Woo!!!!!! PenningtonLab.com is live!

Proud to share an overview of the CAN Hill Day which took place last week - engaging with Parliamentarians and civil servants to highlight the important work neuroscientists do for Canada and the importance of government support for Canadian Research. can-acn.org/can-parliame...

🧠 Meet Dr. Milan Valyear (@milanium.bsky.social), the new Assistant Professor in @psych.ubc.ca and a researcher at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health! Learn more about his career journey and his research into brain circuitry: https://bit.ly/4szI4fT

What drives us to act and when do we stop? Dr. Milan Valyear (@milanium.bsky.social) is a new @psych.ubc.ca faculty member studying the brain circuits behind reinforcement and disengagement. From childhood tinkering to cutting-edge neuroscience, his work is all about curiosity and discovery.

Stoked to announce that I’m starting a lab as an Assistant Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Centre for Brain Health at UBC! mcdiarmid-lab.sbme.ubc.ca Recruiting at all levels - please share the word! Cheers and happy long weekend all!

Meet @zachtpennington.bsky.social, a new researcher at the DMCBH and @psych.ubc.ca who is exploring how the brain regulates stress and emotion. He is also an advocate of building open-source tools to make science more accessible for all. Read more: www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/news/from-sk...

I defended my PhD 10 years ago today. That was the least remarkable thing that happened that day. Sharing something I wrote about it last year. Since then "the horrors persist but so do we." And with dignity.

Registration for the @canacn.bsky.social 2026 Neural Circuits and Behaviour satellite meeting is now live! Looking forward to hosting this event with @franklandlab.bsky.social again, and we're looking to have 4 trainee talks as part of the satellite. Register at www.eventbrite.com/e/1984146883...

Read CAN President Douglas Zochodne's letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney highlighting the importance of Neuroscience research and the CIHR Project Grant shortfalls. can-acn.org/read-our-let...

CIHR funding rate: 13.6%. Early 2000s: 30%+. Canada’s new $1.7B Impact+ program recruits talent — but without increased Tri-Council base funding, we risk further strain on an already stretched system. We’re calling for $1B over 5 years. Support here: tinyurl.com/33c5av46

Very excited to post our paper led by @daburke.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... where we uncover a simple mathematical rule underlying how brains learn that a cue predicts a reward. 1/26

Since the Namboodiri lab isn’t on Bluesky (I think?), I’d like to amplify this cool paper which I and others in the Janak lab made a small contribution to.

Thank you - so happy to join such an exciting and supportive department!

en route to Vancouver. thrilled to start my lab @psych.ubc.ca @arts.ubc.ca and join the @dmcbrainhealth.bsky.social - doors open Jan 2026. it's great to be back, 🇨🇦.