Vietnam blew me away… but the people? Absolutely THE BEST 🇻🇳❤️

These supernumerary synapses are pruned in a proprioceptor-activity dependent manner. A cool finding was that impaired proprioceptor activity fails to induce expression of proteins in the complement signaling cascade, which we hypothesized leads to persistent intersegmental synapses.

Happy to share the my lab's latest preprint, where we investigated sensorimotor circuit formation in the developing spinal cord. We show that proprioceptive axons target motor neurons in neighboring spinal segments to give rise to intersegmental reflex responses. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

On our way to the FASEB Ion Channel Regulation Meeting! Passed by a lovely exhibition at SFO. Surprised to see it still standing! ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 @drcontrexin.bsky.social

Large-pore channels: the Transformers of membrane proteins, versatile, dramatic, and never just selective or passive conduits. Not just simple (typical) ion channels, they’re molecular multitaskers we’re beginning to comprehend. Don’t miss the first-ever special issue dedicated to this!

Announcing the new SGP Rising Star Travel Awards for students and postdocs. The $500 awards can be used for meetings held up to 1 year from notification. Apply today! Deadline: 1 August 2025 sgpweb.org/awards/risingstar

The real war is on free thought in the United States. Scientists must fight alongside other academics.

Very cool study! I suspect we're only beginning to understand the importance of communication between myocytes and the vasculature. The more we understand the better we can intercept pathological remodeling processes.

Manning & Rivera et al. (www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/...) show that pruning just a few capillaries in the SA node plunges the heart’s pacemaker into metabolic overdraft—slowing the rate and jacking up beat-to-beat variability. The physiological equivalent of running on fumes. @jaccjournals.bsky.social

Exciting news! The EPIC/SGP Symposium at UC Davis will be accompanied by a special issue in the Journal of General Physiology. Stay tuned for more details about this incredible event celebrating cutting-edge research on ion channels!

1/2 Really interesting @washingtonpost.com story on end of "bracero" program. By Susan Svrluga/ Joanna Slater/ Terell Wright www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025... Zelig dept: I was among high schoolers taking "opportunity" to do field work, newly opened to "real" Americans. An eye-opener

Well, it’s not like I ever felt safe with the Hillary faction reviewers either. But I’m sure academia’s love for Bernie Bros is now under peer review 😅

Former Obama advisor, Ben Rhodes, is absolutely right! You can't trust someone who’s an AIPAC puppet to lead with integrity on issues like healthcare or education. If they sell out on war and genocide, they'll sell out anywhere!

Grateful that Nature had the courage to publish on the mass death in Gaza. As scientists, we can’t stay silent while lives are erased. Our work means nothing if we ignore injustice.

Been doing this since 2019 #AbolishICE

They didn’t come to LA just to mock a U.S. senator, they came to save you from the terrifying threat of Latinos existing. Because clearly that’s the crisis. Not poverty, not war, not climate, just too many Josés. Truth is, they lost this battle before it even started.

BREAKING: In a unanimous decision, a federal court of appeals has ruled that Louisiana's law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms is unconstitutional. We’ll keep saying it: Public schools are not Sunday schools.

I think it’s important to note that @elisazhang.bsky.social and I literally organized a whole @standupforscience.bsky.social rally in Sacramento while also preparing for perhaps one of the most important interview of our lives… so honored to call her my colleague and friend!!!

Congratulations to all the amazing scientists named 2025 Freeman Hrabowski Scholars by HHMI. We’re immensely honored to have two #PMB faculty members, @doctheagrif.bsky.social and @elisazhang.bsky.social , among this inspiring group. An incredible and well-deserved achievement! @ucdavis.bsky.social

Very proud husband moment: my wife just pulled off a rare double, 2025 HHMI Freeman Hrabowski and McKnight Scholar! 🎉 Huge congrats as well to my colleagues Elisa and Sergey. A big moment for @ucd-physiology.bsky.social While they prep the party, we’re heading off to celebrate in Barbados! 🎉🏖️🐬

Happy Father’s Day to the best daddy out there 💙💙💙 @drcontrexin.bsky.social

BTS

My wife...

I rolled with AOC back when “Brand New Congress” sounded like a band name 😁

Anyone else feeling the urge to temporarily reinstall Twitter? Musk and Trump are in a public ego meltdown over there 😂

This Israeli TV Channel has literally been inciting “genocide” onto thousands of screens. Read @premthakker.bsky.social's story: zeteo.com/p/inside-the...

BottleRock, baby! California’s got the vibe! "Don't wanna be an American idiot"

U.K. MP Jeremy Corbyn & EU MP Lynn Boylan on Europe Pressuring Israel to Halt Atrocities in Gaza

@sfn.org elections close at 2P PT/5 PM ET TODAY! Both Ellen Lumpkin and Irene Tracey have both been nominated for Council. I encourage you to vote for strong voices (like theirs!) in SfN Leadership during this time of uncertainty. www.directvote.net/SFN/login.as...

The kids are all right. (Some of them anyway.)

Northwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025

In SF supporting CA science and SB829 which would create an independent California Science Institute. This would allow innovation to thrive here despite the federal BS. @scottwiener.bsky.social @drcontrexin.bsky.social

"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants. Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."

Happy Mother's Day! To all the brilliant and caring research lab moms out there, your “cell-fless” dedication and love is the nucleus of your work and your home. Have a great day!🌞🫶 🔬

Check out this new review from #PMB Contreras Lab!

Brutal account of what it’s like to teach at the University of Florida right now in the NYT—extraordinary climate of fear. People afraid to say intersectional and talk about lynchings. Fake students trying to entrap Muslim faculty or just making things up altogether. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/o...

Every cardiac physiologist knows that remodeling of cardiac Cx43 is bad news for the heart. But the story goes beyond just the loss of intercellular coupling. In our new review, we explore the emerging role of Cx43 hemichannels as key players in cardiac disease.

New on Physiology Talks podcast🎤🔬: Episode #3 features research published from #PMB Zhang Lab @elisazhang.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social — it explores how uterine injury from procedures like C-sections can affect future pregnancy outcomes. Note: podcast uses AI. open.spotify.com/episode/3Z0u...

Cali, let's roll!

The Human Genome Project cost taxpayers $3 Billion. Two decades on, it has generated a staggering return on investment of $1 Trillion, with benefits in medicine, agriculture, energy, the environment, & more. If you want to boost the economy, funding science is one of the best things you could do.

The president is recommending a 40% cut to next year’s NIH budget. This would be disastrous for our nation’s health and economy. Please contact your representatives, especially if they are Republicans, and tell them why this cannot happen. An easy option: 5calls.org

Well this makes walks through the Arbo a bit more interesting 🐍

The man at left separated the mother and baby at right. The mother is now in Venezuela. Baby daughter, in foster care in the US, exact location unknown. Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.

Saw this guy on an afternoon walk through the @ucdavis.bsky.social arboretum with @drcontrexin.bsky.social! Never saw one so big in the wild. Easily 3+ feet long 😳

Had a great time at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting! It was my first invitation to speak at a cardiac-focused meeting, presenting our recent work on connexins and arrhythmias. Plus, there were free lattes and drinks, and, as usual, San Diego was fantastic!

💥BOOM💥 “The preservation of one institution’s integrity is the concern of all, and an infringement against one member university of the Big Ten shall be considered an infringement against all.”

Nobel laureate Maria Ressa: "What rights you lose today, you will not get back." "If you value your rights, you stand up for them. You hold the line." "Silence is complicity, silence gives approval to create a new normal."

The Earth has a rhythm, like a heartbeat. From tides to trees, its balance sustains life. Today, we celebrate this fundamental pulse." 🌍🫀 #EarthDay

"You certainly need the right content to have a chance at funding, but that’s not all you need – so today, a pitch for presentation." - @stephenbheard.bsky.social #academicsky #grantwriting #ucdresearchdevelopment scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2022/07/19/e...