The Rawls Lab is hiring! We are seeking a motivated research technician to support cutting-edge studies in gastrointestinal physiology using zebrafish & mice. To learn more about this hands-on & in-person position at Duke University in Durham NC, click here: careers.duke.edu/job/Durham-R...

We're excited to share this new article describing the major findings of the Pediatric Obesity Microbiome & Metabolism Study (POMMS). Also very grateful to have been able to undertake this interesting project w/ such a talented and generous interdisciplinary team! medschool.duke.edu/news/scienti...

Scientists are discovering something surprising about obesity in teenagers

The teen years may be a critical window when the gut microbiome and its influence on weight is still taking shape and more open to change.

medschool.duke.edu

Cherry blossoms in Duke Gardens - a gentle and reliable lesson in impermanence

Please share w/ interested colleagues this new EMBO Course in Bath UK (6-18 July 2026) “Computational & experimental microbiomics”: lnkd.in/e7EGH4RG The course includes experimental emphasis on zebrafish host-microbiome interaction + general microbiomics skills. Register is 11 May #EMBOMicrobiomics

Happy International Day of Women & Girls in Science! Today & everyday I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside & learn from this talented group of women scientists. Funded by grants from the NIH, this team is working to understand how the gut microbiome affects our digestive health.

Our EMBO workshop is now live. Visit us in Bath this summer for a two week workshop designed to help you study host-microbe interactions in the zebrafish, and develop the bioinformatics skills needed to analyse the complex data sets that arise from microbiomic studies.

Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) in the #gut #epithelium secrete diverse hormones that regulate digestion, energy use & behavior. @jfrawls.bsky.social &co identify EEC subtypes & #hormone profiles in #zebrafish, and explore their lineage relationships @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/49iZKWC

Two new articles from our lab!! Davis et al identified epithelial transcription factor ELF3 as a key mediator of host-microbiota interaction in zebrafish tinyurl.com/pkavnxdp Morash et al revealed enteroendocrine cell subtypes in zebrafish & catalogued their peptide hormones tinyurl.com/bdzbm2xm

Identification of intestinal enteroendocrine cell subtypes and their associated hormones in zebrafish

Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) in the gut epithelium secrete diverse hormones that regulate digestion, energy use, and behavior. This study identifies EEC subtypes and their hormone profiles in zebrafis...

tinyurl.com

Part 7 & End of Chapter: While waiting for export permits, we explored the Kathmandu Valley—alive with Buddhist & Hindu traditions, temples at every turn, chaotic traffic, hills filled with with monasteries, & endless momos. Fieldwork now complete, the analysis phase begins. Thanks for following!

Part 6: For decades, the zebrafish has helped scientists unlock the mysteries of genetics, development, & disease. But the fish that power most discoveries have spent generations inside lab tanks. This video captures footage of zebrafish in their natural environment in Nepal. youtu.be/cCZhZpPALqw

Zebrafish in the wild

YouTube video by John Rawls

youtu.be

Part 5: Amid the fieldwork & meetings, this trip also brought our U.S. & Nepali teams closer together. The visit happened to overlap with the Tihar festival, giving us time to see the celebrations firsthand & to share meals & conversations that connected the work to the culture & people around it.

Part 4: Our fieldwork focused on wild zebrafish, but in our downtime we couldn’t resist meeting some of Nepal’s other remarkable fauna. A highlight for me was seeing the critically endangered gharial crocodile up close at Chitwan’s Gharial Breeding Center.

Part 3: Agriculture & Forestry Univ. (AFU) was an outstanding partner & hub for this study. Their faculty generously shared lab space, equipment, & expertise essential to this work. We were especially impressed by the AFU students, whose curiosity & initiative energized the project. Dhanyabaad, AFU!

Part 2: With expert guidance from our AFU partners, we explored Chitwan’s maze of streams, canals, and wetlands. Using a range of capture methods, we found zebrafish thriving in many locations. Stay tuned for movies!

Part 1: The last couple of weeks I've had the pleasure of working with a team of scientists from Duke University, University of Oregon, and Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Nepal to study the biology of zebrafish in their natural habitat. ...

Another RawlsLab retreat is in the books! Activities included centering our core values & skill development goals, science communication, a postapocalyptic scavenger hunt, & enjoying the NC summer. Now more than ever, I’m deeply grateful to work alongside this team of talented & intrepid scientists.

Karolinska is looking for 20 (!!) assistant professors and offering 6 year appointments with ~1M USD startup packages. ki.se/en/about-ki/...

Call for 20 Assistant Professor positions

Karolinska Institutet is a world-leading medical university with a long and proud history of ground-breaking research. We are now recruiting outstanding early-career researchers with particularly exce...

ki.se

Congratulations to Briana Davis and Maggie Morash on their successful PhD thesis defenses in the Duke University Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Program!

Happy International Women’s Day! Today and everyday I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside and learn from this talented group of women scientists. Funded by grants from the NIH, this team is working to understand how the gut microbiome affects our digestive and metabolic health.