Excited to see our fMRI paper is out, led by Itamar Kahn’s lab. Our grad students, Amir Lawen and Bella Succi, in collab with Darcy Peterka, built a setup for simultaneous fMRI and dopamine fiber photometry in awake behaving mice. We learned some new biology too. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Dopamine release-associated striatal blood oxygenation and whole-brain dynamics during associative learning

Dopaminergic signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is central to reward-based learning, but its relationship to brain-wide hemodynamics remains unclear. Using concurrent fMRI and dopamine photometr...

science.org

We are excited to share research, but I want to take some time to share a little about myself. I LOVE science, but I also spend a lot of time advocating for more inclusive science. This work is promoted by my own obstacles in pursuing science which I talk about here: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Transforming myself and academia for good

Dr. Chrystal Starbird is the winner of the first Rising Black Scientist Award for a post-graduate scholar. For this award, we asked emerging Black scientists to tell us about the experiences that spar...

cell.com

I’m on the faculty job market this fall! 🐦🧠 I’m an NIH K99/R00 awardee studying how the brain learns complex skills, using birdsong to connect molecules, synapses, circuits, behavior & computation. Know of a search where I might fit? Please send it my way & share!

Drew Schreiner, Ph.D. | Neuroscience of Learning

I use birdsong to understand how the brain learns complex skills across molecules, synapses, circuits, behavior, and computation. On the 2026–27 faculty job market.

drewschreiner.github.io

Extremely proud to share @acara333.bsky.social and my new paper, out today in @cp-neuron.bsky.social, where we develop a new fluorescent reporter of neural responses to estrogen! 🔬 paper 📝: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt... addgene page 🧬: www.addgene.org/254753/ #neuroskyence 🧪 1/10

Updates to NIH K awards starting with October 2027 deadlines. The individual K awards are being consolidated into 4 awards. 🧪 grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

We’re hiring a research technician!! We’re an inclusive team of behavioral neuroscientists trying to discover the brain circuits of learning, decision making, and habit. More info👇 wassumlab.psych.ucla.edu/join-the-lab/ Job posting: jobs.ucla.edu/jobs/11232

This is such an amazing group of scientists and Im honored to be among them this year! Cant wait for my first ACNP meeting in January 🌆 Ive got some really cool data in the works 🤫

ACNP@acnporg.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Please join us in Congratulating the 2026 ACNP Travel Award Class! 👏🤩 Click Here ➡️ tinyurl.com/5bzaz8va for more information on Travel Awards. 📝

Please share--the Shansky lab is currently recruiting at all levels to work on an NIH-funded project investigating sex differences in the neural circuits that drive defensive behaviors. The official job ad isn't yet up, but interested folks can contact me as instructed here www.shanskylab.com/join

NIH is planning on revoking eligibility for international students on visas for the K99/R00 pathway, a key program that supports postdocs in establishing their own labs www.statnews.com/2026/08/07/n...

NIH plans to block international researchers on visas from accessing key funding avenue

The NIH plans to close the door on one of the few pathways available to international students on visas to forge a career in biomedical research in the U.S.

statnews.com

Super excited to be selected as a NSP Fellow for 2026! I'm currently studying how inhibitory interneurons in the prefrontal cortex regulate compulsive behavior. 🐀👩‍🔬

Society for Neuroscience@sfn.org · 2mo ago

It's #NSPWeek! For 40+ years, SfN’s Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) has supported grad students and postdocs in neuroscience nationwide. 📣 Calling all #NeuroScholars, past and present: where has neuroscience taken you so far? Drop a comment below and tag a fellow #NSPeep! #neurosky

Join me and @kacummings.bsky.social at frontal cortex GRC 🧠this year features a great line up of speakers and numerous networking oppertunities for trainees 🙌🏾

GRC Frontal Cortex@grc-frontal-cortex.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Meet your #GRC-FrontalCortex vice-chairs! @kacummings.bsky.social and @drbediya.bsky.social FYI this is the FINAL week to apply! more info here: www.grc.org/frontal-cort... Can't wait to see you all August 9-12 in Holderness, NH!

Fellow @rsaofficial.bsky.social attendees: I hope you will come to our RSA Animal Research and Ethics Committee session “From biobanks to behavior” TODAY from 1:30-3 pm! Learn about several large-scale repositories and join in on discussions about reproducibility, rigor, and translation #RSA2026

You’re at the bar having that first drink of the night 🍻 the excited, energized feeling you may have is the “stimulant response” to alcohol - a risk factor for alcohol use disorder. We researched an understudied cell-type’s role in this response #neuroskyence www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Comments are now open. You can comment here: www.regulations.gov/search?filte... Note that even if the administration goes ahead with this abomination, the comments are essential to aid subsequent litigation! 2/2

Jordy's 'Just My Two Cents' on Breakfast TV

ALT: Jordy's 'Just My Two Cents' on Breakfast TV

static.klipy.com

🚨🧪🧵URGENT INPUT NEEDED: NIH asks input for next strategic plan-including emphasis on non-animal models (NAMs) to replace animals. Per NIH insider, anti-animal responses now outnumber scientists 200-700x. Please please provide input. Deadline: May 26, 11:59 PM ET. grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/317...

Tom Kash@superkash.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Kash lab at UNC is hiring a new technician (our current two are off to grad school!!) posting will go live soon, email me CV and names of references if interested.

FINALLY HR has the posting up for a postdoc opening in my lab ! Particularly interested in folks with electrophysiology, photometry, or behavioral experience. www.gwu.jobs/postings/125...

Sharing this screen grab from a friend at NIH (with permission). This is a checklist program officers have to complete before a grant can be awarded. The first question: "Is this grant All Clean/Clear in the NIH Text analysis Tool?" 🧵1/3

My daughter has a capstone project (for 8th grade) on mocktails and how they have impacted drinking culture. She put together a survey for this project, if you are so inclined to take it, feel free: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Drinking Culture

Hi, My name is Georgia Kash and I am an 8th grader at dukeschool in durham which is a project based school, and for my final project I am studying the effect of mocktails on the society. A part of th...

docs.google.com

Back in the lab and reflecting on all of the amazing science at last week’s Alcohol and the Nervous System GRS and GRC! So excited to co-chair the 2028 GRS with @katiegbry.bsky.social!

I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond! www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...

Notice of Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00): for Individuals whose final due date was September-November 2025 and January-March 2026. As always, reach out to your PO/IC contact to discuss. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Thrilled to share our new paper, out now in @natneuro.nature.com, uncovering how estradiol, the most potent estrogen, modulates reinforcement learning and reward prediction errors across biological levels. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #blueprint 1/7

Estrogen modulates reward prediction errors and reinforcement learning - Nature Neuroscience

Dopamine encoding of reward prediction errors naturally fluctuates over females’ reproductive cycles with estrogenic signaling due to reduced expression of dopamine reuptake proteins.

nature.com

A substantial part (but not all) of this increased investment is multi-year funded grants. My current estimate is that multi-year funding has been used in lieu of ~2400 annually funded grants that could have been made. 2/2

We are looking forward to the 2026 #Alcohol GRC in Ventura, CA! The main meeting starts Feb 22, 2026 (GRS Feb 21-22). For both, we will be selecting additional invited talks from the submitted abstracts. For consideration, submit your abstract by Oct 10! #alcoholGRC2026 #alcoholGRS2026

Excited to share a new lab preprint. This paper is entirely due to the efforts of @oliviaortelli.bsky.social, an incredibly talented PhD student (who is starting to look for a postdoc!). She combined her love of the Hank Sampson operant sipper tube drinking model... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A review of operant ethanol self-administration using the sipper model: Methodological advances and a novel standardized analysis tool

Despite decades of research, no new FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder (AUD) have emerged in over 25 years. Enhancing the translational relevance of preclinical models by more precisely...

biorxiv.org

(1/3) Excited to introduce our new GRAB sensors for a series of steroid hormones! These tools enable real-time detection of steroid hormone dynamics in vivo🐭🧠. Happy to share these sensors and welcome any feedback! Please contact yulonglilab2018@gmail.com for information.

Public comments have been opened back up! Research with animals is critical for providing evidence-based knowledge in the pursuit of human health. Broadly reducing research projects with animals threatens public health and will greatly stall the development of new therapeutics for diseases!

FDA-NIH Workshop: Reducing Animal Testing

The FDA is hosting a workshop on reducing animal testing. The workshop is open to current FDA and NIH employees.

fda.gov

Check out our new paper on the behavioral engagement of cHAPs on a 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task. Congrats, Phillip and team! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40492535/

Sex and Genetic Differences in Behavioral Engagement of Crossed High Alcohol-Preferring and Low Alcohol-Preferring Mice - PubMed

Excessive levels of alcohol consumption play a major role in numerous alcohol-related harms, including a heightened risk of developing problematic drinking behaviors. Those who develop alcohol use dis...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

When everything is "normal", writing and administering an NIH T32 program is crazy. Despite being an immense amount of work (probably the single most effort-demanding grant one can direct), it comes with no salary for the PI...