Thank you!

We are so excited to see our work out in @nature.com! We present a multi-omic single-cell atlas of 12 organs in human fetal development, explore the enhancer landscape, use deep learning to infer rules of transcription factor activity, and interpret non-coding variants in complex traits: #GeneReg 🧬🖥️

Does anyone know what counts as appropriate professional societies for a graduate student applying for a green card? I have a very talented student, but they were told ARVO and similar societies don’t count since we pay a membership due and therefore it isn’t regarded as selective.

New study led by Ning Shen w/ @phruzycki.bsky.social: a genome-wide in vivo CRISPR screen in a retinitis pigmentosa mouse model identifies genes whose loss accelerates photoreceptor death. Overexpressing two, UFD1 and UXT, preserves photoreceptors, retinal function, and vision. 🧵

Normal neuro-vascular maps of the macular inner-retina. Top half clinical imaging: Topographic analyses from 96 normal eyes for OCT thickness (Trinh et al., 2022b) and 57 normal eyes for OCTA signal (Trinh et al., 2021a), with exclusion of any retinal macular/optic nerve pathology. Common locations of the optic nerve head and retinal blood vessels were excluded from OCT scans (Burke et al., 2024a, 2024b; Tong et al., 2020; Trinh et al., 2020, 2021b, 2022b). OCT layers are depicted on the left using a standardised thickness scale (darker green = greater thickness), while OCTA slabs are depicted on the right using a standardised OCTA signal (darker red = greater OCTA signal). Vascular slab approximations were adapted from Campbell et al. (Campbell et al., 2017). For reference, the RPE-BM (drusen layer) is shown using OCT thickness, and the choriocapillaris is shown using OCTA signal. Bottom half histological imaging: Resin embedded, 100 nm serial section of mid-peripheral retina of aged, normal human eye (87 year old male) with amino acid immunolabelling of GABA, glycine, and glutamate mapped to the red, green, and blue colour channels, respectively, and rod opsin labelling indicated in yellow. The section illustrates the laminar organisation of the inner- and outer-retina for cross-reference with the OCT layers above and the distinct neurochemical signatures of neurons in these layers. White scale bar 100 μm. RNFL, retinal nerve fibre layer; GCL, ganglion cell layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; OPL, outer plexiform layer; ONL, outer nuclear layer; IS/OS, photoreceptor inner- and outer-segments; RPE-BM, retinal pigment epithelium to Bruch's membrane.

New publication: Inner-Retinal Changes In AMD: Evidence, Mechanisms, and Future Perspectives.
A fun project with Matt Trinh, Michael Kalloniatis, myself, Glenn Yiu, Enrico Borrelli, and Lisa Nivison-Smith
bryanwjones.com/2026/03/inne...

Female mice grow testes after this single DNA tweak www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This may be for April Fool’s Day, but the neuron looks a lot like the newest sculpture at UTSW, so now I will think of it as the “orange cat neuron” 😂

And so much incredible networking!

Trainees presented lightning talks and posters: shout-out to the Wert lab members that shared our science!

First annual Southwestern Vision Science Summit is done. What an incredible day of cutting edge science from UTSW, UAB, UH, U Iowa, UT Austin, Baylor, UNT, and more!

Some UTSW campus artwork

This also kicked off the Wert lab tradition of “pick your mouse to sign” when you get your PhD. New office decor officially added!

New lab milestone: first PhD obtained 🎓 I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Emily Nettesheim @emilyrnett.bsky.social

On the next business day (Monday), my first graduate student will be defending her PhD!!! Congratulations to @emilyrnett.bsky.social and looking forward to her defense 🎓

Sex-specific Multi-organ (14x) single-cell #Aging atlas of GRZ killifish🐟

No age-related fibrotic features
Actually, COL1A1/2 & ECM organization⬇️with age🥸

IGF2BP3 (m6A reader)⬇️with age across all organs🤓

@emkcosta.bsky.social @jingxunchen.bsky.social
#NatAging 2026
www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Happy #Caturday from Nola

Very rare artwork at my DC hotel…still can’t believe these aren’t made anymore

A cormorant eye close up: the base of the beak is black, and the top of the head, to the left, is covered in many short black shiny feathers; the eye is surrounded by a field of black punctate skin with blue spots and a blue ring. The eye itself is a greenish turquoise color with a tiny black iris.

A cormorant eye close up: the base of the beak is black, and the top of the head, to the left, is covered in many short black shiny feathers; the eye is surrounded by a field of black punctate skin with blue spots and a blue ring. The eye itself is a greenish turquoise color with a tiny black iris. The eye is interrupted by several dark lines of the edge of the nictating membrane.

Blink and you'll miss it - literally! I managed to capture the moment this Brandt's cormorant (Urile penicillatus) blinked with its nictating membrane, aka third eyelid - while it maintained eye contact with me. More comorant photos below! La Jolla, CA. #birding #wildlifephotography

🚨Next DevBioConnect is live now
@devbiol.bsky.social

Dr. Emil Kriukov is presenting scRNAseq atlas of human developing retina from week 8 to week 27

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Join us on Zoom😆
utsouthwestern-edu.zoom.us/j/2815736063

She gave a nice shout-out to the impactful FicD research from @akcasey.bsky.social!

UTSW’s Kim Orth receiving the 2026 Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award from Margaret Phillips and Joan Conaway. She gave a great lecture! @asbmb.bsky.social #ASBMB26

Attending #ASBMB26? Stop by the UT Southwestern booth (#225)! Our team would love to meet you, share opportunities from summer programs to postdoctoral positions, and hear about your interests and goals. @asbmb.bsky.social

Yay! @akcasey.bsky.social joined BlueSky. She’s a Research Assistant Professor at UTSW, looking into how cells and tissues respond to repetitive stressors, particularly in diabetes. Amazing colleague, amazing science, and currently on the job market for tenure-track positions! Please share

Great turnout for our interest group session on BMB of Rare Disease: Insights into Conserved Biological Pathways for Human Health at #ASBMB2026

“It’s Rare Disease Day!” with the Rare Disease Day hand logo and the website” The background is a blue and purple gradient.

🌍 It’s #RareDiseaseDay 2026! 💜

Today we stand with the 300 million people living with a rare disease. Together, we’re showing our colours, raising awareness, and inspiring change by talking about what equity means to us.

👉 Read more: https://go.rarediseaseday.org/NEWS

A cell fate specification and transition mechanism for human foveolar cone subtype patterning | PNAS In the central region of the human retina, the high-acuity foveola is notable for its dense packing of green (M) and red (L) cones and absence of b...

I'm excited to share our PNAS paper from 1st author Kasia Hussey. We study how the foveola, the high acuity region of the retina, is patterned by RA and TH. We were surprised to find that cone subtypes appear to convert fates. Our studies are important for AMD sufferers. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The effects of a second pregnancy on women’s brain structure and function - Nature Communications Extending their previous findings of brain changes in a first pregnancy, the authors show that a second pregnancy uniquely alters women’s brains, involving both a further fine-tuning of first-pregnancy effects and distinct changes in other networks.

Extending previous findings of brain changes in a first pregnancy, a study in Nature Communications shows that a second pregnancy uniquely alters women’s brains, involving both a further fine-tuning of first-pregnancy effects and distinct changes in other networks. #Neuroskyence #medsky 🧪

Beautiful Torino evening during #SNS2026

Some lunch on the autopsy tables during the #SNS2026 conference

At a conference, and I’ve been wondering why I haven’t had many work emails come through today….yeah, it’s 9:30pm here and I finally realized it’s a Saturday 😂