As of yesterday, second-year graduate students are no longer eligible for the NSF GRFP. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... Why?

The fact that papers get published wherein somebody dries out a hydrogel, images it with SEM, and reports some kind of porosity from that image drives me nuts! Such a fundamental misunderstanding of a material and a technique. Like trying to describe a balloon without considering air.

I am incredibly excited to share that I will be starting as an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the CBE Department at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering this fall! Ready for some Florida sunshine 😁

Finally, we'll examine this chart, the implications of which are left as an exercise to the reader. [from www.nytimes.com/interactive/... ]

Wow... I'm surprised (maybe I shouldn't be) that the official language around "discriminatory prohibitive boycott" is explicitly tied to Israel. I have also never before heard the phrase "discriminatory equity ideology," which seems to be a Trump invention to discredit the DEI acronym.

Sharing all my research via a tutorial website was the most unique idea I had during my PhD. I took advantage of my years of blogging experience via Wordpress, but it still took a lot of work. I'm glad it has connected me to scientists across the globe. Visit hydrogeldesign.org to learn more!

Last night a buddy and I were rock climbing and joking about how we have fun by "squeezing the juice out of plastic" and then I realized that's a pretty good description for my actual job #hydrogels

My funding through the IRACDA program was canceled today. All IRACDA postdoctoral training funding is ending. I have to find a new funding source or a new job this summer. The defunding of American science happening now is absurd and unprecedented.

I just read a paper that introduced the idea of a 'hydrospongel', a portmanteau of hydrogel and sponge, and I honestly can't decide if I love it or hate it. I think even if I hate it, I have to respect the audacity. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Wind and Truth is out! So excited to read this 1300-page cinder block (it's huge) #TeamAdolin

Travel Award Announcement! @lolaumich.bsky.social and @kellystevens.bsky.social have won an NIH center grant, Humanity Unlocking Biomaterials (the HUB): www.humanityunlockingbiomaterials.org

The Biomaterials Starter Pack is continuing to grow - please share with your colleagues! Self-nominate yourself to the list, we're looking for anyone working or researching within the broad scope of biomaterials either in academia or industry. go.bsky.app/DymaVAp

It is so nice to see the communities coming together here :)

Among the Cancer-related Starter Packs currently available, I didn’t find one on Tumor Microenvironment. Here, the list of who I found until now… If you want to be added, please reply below! go.bsky.app/CtQMJyW

I’ve added quite a few new polymer scientists to this starter pack over the last couple days! Check them out! #chemsky #polymersky Also, always appreciate the help in finding people! Comment/DM to be added and continue to share :) go.bsky.app/AgjxzFa

The 2024-2025 BME TT Faculty jobs list has 116 positions. #FacultySearch #BME #BMEJobsList Add a job: forms.gle/HPzAKkS1x44t... Jobs list: ericaprattlab.com/bme_jobs_list/

My recent Nature Reviews Bioengineering article on iterative design of hydrogels for diverse biomedical applications: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Hi, reintroducing myself as Bluesky gets more popular. I'm Nate Richbourg, a postdoc in the Peyton lab. I'm currently investigating how protein transport in bone marrow-mimicking biomaterials affects breast cancer dormancy and senescence. I love fundamental hydrogel science! hydrogeldesign.org

Check out our new review on engineered models of breast cancer dormancy: doi.org/10.1126/scia...

My lab is recruiting graduate students at all levels for Fall 2024 at Tufts BME. More info about my lab at peytonlab.org and use this link to learn more about Tufts BME and to apply! engineering.tufts.edu/bme/prospect...

Oh searching Bluesky for "hydrogel" is fascinating. We can do better. Ask me about hydrogels or visit my site, hydrogeldesign.org