Monique Smith
@moeneuro.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion Professor, UC San Diego. First Gen. Mother. She/Her/Hers
Amazing talk today by @valeriagazzola.bsky.social on cross species empathy-like behaviors via neural, cardiac, respiratory and pupillary recordings! Part of a collab with the smith lab! Sort of surreal to be collaborating with this epic duo. @socialbrainlab.bsky.social @s4sn.bsky.social
⏰ Search for datasets ⏰ As part of a planned study on pain-related empathy, we are searching for suitable stimulus material, ideally short video sequences (1–3 seconds) depicting pain-distorted facial expressions 🫤😵💫😬
Woody and Buzz Lightyear: Data Everywhere Meme
ALT: Woody and Buzz Lightyear: Data Everywhere Meme
static.klipy.com
Huge faculty recruitment effort at the University of Chicago -- a division-wide, open-rank search looking to hire about 20 faculty across 5 research areas in biology. Come be our colleague! Full announcement: uchicago.app.box.com/s/ckih9zv3rj...
This whole thread is very motivating and gives me hope- if we can all have this mindset we can make it. Thanks @talialerner.bsky.social
Talia Lerner@talialerner.bsky.social · 3w agoIt has been painfully clear since Fall’24 that US science funding would tank, universities would be targeted, and any assertions about a new “gold standard” disingenuous. The question has not been “will it be that bad,” but “how bad will it be.”
"Too often, first-generation and low-income students are told that hard work is enough. But that message is incomplete. ...The missing piece is someone willing to teach you that second curriculum, if you weren’t among the lucky few to inherit it." www.the74million.org/article/the-...
The ‘Second Curriculum’ — What 1st-Gen College Students Need to Know, But Don’t
Chaparro: My family has traveled far in 2 generations, and my baby daughter will travel further still. But too many young people still miss out.
the74million.org
Look it’s me in @amynahpradhan.bsky.social ‘s endowment talk! What a beautiful and impressive display of work from the charming and funny and brilliant Amynah- I’m am so lucky to call you a friend and to have been trained by you 🩷 congratulations!! This is so deserved
We should fully fund science.
In a Milestone for A.L.S., a Treatment Helps Some Patients Improve
nytimes.com
This is so so sad- Howard trained my PhD mentor and I even contacted him to do a postdoc- he was a titan in the field and will be missed!
Josh Johansen@jojolab.bsky.social · 4mo agoI’m very sad to share that Howard Fields has died. He made seminal discoveries in pain modulation, placebo, and addiction. He was also a wonderful mentor and friend who taught me how to think about the brain and the joy of scientific discovery. www.iasp-pain.org/publications...
I’m very sad to share that Howard Fields has died. He made seminal discoveries in pain modulation, placebo, and addiction. He was also a wonderful mentor and friend who taught me how to think about the brain and the joy of scientific discovery. www.iasp-pain.org/publications...
In Memory of Howard L. Fields - International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
IASP is deeply saddened to hear of the recent death of Honorary IASP Member, Prof Howard Fields, and we offer our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. We are […]
iasp-pain.org
Free and open-source images, icons, and tools for creating scientific illustrations doi.org/10.59350/5zt... 🧪
Free and open-source images, icons, and tools for creating scientific illustrations
Phylopic, NIH Bioart, Bioicons, Scidraw, Open Science Art, Health Icons, Servier Medical Art, Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Noun Project, Segment Anything, Excalidraw, draw.io, Biographics
doi.org
Welcome to the last half of the US federal fiscal year. Here is where we're at with National Science Foundation--the agency that funds basically everything other than biomedical research at American universities--grant numbers. grant-witness.us/funding_curv...
“0.15% of research worldwide has looked at hormonal contraceptives and how they affect brain health.” — @liisagalea.bsky.social (@camhnews.bsky.social). Even after nearly 70 years and 300M users, we know so little. On the next (MIS)Treated with @namshine.bsky.social and @marsdd.bsky.social.
Nominate your work for this brilliant award for ✨✨preclinical null findings✨✨ www.ecnp.eu/awards/list-...
Best Negative Data Prize in Preclinical Neuroscience
The award was founded to raise awareness about the importance of publishing well-conducted studies, regardless of the outcome. By encouraging the publication of negative data, it aims to forestall the...
ecnp.eu
Excited to share our new study on how the brain generates placebo pain relief! We developed a mouse model that recapitulates key features of human placebo analgesia, then used it to identify causal circuitry. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... today.ucsd.edu/story/neurob... 1/n
Neurobiologists Hack Brain Circuits Tied to Placebo Pain Relief
Scientists have identified the brain circuits tied to placebo pain relief. Researchers have known that placebo effects can be a powerful treatment, yet the underlying neurological mechanisms have not ...
today.ucsd.edu
So depressing to look at NIMH and NCCIH- NINDS looks a bit better. NIDA also almost at 0.
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5mo agoNIH and NSF Updates (using graphs from grant-witness.us) NIH all awards (New and Non-Competitive Renewal, Type 1 and Type 5, consistent with what is shown on NIH Reporter) The flattening MAY be due to the lack of an OMB apportionment, which has now been remedied. 1/5
NIH and NSF Updates (using graphs from grant-witness.us) NIH all awards (New and Non-Competitive Renewal, Type 1 and Type 5, consistent with what is shown on NIH Reporter) The flattening MAY be due to the lack of an OMB apportionment, which has now been remedied. 1/5
A study in Nature Communications suggests that SARS-CoV-2 circulation and vaccination have generated widespread immunity against related sarbecoviruses, creating an immunological barrier to novel sarbecovirus emergence in humans. go.nature.com/4sDW5Kk #medsky 🧪
We often think of survival as an individual act. But when facing hardship together, social groups may function more like a unified system than a collection of separate individuals. We are excited to share our latest work @natneuro.nature.com studying collective social dynamics. See: rdcu.be/e8LrV
Beautiful amazing work out today from @tararaam.bsky.social @honglab.bsky.social
Tara Raam@tararaam.bsky.social · 5mo agoExcited to share my postdoc work is out in @natneuro.nature.com today! We examined how the brain enables social groups to collectively coordinate their behavior in the face of environmental challenge ❄️🐭🐭🐭🐭❄️ : www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thanks to the Nature team for digging into this. Apportionment is one of those inside-baseball issues that I hoped never to need to learn about... But here was are.
Max Kozlov@maxkozlov.bsky.social · 6mo agoCongress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇
NIH Director Bhattacharya signals an end to the affirmative action program for ESI drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/02/26/n...
NIH Director Bhattacharya signals an end to the affirmative action program for ESI
Well, this is fascinating. Director Jayanta Bhattacharya went on the Why Should I Trust You podcast in an episode dated Feb 26, 2026 [h/t]. Around 59:00 he is answering the podcast host after she p…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
Another case of prioritizing a man’s potential over the safety of women: doctor doesn’t lose license bc he supposedly only raped one woman and he had glowing reviews from colleagues
Blackpool doctor not struck off by panel over 'one-off' rape - BBC News
Dr Aloaye Foy-Yamah has his medical licence suspended for 12 months over the attack.
bbc.com
La lumière, nouvelle méthode antidouleur chez les animaux. It was great to collaborate with Guillaume Sandoz @univcotedazur.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social and other colleagues on this exciting project www.nature.com/articles/s41...
National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation. Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
The NIH also hints at future restrictions on research involving human embryonic stem cells go.nature.com/3YUZfwe
NIH ends support for some human fetal-tissue research – dismaying scientists
The US biomedical funding agency also hints at future restrictions on research involving human embryonic stem cells.
go.nature.com
Thirteen of the US NIH’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members go.nature.com/4r6TiIp
Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026
Thirteen of the agency’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members.
go.nature.com
PSA on Competitive, Not Discussed NIH proposal outcomes drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/p...
PSA on Competitive, Not Discussed NIH proposal outcomes
As you know, Dear Reader, the current and following rounds of NIH study section meetings have adopted temporary* new triage/streamlining rules. Previously, approximately half of proposals are Not D…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
