Applications are now open for the Stem Cell & Development Biology Early Career Symposium!
Together with @isscr.org and @socdevbio.bsky.social, we're hosting a scientific focused on incubating the next generation of research leaders.
Apply by May 1 at: https://bit.ly/4lriiZm
Lately all I do is talk about my @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social sponsorship... ๐ฆ๐งฌโจ
Free limited edition Plasmidsaurus x OpenFlower postcards extended to 3/16. Last chance!!!
EXCLUSIVE: @standupforscience.bsky.social sent an investigator to Guinea-Bissau and shared their unpublished findings with members of Congress. I obtained a copy of that report, which details how deeply the researchers are enmeshed - and what that means for US:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302
The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.
What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.
Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.
A human iPS cell line for ready-to-use human iAstrocytes that support human neurons https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.02.709009v1
$1B per day is about $42 million per hour. About 30 min worth of that spending can fund my lab for my ENTIRE career (~20 3-year NSFs or ~10 5-year R01s). Please wrap your head around that.
Since people are liking the Bocchi colors, I have a whole collection of color palettes on my GitHub: github.com/cxli233/Colo...
You will find the hex code, the preview, and the inspiration for each color palette. I hope some of them will be used.
#DataVis
๐จNEW SCIENCE ALERT!๐จOur paper, led by Dr. Paul Sereno, is now available in @science.org! We describe a new African #dinosaur species with a unique cranial crestโSpinosaurus mirabilis. Beautiful #paleoart by Dani Navarro graces the cover of the February 19 issue!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/research/research-conducted-at-nimh/scientific-director/office-of-fellowship-and-training/outstanding-scholars-in-neuroscience-award-program
I can highly recommend the NIH Outstanding Scholar in Neuroscience Award Program (nice backronym for OSNAP)! Need to be 2 years before/after PhD, due March 23. Great opportunity to visit and present at NIH and meet some amazing colleagues.
www.nimh.nih.gov/research/res...
Alysa Liu telling 60 Minutes โI love struggling, it makes me feel aliveโ is a legit revolutionary statement from a Bay Area native in a time when copious amounts of time and resources are being put toward convincing us to opt out of experiencing struggle, friction and self-actualization
I've used mTagBFP2 in human cell culture and it looks pretty good!
Under the Government Use License, NIH-funded authors have the right to submit an AAM to PMC without an embargo, contrary to any publisher assertion or requirement that an author publish under an open access license and pay an APC.
Congrats @handekarahan.bsky.social & our team members!
A potential new drug target for Alzheimer's disease.
Targeting the APOE pathway more effectively.
Might also enhance neuroprotective pathways, offering resilience against disease progression.
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Sorry to get radical but I donโt think itโs my job or yours to embrace, accept, understand - and certainly not to use - the thing being sold to us as AI. I donโt like any part of it, so I wonโt. Iโm missing out? Good, thatโs what I want. Youโre worried about me missing out? Thatโs fuckin weird, man.
During #NeuronalDifferentiation, #organelles dramatically reorganize. #Microtubules are essential tracks for transport. But are they just highways, or can they instruct organelle behavior? Are tubulin modifications a regulatory code that guides organelle position or function? 1/9
Cells come in many shapes and sizes, with diverse physiological functions. But how do #organelles and their interaction networks remodel during #differentiation of stem cells into different cell types? Hereโs what we discovered about neuronal differentiation: 1/13
it was still up Tues 2/10 evening when I checked for my study section at least, but I didn't check any other ones at the time
I can't see the review dates/links to the rosters for my upcoming study section either, but the actual webpage for the roster still exists when I check the link from my browser history
We made Valentineโs Dinograms! ๐ฆโค๏ธ Free printable cards for your favorite lab mates, collaborators, and science friends.
Download, print, and share!
๐ plasmidsaurus.com/dino-valentine
Defining brain cell types is no longer a matter of classification alone, but of embedding their genetic identities within the dynamical organization of population activity, writes @lmprida.bsky.social.
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/defining-cel...
Collage-style image shows several cut-outs of African penguins atop drawn red and pink hearts. Text reads โPENGUIN POWER COUPLESโ in cursive, with subtext asking viewers to vote for their perfect pairs from Feb. 9-13. Winners crowned on V-Day.
Lockup graphic shows rounds 1 and 2 of the penguin power couples voting bracket: R1 Kianga and Dunker (red armbands) versus Parker and Tux (blue armbands); R2 Poppy and Darcy (Orange armbands) versus Ty and Robben (Green armbands).
Attention lovebirds: Itโs time to crown your favorite Penguin Power Couple ๐ง๐๐
Our 8 bonded African penguin pairs have enough love to go around, but theyโre looking for a different kind of adoration this week: Your votes!
Head to bit.ly/PenguinLove26 every day thru Feb. 13 to vote on iconic pairs.
In honor of Black History Month, I want to celebrate Henrietta Lacks. Her immortal cells were unjustly taken without her consent. Without HeLa cells, science wouldnโt be what it is today. Learn more about Ms. Lacksโ story on the Lacks Family website: lacksfamily.com
Now online! Molecular features of human pathological tau distinguish tauopathy-associated dementias
Our paper is (finally) out in Cell today!
CRISPR screens in iPSC-derived neurons reveal principles of tau proteostasis
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Great collaborative effort - read more from first author @asamelson.bsky.social below:
Online now! Study shows LINE-1 is increasingly expressed in mouse hearts with age, its de-repression is accompanied by cGAS-STING activation and cardiac dysfunction, while pharmacological inhibition of LINE-1 or STING improves cardiac function in aged mice. (rdcu.be/e0JU0)
doi.org/10.1038/s435...
California just joined the World Health Organization.
I love it.
In conclusion, introducing large amounts of MYF into NIH funding system will can cause dramatic reductions in the number of new grants, as we saw in FY25. Since biomedical research requires stable funding streams, these dramatic reductions are likely to cause labs to close. 12/n
Modeling a switch to 39% MYF. Total new grants drop in the first year before recovering and oscillating in future years.
What happened in FY25 at NIH was 39% MYF. If we keep a constant 39% MYF in this model, the new grants drop to 1376 in the first year before recovering and increasing by year 5. However, the system then oscillates on a 5-year timeframe with an average of about 1990 new grants each year. 6/n
New work from our lab! Link: rdcu.be/e0sfU
๐ง๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐บ, ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐น๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
A quick thread on our findings!
Membership on step #2 (advisory councils) has been dwindling as members serve out their terms without replacements being appointed.
At 12 of the institutes and one of the centres, the last voting memberโs term will expire this year, and it typically takes years for new members to be onboarded.
