The 14th TGF-β Family Conference hosted by @faseborg.bsky.social in Porto (July 26-30) was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with longtime colleagues, collaborators, and alumni! The TT Lab presented 4 posters and 2 talks. A port cellar tour and fado performance rounded out the trip🍷🎶 #TGFbSRC

Enjoying our 2nd night at @faseborg.bsky.social TGF-β Family in Development and Disease conference in Porto, Portugal! #TGFbSRC #TGFbSRC2026

We are excited to share our latest publication in JBC, which elucidates the role of heparan sulfate in erythroferrone-mediated BMP inhibition! Check out our findings here: www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Erythroferrone antagonism of BMPs is governed by a composite heparin-binding motif

Iron homeostasis is regulated by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, which induces hepcidin to negatively regulate serum iron levels and iron import. After a major blood loss event, developing...

jbc.org

We had not one, but two send-off meals for our graduate student Ella and our postdoc Lucija. We wish them both the best in their scientific careers!

Recently, our grad students and undergrad, led by Melissa, went to Loveland Intermediate School for Science Day to get the next generation excited about science! They taught the students how to make their own ice cream, and showed them how we make flash frozen ice cream dots with LN2 🥶😋

In March, the Thompson Lab celebrated Pi Day (3/14, the TT/π Lab’s unofficial holiday) and St. Patrick’s Day!

Congratulations to Dr. Eleanor Mast on the successful defense of her dissertation! She is starting her new position as a postdoctoral researcher in the Kruse Lab at Harvard Medical School and we are very excited for her.

Congratulations to Dr. Drew Howard @drewhow.bsky.social on the successful defense of his dissertation! He started his new position as a postdoctoral researcher in the Banks Lab @bankslab.bsky.social at Beth Israel Deaconess this year and we are very excited for him.

Proud moment for our group! 🎉 📢 Tom will give a talk on Dec 10, 2025 as part of the prestigious NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (oir.nih.gov/wals/2025-20...) 🎥 To learn more about TGF-β signaling and therapeutic opportunities, join the live stream 2–3 PM ET at videocast.nih.gov

20 years of wonderful science and Tom’s birthday — endless reasons to celebrate! 🎂🥳🍾 Cheers to Tom and to the TT lab’s 20th anniversary!

We’re so proud of our grad student Melissa for giving an amazing talk at the 75th Annual Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association in Lombard, IL!🙌 She shared her work on SOSTDC1 which mediates both BMP and Wnt pathways - beautiful science at the intersection of structure and signaling!🔝👏

The 14th International BMP Conference at University of Pennsylvania (May 2–6, 2025) was a fantastic gathering of the BMP community! TT Lab contributed 6 posters and 3 talks. We’re especially proud of our first-year grad student Amy who presented on state-of-the-art de novo ligand traps! 👏💪🔝

SEBM Council Meeting in Charleston, SC ☀️ We’re also thrilled to congratulate our grad student Drew on becoming one of SEBM’s trainee councillors! 🎉👏

An active week for the TT lab! ✨ While last Friday (3.14), we celebrated Pi Day with delicious pies 🥧 and homemade ice cream🍦 this Thursday, our grad students Melissa and Drew took science beyond the lab joining Science Day at Loveland Intermediate School to inspire next generation of scientists! 🧪🔬