Jason Rihel
@jasonrihel.bsky.social
I study sleep genes and neurons in zebrafish
🐠 New pre-print from the lab! 🐠 Neural microexons fine-tune protein function - but how do they impact arousal states and underlying neuronal signaling pathways? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Check out our latest pre-print by @tahneema.bsky.social et al, @upf.edu @crg.eu. 🧵👇 1/9
Neural microexons modulate arousal states via cAMP signalling in zebrafish
Arousal states, often dysregulated in neurodevelopmental disorders, shape how organisms perceive and respond to their environment. Here, we show that srrm3, a master regulator of neural microexons, is...
biorxiv.org
The NIH/NHLBI sponsored Neurodevelopment Disorders and Sleep Workshop is now open for registrations. Co-chaired by Jared Saletin and myself. Please share. This event is open to the public #sleep #development www.nhlbi.nih.gov/events/2025/...
Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Sleep Workshop
Sleep problems are a common comorbidity in many neurodevelopmental disorders that can exacerbate behavioral manifestations of the disorders.
nhlbi.nih.gov
Seth Rogen’s remarks about destruction of US science cut from Breakthrough Prize video www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general...
Seth Rogen’s Criticism of Silicon Valley’s Support for Trump Was Cut From the “Full” Stream of Breakthrough Prize
While presenting an award at the event known as the Oscars of Science, 'The Studio' star pointed out the irony of tech titans' support for the Trump administration's defunding of science. The potentia...
hollywoodreporter.com
Good. If Harvard can’t stand up to bullying from Trump, who can? www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
Harvard rejects Trump administration’s demands with federal funding at risk
The university’s response comes after the government announced a federal review of nearly $9 billion in funding to Harvard and its affiliates.
washingtonpost.com
Congrats to @columbiauniversity.bsky.social scientists Gary Struhl & Iva Greenwald for winning the @gairdnerawards.bsky.social Award for their research yielding critical insights on how cells communicate with their neighbors during development. Read: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/columbia-gai...
What I find amazing is that we have to wrestle text to make it perfect, accurate and fit in five pages for a 10% chance of it getting funded, and then some people can say "imagine the wolves in game of thrones lol" and they get ten billion buckaroos no strings attached
Well this is terrifying: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...
She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her
President Trump’s immigration crackdown ensnared Kseniia Petrova, a scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine. She fears arrest if she is deported there.
nytimes.com
People might think that whatever destruction is done to science in the US, we can undo in 4 years with a Democratic president and Congress. The problem is that many areas require specialized knowledge and skills built up over years, and once that's lost, it's hard to get back.
Prof. Bob Howarth@profbobhowarth.bsky.social · last yr.The damage will be far worse than just a 4-yr gap. Both I and the individual who has managed this site for most of the past 50 yrs are retiring within the next 2 years. With this closure, we will not be able to plan a transition.
‘“The people who are attacking higher education are talking nonstop,” said Holden Thorp, a chemist and former university administrator who runs the Science family of journals. “And the people leading higher education are not saying very much.”’
Opinion | The Authoritarian Endgame on Higher Education
This is a moment to trumpet the strengths of higher education and address its weaknesses.
nytimes.com
🚨This week, many Columbia scientists lost grants that funded over half their annual income. Others will no longer be able to do research that helps treat thousands of sick patients across the US. "It hurts," they told me. My story for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts
The US government has begun slashing US$400 million in research grants at Columbia University over pro-Palestinian campus protests.
nature.com
I hate you, daylight savings time. I hate you SO MUCH. you are an affront to the natural order and circadian rhythms everywhere.
Standing up for science with lab members in DC yesterday.
Horrible that PhD offers are being rescinded due to budget fears. My friend Wendy Roth is quoted about her unenviable role in having to tell U Penn students the bad news. The cruelty is the point. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...
As Trump Goes After Universities, Students Are Now on the Chopping Block
Uncertainty about how much money colleges and universities stand to lose has led some schools to reduce the number of doctoral students, in some cases reneging on offers.
nytimes.com
Pubmed is down for me in the UK. (12-1PM) PMC Central still works.
American scientists need to get politically organized urgently to combat this! We are sleepwalking into a nightmare!
Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD@arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · 2y agoOf the 4000 researchers at NIH, only 20% are tenured. They’re going to fire all the rest as their contracts come up for renewal, absolutely decimating research at the NIH. This is catastrophic, not just for Americans, but for the whole world. www.science.org/content/arti...
Our new review article with @michelcayouette.bsky.social is out on temporal patterning and glial reprogramming in adult CNS, and its implications for treating degenerative diseases. All work from our lab discussed here was funded by NIH. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kfup3Q9h2...
authors.elsevier.com
Our paper on zebrafish phenotypes in Alzheimer’s risk genes finally is now in its final form at Elife!
eLife@elife.bsky.social · 2y agoBehavioural #pharmacology predicts signalling pathways that could be drug targets in #zebrafish with #Alzheimer’s disease risk genes. https://elifesciences.org/articles/96839?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
Really successful mini-conference for Sleep and Circadian Rhythms Hub (Bristol Neuroscience). Lots of good talks and mingling 😊. Stay tuned for v2 next year, with @aliceisnotfren1.bsky.social we are determined to do it again! Thanks @jasonrihel.bsky.social for a wonderful keynote talk 🐟 💤
The NIH’s guidance on Sex as a Biological Variable has stamped at the top a rather Orwellian disclaimer: “historical document published prior to Jan 20, 2025: orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-as-biolo...
Sex as a Biological Variable
Historic document published prior to January 20, 2025Women now account for roughly half of all participants in NIH-supported clinical research, which is
orwh.od.nih.gov
This is the way. Republicans can't pass either a budget or a debt limit increase on their own. Ending this nonsense immediately is the price of cooperation. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/u...
As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can’t Keep Up
In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.
nytimes.com
Contact numbers for my fellow Marylanders and Baltimoreans: Senator Chris van Hollen 202-224-4654 Senator Angela Alsobrooks 202-224-4524 Representative Kweisi Mfume: 202-225-474 (MD 7) Representative Johnny Olszewski Jr: 202-225-3061 (MD 2) Representative Sarah Elfreth: 202-225-4016 (MD 3)
In the interest of fairness, to match this insane cut to indirect costs, I demand that all Teslas be priced at the cost of the metal, the engine parts, and the tires. All the costs for factory electricity, maintenance workers, people who handle the company budgets, etc will not be part of the price.
Cool! Can’t wait to check this out.
What’s up with Downes?@gbdownes.bsky.social · 2y agoWe hope other labs find it as useful as we do! Given that it's free, we also hope it can be used in teaching labs, which are often low resourced. Congratulations to all authors! #zebrafish 🧠🧪🧬 bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
If you are a scientist, watching the nonsense discussed at the RFK jr hearing will make you throw up in your mouth a little bit. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01...
RFK Jr. Faces Grilling Over Vaccines and Medicaid in Confirmation Hearing: Live Updates
Mr. Kennedy, appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, appeared visibly frustrated at points as senators pressed him on past statements, including his advocacy against vaccines.
nytimes.com