updates and the latest news as Sen. Tim Kaine casts doubt on Trump's $1.5 trillion military request and Ruben Gallego considers a run for president in 2028.
Billionaire candidate for California governor catching heat for past business interests, wealth
Hedge fund founder Tom Steyer, among the top Democrats running for governor who has spent more than $100 million of his money on his campaign, faces questions about how he made his wealth.
Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 115
UFC Vegas 115 went down last night (Sat., April 4, 2026) inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, which saw Renato Moicano submit Chris Duncan in the second round in the headlining bout (see it again here). In the co-featured bout, Virna Jandiroba defeated Tabatha Ricci via unanimous decision, while Tommy McMillen had himself a […]
I quit Brown after a year to launch my own venture capital firm at 21.
Smaiyl Makyshov started a VC firm at 21 to invest in young founders, and those from accelerator communities like Y Combinator and A16z's Speedrun.
Sen. Tim Kaine says Congress will 'have a hard time' reviewing Trump's military budget request
The Virginia senator told "Meet the Press" he and other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee would be "taking a look" at the request over the next few weeks.
UFC Fight Night 272 results: Finish for Renato Moicano
Renato Moicano earns a decisive victory in main event of UFC Fight Night 272.
Jax Hispanic outreach coordinator moves on
Organizational news was announced on Good Friday.
Former U.S. ambassador speaks about Iran at UMaine
Nicholas Burns, who served as ambassador to China, NATO and Greece, shared his thoughts on the Trump presidency, U.S. relations with China and the war in Iran: “When you conduct a war, the whole reputation and future of the country is on the line."
15 New York state senators urge Hochul to suspend gas tax
Sen. Michelle Hinchey and others are calling on the governor to enact a gas tax holiday in response to rising fuel costs caused by the war in Iran.
How to watch UFC Vegas 115 ‘Moicano vs. Duncan’
Lightweights will do battle under the Ultimate Fighting Championship marquee when Renato Carneiro takes on Chris Duncan on Saturday at the UFC Apex.
Senators Postgame: Sens Beat Sabres, Kleven Leaves Early
Talk about a gutsy effort. With an already depleted defensive group, the Senators lost yet another d-man tonight as Tyler […]
Author Mary Roach to speak on weird science, human anatomy at Lawrence event
Mary Roach, a popular science writer with a funny bone, will talk in Lawrence about her new book on weird science and human anatomy, as part of a public library reading series.
Trump speech on Iran war, recent remarks on oil, NATO, daycare costs land with a thud
Trump's meandering speech did little to assuage U.S. allies and world markets concerned about the conflict's ongoing disruptions to the global oil supply.
Sen. Marshall meets Kansas small business owners on key issues
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Small business owners from across Kansas met April 1, with Senator Roger Marshall and the National Federation of Independent Business to discuss the issues they say are puttin…
Sen. Marshall meets Kansas small business owners on key issues
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Small business owners from across Kansas met April 1, with Senator Roger Marshall and the National Federation of Independent Business to discuss the issues they say are putting the mos...
Kansas business owners voice concerns over insurance costs at senator’s roundtable
Sen. Roger Marshall met with a group of Kansas small business owners Wednesday.
Former State Senator Kinskey Addresses Business Council Funding
The Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a Legislative wrap-up breakfast this week where members of the local legislative delegation were on hand to provide details on the recently completed budget session in Cheyenne. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has more. The Legislative wrap-up consisted of each member of the local delegation providing an update […]
Republican leaders in Congress say they'll pursue a path to ending the partial shutdown
The plan represents a return to what Republican senators had in mind when, early Friday, they passed a bipartisan funding agreement through unanimous consent.
Can Donald Trump singlehandedly withdraw the US from NATO?
For years President Donald Trump has been deeply critical of NATO, including a slew of statements since the beginning of the Iran war. In two recent interviews he has said he would consider taking the significant step of withdrawing the US from the alliance altogether.
Jay Collins confident GOP will take back his old Senate seat in November
The former Senator is 'happy to help' win the seat in the General Election.
Collins does not want ‘boots on the ground’ in Iran
The senator also shrugged off polling data about her potential opponents in the election this fall.
NM governor candidate Haaland plans to ‘work toward’ public health care, fight Trump Medicaid cuts
Former Interior Secretary and New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland announced plans to tackle the state's health care system.
Iran war fallout threatens ‘end of NATO’
'I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,' said Trump
Trump says he's considering pulling US out of NATO over Iran war stance
President Donald Trump said he is considering pulling the US out of NATO after allies declined to support his approach to the Iran conflict.
Can Congress keep US sports teams from leaving their cities?
From Brooklyn to Oakland, relocations have left scars. US senators Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar now want to give communities a chance to fight back
NC’s Thom Tillis drops the filter as he prepares to leave the Senate
Has Sen. Thom Tillis changed since bowing out of his reelection campaign? His fellow senators don’t think so.
Candidates confirmed for Inside California Politics governor’s debate on KRON4
(KRON/NEXSTAR) — On April 22, KRON4 and our parent company Nexstar will host a California gubernatorial debate airing across the state on stations from San Francisco to San Diego. The five ca…
HHS changes the U.S. health IT office’s name, and its purview
The Trump administration is changing the name of the federal health IT office back to the Office of the National Coordinator.
Airbnb Externship Shows 3L Isabel Samayoa How Legal Strategy Drives Business Growth - UC Law San Francisco (Formerly UC Hastings)
An externship at Airbnb provided 3L Isabel Samayoa exposure to areas such as contracts, licensing, risk management, and growth strategy, helping her develop the skills and experience to thrive in her future career as a corporate transactions attorney. 3L student Isabel Samayoa reflects on her work with Airbnb’s in-house legal team through UC Law SF’s Corporate Counsel Externship Program. Supported Airbnb’s legal team on commercial contracts, open-source licensing, external partnerships, product counseling, and legal research. Observed how legal advice aligns with business strategy and risk management. Gained exposure to strategic decision-making while preparing for a career in corporate transactions. Q: What did you do in this corporate externship? A: I supported the Airbnb legal team across several functions, including commercial contracts, open-source licensing matters, strategic external partnerships, legal research, real estate matters, internal AI integration, and product counseling. I also gained exposure to corporate structure counseling, litigation, patent counseling, and the company’s broader business strategy. Q: What did you take away from this experience? A: One of the most valuable parts of this experience was learning how a business actually operates. I had never worked on such a large team in the private sector, so I had little exposure to how companies run internally. I learned how lawyers can provide valuable advice to support business goals, seeing how leadership evaluates risk and develops growth strategies. Understanding those priorities allows me to calibrate my legal advice to clients, balancing the client’s goals against the level of risk they are willing to take. Q: How does this experience support your career goals? A: Exploring the anatomy of a successful company was incredibly valuable because I plan to pursue a career as a corporate transactions lawyer. Being in the room with the teams discussing important decisions allowed me to see firsthand the factors that contribute to that success and how lawyers help guide those decisions. Q: Would you recommend UC Law SF and this externship? Why? A: I would absolutely recommend this opportunity. While the team worked on high-stakes matters at a highly successful company, they still created an environment where I felt welcomed. They trusted me with meaningful work and supported me every step of the way. This helped me build confidence in my analytical abilities. Q: What’s your favorite UC Law SF memory so far? A: Some of my favorite UC Law SF memories, aside from my time at Airbnb, involve mentorship. I have benefited from mentorship and have also had the chance to mentor other law students. Watching the students I mentored go on to mentor others has been particularly rewarding. I think mentorship is integral to the legal profession, and it has been inspiring to see that culture thrive at UC Law SF and continue beyond the classroom. The Evidence of Success series highlights UC Law SF students as they share how the College’s opportunities equip them with the experience, skills, and confidence to excel in the legal profession.
Sullivan Legislation to Increase Mental Health Awareness and Resources on Social Media Passes Senate
The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska
Schumer had a plan for Maine and other states. Some Democrats aren't on board
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is backing establishment candidates in key races. Some of his own senators are breaking ranks and endorsing more progressive challengers.
Under fire from legislators and critics, Colorado’s top Medicaid official resigns
Kim Bimestefer resigned Monday as Colorado’s top Medicaid official, stepping down just as a bipartisan bloc of state senators prepared to formally urge Gov. Jared Polis to remove her over what they called years of mismanagement, waste and costly errors inside the state’s largest agency. In her resignation statement released by the governor’s office, Bimestefer […]
Close Up program gives Como student group insight into politics
Twenty high school seniors taking the University of Minnesota’s College in the Schools (CIS) government course at Como High School spent the first week of March in Washington, D.C., as...
Mantis Biotech is making 'digital twins' of humans to help solve medicine's data availability problem
Mantis takes disparate sources of data to make synthetic datasets that can be used to build so-called "digital twins" of the human body, representing anatomy, physiology and behavior.
Alaska politics + Winston College of Law + Blotter ++
In Alaska, when politicians talk about the NPR, it’s not National Public Radio. It’s the National Petroleum Reserve. And on March 18, 2026, Alaska’s Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, issued a press release taking credit for the “most successful oil and gas lease sale ever held in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).” It […]
3 Simple Daily Changes Could Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack And Stroke
Small steps for big results.
Swalwell accuses Trump of trying to influence California governor's race with old FBI files
California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell says FBI Director Kash Patel's push to release decade-old case files is a Trump hit job.
Cory Booker says Democrats have 'failed this moment,' need new leaders
In an interview, the New Jersey senator said his party needs a \
Trump’s hunt for undocumented Medicaid enrollees yields few violators
The Trump administration sent states the names of hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees with orders to determine whether they were ineligible based on immigration status.
Full network of clitoral nerves mapped out for first time
Anatomy of one of least studied human organs could improve outcomes for women who have pelvic surgery
Phil Weiser wins top spot in Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary at party’s state assembly
Phil Weiser wins top spot in Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary at party’s state assembly
Attorney General Phil Weiser’s name will appear first on Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot after his overwhelming win Saturday at the party’s state assembly in Pueblo. Weiser joins U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the June 30 primary for the office held by term-limited Gov. Jared Polis. Bennet, who successfully petitioned onto the ballot, didn’t participate […]
US lawmakers say they'll visit Taiwan before Trump's summit with China's Xi
A bipartisan group of senators has plans to visit Taiwan, Japan and South Korea
Inside NATO's 'Sentry' missions, urgent drive to ready for new threats
NATO has rolled out new deterrence missions across Europe and the Arctic since early 2025. Business Insider visited all three.
In battleground Wisconsin, the 2026 elections are poised to bring a 'changing of the guard'
Democrats sense a big opportunity following retirements at the gubernatorial, legislative and judicial levels in the state.
Illinois GOP senators urge action on business, worker tax relief
(The Center Square) – Three Illinois Senate Republicans called for passing a legislation package they say would bring relief to small businesses and their employees across the state. Senators said the...
Furious House Republicans reject DHS funding bill, upending shutdown deal
After senators worked late into the night to approve a deal to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, House Republicans rejected it.
Mixed Sidney Crosby injury update emerges amid Penguins’ playoff push
Sidney Crosby’s injury update has left the Pittsburgh Penguins with mixed emotions during a crucial playoff push. The captain exited Thursday’s NHL game against the Ottawa Senators with a lower-body issue, and the team quickly ruled him out for the…
Senator Tommy Tuberville has the right strategy to ‘Save College Sports.’ … Really
Tuberville's proposal focuses on eligibility and transferring. It will appeal to almost every college sports fan.
Federal judge upholds North Carolina photo voter ID mandate in win for GOP lawmakers
North Carolina’s photo voter identification law was upheld on Thursday, as a federal judge set aside arguments by civil rights groups that Republicans enacted the requirement with discriminatory intent against Black and Latino voters.
Intramural sports coordinator dedicates her work to sports, student development
Emilee Howard picked up a basketball as a small 2-year-old and never put it down. Now, 30-year-old Howard is traveling across the country to officiate national sports tournaments.
Senators are discussing ‘last and final’ offer to end funding shutdown
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he's given the final offer to Democrats
Senators are discussing ‘last and final’ offer to end funding shutdown
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he's given the final offer to Democrats
Senators are discussing ‘last and final’ offer to end funding shutdown
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he's given the final offer to Democrats
Senators grasp for deal to end DHS shutdown as GOP makes ‘last and final offer’
A gang of top senators from both parties are engaged in a furious push to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, with GOP leaders describing the current round of talks as their “last and final offer” for Democrats to take the deal.
Trump describes UK aircraft carriers as ‘toys’ in latest anti-Nato jibe
Starmer tells MPs he will not react to US president’s repeated insults amid Iran war
Turning science into art: Undergraduate course encourages creativity, risk-taking
From anatomical portraits to water lilies, science has been brought to life through paintings, sketches and sculptures for centuries. Leonardo Da Vinci wasn’t only an artist, he was also a botanist and an engineer. And before cameras, scientists relied on their own sketches to communicate their observations. University of Maine…
upus Unveiled: Bridging the Gap Between Science, Policy, and Patient Advocacy
Official website of Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D., representing California Senate District 39.
Algonquin Anishinabe Nation and Senators Sports & Entertainment Joint Statement
Through ongoing discussions, both parties have identified a strong alignment in their commitment to creating Ottawa–Gatineau’s next great gathering place
Means’ surgeon general nomination is stalled as senators question her experience and vaccine stance
Wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means’ nomination to be U.S. surgeon general is stalled a month after senators of both major political parties grilled her on vaccines and other health topics during a tense confirmation hearing, deepening doubts about her ability to secure the votes she needs for the role.
Surgeon general nomination is stalled
Wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means' nomination to be U.S. surgeon general is stalled a month after senators of both major political parties grilled her on vaccines and other health topics during a tense confirmation hearing.
Flavio Bolsonaro Inches Ahead of Lula in Brazil Election Poll
Flavio Bolsonaro edged ahead of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the run-up to October’s election, with a new poll showing for the first time that the right-wing senator is leading the race.
Plans for forum to replace scrapped USC governor's debate fall apart
A proposed forum cobbled together after USC canceled its gubernatorial debate fell apart as candidates of color excluded from the previous event were unable to show up in person, sources said.
Scientists just discovered bees and hummingbirds are drinking alcohol
Flower nectar often contains small amounts of alcohol, meaning pollinators like hummingbirds are drinking it all day long. Despite consuming human-equivalent amounts, they show no signs of intoxication—suggesting a surprising evolutionary tolerance.
GOP candidates lead in CADEM-commissioned gubernatorial poll
This extraordinary pressure campaign is only just beginning
Tone, Humor, and the Performative Aspect of Politics
Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Peter Welch (D-VT) joined C-SPAN "Ceasefire" host Dasha Burns to discuss the roles of tone and humor in politics.
Senators consider deal to fund Homeland Security but not ICE enforcement
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators raced Tuesday to clinch an emerging proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration airport workers going without pay, but excluding the ICE enforcement operations that have been core to the dispute. The sudden sense of urgency comes as U.S. airports […]
Change is ‘long overdue’ at Homeland Security. Can Markwayne Mullin bring it?
Newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told senators during his confirmation hearing that he wanted to keep the department out of the headlines. That won’t be easy.
USC cancels gubernatorial debate after excluding candidates of color
The university canceled Tuesday night's debate.
World Athletics Expands Air Quality Monitoring, But Can Sports Fill Global South’s Data Void?
The walk coordinators carried portable air quality sensors, logging particulate matter (PM)2.5 (fine particles) and PM10 (coarse particles), nitrogen dioxide
Mullin’s Smooth Confirmation Was a Throwback in the Senate
In choosing Senator Markwayne Mullin, who has warm relationships across the Capitol and the political aisle, President Trump was reverting to a bygone tradition.
Markwayne Mullin confirmed to lead Department of Homeland Security
The Oklahoma Republican faced a glide path to confirmation with the help of two Democratic senators.
Markwayne Mullin confirmed to lead a DHS in turmoil
Markwayne Mullin will serve as Donald Trump’s next Department of Homeland Security secretary, elevating the US senator to helm the agency at the center of the president’s controversial immigration enforcement effort and an ongoing shutdown.
Trump’s Political Risk Insurance Plan for Ships in the Gulf Could Benefit China, Says Democratic Senator
President Trump’s $20 billion plan to provide political risk insurance for ships aimed at unblocking the Strait of Hormuz could end up ultimately
Senators introduce bill to ban sports betting on prediction markets
The new bill would amend the Commodity Exchange Act to ban prediction contracts related to sports events or casino-style games.
WSU launches bilingual video series to help beekeepers improve colony health
Researchers with WSU's Honey Bee and Pollinators Program have produced a new video series giving novice keepers a strong introduction to best practices and the science of apiculture, in both Spanish and English.
Exclusive | Lawmakers to Introduce Bipartisan Bill Banning Sports Bets on Prediction Markets
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators are introducing legislation to prohibit CFTC-regulated entities from listing contracts related to sporting events.
Banijay Series Mania Slate: ‘A Woman of Substance,’ ‘Peaky Blinders’
Other highlights take in Jack Thorne’s ‘Falling,’ Richard Gadd’s ‘Half Man,’ ‘Wallander’ and Series Mania titles ‘Anatomy of a Moment’ and ‘Etty.’
'Disgusting.' Democratic senator slams Trump's reaction to Mueller's death
Sen. Chris Murphy called President Donald Trump's response to the death of Robert Mueller "disgusting."
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
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