Announcing such a major change to NSF GRFP this late in the cycle is incredibly cruel. 2nd yr students (mine included) have been working so hard on their proposals despite ongoing uncertainty. They are driven and passionate about being outstanding scientists and helping those coming up behind them.

Position available! Team @mito911.bsky.social needs a new scientific program manager to take over from legendary super-PM @doroteaartscience.bsky.social, who is moving on to bigger things. This is a Berkeley-based position. Apply at aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05103.

mood today #blacksky:

I don't really care if the future is short videos. I like words. Words have gotten me this far and I'm gonna stick with 'em for the duration

📣 Don't miss out on the upcoming @mito911.bsky.social webinar featuring Katie Drerup, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin. 👇 Reserve your spot using the link below. 📅 September 8 ⏰ 11:00 AM EST RSVP: bit.ly/4mUJeAc

I'm happy to share new work in collaboration with Elena Koslover's lab! First author Keaton developed a mathematical framework for diffusion of soluble material through mitochondrial networks. Then, Lewis lab PhD candidate Camryn used live cell imaging to parameterize... 1/3

Mitochondria finally made the headlines, yay! Oh wait, ... oh no ....

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...

I have NIGMS R35, impact score 12 NIHGRI R21, 4th percentile NHGRI R01, 7th percentile (co-I) and it seems like none will be funded. 0/3. PO (who has been very helpful) said "Unfortunately, I do not expect this application will be selected for funding in FY25." 😭

Just got an email that the NIH Early Independence award is "not going forward." This was an award that catapulted promising PhD students into faculty positions and is part of the High-Risk High-Reward grant program in the NIH Office of the Director. Deadline was 9.6.25!

One of the funnier things about the Yale prof who is advocating Niemollering the humanities is that his nirvana already exists. They are called Research Institutes. Why doesn’t he just change jobs to one of those and stop telling everyone else what to do?

Absolutely honoured to see our work featured on this month’s cover! 🎉🧬 Artwork by the incredibly talented @doroteaartscience.bsky.social 👇

Congratulations @kev-in-situ-et.bsky.social and the whole team on in situ cryo-ET images of OA-induced mitochondria damage and Parkin-dependent mitophagy out now tinyurl.com/25b82cp4. We couldn't have done it without in situ guru @wilflinglab.bsky.social and mito guru @samlewis.bsky.social .‬

Just look at those sweet, sweet phagophores Great job @kev-in-situ-et.bsky.social and team!

the 'defense' ants have abs...

Thrilled to share a new preprint! 📝 🎉 Lewis lab PhD student Casadora wondered: Do mtDNA synthesis and lipid droplet biogenesis co-occur at the same membrane contact sites? Or can we discern distinct ER-mito contact classes? Evidence suggests the latter, relevant in overnutrition!

Our updated inventory of genes required for #OXPHOS & findings on #mito defects in #Menieres is now out at Cell Reports! 🎉 🧫 New galactose #CRISPR screen 🎯 481 genes required for #OXPHOS ⚙️ #FAM136A in IMS proteostasis 👂 Mito defects in #Menieres www.cell.com/cell-reports...

🚨 Out now! Autophagy keeps cells healthy - and when it goes wrong, diseases like Parkinson’s can emerge. @elias-adriaenssens.bsky.social (Martens lab) in @natureportfolio.nature.com Cell Biology challenge the conventional hierarchy of autophagy factors ➡️ tinyurl.com/y33nrtn2

i AM an artist and my studio is R STUDIO

ABSTRACTS CLOSE 18 July! The 11th International Symposium on Autophagy 2025 📅 16–20 November 2025 | Lorne, Victoria, Australia Registration: isa11.org We have a fantastic line-up of speakers and a wide range of topics focused on the fascinating world of autophagy.

Excited to share our latest work on how mitochondrial methylation shapes gene expression. Using long-read RNAseq and cryo-EM, we uncover two methylation-dependent checkpoints in ribosome biogenesis. Thanks to everyone invovled. @ruthicglasgow.bsky.social @amunts.bsky.social 🔗 rdcu.be/etk12

Court invalidates NSF 15% indirect cost cap. Strong ruling. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I’ll believe it when I see ONE grant get restored. Until then, maybe we should all just keep fighting, because this administration does not listen to judicial rulings.

Today I had the honor of speaking in front of nearly 3000 people today at the Woodland #NoKings rally. WE FEAR NO KING BECAUSE WE DONT HAVE ONE ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 let’s gooooooo

I stand in solidarity with every #NoKings protest happening today. May the will of the people become reality in due time. ✊🏿

Just got the NoA for NSF CAREER non-competing renewal, only 2 months late. So, that's something.

I am finding myself constantly vacillating between despair about everything and moments of hyper productivity because I feel so disempowered by the state of things. I am absolutely gutted and heartbroken by everything happening around us, & IDK why many act like this is normal.

whenever I see a convo about what is wrong with NIH peer review, I want to know how many grants the participants in the convo have written, how many grants they have gotten funded and whether they have participated in study section 🤔 #SorryNotSorry

dude you won't believe it. that violently insecure mad king? he had a falling out with that super annoying failed jester he made grand vizier

I use it very deliberately to link the current moment to COVID! Thank you. I’ve been thinking on that rupture for awhile:

Delighted to share our paper describing how type I interferon promotes caspase-11 hyperactivity in models of PolG-related mitochondrial disease. Thanks to all co-authors and the POLG Foundation for for their support. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I was absolutely thrilled to hood the first PhD graduate of the Lewis lab last week -Dr. Adam Begeman- and graduate three MS students. It's been an honor to guide their journeys! Keep an eye out for their upcoming preprints 👀 Congratulations to Adam, Sophie, Caitlin, and Vita!!! 😁 🎉 👏

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding. It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

This is a wonderful initiative to highlight the the great return on federal investment in research at @ucdavis.bsky.social. Wonderful see my colleague @doctheagrif.bsky.social featured, she is awesome. There are about 2 dozen short highlights, including one from my lab. Find them all here:

We are seriously blessed with some amazing sff books lately. I just reviewed four brand new titles that take place in worlds that are utterly irresistible. wapo.st/4mrm0lQ Authors are: @novarensuma.bsky.social Neon Yang @emilytesh.net Sayaka Murata

Online today in @nature.com - our latest study led by superstar postdoc Gilles Rademaker detailing the role of PSCK9 in driving sterol dependent metastatic organ choice in pancreatic cancer nature.com/articles/s41... full text available here 👉 rdcu.be/em0VG and thread 👇

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

Literally, all the early career funding opportunities are going away or being drastically reduced, and people are still saying “apply for more grants” to those whose grants were terminated 🤷🏾‍♀️

If you are interested in mito-nuclear communication and organelle crosstalk, stress responses, and inflammatory signaling, the #IOSCD25 Fusion Conference is for you! Short talk and early-bird deadline is June 2nd. Travel awards available. Check it out: www.fusion-conferences.com/conference/182

Thanks to editors Amelia Glazier and Heidi McBride for the opportunity to share a little about me in this special Mitochondria issue of J Cell Science - includes how I became a scientist, some thoughts on current attacks on science/funding in the US, parenting as a PI, & more doi.org/10.1242/jcs....

Also in this Issue: - Editorial from Ana Garcia-Saez & @mitodynamics.bsky.social - Interviews with Tom MacVicar, Samantha Lewis & Heidi McBride - Mitochondria–membrane contacts poster - Quality control of un-imported mitochondrial proteins poster - Mitochondrial cholesterol transport Perspective

Our Special Issue: Cell Biology of Mitochondria is complete. Explore our ToC: journals.biologists.com/jcs/issue/13... Our cover image highlights mitochondria (magenta) and DNA (cyan) in glioblastoma cells from Buckley et al. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... #JCSMitoSI #Mitochondria

"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."

Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab

Kailash Venkatraman, Nicolas-Frédéric Lipp & @ibudin.bsky.social examine the similarities between prokaryotic intracytoplasmic membranes & mitochondrial IMs, & discuss whether cristae evolution has driven specialisation of the #mito lipidome. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... #JCSMitoSI

Jason Casler @jasoncasler.bsky.social, Clare Harper and Laura Lackner @lllackner.bsky.social find that mitochondria–plasma membrane contact sites regulate the ER–mitochondria encounter structure. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... #JCSMitoSI #OpenAccess #ReadandPublish

New preprint from the lab! With @brumbaugh-lab.bsky.social , we show that P-bodies sequester developmentally relevant RNAs to influence cell fate. miRNAs direct this conserved regulatory process, and manipulating it enhances totipotency and germ cell programming. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

But “mars isn’t even mid” just cracked me up