Another excellent position at UT Dallas, this time in the Biological Science Dept: jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/30702 Our Neuroscience and Biological Sciences faculty are closely intertwined and collaborative creating a great place to launch your independent lab!

Happy to share that the first data paper from my lab is out! We find that developmental exposure to PBDE flame retardants drives persistent and sex specific effects on mast cells in and ex vivo www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Has anyone self-built an apparatus for the The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time task, or know a company that would make it for less that $6K? TIA!

Life-saving idea! Pass it on!

Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

My quote of the day Not everyone has been a bully or the victim of bullies, but everyone has seen bullying, and seeing it, has responded to it by joining in or objecting, by laughing or keeping silent, by feeling disgusted or feeling interested. Octavia Butler

Waking up to learn that the EPA office of Research and Development, which supports environmental science and informs environmental policymaking has been eliminated. #NoWords www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Proposal recommended for funding! Which means we have a fresh, 3-year-funded position available for a computational postdoc interested in studying dynamics of social interactions in rats, with simultaneous Neuropixels data to follow 🐀🐀🐀 Proper job ad pending, but email me if interested!

A discussion of the use of animals in research. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSvk... 1/n (Warning: Rant coming)

Please share!! NIH funding for studies that are conducted using animal models - listen to the conversation at the 7/7 FDA meeting and COMMENT on the results of the meeting by July 14th www.fda.gov/news-events/... FDA-NIH Workshop: Reducing Animal Testing - 07/07/2025 | FDA

Lastly, Thank you to NCSU Center for Human Health and the Environment for being the first to support our baby lab with a pilot grant! ❤️

I also wanted to thank our collabs and support: Heather Patisaul (who was kind to share PBDE sol. in early 2023 so I could get started in a still empty lab), Heather Stapleton (a true flame retardant expert) and Leslie Sombers, who’s lab collected crucial FSCV data.

This has implications not only across tissues and systems-mast cells are widely distributed in our bodies, incl the brain, where they play important physiological pathological roles-but also all hematopoietic cell lines, potentially explaining many of the negative effects of developm PBDE exp 4/n

We found that, PBDE exposed adults M+F show blunted responses to allergy-like challenges, associated with a deficit in mast cells’ (MCs) capacity to sustain histamine release. These deficits are also present in MCs derived from adult bone marrow, suggesting reprogramming of hematopoietic precursors

This is especially concerning for developing individuals, as they can be exposed via placenta, milk, and are more exposed to contaminated dust as toddlers. 3/n

PBDEs are flame retardants once widely used in consumer products. Although phased out (2000’s) due to multiple reported negative effects (including neuro, metabolic and reproductive), widespread environmental contamination and human exposure is still a huge problem 2/n

PBDEs are flame retardants once widely used in consumer products. Although phased out (2000’s) due to multiple reported negative effects (including neuro, metabolic and reproductive), widespread environmental contamination and human exposure is still a huge problem 2/n

The 1st manuscript from my lab is online! This study, led by 2nd y PhD student Jared Franges (w/ key contributions from grad and 4! UG students), shows that developmental exposure to PBDEs drives persistent impairment of histamine+serotonin release by mast cells www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... 1/n

Grant writing is fun! Don’t get me wrong. I dread the stress linked to the outcome. But the thrill of having dedicated time to think about new ideas and learn mind blowing discoveries feels SO amazing! Maybe more than a scientist I am just a really good dreamer 😬 #catpics just because.

Companion soils notebook series finished! Hope these inspire wise, funny, and insightful words.

Join the 22,339 people who have joined to support our NIH colleagues. Let's get this to 50,000 RT

Good morning, dorks!...Today's your chance to stand up with us and 23,380 other proud science stans by signing your name to our Open Letter in Support of the 300+ NIH heroes of the historic #BethesdaDeclaration. Be historic with us! zurl.co/Jdx4s#BethesdaDeclaration #StandUpForScience #NIHLoveLetter #GetInDorks

Null results aren't dead ends, they're vital data. Submit to FASEB BioAdvances' Null Findings Call for Papers by Dec. 31, 2025. Let's make science more transparent and reproducible. 🔗 buff.ly/3ocvwtm #CallForPapers #NullFindings

Happening NOW: Senate hearing on NIH research www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-r...

🚨 NIH head Bhattacharya is about to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee. We'll be keeping a close watch. Follow along for updates HERE⬇️ (🧵):

Hello friends, our 🆕 lab preprint w/ @jordanmarrocco.bsky.social is here; please enjoy! Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #Neuroscience #Brain #STEM, #OpenScience #Neurosky #BrainResearch

Can anyone recommend a good supplier of TMT (fox odor for innate fear responses in rodents)? TIA!

Join us tonight! naturalsciences.org/calendar/eve...

Brain night at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is tomorrow! Come join us in person or watch online on YouTube! I will be sharing exciting discoveries about how mast cells can shape brain and behavior 🤩🤩 naturalsciences.org/calendar/eve...

Ever wonder what the enduring side effects of Prozac are? Check this out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Cannot recommend @earth-fm.bsky.social enough in these troubled times

My lab is hiring 2 postdocs on an NIH-funded grant characterizing molecular & cellular changes in the human brain across menopausal transition. Other neuroepigenomics projects are also available. We plan to hire a wet lab scientist and a bioinformatician. Please RT! kundakoviclab.com More info 👇

Another great job at my favorite university: UNC-Chapel, as new Director of the UNC Macromolecular Interactions Facility. Our outstanding Director is retiring. The Director is responsible for 1) core facility management, 2) training, & 3) graduate teaching 1/n unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/297...

🚨 New lab paper!🚨 A dream study of mine for nearly 20 yrs not possible until now thanks to NIH 🧠 funding & 1st-author lead @seeber.bsky.social We tracked hippocampal activity as people walked memory-guided paths & imagined them again. Did brain patterns reappear?🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The immune system does more than fight infections—it shapes how we think, feel, and behave! Excited to share exciting new discoveries on how immune-environment interactions play a key role in #mentalhealth at #BrainNight on April 17 at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.Join us in person or online! 🔗

Postdoc position at the University of Adelaide for research on reptilian brain evolution in changing environments. Applications due by March 25, 2025. Learn more: https://careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/515720/arc-grantfunded-researcher-a. #postdoc

Spotlight: Sex is complicated. It depends on genes, hormones and environment. And it is separate from the human construct of gender. Learn about the neuroscience of sex differentiation/differences in Ch11 Sex. Behav. & Devel. by @nduquewilckens.bsky.social #SABV #neuroscience tinyurl.com/itobnch11

How the brain gets rid of its chemical waste through the glymphatics during sleep, via blood vessel oscillations, regulated by norepinephrine. Impeded by Ambien! www.cell.com/cell/abstrac... www.science.org/content/arti...

Great.

I need advise! I am a #newPI starting my third year as an assist prof, have some preliminary data but project is fairly new and addresses a new target. Should I aim for R21 or R01? Have heard mixed advise in this regard. TIA!!!

Hey #ACNP2024 attendees, UAB Neurobiology is looking to recruit 4 faculty in the areas of addiction neuroscience, iPSC/organoids, and neurodevelopmental disorders. All searches are open rank. Specific ads are forthcoming, but you can also apply at this link! uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/18636

Tidbit from the #ACNP2024 women's luncheon: To be an effective leader, you need to develop the skill of having difficult conversations. This is done through practice.

We found that maternal exposure to FM550, chemical flame retardant mixture used in furniture and electronics (it’s everywhere, they are widely found in #humanmilk 😱) results in persistent #mastcell hypersensitivity, exacerbating inflamm and sensitivity to social deficits in response to allergens!

Hi #ACNP2024! I’m excited to share some of my lab’s work today! We focus on mast cells, effector immune cells with increasing roles in brain function and behavior, as a link between early life exposures and lifelong behavioral susceptibilities. Say hello at my poster today #T81 #newPI

One of the best things about ACNP is to catch up with so many amazing scientists and friends that I deeply admire!

Great to catch up with @nduquewilckens.bsky.social at #ACNP2024! Catch our posters tonight at T306 (me, oxytocin) and T81 (Natalia, mast cells)

We made the news! Check out this article to learn a little more about what this open textbook is all about: psychology.osu.edu/news/ohio-st...

Sharing a first draft of my specific aims page feels almost as vulnerable as admitting my teenage crush in front of a new class. Let’s go #newPI #R01dreams

Mast cells are a whole new world, friends.