A tabby cat looking sleepy.

This is Bea. Her 10th birthday is tomorrow!

We've been creating mScarlet and mRuby3 fusions of some biosensors for normalization purposes. We'll look into our time course data to see if we observe bleaching....

Abstracts due in 2 weeks for the Signal Dynamics FASEB! Many speaking slots will be filled from submitted abstracts

events.faseb.org/event/Dynami...

WaPo bombshell: RFK's CDC burying report on Covid vaccine success Podcast Episode · All In with Chris Hayes · April 10 · 42m

Ari Belshi hosted “All In” tonight on MS Now and has a great segment about the destruction of biomedical research in the US. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

These days doing academic science can feel pretty bleak. Then my trainees show me amazing data that makes us really excited about the questions we are asking and it gives me a bit of "hope core" as someone said today.

I called my representative and spoke to a staffer.

Ok so work with your colleagues to impeach him or demand his removal from office.

UCLA has defeated South Carolina 79-51 to win the women's NCAA basketball tournament, securing the Bruins' first national title in the program's history. https://cnn.it/3PIV3hP

They release them in waves so there should be good prices for all drops. I was able to get very reasonably priced tickets for qualifying events, and I logged in about an hour after my time slot started. Good luck!!!

I spent a month’s worth of rent on Olympic tickets, but I’m going to the women’s soccer, rugby 7s, and skateboarding finals!!!!

The Orange Cat Brain Atlas is here. 🧠🐈

Today, we published the first comprehensive cellular map of the orange cat brain. The new atlas reveals a single, specialized neuron responsible for behaviors like staring at walls, knocking objects off tables, and the 3am "zoomies."

Danielle at Keyes Lookout in Joshua Tree National Park.

Danielle standing in a field with some Joshua Trees in the background.

Danielle standing on San Jacinto mountain with the Coachella Valley in the background.

Spring break

A tuxedo cat named Stella licking her lips.

A tabby cat named Bea hiding under a bed.

I enjoy going to conferences and visiting friends on the East Coast but I do a very poor job of adjusting to the time change. It’s nice to be back in LA and getting normal amounts of sleep! And of course, my cats.

I live a 15 min drive from the beach in LA. Next week we might get to 90F or more…in March. 🫠

The Schmitt Lab is at ASBMB! Check out our posters over the next few days!

A flyer advertising Schmitt Lab posters at ASBMB 2026 on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

The Schmitt Lab will be at ASBMB 2026! Check out our posters and learn about what the Schmitt Lab has been up to!

A one way MARC ticket.

I’m visiting my PhD advisor today to give a departmental seminar!! One thing I have missed about the east coast: trains with good connections.

Join me for a Natty Boh and crab dip pretzel and check out posters from the Schmitt Lab at ASBMB 2026!

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

I’m calling my congresspeople about this, but I’ve also started DMing political/news commentators to try to get more than just scientists on BlueSky talking about what is happening with funding for scienxe www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Justice Department Sues University of California Over Antisemitism

Well, the DOJ has done it: they have filed a lawsuit against the University of California over antisemitism.

The complaint contains some falsehoods. But as someone who teaches and writes about Title VII, I'm equally struck by what the complaint doesn't say.

A few thoughts— 🧵

Screenshot of the Berkeley My Shake app showing a magnitude 3.5 earthquake off the coast of Palos Verdes.

Obligatory Los Angeles earthquake post. I shared my (very brief, light) shaking experience with scientists at Berkeley using the MyShake app.

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

The Health and Human Services secretary seems as committed to swimming in jeans as he is to destroying the nation’s immune system.

👖 www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

UCLA CFO out days after alleging history of financial mismanagement - Daily Bruin This post was updated Feb. 17 at 11:58 a.m. Stephen Agostini is out as UCLA’s chief financial officer, Chancellor Julio Frenk announced in a campuswide email Tuesday.

dailybruin.com/2026/02/17/u...

We’ve been using SAVEMONEY for a while and it works great!!

As a Culver City resident, I would argue the crime is there aren’t enough protected bike lanes. And I can’t decide which bakery to go to tomorrow morning.

My quote of the day

Over and over, nature shows that it's a really tough adversary. That's why it's important that we invest in laboratories, disease detectives, research, mosquito control, the public health system around the world to find, stop, track, prevent health threats.

Tom Frieden

Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...

This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.

The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:

📣 First preprint from the TeSlaa lab 📣 We investigated how methyl-rich nutrient, choline, is used in the body and how systemic one-carbon metabolism responds to dietary methyl-donor deficiency.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...