Really excited to see this very cool story published!

Todd Oakley@ostratodd.bsky.social · last wk.

Happy to share that this paper led by @caberger.bsky.social with @stoilovamarina.bsky.social @rebeccavarney.bsky.social @pcart.bsky.social Sam Abrams and Maria Pia is published -- Unexpectedly predictable molecular evolution with diverse ecologies 🧪 🧬 🌊 #Molevol #EvoBio www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Our NIH funded PREP postbaccalaurate program just got renewed! PREP is fully funded postbac program for recent graduates interested in pursuing a PhD in biomedical research. Applications are open for a start date of this Fall. prep.ku.edu/apply

Apply

prep.ku.edu

We would love to host a post-bacc in our lab to work on mechanisms of neural signaling in a cnidarian model system.

Office for Advancing Success in Science / University of Kansas@oasis-ku.bsky.social · 2w ago

We have it on good authority that KU PREP prep.ku.edu/apply will soon be open for business! In anticipation we are taking applications for an August/September start date. PREP is a post-bacc program for graduates who intend to apply for a PhD in the biomedical sciences. See website for eligibility.

We are recruiting recent graduates interested in pursuing a PhD in the biomedical sciences to our PREP post-bacc program. We will review applications on a rolling basis so apply now.

Office for Advancing Success in Science / University of Kansas@oasis-ku.bsky.social · 2w ago

We have it on good authority that KU PREP prep.ku.edu/apply will soon be open for business! In anticipation we are taking applications for an August/September start date. PREP is a post-bacc program for graduates who intend to apply for a PhD in the biomedical sciences. See website for eligibility.

We are super excited to see this published. Podocoryna is a wonderful jellyfish model. Closely related to the model organism Hydractinia, easy to culture in the lab, and now a high quality genome!

Mike Connelly@michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 3w ago

Happy to share that our manuscript "A chromosome-level reference genome for the colonial marine hydrozoan Podocoryna americana" is now available at G3: doi.org/10.1093/g3jo... Many thanks to @baxevanislab.bsky.social, @pcart.bsky.social, @amkatzer.bsky.social and all the co-authors!

Free college is not such a radical concept. When I went to UCLA in the 80's, tuition and fees were $800/quarter. There is no way my family could afford to send me to college with today's rates. I am absolutely certain I would not be where I am today without this opportunity.

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽@needhibhalla.bsky.social · last mo.

Reminder: UC tuition was free for California residents until 1970 www.dailycal.org/archives/the...

First postdoc paper and first Nematostella project! By using the dynamic expression pattern of minicollagens, we describe the transcriptional profile during biogenesis for two major stinging cell types: nematocytes and spirocytes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #StunningStella

Minicollagen expression dynamics reveal a transcriptional program for cnidogenesis in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

Cnidae are explosive harpoon-like organelles localized within stinging cells, or cnidocytes, of the phylum Cnidaria (jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, and corals). These unique Golgi-derived vesicula...

biorxiv.org

WSJ op-ed from leaders at Johns Hopkins and the University of Kansas about slow grant-making. [Gift Link] www.wsj.com/opinion/get-...

Opinion | Get the Federal Science Money Flowing

The NIH has been holding back grants from funds Congress has already approved.

wsj.com

Interesting discussion on tech vs post bacc. Having run post bacc training programs I have some thoughts….

Drug Monkey@drugmonkey.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I was wondering why you specified “post bacc”. In my understanding that is different from a technician. Short term training vs career job, basically.

We started by studying gene reuse in eyes over deep time -- but were astonished to find adaptive molecular convergence to be rampant and not directly related to important traits, including eyes. Led by PD Cory Berger www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

KU IRACDA has three postdoc positions open iracda.ku.edu. Eligible applicants must demonstrate interest in teaching, have a biomedically-relevant research focus, and an identified KU faculty sponsor. www.employment.ku.edu/staff/32261BR .

A chromosome-level genome assembly of the cnidarian Podocoryna is just out. Well done @pcart.bsky.social , @baxevanislab.bsky.social and the other authors www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🧬 New genome alert! We’ve generated a chromosome-level assembly for the hydrozoan Podocoryna. With both polyp and free-swimming medusa stages, Podocoryna is a powerful model for exploring the evolution of complex traits in early animal lineages.

I am super excited to announce that after a tumultuous period of uncertainty, KU MARC marc.ku.edu has been awarded another five years of funding! news.ku.edu/news/article....

KU awarded $2.2 million NIH research career training grant renewal

For almost 30 years, the Office for Advancing Success in Science at KU has provided opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research through grant support from the National Institutes of Health....

news.ku.edu

The deadline is near for our NSF RaMP post-bacc program BioGEM. If you know of any graduating seniors interested in doing research in EEB for a year, please encourage them to apply biogem.ku.edu/apply-biogem

Apply for BioGEM

biogem.ku.edu

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! In our lab, every day is women is science day w/ @stoilovamarina.bsky.social @gelatinoussting.bsky.social

This is the AI engine in Meta platforms like Insta and FB. This word is Latin for hand, and also the portmanteau that @pcart.bsky.social and I made up for the one-stop orefice of cnidarians. So if what comes out of it is more partly digested goo, rather than handy, the name remains apt.

What distinguishes those with moral courage vs. those who choose to look the other way? This article came out a few years ago but it is an inspiring read and very relevant to today's times (gift link). www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/o...

Opinion | The Japanese Man Who Saved 6,000 Jews With His Handwriting (Published 2018)

nytimes.com

So here’s to making 2026 a better year. For science. For our country. For the American people. We have the momentum. The resistance is growing. Let’s make 2026 the year we turned the tide.

After three months away @mblscience.bsky.social I return to the lab with these notes welcoming me back. It’s nice to know I was missed.

"Saving Science by the Sea" – a piece on the importance of marine laboratories in advancing biomedical science, including the beginning of the Meselson-Stahl collaboration that ultimately elucidated the process of DNA replication: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Saving science by the sea

As funding for science tightens across the United States, attention has turned to pressures faced by universities and biomedical research institutions. An often overlooked part of the nation’s science...

science.org

When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)

🪼Happy World Jellyfish Day! These brainless, boneless, and bloodless beauties play an important role in our ocean ecosystems. youtube.com/shorts/KRi9y...

🪼Happy World Jellyfish Day! #shorts

YouTube video by Monterey Bay Aquarium

youtube.com

Every day, when I walk past this sign, I feel overwhelming gratitude for being able to spend my sabbatical here.

Enjoying the view from the lab @mblscience.bsky.social. Sabbaticals are nice 😀.

Good news! KU's IRACDA program was reinstated! We are now taking applications for postdocs. Please spread the word. sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Sear...

Congrats Marina!

Marina Stoilova@stoilovamarina.bsky.social · 11mo ago

First, first-author paper alert! “Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social academic.oup.com/icb/advance-... Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below! 🦑🧪

All hands on deck. I don't know how to get this across to the majority on SCOTUS, but speaking up now is critical. They do read newspapers I assume.

Jenna Norton@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · last yr.

On Thursday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to grant them a stay on the Massachusetts vs Kennedy/ APHA vs NIH ruling. This decision will occur on the shadow docket, with no formal hearing.

Yep!

Jacquelyn Gill@jacquelyngill.bsky.social · last yr.

I’m thinking today about all the women doing DEI work in universities, and how all of our canceled grants and shuttered initiatives means that not only are we losing the time we’ve already put in, we’re now even more behind our male peers who stayed focused on their research.