First R01 for the lab! Elated does not even begin to describe what I am feeling!! Many many thanks to the hardworking people at the NIH for getting this NoA together for us!

Very proud of Hsuan-Yeh Pan, a post doc in the lab, who received $100K from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation! This was the first grant he ever wrote!! His work will focus on aqueous humor components in Congenital Hereditary Endothelial Dystrophy.

My home department hosted @blockintheback.bsky.social for a visit and seminar last week. As always, Kristen gave an amazing talk!! Always nice to reminisce out with the fabulous folks at the U! @eannemartin.bsky.social

@tcpotts.bsky.social paper is live. Happy to share #FishNAP, a new, non-invasive way to measure #BBB permeability in 96-well format with #zebrafish www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Apply now for the Signaling by Adhesion Receptors GRC June 7 - 12, 2026! The meeting has a terrific program that balances developmental biology, cell polarity, and adhesion and signaling. Please share! www.grc.org/signaling-by...

Good news from NIH! Michael Chiang has apparently been reappointed as Director of the National Eye Institute www.nei.nih.gov/about/our-mi...

Please take a moment to email your senators and congressmen about the importance of passing the FY26 appropriations bill. takeaction.researchamerica.org/Default.aspx...

The appropriations bill that includes NIH is being finalized. The Senate bill includes a bipartisan amendment from Senators Capito (WV) and Baldwin (WI) limiting multi-year funding of grants. The House version does not and OMB has issued a veto threat if the House includes such language. 1/3

Hello #PortfolioDay 🐡 I’m a scientific illustrator with a PhD in biology and research experience in ecology and evolution. My work includes infographics, illustrations, learning materials, and branding I’m open to commissions and/or a full-time job in communications or educational design

A new paper from my lab. I will have a full description soon. rdcu.be/eX1Ld

If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch. IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE. Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.

Very cool study!

Parent and pediatrician here. All vaccines are still available & recommended. Talk to your pediatrician for more info. Know this: Even as our government shifts its recommendation language, I would never forgo the RSV, hepatitis A & B, or meningitis vaccines for my own kids.

Why this obsession with oil? There is not enough time left for this planet to burn all of it! Morons!

I am down with the flu twice in the past two months (although vaccinated) I could have used a better start to the New Year :(

This 👇 Absolutely awful! It feels like I am using my phone underwater..

Trying to find some protocols for cone isolation from frogs that don't involve transgenics or freezing. There is a surprising dearth of information out there for cone isolation? Seems to be mostly rods. Is anyone familiar with any simple-ish protocols? 🧪 👀 #xenopus

Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on. (Please repost to reach a broad audience.)

New preprint from the lab in collaboration with @sherberg128.bsky.social. By only altering the stiffness of the substrate, we discovered changes in corneal endothelial cell health. This study indicates how physical changes to the Descemet's membrane can affect the endothelium.

As a neuroscientist, I’d suggest there is a profound disconnect between what *some* computer scientists think is representative of “intelligence”, cognitive ability, or descriptions of consciousness from some in AI work. LLMs are not how neural systems process information, nor how brains function.

Had an amazing time catching up with @eannemartin.bsky.social It is especially serendipitous to meet grad school friends as a PI!

Proud to be a part of the 50 States, 50 Stories initiative organized by @arvoinfo.bsky.social Read more about National Eye Institute funded work in my lab on Fuchs Dystrophy here - www.arvo.org/news/arvo-bl...

This👇 You can do good work, and it is not limited to being at elite institutions. As you advance in your career, it becomes more about "what have you done?" not "where did you do it?"

Happy Diwali to all! Here is hoping a mighty force (democracy, collective will, whatever you want to call it) will light the path for all of us.

Hardest thing about moving to a new place as an adult is making new friends. Shamelessly approaching strangers, and asking if I can be their friend is my new strategy. My new friends (3 so far!) say they are charmed by my candor (read desperation). Onward..

Writing two manuscripts at the same time is not worth my sanity. Stating this on a public forum so I can be reminded to not pursue such lunacies anymore.

Check this out! So nice!

Attending a grant writing seminar at the University. Its quite interesting how there is no mention of luck as an imperative in grant funding.

Lab goals

I'm so excited to be hiring my first postdoc! If you love retinal biology and developing new therapeutics to cure blindness, please apply! Thank you to the @brightfocus.bsky.social for supporting my research and enabling me to grow my research team! external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au/cw/en/job/53...

A tree fell on my fence few months ago. Neither my spouse nor I are handy, and we left it in its unkempt state. My neighbor took it up on himself to buy the materials, and fix it (after he checked with us). Welcome to Iowa! People are way too nice here.

Attended the post-doc to PI panel organized by the University of Iowa post-doc association. Always fun to discuss career trajectories with PIs new to Iowa, including the awesome @kmulfaul.bsky.social

One of those weeks where I am happy to bury myself in the science and tune the world out. Happy science-ing to all who can relate!

New paper from the lab! In collaboration with Patrice Tankam lab at Indiana University, we evaluated changes in the Descemet's membrane thickness in the double mutant FECD mice. Congrats to the co-first authors Hadiya Pattan and Subashree Murugan! iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx...

Great talk by @wisemanlab.bsky.social at Anatomy and Cell Biology seminar at the University of Iowa yesterday! Lots of great science, and lots of laughs! Wish I took a better picture to share here!

UPDATE: At least two children, ages 8 and 10, were shot and killed and at least 17 more people, including 14 children, were wounded during a back-to-school mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Schools & churches should be sanctuaries of safety for children, not where they go to die.

Two children were killed and seventeen people were injured in a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School. A Cracker Barrel logo change received far more scrutiny and attention than any fight against the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Our priorities remain idiotic.

The UI Department of Biology invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in genetics, beginning in the academic year 2026. Review of applicants will begin on November 1, 2025. For more information about the position and to apply, please visit: jobs.uiowa.edu/faculty/view...

The NIH was healthiest when pay lines were in the 20th percentile range. We are headed into an environment where pay lines are in the 5% range. In my entire career, I’ve only had 3 grants that scored better than 5%. And my lab is considered a successful one. This is going to destroy science.

While I’m a big fan of new technologies that help us study human biology…there’s still no replacement for animal research! See my article in Gen News. www.genengnews.com/topics/trans...

"Indiana University-Bloomington should not be turned into a trade school with Division One football and basketball." The situation in Indiana is a red flag for all of higher ed. And I'm grateful to the @chicagotribune.com editorial board for taking a stand. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/07/e...

NIH BREAKING NEWS NIH BREAKING NEWS Hearing from multiple sources that an email went out late yesterday afternoon Effective immediately: Please do not terminate any additional grant projects. Please pull back all grant projects that are in the cue to be terminated.

those small moments of optimism! The @gladfelterlab.bsky.social and Duke had a member of Thom Tillis's team visit the lab to talk about the bill, see the work we do, and meet the scientists behind it (on May 23rd oddly enough, the date on this letter). Would strongly recommend!

I spoke with Jade Hindmon, host of @kpbssandiego.bsky.social Midday Edition, about the consequences of the current administration’s cuts to science funding. Please share to help spread the word and raise awareness. www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb...

Now that it is official, I am pleased to announce that the Shyam lab will relocate to the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Iowa, effective August 2025. I cannot remember ever being this excited about a new chapter in my professional life!

First R01 application went from "Not discussed" to an amazing score in the resubmission! I am still in shock, but sharing this to offer hope to anyone who might have received the dreaded ND this application cycle. Your amazing score is just one submission away! Keep doing your awesome science!

Here is a link you can blast out to all of your networks to ask them to consider signing on in support of our NIH heroes. actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na... We are at 5000 folks who have signed on. But we can do better Only for people who have ever been sick or knows someone who has been.

"I have a message for America's scientists: I want to tell you how much I appreciate your work, how much I value and treasure your work, how much support you have within the Congress...we are aware of the deep damage that is being done to your profession and we are determined to make it stop" 🧪

Join us for a SIG session @arvoinfo.bsky.social on June 10th, 9-10:30 pm EDT. Topics include budgeting, hiring personnel, having difficult conversations, and team management. Registration is free for all ARVO members. www.arvo.org/education/sp...

Sooooo… ICE now has a bigger budget than the NIH which funds almost all of the biomedical research in America. This is precisely where the priorities of this administration lie.