Meet the team! Today’s spotlight: Erin Scott ✨ Erin is a PhD student working to characterize a family of dopamine sensors for the dLight 3.0 series. She is also developing a sensor for alpha-synuclein, a toxic protein heavily implicated in Parkinson’s disease.

Meet the team! Today’s spotlight: @yu-shun.bsky.social ✨ Yu-Shun is a PhD student developing novel red-shifted norepinephrine and GABA sensors, as well as a green GABA sensor, to study how neuromodulators orchestrate the neural circuit between neurons and glia.

Meet the team! Today’s spotlight: Ji-You Min ✨ Ji-You is a PhD student investigating how dynamic serotonin release patterns shape fear, learning, and extinction in the brain. She leverages fiber photometry as well as projection-specific manipulations to explore circuit-level mechanisms 🧠

Brain Exploration Day was a great chance for us to open up the doors at MPFI and share our science with the South Florida community! Thank you so much to everyone who came to explore brain research with us 🧠 🧪

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience@mpfneuro.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Brain Exploration Day was a fun day of sharing our science and hearing your questions about how the brain works. We are grateful to all who attended and our staff and volunteers who helped support the event. Read more about it and see pictures from the event here: buff.ly/5wk04gq

Like the conductor of an orchestra, the neurotransmitter GABA avoids disruptive ‘noise’ by balancing excitation with inhibition ✨ Tian Lab members Nikki Tjahjono, @yu-shun.bsky.social & I wrote about the latest tool to measure this balance in @elife.bsky.social: elifesciences.org/articles/111...

I recently had the pleasure of visiting @upenn.edu & the University of Illinois Chicago to present our latest results developing glutamate sensors that can image multiple neurochemicals 🔬✨ This work helps us understand collective neurotransmitter release during synaptic transmission.

New work from @mattbanghart.bsky.social’s team identifies the brain circuitry responsible for placebo pain relief 🧠 These findings can lead to better pain management strategies in humans, including alternatives to addictive painkillers. Read more: today.ucsd.edu/story/neurob...

Join us this summer for discussions about how neural circuits operate under normal conditions & disease states, with specialized workshops & hands-on experience ✨ Registration & abstract submissions open through May 1. All career stages welcome! Learn more: cncm.medschool.uci.edu/2026-cncm-co...

Taking my chance to highlight my amazing lab members for Graduate Student Appreciation week ✨ The lab depends on your curiosity, persistence, and resilience to solve tough questions & drive our research forward. Your hard work is noticed. I'm grateful for all you do! #GradStudentAppreciationWeek

Nikki Tjahjono’s PhD work is out as a @cellpress.bsky.social preview in @ssrn.bsky.social! With @isacofflab.bsky.social, we introduce iHaloGluSnFR, the first red-shifted chemigenetic glutamate sensors, optimized for simultaneous imaging with neuromodulators. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Looking back on 2025, I’m proud of all we accomplished as a team. But more than that, I'm proud of the growth, the laughter, and the support we gave one another along the way. Grateful for this team and a year of shared moments big and small. Happy holidays from the Tian Lab 💜✨

We had such a great time celebrating Tian Lab student Nikki Tjahjono’s successful PhD defense last week! Over the past six years, it has been a privilege to work with Nikki and watch her grow into an exceptional scientist, mentor, and community builder. Congratulations, Dr. Tjahjono! 🎓🎉

In @thetransmitter.bsky.social's 2025 State of Neuroscience Report, @lintianphd.bsky.social shares her perspective on 3 three topics: - Multidisciplinary research - The future of training - Impacts of funding cuts on neuroscience education Explore her insights: bit.ly/4pPi3s9

The state of neuroscience in 2025: An overview

The Transmitter presents a portrait of the field through four lenses: its focus, its output, its people and its funding.

bit.ly

@thetransmitter.bsky.social's portrait of the state of neuroscience presents a great opportunity to look back & reflect as we come toward the end of 2025. I'm quoted alongside leaders in the field as we reflect on the current challenges & hopes for the future: www.thetransmitter.org/state-of-neu...

The State of Neuroscience 2025

The Transmitter presents a portrait of the field through four lenses: its focus, its output, its people and its funding.

thetransmitter.org

Thanks to @nature.com for featuring our work in this piece on genetically-encoded sensors. The article does a great job highlighting their importance for both basic research and translational impact, such as in our lab's research on serotonin. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

How genetically encoded sensors have lit up neuroscience

Tools that track specific molecules in neurons have enabled researchers to probe previously unexplored aspects of neurobiology — although important caveats remain.

nature.com

The Tian Lab is headed to San Diego for @sfn.org #Sfn25! Proud to have Postbac Fellow, Landon Lee representing us this year––if you’re attending, be sure to stop by his poster to hear more about the science we've been developing this year! ☀️🧠

How has the way we study neural coding and dynamics changed? At the recent @lakeconferences.bsky.social hosted by @alleninstitute.org I was able to share ideas and research with others working toward new experimental & computational methods for studying these dynamic systems over time.

This week is the 16th Annual National Postdoc Appreciation Week, and we couldn't be prouder of our postdocs in the Tian Lab! ✨ Our postdocs drive forward research, plan and lead projects, mentor students, present and publish work, and much more. I am grateful for you every day! #NPAW2025

Thinking about attending Sunposium 2026? The early bird registration deadline is September 19th. Curious what makes this conference so special? Our video will give you a glimpse: buff.ly/2FuGjgO Join us March 9–11, 2026, in sunny South Florida. Find more information at buff.ly/zn5aS2b

Sunposium 2026

This is "Sunposium 2026" by Max Planck Florida on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

buff.ly

The brain has complex dynamics that give rise to a range of states & behaviors. 🤔 How do we study this complex system? In my lab’s work, we design and optimize biosensors to measure brain activity at the molecular level.

I attended the first ever Neurobiology of Psychedelics GRC last month. I was impressed by how interdisciplinary the field is, from molecules to humans. We are just starting to understand the mechanisms of these drugs and how they can unlock future treatments. #GRCPsychedelics

Congratulations to our three wonderful interns who joined us in the Tian Lab this summer, working on optimizing our PsychLight methodology to screen for potentially therapeutic compounds with similar mechanisms to psychedelics. www.mpfi.org/high-school-...

The Tian Lab looks forward to welcoming high school students each year as a part of @mpfneuro.bsky.social's summer internship program! We’re thrilled to have Olivia & Nicole join us this summer and to be part of their journey as they explore what a future in neuroscience can look like.

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience@mpfneuro.bsky.social · last yr.

Meet MPFI's 2025 High School Internship cohort! These seven talented students have been working alongside our researchers this summer on projects in neuroscience, programming, or mechanical engineering. Read more about these talented students in our latest blog post: mpfi.org/welcome-2025...

I recently spoke about my lab's newest sensors at @embl.org‬'s European Light Microscopy Initiative meeting 🔦 🧠 Sharing progress with the community is key to moving science forward, which is why these sensors, and all our tools, are open source ➡️ www.lintianlab.org/research#tools

What a joy to celebrate Nikki, Yihan & Kiran at @ucdavis.bsky.social commencement 🎓 As Chancellor May said, the world needs minds like yours more than ever & I’m so excited to see the impact you’ll make in the years ahead. Congratulations on this incredible milestone!

📆 Mark your calendars: #OptoGRC2026 is headed back to Tuscany, May 10-15, 2026! We look forward to reuniting with our amazing community for a week of great science, thoughtful discussions & shared time with colleagues. More details coming soon👇🏽 tinyurl.com/esvrabsu

Our next #InterfaceNeuroGT session highlighted cutting-edge techniques for measuring and manipulating sensorimotor and cognitive behavior — across species and across scales. Sponsored by McCamish Parkinson's Disease Innovation Program and chaired by @drannabellesinger.bsky.social.

Know an exceptional early-career independent scientist? Nominate them for the Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award, honoring outstanding contributions to the scientific community through collaboration, creativity, and curiosity-driven research. Please share! mpfi.org/pgyia

It's #MentalHealthAwareness Month. At MPFI, Dr. Lin Tian's team is uncovering changes in brain signaling in conditions like depression by developing tools to visualize neurotransmitters in real-time. This work brings us closer to improved treatment of mental health challenges. buff.ly/LguhgQU

The new @maxplanck.de Postdoc Program platform is now open for its first ever round of applications! If you're looking for a new research opportunity, check out the full list of open positions👇🏽 postdocprogram.mpg.de/node/3