Postdoc diary, day 3: I ran 24 PCRs today and it seemed a lot. Oh how the times have changed.

Another great science appointment is coming up with Sharon Cantor and @albertociccia.bsky.social. Join us live on Tuesday, January 13 at 5pm (Rome) / 11am (NYC). Zoom link: uniroma1.zoom.us/j/95149984403 To join our community, register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Update: made it through without mixing the samples in the magnetic beads and the ones in the agarose beads 😇

Read our latest work - a comprehensive review on how DNA secondary structures affect replication. Very proud of Adi, Maria and Billie for their monumental effort. They've covered a large body of literature while proposing updated models. Open Access in DNA Repair: doi.org/10.1016/j.dn...

Postdoc diary, day 2: I told my lab mate “I’ll do two separate IPs tomorrow” and she told me “wow, you’re really feeling the Christmas spirit” 😅🎅

Starting a new daily series. The Postdoc Diary. Postdoc diary, day 1: today, as I entered the lab, I was listening to a podcast that had me dying laughing, my PI walked in and I just laughed in his face for two minutes straight. I think he appreciated the morning joy! 🤣

Congrats to @susankilgas.bsky.social and all other authors on this fantastic publication! Make sure to check it out.

🧬 Calling grad students & postdocs in genome stability/oncology: don’t forget to register for the 2026 Gordon Research Seminar runs Feb 28–Mar 1, Ventura, CA. Keynote: @chowdhurylab.bsky.social. Abstracts due Nov 23, 2025. 🔗 Sign up here: www.grc.org/dna-damage-m...

Terminations of active NSF grants have overwhelmingly targeted STEM education specifically.

This is terrifying. But also they really killed it with the graphics 🤣

📣 New paper from the lab 📣 showing how the CST complex inhibits end resection during DNA double-strand break repair! Congrats to all authors.

I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at @statnews.com about how it feels to see opportunities shrink after finding out that the HGF HHMI postdoctoral competition has been canceled this year. Have a read here. www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/h...

My friend and fellow Swiftie @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social's story: "Molecular biologist Chiara Masnovo spent weeks filling out an application for a research fellowship earlier this year — taking it over the finish line as she was 38 weeks pregnant and starting a new job."

In other news, officially got hooded today! Thank you to my advisor Sergei Mirkin and all my other mentors and mentees. Baby’s first doctoral hooding too!

Having a hard time processing this. HHMI is pausing all competitions. Very demoralizing for early career scientists like me @hhmi.org

Please see our latest paper on the role of EXO1 in meiosis: "EXO1 promotes the meiotic MLH1-MLH3 endonuclease through conserved interactions with MLH1, MSH4 and DNA". Congratulations to both first authors, Megha Roy and Aurore Sanchez and thanks to all our collaborators!

I am SO GOOD at this “taking it easier” thing! Jokes aside starting next week my WFH time will massively increase because my body is toast and this baby needs rest.

Before being pregnant I had never realized how much of an active job being a bench scientist is 😂

The Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah is sponsoring the Rising Stars in Genetics and Genomics symposium! - We are seeking nominations bu June 1. - September 18-19, 2025 - Please share with the star postdocs that you know. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Taking a small break from bench work because my feet hurt — I guess that’s what being 35 weeks pregnant will do to you! Reading a great review on replication stress response by @albertociccia.bsky.social and @vindignilab.bsky.social ✨

How do so many students get to grad school without a reference manager? I am an unabashed @zotero.org zealot. Students are practically sobbing tears of joy when they find that there is a FREE tool that will organize and label PDFs, allow markup, and insert bibliographies!

SAVE THE DATE! The next EMBO | EMBL Symposium on 'DNA replication and genome maintenance: from basic biology to disease' will be held October 20-23, 2026.   Organized by Helle Ulrich (IMB), Johannes Walter (Harvard) and Anja Groth (Danish Cancer Institute). www.embl.org/about/info/c...

Sometimes while I am on the bus getting to work I wonder why on earth I’m hearing so many ambulances and then I realize I work by 4 major hospitals 😅

The learning curve AND imposter syndrome at the start of a postdoc are not a joke! Any advice on how to navigate them?

Congratulations to Jenna Whalen on her Nature Cancer paper out today-a distinct take on nicks and their toxicity! rdcu.be/d60Td

My lab is looking to hire a Postdoc to study mechanisms of DNA repair in chromatin using biochemical, biophysical, and structural biology approaches! Feel free to share with anyone you think may be interested. jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...

Golgi is the post office of the cell.

Writing two proposals on two things at the same time is quite the trip.

What’s your first experiment of 2025?

Julia and I’s review on triplex H-DNA is out! Head there to learn more about this fantastic structure. Thank you Sergei for your guidance.

🌟 I am beyond excited to share that this week I have started a new chapter as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School, working in Dipanjan Chowdhury's lab! To more genome maintenance research! Stay tuned for a lab Bluesky account 🧬

Kaitlin Olson is not gonna lie. Our very first guest is none other than the honorary Philadelphian and fellow mom. Full episode drops on all platforms tomorrow at 12PM ET!

Mcm10 — an important replication and elongation factor, counteracts repeat instability and ensures survival of yeast cells containing large homopurine homopyrimidine repeats, such as GAA associated with Friedreich’s Ataxia and AAGGG associated with CANVAS. 🧬 @natureportfolio.bsky.social

Thank you Sergei! It was my pleasure and honor to be in your lab and conduct this project. 🧬

Ok everyone — what are good news podcasts? I have a new bus commute and I’m looking for something optimally daily and in the 20-30 min range. Thanks 🙏 ☺️ #NewsSky

I created a simple flow chart to help my lab trainees choose the most appropriate stats test in Prism (*for single-factor comparisons only). Feel free to share with your group if you think it could be helpful first start.

I think it’s time for my mid postdoc orientation day tea — can’t wait to go in in person tomorrow!

Your Mass General Brigham password may not contain: Words associated with Boston or Boston sports teams, including non-standard spelling variations. LOL 😅

Starting my postdoc tomorrow — where did the last 5 years go?! 😳

Happy "grad school recommendation letter writing weekend" to those who celebrate!

1/ 🧵 Free resources for scientists 💡 Covering research skills, careers, #SciComm, leadership, activism and more, everything in this thread appears on our Learning Resources page, with tips for researchers and academics at any career stage. #AcademicChatter #ECRChat https://buff.ly/4f8vIpk

Starting my postdoc on Monday — what are things you wish you knew/did when you first started your postdoc? Any input welcome 😌

Today is my last day at Tufts Biology — to say that I am experiencing mixed emotions is an understatement. I am so excited for the next chapter of my career but so sad to leave my PhD lab and colleagues behind. Reflections to follow 🥼😌

New updates to the upcoming DNA repair/Genome Stability conferences over 2024/2025. Please let me know if you have meetings to add: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Great new paper on nicks and trinucleotide repeat instability from the lab! 🥼