Science is good. We should fund it.

🚨UCLA and broader California science community

Join me in supporting SB 895: California Science & Health Research Bond Act

Sign ✍🏽: www.fundcascience.org
Email legislators!

Our paper is now out in Science! Super excited to share our discovery that #mitochondria #pearling is the elusive mechanism driving the regular distribution and inheritance of #mtDNA nucleoids 🧬 [1/6]

His Harvard Lab Was Thriving. Then Came the Cuts.

Gift link. NYT article about the fallout in one Harvard lab from the vandalism to the NIH.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/u...

Toxoplasma effector TgROP1 establishes membrane contact sites with the endoplasmic reticulum during infection - Nature Microbiology The Toxoplasma gondii effector TgROP1 mimics host factors to bind VAPA/B, thereby establishing parasite–host ER contact sites.

#NewResearch

The Toxoplasma gondii effector TgROP1 mimics host factors to bind VAPA/B, thereby establishing parasite–host ER contact sites.

#MicroSky 🦠

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Toxoplasma effector TgROP1 establishes membrane contact sites with the endoplasmic reticulum during infection Nature Microbiology - The Toxoplasma gondii effector TgROP1 mimics host factors to bind VAPA/B, thereby establishing parasite–host ER contact sites.

🚨 New work out from the Pernas Lab. Congratulations to my labmate Chahat Mehra!!

Host organelle - pathogen membrane contact sites!! ER edition!
rdcu.be/eRKUM

Applications are open for the Postdoctoral Enrichment Program (PDEP)—supporting postdocs as they advance cutting-edge research and build thriving scientific careers.
Learn more & apply: bwfund.org/pdep #bwfpdep

What makes PhD students happy? Good supervision Supervisors who invest in positive mentoring relationships with their PhD candidates also reap the benefits for their own research.

Supervisors who invest in positive mentoring relationships with their PhD candidates also reap the benefits for their own research

go.nature.com/4hriohE

Flyer for a Donation Call where there was a lost of 16 grad school app fee waiver partners this year, totaling $8,250 in waived fees for aspiring scientists gone, that is 110 applications that may never be submitted.

Last year, we helped 100 students save $31K in grad school app fees, giving students from underserved communities the freedom to apply widely.

This year we lost 16 partners = $8.2K setback = 110 fewer dreams.

🎓 You can change that.
💸 Donate to open 110 new doors.

givebutter.com/supportCL

NEXT WEEK: Applying to grad programs in the sciences? 🧬✨

Hear directly from university administrators about the key do’s and don’ts for a standout application.

Join our Faculty Panel for practical advice & answers to your questions.

📅 10/7, 11am ET
📍 Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/faculty-pa...

Ribonucleotide incorporation into mitochondrial DNA drives inflammation - Nature Imbalanced nucleotide metabolism leads to age- and mtDNA-dependent inflammatory responses and senescence-associated secretory phenotype in senescence.

Ribonucleotide incorporation into mitochondrial DNA drives inflammation

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congratulations to the Langer lab @mpiage.bsky.social, Amir, and the rest of the team!

Our new collection offers cell biologists practical, expert-driven guidance and best practices in the design, execution, and analysis of experiments, and the subsequent communication of their results to their peers. 👉 rupress.org/jcb/collecti...

#Reproducibility

Join me in donating to ABRCMS. For many of us early in our careers (and for many of us now), this is THE conference. Let’s make sure future generations get the same experience.

I was told if each poster judge donated $25, their goal would be quickly met, but I think we can do better! 🙏🏾💪🏾

Quantitative imaging of lipid transport in mammalian cells - Nature Directional, non-vesicular lipid transport is responsible for fast, species-selective lipid sorting into organelle membranes.

Quite a week for #lipidtime: phenomenal study using bifunctional lipid probes to quantify intracellular lipid transport from @nadlerlab.bsky.social and colleagues is now out @nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📣 Are you a undergraduate student, graduate student, or early-career professional in the biomedical sciences looking to transition from academia into industry?

Join us for: Thriving in Biotech – Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers.

www.scientistsinsolidarity.org/conference

Flyer for the Graduate Student Mentorship Initiative webinar series on "Applying to Graduate Programs in STEM". This webinar will go over demystifying the application process on Thursday, August 28th, 2025 at 5.30pm ET. The two speakers pictures, titles, and affiliations are listed. There is a list of sponsors and text that says register for zoom link.

🎓 Planning to apply to STEM graduate programs?

Join us for our webinar: “Applying to Grad Programs in STEM” on Thursday, 8/28 at 5.30pm ET.

Gain key insights on:
✅ Grad school application timeline
✅ How to choose the right program

🔗 Register: eventbrite.com/e/gsmi-2025-...

Mitochondria protect against an intracellular pathogen by restricting access to folate As major consumers of cellular metabolites, mitochondria are poised to compete with invading microbes for the nutrients that they need to grow. Whether cells exploit mitochondrial metabolism to protec...

New work out of the Pernas Lab!! Congratulations to my lab mates, especially Tania for spearheading this great story!! 🎉

Mitochondria protect against an intracellular pathogen by restricting access to folate | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Great perspective piece out of my PhD lab! 👇🏽

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis by chemically caging acp3U. Excited to report this work lead by Vinnie @vinnieviruses.bsky.social and in collaboration with @vijayrathinam.bsky.social in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

UCLA tells researchers to 'immediately stop spending' after Trump administration freezes grant funds The Trump administration cited alleged antisemitism at UCLA as a reason for suspending the funding. Years worth of research could be lost, one UCLA researcher said.

A story from LAist (local LA public radio) about the freezing of funds. I have had my grant frozen, so has nearly everyone else i know. laist.com/news/climate...

If you're a UCLA researcher (PI, grad student, etc) with an NSF, NIH or other suddenly suspended grant, please email or DM me.

I'm trying to confirm what the suspension letters say and how extensive the NIH suspensions are.

Email: Mikhail at calmatters dot org

NSF and NIH suspend grants to UCLA Move follows Trump administration finding that school didn’t effectively combat antisemitism

Multiple federal agencies are suspending research funding at UCLA over allegations it didn’t properly deal with antisemitism on campus. scim.ag/4lbLAcx

The NSF grants suspended at UCLA total $179M, half of which was still outstanding: CAREER grants, a major math institute, and basic science research and training of all types.

More at grant-witness.us/posts/UCLA-n..., thanks to GW member Mally Shan, with grant-level details in our database.

Congratulations Iris and @maliramanlab.bsky.social!! 🎉

Congratulations!!!

As Requested - A Starter Pack of PIs in Biology (or adjacent) fields who are recruiting POSTDOCS! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you wish to be added! go.bsky.app/4gbXXR3

Gray flower. #FluorescenceFriday

Endolysosomal damage surveillance enables rapid inflammasome sensing of pathogens Shivcharan et al. report that endosomal damage sensing by the danger receptor galectin-8 licenses noncanonical inflammasome activation and pyroptosis during intracellular bacterial infections in human...

We are excited to have our new paper out: Tethering of the pathogen sensor caspase-4 to the endomembrane damage sensor galectin-8 poises the host to rapidly detect pathogens that breach the endolysosomal network.
www.cell.com/cell-reports... #innate_immunity #inflammasome #celldeath #immunoSky 1/2

The image illustrates a person walking up a mountain, with skeletal muscle alterations visualized in the sky; the lighting towards the muscle represents muscle pain and the clouds around the top of the mountain are reflective of brain fog. Cover credits: Emma Vidal, DrawImpacts, based on the experience collected from real-life patients with long COVID.

NEW ISSUE! Discussing skeletal muscle adaptations and post-exertional malaise in long COVID, miRNAS in beta cell inflammation, mitochondria as pathogen sensors, lipid droplets in skeletal muscle metabolism, modulating ferroptosis against cancer and much more! (1/2)
www.cell.com/issue/S1043-...