Over the moon to receive the happy news that I’m promoted to Associate Professor @sydney.edu.au! 🎉 Took a bit of a detour around the 🌎 to get here but worth the wait. So grateful for all the hard work from folks in the lab, my mentors, and letter writers who made it possible ❤️ 🧠 🧪

LOVED this paper from @constantinoplelab.bsky.social showing how estrogen modulates reinforcement learning in @natureportfolio.nature.com Was also stoked to write the commentary for this paper with our superstar postdoc Masa Taira. Check it out 👇 🧠🧪

Good morning everyone! Suitably following the #dopamine dinner, we have our #dopamine symposium at 9:30am in SDCC room 6B! ‘Beyond Value: Non-canonical roles for dopamine in aversion and reward’ Come join us! 🧠 🧪

Pretty special dinner @sfn.org with these glorious women last night 🤩 ❤️ How do I have a job where I travel around the world and hang out with awesome people? @moriel-z.bsky.social @denisejcai.bsky.social @ladenardo.bsky.social @neurrriot.bsky.social @bjmarlin.bsky.social @debiaselm.bsky.social

Full house for @earlkmiller.bsky.social’s Presidential Lecture @sfn.org tonight! I had to sneak in 🤫 inspiring to hear about the amazing work that drove my PhD thesis and so much more beyond 🤩

Folks the Sharpe Lab are in the house for @sfn.org! 🎉 Come check out our talks and posters. We’ve been doing some cool stuff down under 🇦🇺 on dopamine, reinforcement learning, and remapping of the fear circuit. 🧠 🧪

Is anyone using the IDEAS platform from #inscopix to analyze single-unit calcium data? 🔬🧪🧠

Hosting the Pavlovian society annual meeting in SYDNEY was the highlight of my career! Thanks to all who came from near and far to present their awesome science. Looking forward to 2026 in Montreal. Come and join us!

My first GRC amygdala in Barcelona hosted by @katewassum.bsky.social did not disappoint! Can’t wait for the next one with @joserodroma.bsky.social and @annabeyerle.bsky.social! ☀️🕶️🌴🌊

Genetic material shed by tumors can be detected in the bloodstream three years before cancer diagnosis, according to a study led by investigators at Johns Hopkins University. That study was made possible with federal funding. Now, many studies like this are canceled. hub.jhu.edu/2025/06/04/...

... neurons in the rodent dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) [link] sensory stimuli in the environment with aversive events, whether they were directly or *indirectly* associated with that experience.... by the amazing lab of @jojolab.bsky.social 🧠📈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New from our lab: your brain doesn’t just remember time - it bends it. We show that the dopamine system responds to natural breakpoints in experience, and this relates to more stretched memories of time. Blinking also increases, signaling encoding of new memories. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#whatkeepsmeinscience #community

Yes! We need to see more of this. 🧪

One of the most epic trips of my life! Joshua Tree retreat with 11 of the most inspirational neuroscientists I know! Thx to Moriel Z and Bianca JM for organizing. And featuring Michelin star chef and yoga instructor @denisejcai.bsky.social Forever grateful for this crew Until next year ❤️ 🧪🧠

Who’s coming to Sydney!?

It's gonna be epic!

🚨LAST DAY to submit poster abstracts for the PAVLOVIAN 2025 annual meeting 🚨 Check out our 🔥 program and submit abstracts in the link below, with 5 travel awards available for students and postdocs! 🧠

Anyone up for some cross-species discussions at Caltech on Friday afternoon? neuroscience.caltech.edu/programs/wor...

Big news from the lab this week! Successfully recorded lateral hypothalamic GABA neurons in freely moving rats using single-unit calcium imaging ! Led by a phenomenal postdoc in the lab, Jess Leake. And just in time for that grant deadline 🔥 🧠

Kill me. … and of course I’m on a grant deadline 😭

WTF?! 👇 Asprin reduces cancer metastasis?! @nature.com

Been pinning up my favorite papers from the lab 🧪 that we’ve published since we got to Sydney 🇦🇺 ☀️ Going to have to take down the pics of my kid soon 😉 🧠

From 2010 to 2016 (latest data I have ), NIH research contributed to EVERY drug approved by the FDA

Tonight an unbelievable **34,000 people** gathered for our Denver rally to take on billionaires and win our country back. This was the largest political gathering in Denver since Obama in 2008. Also bigger than the 2024 DNC. And the largest ever rally in Bernie’s career (and obviously, mine too).

Technically effective July 1st, but I need a celebration today. You are looking at Associate Professor with Tenure at UCLA. Tickled pink! 🤓🥳

Don’t forget to submit your data blitz or poster abstracts for PAVLOVIAN in SYDNEY!🧪🧠 Due April 11th, including 5 x travel awards to help our buddies from the 🇺🇸 and elsewhere get to 🇦🇺 Our line up is 🔥 Check out our website, registration, and hotel block below 👇

Great news. Long term Independence for biorxiv and medrxiv.

There is a vaccine against a virus that causes a particularly pernicious cancer, and since it was introduced deaths from that cancer have dropped by more than 60%. An unmitigated triumph of human genius. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/hpv...

I cannot wait for this fabulous meeting in Barcelona led by the amazing @katewassum.bsky.social with vice chairs Anna Beyeler and Jose Rodriguez-Romaguera! 🧠 🧪 What a line up 🔥 Ironically, I will be presenting work that shows the amygdala can be rendered unnecessary for fear memories 👀 😬

Love this 👇 MCH neurons in hypothalamus regulate policy complexity- might be consistent with our work examining GABA neurons in the lateral hypothalamus and learning about model-based associations: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Not just a feeding center folks 🧠 🧪

🔥 PAVLOVIAN 2025 UPDATE 🔥 Call for Posters, Data Blitz, and Travel Awards for the SYDNEY Pavlovian Society meeting in Aug 7th-10th is open 🧠 🧪 We have 5 x US$1,000 in travel awards to support trainees! Check out our 🔥 hotel, line up of speakers, and APPLY here: pavlovian.org/upcoming-mee...

Having watched this project develop over years, I am so excited to see @jackiegio.bsky.social and @katewassum.bsky.social et al.’s paper out in @nature.com 🔥 🎉 They show that chronic stress changes the amygdala-striatal circuits involved in goal-directed action to increase habits 🧠 🧪

Actual footage of me after being added to ANOTHER department committee 😭 🧠 🧪

I chatted with a program director at NIH for a half hour just now It's clear that the people who make American science happen are doing everything they can to keep making it happen in a very difficult environment They deserve our respect and gratitude

I ❤️ this 👇 Newest from the Uchida lab in @nature.com: different aspects of distributional RL in separable populations of striatal D1 and D2 neurons 🔥

Need to thank @melissajsharpe.bsky.social and @katewassum.bsky.social for letting me invade their spaces, get help from their team to learn optogenetics. This are much easier when you are surrounded by supportive women in science. And amazing to see the effect of ACC inhibition in 2 different tasks

This was a great collab with @melissajsharpe.bsky.social & @katewassum.bsky.social!Women in Science 👩‍🔬👩🏻‍🔬👩🏼‍🔬 🏆 3/n

JUST IN: A federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked the Trump administration's rate change to NIH grants. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Get in Dorks, we are going protesting. STAND UP FOR SCIENCE. MARCH 7th 12-4pm. DC AND YOUR STATE CAPITALS. More information to come.

This 👇 NIH issuing a directive to slash indirects to 15% from ~50%. This would significantly reduce the investment in universities and hospitals

Just had one of my conferences get cancelled. I breathed a sigh of relief because I can’t with all this travel (even though all awesome trips!) 😮‍💨 Anyone else relate? How do we find the right balance in academia?

Was lazy about leaving Twitter, but can no longer justify it. So glad to see so many familiar faces here. I should have moved to Bluesky sooner!

Had one of the best conferences ever at #wcbr2025. Too much fun seeing everyone (last night’s dance floor was 🔥), hearing about all the awesome science, and being in one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been. Can’t wait for Big Sky next year 😍

🚨PIs of Training Grants and Programs, ESPECIALLY training grants that support students from historically excluded groups (T32s and T34s, IMSD, MARC, PREP, MOSAIC, etc.)🚨 We need to push back on the loss of information and the disappearance of websites about these resources.

Such a fun symposium with @bensaunders.bsky.social, Larry Zweifel, and Kate Wassum. Dopamine is not just a reward prediction error. 🧠 🧪 🧬 Thanks for joining us!

Folks at #wcbr- Come check out our symposium on lateral hypothalamus and addiction tomorrow (Wed), 4:30pm in Alpine B. Organised by @marcusweera.bsky.social! I’ll be presenting on #dopamine in lateral hypothalamus and how this changes after methamphetamine self-admin! 🧠 🧪 🧬

Today’s Winter Brain Power Hour showcased that while this administration is targeting our most vulnerable and trying to erase inclusive science—we as researchers will not stand for this. Brilliant minds united to devise real strategies to fight back. #wcbr2025