New preprint alert from the Watanabe lab!! Have you wondered what microglia are surveying with their motile processes? Have you wondered what happens to proteolytic organelles that are stuck in axons? Check this out! Microglia are the garbage man! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Microglia extract neuronal proteolytic organelles via skoupocytosis

Neurons face unique challenges in maintaining protein homeostasis due to their tortuous morphology and extended processes. Proteolytic organelles are typically transported retrogradely towards their s...

biorxiv.org

On my way home after a memorable Cell Biology of the Neuron GRC and some sightseeing. It was an honor to chair the meeting with Gipi Schiavo, soak in some amazing science, catch up with friends and colleagues and make new connections.

This is why we fund basic science. You never know from what little curiosity will derive the tools that enable greatness.

TK (Takashi DY) Kozai@bioniclab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🪼 Your tax dollars paid a scientist to squeeze jellyfish through cheesecloth. Osamu Shimomura processed tens of thousands on an NSF grant to understand why they glow. He found a protein that glowed green under UV light. Called it "green protein." Nobody cared. For decades.

NIH funded peeps: This is insane and coming for us.

If their goal is to choke off economic advantages from the US’s university system it’s hard to think of a more effective way. Scientists and other academics come to the US to study— then stay in the US often via green cards, to start companies, do unique work, and contribute to the US economy.

Green Card Seekers Must Leave U.S. to Apply, Trump Administration Says

nytimes.com

Being a publicly funded scientist in 2026

Nothing like waiting to get a score on a grant that I count as among the best and most creative work we’ve ever done to question all my life decisions.

And an absolutely spectacular splashdown to end the day! We all needed this win!

Today I was reminded again of challenges for women in professional settings. In a meeting, a male colleague alone was acknowledged for work that we both perform. The few women in the room immediately noticed and exchanged glances. I wish for a time when everyone would notice (and speak up).

It’s brutal in academia right now. A lot is out of our control, but it doesn’t cost anything to remember that there are humans behind papers and grants…reviewers, program officials and funders can be more empathetic in the face of unprecedented chaos in the US scientific enterprise.

Well some of us are. Many top neuro journals straight up desk reject model organism papers nowadays. And if you want to get fast, detailed and precise mechanistic answers - some of these are still the best systems.

Science Magazine@science.org · 6mo ago

An analysis of published papers on eight widely studied “model” organisms suggests work on them is fading, but not everyone is worried. https://scim.ag/3PaOvIs

It is impossible to avoid the realization of where we are as a country today, no matter how much we’d like to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the violence is not directly impacting our lives. Until it does.

If you / your lab / your institution rely on NIH funding, you need to read this and understand how this is one of many changes affecting you. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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.

nature.com

🧪 An EMBO Meeting on Axon Biology in Okinawa, Japan Iconic science at an amazing venue. Please join us! EMBO | COB Workshop on Axonal degeneration and regeneration meetings.embo.org/event/26-axo...

Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n... 1/3

The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left

“We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.

statnews.com

A superb summary of why our investment in fundamental science fuels stunning advances in medical treatments 🧪

Saloni@scientificdiscovery.dev · 9mo ago

New post! There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost. Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end. www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...

Having these two headlines juxtaposed only underscores the awfulness of this year

before I started my lab, I asked several senior PIs what their one piece of advice would be and PI pointedly said: “Know when to drop a project.” And that advice has been invaluable in my lab. There are always other projects to follow up on, dropping one isn’t a failure in and of itself.

Arjun Raj@arjunraj.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Blog post: Just quit Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it. open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...

An essential development over the past decade-plus is that the ignorant went from feeling chastened when their ignorance was revealed to banding together and deciding that, actually, they were right. They might disagree at times, but they agreed that ignorance itself was an indicator of trust.

What a year! But grateful for the good things in life, which includes good people in my life, work that is fulfilling, warmth of a fireplace, some downtime over the holidays, waking up without an alarm, and furry companions.

In a year beset by funding and visa uncertainties, sheer chaos, where some still don’t know whether they have a future here-this group keeps surging ahead driven by curiosity. Grateful to work with a talented & wonderful group! Our annual tri-lab party with @samerhattar.bsky.social and Haiqing Zhao

🚨Job Alert plz RT! Johns Hopkins Psych & Brain Sciences is looking for a new colleague using behavioral or computational approaches to study cognition! We are excited about many areas of (esp higher) cognition in human adults, children, or nonhuman animals Open-rank apply.interfolio.com/178146

PSA: "calm down" is not a productive way to start a discussion, esp with people who have been traumatized by chaos and bad faith actions in a system they must keep navigating. information good, condescension not so much

“THIS is what we should be monitoring and protecting. The who and the how and the why of applying priorities beyond the study section evaluation.”

Drug Monkey@drugmonkey.bsky.social · 10mo ago

In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...

I agree what matters is how funding priorities are set, and by whom. Institute directors must be hired based on expertise/ experience, not partisan politics, or funding priorities AND DECISIONS will reflect ideology. The system already allows this, but one can read intention into making this easier

Drug Monkey@drugmonkey.bsky.social · 10mo ago

In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...

No more paylines at the NIH grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

And I’m a big fan of Turing, von Neumann, Shannon, Metcalfe, Hinton, Sejnowski, and all the other algorithmic and computation people. No shade. But data limits still limit understanding of the brain. That’s why the #NIH US BRAIN Init was so important: public investment made new tools.

Same for neuroscience. The lack of ability to measure many neurons’ activity, perturb them, and measure intracellular processes and connections is what limits understanding the brain. The key barriers are not algorithms or AI. 🧪#neuroscience 🧠🤖 #MLSky

It is a good night for democracy…

Submitted two NIH grants this month-floated off like messages in the bottle in the ocean. No idea if anyone would read them one day….