Had a FANTASTIC time at #fitng2025 in Dublin - presenting preliminary results on how perinatal iron-related metrics shape infant brain maturation, coordinating events with the trainee committee, & catching up with friends and collaborators!! 🍀🧠👶 #babybrains

Early gut changes around 4-6 months of age especially relate to the largest number of subsequent brain changes over the next postnatal year! with the incredible @emma-margolis.bsky.social @kevinbonham.com @mightycrobe.bsky.social, Guilherme Bottino, Kirsty Donald, and our Khula study team!

It's been a big month for PINE Lab and our collaborators! First up, pleased to share our study examining the co-development of gut microbiome & brain longitudinally over infancy, the time of greatest flux for both systems! Gut gene enrichment for neuroplasticity regulators relates to brain changes!

we've known that GABA maturation is a key regulator of pace/timing of neuroplasticity & critical periods in rodents...Our findings support GABAergic inhibition as a general mechanism governing neurodevelopmental timing across species

thrilled to share this project over a decade in the making out now in @pnas.org! We show that precocious GABA boosting in neonates by early sevoflurane/propofol anesthetic exposure accelerates visual cortical maturation in human infants www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

📊 JAMA Data Brief: Despite medical advances, US children's health is worsening with increased mortality and chronic conditions, partly due to inadequate insurance and societal investment. ja.ma/4oA1Ve8

These programs provide essential early learning, child care and family support services to young children from low-income families. If funding is eliminated, hundreds of thousands of babies will lose the care and support they depend on.

We were asked to change language and delete data from a paper that already been through peer review successfully - "in order to comply with the Executive Order." This is from the official journal of the US Surgeon General and the US Public Health Service. criticalpublichealth.org/blog/2025/03...

- @emma-margolis.bsky.social & @laurelgd.bsky.social outline a new perspective on biological embedding: DOHaD-characterised prenatal influences shape postnatal sensitive period mechanisms to produce lasting effects on brain and behaviour #EarlyYears #DevPsySky #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

🚨BREAKING: Federal Court GRANTS sweeping nationwide injunction against Trump DEI executive orders finding that they violate First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. A huge victory for @democracyforward.org and its clients. A stinging loss for Trump. Visit www.democracydocket.com for details.

This is an enormous loss. I recommend the NIH postbac program to virtually every undergrad who comes through my lab and I think 5 or 6 of them have ended up in the program and had absolutely transformative experiences. This is a huge blow to the next generation of scientists

Is Musk demanding the data held by the Social Security Administration in order to make it more efficient? Unlikely. Here's a better explanation: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

It is more important than ever to promote inclusive & representative science as best scientific practice. In this new paper, we highlight modality-level (MRI, MEG, EEG, fNIRS, ultrasound) obstacles & initiatives for improved inclusivity in FIT neuroimaging. doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101505

Infant mortality increased along with births in most U.S. states with abortion bans in the first 18 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to new research. Babies who were Black, lived in Southern states or had fetal birth defects died at the highest rates.

Don't miss our next FIT'NG Together Talk on February 25th at 11am EST! Dr. Niall Bourke and Sharada Balaji will discuss UNITY (Ultra-low-field Neuroimaging In The Young), aimed to make neuroimaging more accessible worldwide. Register for FREE at: tinyurl.com/4vf84ycm

“Your work is your rebellion” 💪 www.reddit.com/r/labrats/co...

📚 Bias in Faculty Promotions A @natureportfolio.bsky.social study of 1,571 staff at US universities revealed underrepresented minorities face tougher standards. They received 7% more negative votes & their research was judged more harshly. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #SciComm 🧪 #HigherEd

Sharing my FIRST first-author paper to my Bluesky feed! Here, we outline a new perspective of biological embedding: demonstrating how DOHaD-characterized prenatal influences/exposures shape postnatal sensitive/critical period mechanisms to produce lasting effects doi.org/10.1111/infa...

READIE script is in HAPPE software as a new Generate function! No more guessing how many trials of data you need to get a sufficient estimate of your EEG/ERP feature! Power your analyses with these tools and let's keep improving developmental EEG science! github.com/PINE-Lab/HAPPE

My contribution to the lab is convincing everyone that our fall activity should be going to the International Cryptozoology Museum (it did not take much convincing).

PINE lab does Portland! Holy Donuts, Eventide, and the International Cryptozoology Museum all on our first road trip itinerary!