I suppose it's better late than never to mention that this September I started an Assistant Professor position at Rowan University @rowancsm.bsky.social. We will be doing cool work with chameleons 🦎 to understand early development, especially left-right patterning view.rowan.edu/the-human-pu...
Key Dates, 2026 Epithelial Stem Cells and Niches GRC (GRC August 23-28; GRS August 22-23, 2026) April 15: Deadline to apply for travel support, email your request to kara_mckinley@harvard.edu and sarah.knox@ucsf.edu April 24: Travel support recipients notified April 25: Early registration deadline, receive a $100 travel reimbursement for registering by this date. Also the deadline to apply to give a short talk May 25: short talk presenters notified July 25: registration closes
1 more week to apply to give a short talk + for early bird registration for the 2026 Epithelial Stem Cells and Niches GRC!
Join us in Barcelona ☀️ for exciting presentations and discussions on this year's theme: "From Organ Function to Multi-Organ Communication"
www.grc.org/epithelial-s...
With the scientific input and experimental brilliance of the @franzelab.bsky.social this work was made possible. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
New preprint to share! Incredible collab w/ Fei Chen’s lab: developed in vivo CRISPR screening platform for 🫁 epithelium, allowing single cell perturbation in post-flu repair. Take a peek to see what we found! Huge congrats to the leaders of this work @daisyah.bsky.social & @sundakao.bsky.social 🎉
1st McKinley Lab grad student’s 1st preprint!
@claireang.bsky.social studied how the uterus safely excises massive amounts of tissue during menstruation and pregnancy.
Come for her GORGEOUS images, stay for her incredible discoveries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
w/ @akelleher1017.bsky.social
Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302
The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.
What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.
Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.
I am so proud to share @forrestdrogers.bsky.social’s postdoctoral magnum opus, now out in @nature.com! Forrest discovered a novel role for Agouti in the MPOA of the hypothalamus to integrate socio-environmental information to flexibly tune paternal behavior
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thread! 👇🏻
And the amazing resource that is the Atlas of Inspiring LatinX/Hispanic Scientists, which you can learn more about and access here:
www.fredhutch.org/en/about/abo...
I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond!
www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
Science update from my postdoc Peiyuan Chai - his work “glycoRNA complexed with heparan sulfate regulates VEGF-A signaling” is now published @nature.com uncovering a new layer or glycoRNA-regulation of growth factor mediated control physiological processes rdcu.be/e1bBX
In preprints: shedding light – chemogenetic induction of menstruation in mice
Aishwarya V. Bhurke and Ripla Arora from @aroralab.bsky.social discuss the recent preprint by @cagricevrim.bsky.social, @karalmckinley.bsky.social and colleagues on the X-mens menstruation model.
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
🎉I am very excited to share that the Di Bella lab started at Fundacion Leloir in Argentina 🇦🇷. We will continue to study genetic and molecular mechanisms behind neuronal diversification in the cerebral cortex. We are now hiring at all levels 🧠
www.leloir.org.ar/nuevo-labora...
January marks 5 years of the Flynn Lab - it has been an exciting start and I’ve been lucky to have a great set of lab members that have been working with me to uncover new aspects of glycoRNAs and cell surface RNA biology… Now as an Associate Professor! @harvard.edu @bostonchildrens.bsky.social
Thank you for writing this beautiful piece!
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… mouse? Check out our latest piece on the X-Mens, a genetically inducible mouse model for the study of menstruation that was recently developed by researchers at Harvard University. #scicomm 🐁
Now online! Stress-induced sympathetic hyperactivation drives hair follicle necrosis to trigger autoimmunity
It’s that time of year for me to dust this thing off and encourage you to apply to be a Leading Edge fellow, this year named in honor of Zara Weinberg
Applications are open for the 2026 Zara Weinberg cohort of Leading Edge, named in honor of the incredible, brilliant, fearless @weinberz.witchlab.org.
The LE community has been truly transformative for my scientific journey and my happiness. Please apply!! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
Thank you, Ricardo!!
I’d given up on social media, but I was missing too many cool papers. Case in point: this incredible new study from @cagricevrim.bsky.social and @karalmckinley.bsky.social. Simply amazing!
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
The Leading Edge community has been a life-line as I navigate *points to everything*.
Zara was such a shining light of wisdom and warmth. She will be sorely missed, but her legacy will continue in everyone who had the utmost privilege to interact with her.
Apply, apply, apply!!!!
Thrilled to start my Group Leader adventure with these and other great scientists!
This program changed my life. Apply!
Zara was a star, a cherished friend, and an untiring advocate. I wish she had the chance to stay here with us and help create a brighter future, but she already gave us so much in her time here. I'm glad she will be honored in the next cohort of LE fellows ❤️
Being a leading edge fellow has been the single best thing for my scientific career.
Zara’s voice and vision was no small part in that.
Apply. Apply. Apply.
Candid photo of Zara Weinberg. She has short red hair, bangs and glasses. She is laughing.
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
Zara was an incredibly inspiring scientist, activist, and leader within our community of Leading Edge Fellows. She will be deeply missed by all those who had the pleasure of interacting with her.
We are all better because of the energy, inspiration, brilliance, and tenacity that Zara was. A bright light, role model, advocate & snarky tweeter... everything I needed in a person when I was navigating dark times when we met in 2021. You will be missed deeply, Zara, but never forgotten ❤️
Zara was an inspiration. We never met in person but became friends through Leading Edge. She zealously advocated for her ideals, but was also passionate about helping others realize why they should too. Her loss is gutting & the world is the worse for it. RIP, I'll do my best to continue the fight.