Honored to receive the @brightfocus.bsky.social National Glaucoma Research Award! Thank you for supporting my lab's work on developmental glaucomas!

Congratulations to @mfsd2a.bsky.social and co-authors for this fantastic paper showing elevations in intraocular pressure compromises the blood-retina barrier. Incredible work and opens up a whole new investigative line for glaucoma! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Vlasits Lab

The Vlasits Lab is hiring a technician because our current technician was accepted into a PhD program!

This position combines lab management and experiments. If you are interested in gaining experience with #retina research in Chicago, please apply.

vlasitslab.org

uic.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Dont gooooooo

I defended my PhD 10 years ago today. That was the least remarkable thing that happened that day. Sharing something I wrote about it last year. Since then "the horrors persist but so do we." And with dignity.

Resident tissue #macrophages (RTM) are now recognized as integral regulators of tissue physiology, not transient immune sentinels. one fundamental question remains unresolved: why do some populations achieve lifelong self-maintenance, while others are replaced under steady-state conditions? 🧵1/11

Targeting Trabecular Meshwork Metabolism Study suggests potential new vitamin B3 treatment for glaucoma protection

Our recent paper picked up by The Ophthalmologist! www.theophthalmologist.com/issues/2026/...

Check out this beautiful new story from @michelcayouette.bsky.social lab!!! We got to play a small part along the way. So thrilled to see this out in the world!

Oriented cell divisions induce basal progenitors and regulate neural expansion across tissues and species A fundamental role for division orientation in progenitor output driving cortical and retinal growth is revealed.

Happy to announce that our latest paper is now out! Have you ever wondered how neural tissues control their size? In this paper, we show that cell division orientation is critical in both the cortex and retina. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A couple of papers are finally out too. First, Meis factors are (unfortunately) not sufficient to respecify temporal identity in retinal progenitor cells.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy birthday Kristen! ❤️

I think I have a record of some sort for my grants ending up in postponed study sections and councils (and not to mention I am in Columbia). I am so tired of this. So very tired.

a greeting card for happy diwali with fireworks and candles ALT: a greeting card for happy diwali with fireworks and candles

This Diwali I am hoping that the good truly does triumph over all evil, and soon. Happy Diwali to those celebrating!

Just tried it and very impressed. Works really well even though I fed it a single cell paper and not a wet-lab paper. Spreading the word and doing my part 😀

My department at Emory is a hiring a tenure-track neuroscientist!

Anyone who's talked to me in the last 4 years knows I cannot say enough good things about my dept and the neuroscience community here. My colleagues are so wonderfully supportive. Postdocs, please apply!

apply.interfolio.com/174371

#FluorescenceFriday
Strand and branch pericytes surround the vessels of the retina👁️🔬

color=depth
@flaumeye.bsky.social @urneuroscience.bsky.social @cvsuor.bsky.social @uofrbme.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social

Comparative single-cell multiomic analysis reveals evolutionarily conserved and species-specific cellular mechanisms mediating natural retinal aging. Biological age is a major risk factor in the development of common degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. To systematically characterize molecular mechani...

Our latest manuscript is out, and this one tackles the problem of cellular aging in the retina, using comparative multiomic analysis of zebrafish, mouse, and humans. What led us to work on aging after studying development and regeneration? Explainer follows./1
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Single-Cell Characterization of Anterior Segment Development: Cell Types, Pathways, and Signals Driving Formation of the Trabecular Meshwork and Schlemm's Canal Morphogenesis of the anterior segment (AS) is crucial for healthy ocular physiology and vision but is only partially understood. The Schlemm's canal (SC) and trabecular meshwork (TM) are essential dra...

Excited to share this study! We created a developmental atlas of the anterior segment of the eye and provide crucial molecular information that guides the development of Schlemm’s canal and trabecular meshwork cell subtypes. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Please repost and share

The NIH was healthiest when pay lines were in the 20th percentile range.

We are headed into an environment where pay lines are in the 5% range.

In my entire career, I’ve only had 3 grants that scored better than 5%. And my lab is considered a successful one.

This is going to destroy science.

Paper alert! With co-first authors Nick Tolman and @taiboli.bsky.social , we profile trabecular meshwork cells using single-cell RNA + ATAC seq, identify mitochondrial dysfunction in an early-onset glaucoma model, and use Vitamin B3 to protect against nerve damage.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Hi all, we got a grant for a cool project that will follow up of our paper published a few months ago (see below). We will explore how light acts as a morphogen to instruct PCP. If you are looking for a postdoc position and interested in this topic, please reach out!

Wohoooooooooo!!!! We need to celebrate this major (and completely expected) achievement!! Congratulations 🎉

On Sunday I will cycle 50 km to raise money to support research to prevent blindness. If you can, please sponsor me! fightingblindness.akaraisin.com/ui/MOVEFORSI...

In more good new for the lab.. Just heard that we got a grant from The Glaucoma Foundation for our work on early onset glaucomas! Thank you TGF.

Ok, that’s it. Here’s the link again: joinus.cuimc.columbia.edu/participant/.... I know there's a lot of chaos right now, and it’s hard to know which crisis to focus your attention on and where to devote your time/resources. So if you decided to support my lab, I really do appreciate it! 9/9

Just got word that I got the RPB career development award. It feels weird to be happy when science funding is under attack. But one small win, one more day of science (or 4 more years). Thank you, Research to Prevent Blindness foundation.

🚨 Final Reminder! 🚨
Don't miss your chance to share your research at the ISER BrightFocus Glaucoma Meeting 2025!
📅 Abstract Submission Deadline: May 27, 2025
🔗 iserbrightfocusglaucoma.org/abstract-sub...
@iser.bsky.social @brightfocus.bsky.social

The pact of the federal govt with universities was not a handout. It was a strategic decision to boost US leadership in technology, defense, and health. And it paid dividends. In tech, internet, in cancer drugs (for example), No other sector has invested in high risk high reward ideas like US govt.

We have updated our database of funding opportunities for Early-Career Researchers (private foundations, federal, international)

We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc.

Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...