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...

#NIH colleagues fight for true #HHS leadership. Health has no political affiliation. Sign the #BethesdaDeclaration if you agree.

NEW: Democracy is alive in Philly! Amazing scenes in Philadelphia as thousands hit the streets for the anti-Trump protest. #NoKings #50501Movement

A great deal of hope in these uncertain times for the autism community— Jeffrey Lurie and family announced a large gift to create the Penn-CHOP Lurie Autism Research Institute to support cross-disciplinary and collaborative research. Let’s go do it! www.inquirer.com/health/upenn...

Thank you @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social for standing up. We all appreciate you and your colleagues for your courage!

Today, my NIH colleagues and I did something scary but really important. We spoke up about egregious harms we are seeing happen to research participants and public health through thoughtless and politicized policies at NIH. 🧵1/3 apnews.com/article/nih-...

"We are speaking on behalf of hundreds of NIH staff who are standing up together to say: WE DISSENT. I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up." Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!

If you weren't angry enough already, here are the rates of non-competitive renewals through May. 4008 Non-competitive renewals were due to be funded in May. The total funded was 99! Some is due to terminations, but most is due to slow grant making due to DOGE review and other impediments. 1/2

Sign on to support the NIH staff in their demand to restore funding and infrastructure for life-saving research!

Also—I direct the science communication nonprofit @your.neighborhoodscientist.org ! Check us out at neighborhoodscientist.org 😊

Huge thanks to all my colleagues for your generous contributions! The Eagles Autism Challenge 5K was a blast! It was amazing to end the run at the stadium. And it’s not too late to donate to the foundation that does so much for autism research and accommodations through the link below!

So sad to hear this @hhmi.org program that supports talented young scientists is cancelled, especially after the application deadline. Audrey came up with a really exciting project and worked so hard on her application!

Thanks for another fabulous EARS season. As we're preparing for next year's edition, we are soliciting feedback and suggestions. Please fill out this survey with your suggestions by 5/20/25: forms.gle/R64F9V3Wz7uf...

Tune it at 1 pm ET today!

EARS seminar tomorrow, Tuesday, May 13 1 pm ET: Maria Chait (the Ear Institute, UCL) @mariachait.bsky.social “Inferring Instantaneous Auditory Attention from Ocular Dynamics” pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/96672201477.

Everybody has that one VIP friend who boosts you up by dragging all your other buddies down.

Excited to share my PhD paper is out! We studied how motion vision is processed beyond the optic lobes to help flies walk straight. It has been a wonderful collaboration with @michaelreiser.bsky.social, @dddavi.bsky.social and many others not in bluesky! Paper + digest here: bsky.app/profile/cham...

Congratulations to Adrienne Fairhall, Prof. of Neurobiology and Biophysics, Adjunct Prof. of Applied Mathematics, and Adjunct Prof. of Physics, who has just been elected to the National Academy of Sciences! 🍾 🎉

Please support me in the 5K to benefit the Philadelphia Eagles Autism Foundation and help me reach my goal! The Eagles Foundation supports neuroscience research and sets up wonderful initiatives around Philly to help children like my son. fundraisers.eaglesautismfoundation.org/maria-geffen

Censoring mis/disinformation research is just the beginning. All scientific research in the US is under threat. Now is the time for scientists in all fields to act. Some small steps each of us can take:

As a mother of a wonderful, talented, and quirky autistic child and as a circuits neuroscientist, I am immensely grateful to the Simons Foundation for the opportunity to launch a research program on identifying the neuronal circuits that underlie auditory processing differences in autism.

ATTENTION: NSF GRANT RECIPIENTS We received a heads up from a trusted source that you should proactively download/print/screen shot any documentation on research.gov pertaining to your NSF awards, both those that are current and any that have closed in the last 5-6 years. 1/n

We are excited to announce our new Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE)! This program will unite experts in experimental and computational #neuroscience approaches to investigate how the brain represents sensorimotor interactions. www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/04/24/s... #science

The canceled grands are shock and awe, but the real damage will come from the long-term (massive) reductions in funding to the entire US research ecosystem and the defunding of entire fields and initiatives for training, growing, and diversifying the research workforce.

Celebrating two PhD defenses this week: Congrats, Dr. Ding and Dr. Collina! You both did a terrific job and I feel very grateful for the privilege of serving as your mentor!

An autism "registry" culled from private medical records could potentially violate federal privacy laws and runs the risk of abuse. It also harkens back to a time when disabled people were labeled, segregated, and excluded. We won't go back.

Non-Competitive Renewals Rate for FY2025 now looks similar to FY2024 but no evidence to making up the gap 2/2

Updated funding curves... Data downloaded today, but plotted through 4/15 to correct for NIH Reporter lag time). New and Competitive Renewal Awards first Awards being made but the rate remains lower than normal 1/2

This work with Alan Stocker, @lingqiz.bsky.social, and Jiang Mao is now in print. We benefited from very thoughtful reviewers. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

“A groundbreaking microscope at Harvard Medical School could lead to breakthroughs in cancer detection and research into longevity. But the scientist who developed computer scripts to read its images and unlock its full potential has been in an immigration detention center for two months”

If you, like me, have spent some time squinting at the leaked NIH reorganization plan, squint no more! Here is a summary of the proposed reorganization courtesy of chatGPT. www.science.org/do/10.1126/s...

Was just pointed to this important preprint from @minsanally.bsky.social : www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4... tl;dr: classically "non-responsive" cells are preferentially recruited by top-down inputs and are critical for learning. So, my neuro-friends: Don't ignore untuned cells!!!! 🧠📈 🧪

RFK Jr.’s lies about autism are disgraceful — and I won't share them to spread misinformation. He consistently undermines public health and reinforces dangerous myths. In Illinois, we stand with those with autism, and I’ll keep fighting for inclusion, science, and the truth.

This was me. Terminated from #NIMHBSC with no explanation. Complete gov interference in the #NIH intramural research program oversight and review - telling NIH researchers what science they can do and who can do it. Not a positive outlook for scientific discovery, innovation, or health. 👇👇

#NGG is proud to present our next Thesis Defense given by Xiaomao Ding of the Geffen Lab @geffenlab.bsky.social! Please join us in person or virtually (DM us for the link) on 4/21. Best of luck, Xiaomao! #PhAlmostDone 🥳

My heart is breaking💔

Please join us for the trainee session of the EARS seminar series on Tuesday April 8 at 1 pm ET. www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...

Join us today at 1 pm ET to learn about auditory research careers outside academia. pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/96672201477

A warm welcome to DRN research fellow Katherine Wood @woodlab.bsky.social, who has joined us from Maria Geffen's lab @geffenlab.bsky.social @upenn.bsky.social. Katherine works on the neural basis of auditory perception and how this is affected by ageing and dementia @hearingshef.bsky.social

Professional development EARS seminar tomorrow (Tuesday March 11 at 1pm ET). We invited three auditory experts to compare their experiences within and outside academia and discuss their career trajectories. www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...

Philly showed up to #standupforscience www.inquirer.com/health/trump...

Got a little break this morning from an onslaught of disappointing news to celebrate the Eagles win with great views of the parade from my husband’s office! Philly can be amazing! Go birds! 🦅🦅

The NIH’s new imposed standard indirect cost rate threatens life-saving brain & behavior research that benefits millions of Americans. SfN, with other scientific organizations,urge reversal of this policy & implore Congress to protect critical research infrastructure. Full statement: bit.ly/4jVJnCL

Tune in tomorrow (Tuesday)!

Neuropixels and Optogenetics are delighted to announce the birth of Neuropixels Opto Combining high-resolution electrophysiology and optogenetics Today in bioRxiv 960 sites, 28 emitters, 2 colors By Lakunina, @karolinazsocha.bsky.social, Ladd, et al www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/2)

The E.A.R.S. seminars continue next Tuesday 1pm ET 🧪: Laura Getz (USD) “Interactions are Essential: Audiovisual Integration and Top-Down Influences on Speech Perception” Josh McDermott (MIT) “Auditory inferences of physical object interactions” www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...

New paper out in @currentbiology.bsky.social with the inestimable @kurtfraser.bsky.social and @janaklab.bsky.social. We think this work illuminates an important way the brain dynamically orchestrates motivation, and look forward to testing new hypotheses this inspires in disease models.

Super excited that this paper is now “in print” in Scientific Reports: links.springernature.com/f/a/chqdN90F...