We are thrilled to announce the 2026 Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Fellows! 40 remarkable postdocs pursuing transformative research in biological/biomedical sciences. This is the 7th Leading Edge cohort and we are so excited to welcome them! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows/

Defining psychiatric disorders is often 'fuzzy' - e.g., compulsivity is a symptom in substance addictions, OCD, hoarding disorder, et al., - which impedes diagnostics and treatment. Our newly published work examines these shared ('transdiagnostic') symptoms... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Inflammatory profiles of transdiagnostic symptom dimensions in healthy females

Psychiatric disorders are increasingly conceptualised as heterogeneous categories with transdiagnostic underlying mechanisms that cut across multiple …

sciencedirect.com

this is shocking.

Roland Hatzenpichler@environmicrobio.bsky.social · 9mo ago

“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”

The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor. The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2. www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/

thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting. now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.

As Condé Nast Folds Teen Vogue Into Vogue’s Website, NewsGuild Condemns the Plan

The union, which reps staffers, says the move was "clearly designed" to blunt the journalism of the brand, which has leaned in to progressive politics.

hollywoodreporter.com

Lex McMenamin (they/them)@lexmcmenamin.com · 9mo ago

I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day. certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.

not taking #caturday for granted as our super senior (i.e., nearly 20y old) lady gave us a proper health scare this week. (thankfully she seems to be on the mend)

Zara was an incredibly inspiring scientist, activist, and leader within our community of Leading Edge Fellows. She will be deeply missed by all those who had the pleasure of interacting with her.

Willow Coyote-Maestas@willowcoyote.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed. She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.

Incredible new work from the McKinley Lab @karalmckinley.bsky.social describing menstruating mice and stem cell renewal in the uterus! Congrats to an amazing team 🐭🧬🔬

Çağrı Çevrim@cagricevrim.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I’m thrilled to share my postdoc work and the first paper from the McKinley Lab! 🎉 @karalmckinley.bsky.social We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice. We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵

📣📣We're seeking a postdoc to join us at the @mrclmb.bsky.social to investigate neuroimmune interactomes in tumour & viral immunity. If you find fascinating & want to learn about #neuroscience & #immunology, tracing neurons, molecular biology & #flowcytometry, apply! 🧠🫁👀🩸🔬 mrc.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

Congrats to Varun, Xinhe, and the team on this very important work

Varun Warrier@vw1234.bsky.social · 10mo ago

It is now clear that more people are being diagnosed as autistic in their teens and as adults than in childhood. A prevailing theory is that those diagnosed later have "milder" form of autism, and later diagnosis entirely due to social factors.

JUST IN: Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91

Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

n.pr

Upcoming seminar: 🎓Dr Stacey Kigar @staceykigar.bsky.social @medcambridge.bsky.social 📢"Chronic stress-mediated effects on the immune system: links to mental health" 📅 1-2PM, Thur 2 October 📍JCBC @cambridgebiocampus.bsky.social buff.ly/ggnAwDO #CITIID #MedSky #ImmunoSky 🧪

Happy to share our new preprint on BBB mechanobiology on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... We describe an exciting new link between tight junctions and cell-matrix adhesions during BBB maturation and in epileptic BBB dysfunction.

Endothelial tight junctions and cell-matrix adhesions reciprocally control blood-brain barrier integrity

Brain endothelial cells (ECs) rely on mechanical cues to provide a physical barrier that protects the brain. Yet how ECs integrate forces to establish and maintain the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remain...

biorxiv.org

There are a lot more people than one might think who refuse this tech but are shamed by users. Once the space for their opinions and voices opens up, the scene will change. These stats, 18k views, are not a coincidence for example on this preprint. People want to not, yup. zenodo.org/records/1706...

Anthony Moser@anthonymoser.com · 11mo ago

in fact, some people who use these tools are *looking for permission to refuse* they're being told they HAVE TO TRY IT and they don't want to be the first one to stand up and say uh this sucks i don't want it publicly rejecting it gives permission to refuse

Check out this nice write-up of our work, out today in @natcomms.nature.com! 🧠🐁💉

Medicine at Cambridge@medcambridge.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Can mood disorders be driven by inflammation? Published today in @natcomms.nature.com, @staceykigar.bsky.social & colleagues found that chronic stress may release immune cells from bone marrow in the skull, potentially contributing to depression. buff.ly/xAz0oiS @cam.ac.uk

If you’ve ever compared unvaccinated kids to vaccinated kids, you’ve seen the former are more likely to die.

Jake Scott, MD@jakescottmd.bsky.social · 11mo ago

RFK Jr: “If you’ve ever compared an unvaccinated kid to a vaccinated kid… you see the bright eyes, the engagement, the social interactions, the curiosity. And you compare them to the child who even had one or two vaccines, and they’re completely different.“ This man is an existential threat.

One of my former students sent me an update letting me know she got into medical school and included a picture of her white coat ceremony. It made my day! Send your professors updates on what you're doing, it's a real highlight in this job.

‼️ New manuscript alert ‼️ I’m thrilled to share this work examining chronic stress-related “depression” and immune cells at the blood brain barrier: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Chronic social defeat stress induces meningeal neutrophilia via type I interferon signaling in male mice

Nature Communications - Chronic stress is a risk factor for depression, yet the mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show in mice that stress drives interferon-mediated neutrophil recruitment...

nature.com

Associate Professor position in animal physiology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (to replace me basically). An amazing permanent position at a great university! Please spread widely 🙏 www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Associate Professor in molecular/cellular animal physiology (281754) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Job title: Associate Professor in molecular/cellular animal physiology (281754), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Monday, September 1, 2025

jobbnorge.no

Not sure how many scientists here have tried Claude Code or similar command line coding assistants. I had a complicated family property tax problem that was best solved by a brute force Monte Carlo simulation approach, so I spent a few days coding up and analyzing a model with Claude Code.

An update from us here at PBS 💙

this is so beautifully done 👀🧬

Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · last yr.

New little mitosis watercolor #sciart artologica.etsy.com/listing/4346...

I spoke to Renaud Pourpe (of @lonelypipette.bsky.social fame with @epigenetique.bsky.social) about the unique challenges faced by postdocs and early-career PIs worldwide on the transition from postdoc to PI. Lots of useful advice shared (by others): www.alba.network/diversity-po... Check it out.

one cool thing about Scandinavian countries with comprehensive public health insurance is places like Denmark can do a study on… everybody and conclude that yes COVID vaccines are safe

Ken Milne MD@thesgem.bsky.social · last yr.

1.6 million people showed no statistical increase in 29 adverse events after mRNA covid vax jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #MedSky

is your workplace trying to force ai on you? is a family member giving ai too much power in their life? are you sick of billionaires destroying the environment and making life worse for everyone? here's a list of resources 10+ pages long to help you fight back: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Questioning AI Resource List

Excellent summary of major problems with companies’ focus on AI written by expert in machine learning: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/ Another g...

docs.google.com

I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science

the thing that *really* gets me about the pivot penalty is that pivoting is one of the easiest ways to escape a toxic supervisor by fleeing the "area", at least temporarily. academia is so relational and trainees have few options if their supervisors become hostile. adding costs to this one sucks.

C. Brandon Ogbunu@cbo.bsky.social · last yr.

In my latest (the start of my 2nd year as author of @undark.org's 'Selective Pressure' column), I examine the "Pivot penalty," where new data suggest that scientists are penalized when they move into a research area outside of their home area. undark.org/2025/07/03/o...

It's here! ✨ The #ExSRRF protocol paper is out 😍. Full details for merging Expansion Microscopy with our eSRRF analysis. From cells to tissue. A partnership with @puellesv.bsky.social's lab. Lead by Dominik Kylies and @hannah-superres.bsky.social + colleagues. #ExM #eSRRF ➡️ Open link: rdcu.be/euvEw

Hannah Heil@hannah-superres.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 #ExM meets #eSRRF 🔬🏄🌊 the full protocol now in ‪@natprot.nature.com‬: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Now I've looked more closely at these two recent papers in Nature, and they are both excellent examples of why we need new narratives for talking about molecular biology to non-specialists. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deciphering disordered regions controlling mRNA decay in high-throughput - Nature

Using high-throughput functional profiling, how disordered regions control mRNA stability and translation is explored.

nature.com

Alert! ... for the child development world! @fluxsociety.bsky.social @fitngin.bsky.social ‪ The Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study has released its first data wave - it’s massive. Check here: docs.hbcdstudy.org and here: nbdc-datahub.org Here’s why it matters 🧠🍼