Tessera

Eric (“VJ”) Rubenstein

@vjrubenstein.bsky.social

Lucky me, lucky mud. Cell biology. Protein quality control. Yeast. PUI in Muncie, Indiana. Survivor and Traitors superfan He/him Views my own, not my employer's

329 Posts1327 Follower 1476 Folgt

Wyoming Wormboy @wyomingwormboy.bsky.social · 2d ago

With most 1st-year PhD students starting graduate programs this month, it seemed like a good time to address the most important dilemma faced by many incoming PhD students—how to choose rotation labs. Although perhaps obvious to those with experience, many of the key factors are often overlooked.

Choosing rotations and a dissertation lab - Help, I'm a Scientist!

By David Fay Choosing a lab in which to carry out your PhD is admittedly one of the more important decisions you’ll make in your early scientific career. But it’s important to have some perspective. F...

helpimascientist.com

Lina Dahlberg @linadahlberg.bsky.social · 2w ago

Proud of this international collaboration between a public PUI in the US and an R1 in Denmark. Research can and should build friendships and breakdown borders. Also, we learn about the (molecular) networks we didn’t recognize before! doi.org/10.1093/g3jo... @genetics-gsa.bsky.social

Validate User

doi.org

Eric (“VJ”) Rubenstein @vjrubenstein.bsky.social · 2w ago

Bittersweet to say farewell to MS student James Avaala. He contributed to many projects & trained many students. I'll never forget his hard work over break (despite my insistence to take time off) to complete expts for an article revision. Next: PhD @ FSU! Last pic: ceremonial dumping of tubes!

professor (VJ) and student (James) after graduation. James is in his regalia.

Student (James) is presenting his thesis research at the Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of Science

James is posing in front of a subset of the enormous number of samples he has generated during his master's studies.

James is ceremonially dumping his waste tubes in the lab garbage

Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 3w ago

PHASE ONE of our fight against the OMB rule is complete and YOU ALL SHOWED UP!!! HALF A MILLION COMMENTS is WILD. We absolutely exceeded our goal of 100,000! So, what happens next??? Welcome to PHASE TWO: Pressure and Preparation! 1/x

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 3w ago

“It could take at least a year for OMB to respond to the comments and amend the draft rule”. Friends, this is a direct result of our collective action. The OMB Rule that would require political review of grants has prompted at least 50K comments. Thanks to all who commented, and you still can.

A Proposed Rule Would Politicize Medical Research. Scientists Are Not Happy.

In tens of thousands of comments, researchers, doctors and others warned the rule could hamper progress on important health issues.

nytimes.com

Mark Peifer (He, him)@peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 4w ago

Here is the comment I posted commenting on the OMB Rules about federal funding. My is jut an example: It's key to personalize it and this tool from @faseborg.bsky.social helps one do so. Do it NOW--the future of American science is at stake www.faseb.org/science-poli...

I am a Professor of Biology at UNC-Chapel Hill and have run an NIH-funded research lab there for 33 years. The rule changes proposed by OMB would negatively affect our work and that of my colleagues in multiple ways and weaken American science at a time when international competition is accelerating.
I am especially concerned about section §200.205 which would require that a senior political appointee personally review and approve every discretionary grant, with authority to override peer review. I have reviewed grants for both NIH and NSF. The peer review system developed here is the envy of my colleagues around the world. Experts in the field assess the significance of the work, and its likely impact, and this is then used to rank grants for funding. It has made America the leader in biomedical research. Replacing this with review by political appointees without expertise in the areas of study will reduce the impact of the grants funded. I also am concerned that the sheer number of grants will overwhelm the ability of the relatively small number of political appointees’ ability to review all of the proposals, thus reducing grant funding.
The impact of this new policy will be amplified by section §200.340 , which would allow grant termination in the middle of a funding cycle simply due to a decision, likely made by a political appointee, that the agencies priorities have changed. We hire personnel, PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and technicians, based on the awarded grant funding. Allowing immediate termination where there was no noncompliance will leave people in our labs subject to immediate job loss, without the time to plan for a transition. This will further discourage young people for entering this important enterprise at a time when the need for and benefits of science have never been greater.

I am also concerned about Section §200.454, which would make Journal subscriptions unallowable. This will have a significant negative impact on lab alumni who are faculty members at some of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, where the institution cannot maintain subscriptions to all needed journals. These small labs train the future generation of scientists. Without access to key journal publications, their work will be less impactful.

Section §200.461 would prohibit use of grant funds for publication costs without prior approval. Our lab publishes two or more research papers a year. I understand the concern over rising APCs at some for-profit journals, but a blanket prohibition will slow our rate of publication at a time when international competitors do not need to do so, reducing the competitiveness of American science.
Section §200.220 puts very severe regulations on foreign collaborations. Our group has had or currently has international collaborators in Canada, Germany, France, Israel and the Netherlands. These have allowed us to take advantage of approaches and technologies in our collaborators’ labs and have led to important discoveries regarding signaling pathways important in cancer and the mechanisms cancer cells use to leave tumors and metastasize. All are currently reviewed internally for any security concerns. Removing or substantially hindering our ability to collaborate will reduce the impact of our work.
Under section §200.202, programs proposed by funding agencies much must align with administration priorities. Once again, this sort of top-down management by political appointees who are not well versed in the relevant science is likely to lead to decisions that are less well founded than if programs are designed by experts in each field. It will also lead to uncertainty, as new Administrations with new priorities take office. When we write a grant to NIH, we already need to provide strong scientific justification of the significance of…

Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦@merz.bsky.social · 3w ago

You've still got three hours to submit a comment. The why and how are in Ginexi's article below. The fast and easy way is to use this tool, from FASEB:

Defend Research

We advance health and well-being by promoting research and education in biological and biomedical sciences through collaborative advocacy and service to our societies and their members.

faseb.org

Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦@merz.bsky.social · 3w ago

There are only a few hours left to comment on the proposed OMB rule that would eviscerate American science. This is the single best summary, and guidance for how to write a comment, that I have seen. PLEASE submit something, even if it is only 2 or 3 paragraphs.

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 4w ago

Dfm1 promotes Ste24-dependent translocon quality control https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.01.735875v1

American Society for Cell Biology @ascbiology.bsky.social · 4w ago

White House draft regulations could reshape federally funded research, including peer review and international collaborations. Learn what's proposed and why it matters. Comments due July 13. https://www.ascb.org/science-policy/white-house-draft-regulations-could-reshape-american-science/

Eric (“VJ”) Rubenstein @vjrubenstein.bsky.social · 4w ago

Bittersweet to say farewell to Katrina, who performed undergrad research in my lab for 4 yrs! I'm so proud of the way Katrina has persevered through challenging times, in & out of the lab. I can't wait to see the great things she does in the future! Last pic is the Ceremonial Dumping of the Tubes!

Mentor (VJ Rubenstein) and graduating undergraduate researcher Katrina standing in front of the Rubenstein Lab at Ball State. The white board behind Katrina says "We love yeast. We dislike clogged translocons." Amen to that!

Lab picture after lab lunch: Clockwise from Left: Mentor (VJ/me), James, Elva, Adam, Kaikeyi, Katrina

Katrina posing with the membrane from one of her first ever western blots

Katrina is dumping her old tubes in the trash

Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️@snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 4w ago

Young, Brazilian football fan being bullied for his hair gets words on encouragement from Erling Haaland on his birthday: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmil...

Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 4w ago

Me relentlessly harassing my colleagues for feedback at every step of grant writing

Existential Comics @existentialcomics.com · last mo.

Okay fine but I'd like to see how the Belgians would do against us in one of OUR sports. Like beer pong. Or lawn mower racing. Or hot dog eating.

Eric (“VJ”) Rubenstein @vjrubenstein.bsky.social · last mo.

Excited to share our new preprint! The derlin Dfm1 promotes Ste24-dependent translocon quality control! I'm so proud of the many master's, undergrad, & high school students who contributed to this project over many yrs. Very grateful to collab w/ Robb Tomko! (1/4) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Dfm1 promotes Ste24-dependent translocon quality control

Proteins stalled during endoplasmic reticulum translocation clog Sec61 channels and require translocon quality control (TQC) mechanisms for clearance. Genetic screens implicated the derlin Dfm1 in TQC...

biorxiv.org

Eric (“VJ”) Rubenstein @vjrubenstein.bsky.social · last mo.

Congrats to MS student Kaikeyi & team on our latest #micropublication! We validated & extended results obtained by undergrads in our cell bio CURE @ BSU showing the E4 Ufd2 helps cells resist proteotoxic stress. Grateful to work with this team of TAs (James, Chance, Joseph) & colleague (Jason)!

microPublication Biology@micropub7n.bsky.social · last mo.

Ubiquitin-elongating enzyme Ufd2 confers resistance to hygromycin B in Saccharomyces cerevisiae #micropublication #biology #data #caltechlibrary #Scerevisiae #PhenotypeData #UndergraduateResearchExper https://micropublication.org/journals/biology/micropub-biology-002152

microPublication Biology @micropub7n.bsky.social · last mo.

Abby Buchwalter @abbybuch.bsky.social · 2mo ago

After some good funding news, we are hiring! Looking for a postdoc to join our team and lead our explorations into transposon repression by the nuclear lamina. Check out the full ad on our lab website at buchwalter-lab.github.io/postdoc-ad.pdf + contact me to learn more!

Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · last mo.

Our Special Issue: Cell Biology of the Nucleus has been building over the last few months. In the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting all the articles in this issue. First up, we have an interview with our Guest Editor @abbybuch.bsky.social: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... #CellBio #nucleus

Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦@merz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is jaw-dropping.

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology@natsmb.nature.com · 2mo ago

New online: Structures of protein folding intermediates on the ribosome

Saccharomyces Genome Database @yeastgenome.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our #SGD booth at last night's #Yeast26 poster session! Especially our best bud who's clearly ready for some serious budding yeast research 🐕✨ Who needs AirBud when you've got a YeastBud? 🧬💙 🧪 #SGD #YeastResearch

The bumbling biochemist (Bri Bibel)@bumblingbiochemist.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We are getting crystals! But are currently are very limited in microscopes. Any suggestions for the cheapest thing we could get that would still allow us to see and harvest? Thanks in advance!

Isabel @isabelott.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“In other words, unwritten science is not just incomplete; it simply does not exist for the purposes of the field. When you look at it this way, the job of a scientist - having ideas, testing them, and persuading others they are right - turns out to be, fundamentally, an act of writing.”

Ran Blekhman@blekhman.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Just start writing. My new post: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Sally G Pasion @sgpombe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Congratulations to #KarenArndt #UniversityOfPittsburgh presenting the #Yeast26 Lee Hartwell lecture and sharing the journey from #RTF1 to the #PafComplex (#Paf1C) (leaving me scrambling to learn about #AnchorAway). @genetics-gsa.bsky.social

Mike Wiser @drmikewiser.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My primary academic conference is in a few weeks. I have given a good number of conference presentations over the years, and possibly moderated even more often than I've presented. Advice for anyone who wants it, in a thread:

Eric (“VJ”) Rubenstein @vjrubenstein.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Fond farewell to UGrad researcher Katie! It's been a joy to learn w Katie for 2 yrs. She's contributed to several projects. Excited to follow her future success! Next stop: Eli Lilly! Pic 2: Ceremonial dumping of the tubes Pics 3/4: Fun gift from Katie- Warhol-inspired lab contamination collage😱

Professor VJ Rubenstein and Undergraduate Researcher Katie posing in the lab

Undergrad Researcher Katie ceremonially dumping her tubes as a last lab act

Professor VJ and Student Katie pose with a print of a poster that Katie made. Poster is Warhol-themed stylized colorful tiling of petri dishes with different forms of contamination.

Close up of poster depicting Warhol-themed stylized colorful tiling of petri dishes with different forms of contamination.

Leah @hoxinsocks.bsky.social · 2mo ago

😁 Proteins are some of the most lovable and charismatic squiggles one may meet in one's life! An amino menagerie! How lucky we are!

Leah @hoxinsocks.bsky.social · 2mo ago

God I love proteins!

Saccharomyces Genome Database @yeastgenome.bsky.social · 2mo ago

📚 Textbook rewrite: #Yeast reveals lysosomes get protons directly from mitochondria via membrane contacts, not from cytosol as thought. Aging breaks these contacts, causing de-acidification that disrupts autophagy & cellular function 🧬 #YeastResearch 🧪 #SGD 🔬 www.yeastgenome.org/reference/S1...

Craig Kaplan @triggerloop.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Only 102 public comments so far on the biggest threat to publicly funded science in my lifetime. Please comment if you can. I know this sounds like "vote harder" but we have to keep fighting www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...

Regulations.gov

regulations.gov

Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 2mo ago

BREAKING: New proposed OMB regulation, applying to all federal grants, requiring grant reviews by senior political appointees and re-emphasizes that "peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion". #standupforscience public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf

public-inspection.federalregister.gov