iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Reminds me of an old @currentbiology.bsky.social cover. We mocked up an in-lab version with Steve Buchemi eyeballs by the talented and hilarious @androwski.bsky.social

Mock up of a Current Biology cover of neurons with Steve Buscemi eyeballs in the cell bodies
Artist: Rebecca Androwski

real Current Biology cover with three images of C. elegans head neurons
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.058
Artist: Rebecca Androwski

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

His reach goal is to qualify for the Olympic trials and needs 2:16:00. His current pace is 2:16:06. Please baby jesus

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Cheers! Crack-of-dawn ritual. Every day is national coffee day

Coffee in a blue mug in a hand, resting on a cozy gray blanket

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Dark academia is a genre. Who knew? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ac...

Book display with pink label "Dark Academia"

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Scientist's kinda coffee shop

Two mugs of coffee and two beakers of H2O

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Been stuck at the same weight. Some days simply showing up is enough.

Barbell with rusty plates on a weedy asphalt driveway. A tired body with pink shoes and sweaty blue tank

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I will not make any more boring science

I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art by American artist John Baldessari

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Just received the NOA for a completing renewal on "The Fundamental Biology of Neuronal Extracellular Vesicles." So many made this happen: my labmates, Rutgers worm group @monicadriscoll.bsky.social, NIH study section, my PO who ushered this Hail Mary to funded state, taxpayers. Five more years!

Woman on a dirt path, standing next to mossy rocks and a waterfall, poised with a rainbow from her mouth

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Awesome hike. We braved rain and 25mph winds for the turnaround point reward - 1.5 hour soak in Reykjadalur hot spring/thermal river. Going back down was brutal 😰 www.alltrails.com/trail/icelan...

Woman standing on bridge over a spring. The grass on the banks is bright green in contrast to the deep fog

Five people relaxing in a hot spring. Fog surrounds them

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Mom brag: my youngest son won the Reykjavík 1/2 marathon in 1:07:50! In rain and 25mph winds 🔥

Man wearing a medal and holding a bag at a race finish line. A Ferris wheel in the background

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

TGIF from Iceland, BlueskyPeeps! (checking NIH commons)

Waterfall with gray rocks and cavern. Bluesky with a few wispy clouds

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I'm only 1/4 thru and bringing the hardback on the plane! I love the rich/complicated relationships btw Cal, Trey, and Lena with the rest of town in The Keeper

The Keeper by Tana French resting on a woman's lap

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Celebrate the wins! Lab lunch at Namli in New Brunswick. The owner joined the fun. Amazing food, service, and company. namlirestaurantnj.com

A selfie of long table of happy restaurant go-ers and photobombed by the welcoming owner

Two women holding small cups of Turkish coffee

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Traffic is terrible on the D&R canal path. So much honking.

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Excited PI brag: postdoc Katie Ching just received the NOA for her K99/R00! She's talking at FASEB Cilia & Centrosomes meeting! "Investigating how mechanical force causes cilia to shed extracellular vesicles." Thanks to NIH POs, SROs, staff, study sections, taxpayers for investing in the future!

A woman is sitting in front of a microscope and teaching high school students about GFP and C. elegans

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Doing no thing is Listening to wind in grass Tasting salt in air (A haiku by a scientist who should not quit her day job)

Path leading thru sand dunes, sea grass, scrubby trees. A weather-worn board walk runs perpendicular

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Staying a family week in solitude at a very busy NJ national park

Sunset over the bay - the sun is scorching yellow I. A sky blue-pink

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Two characters that give me joy: Sam & Joel in Somebody, Somewhere

Sam (Bridget Everett) and Joel (Jeff Hiller)

Two happy people laughing

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

341,699 comments as of yesterday. Today is the deadline. Your voice impacts the future of US research & science. Please submit a comment if you haven't already.

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

I see ties in my future 🔥🔥🔥

Nicole Kidman wearing an off-white suit, blush-colored blouse and loosened tie, holding an off-white fedora at Wimbledon.

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Playing games to motivate myself to do a third set. Lifted over a ton in the first two sets. Ooooooooooof

Rusty bar bell and weights. A woman's pink legs and shoes are next to it

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Posted my comments opposing OMBs proposed rule. It was so easy, using this great letter writing tool of @faseborg.bsky.social www.faseb.org/science-poli... Did you submit yours yet? The deadline is soon - July 13. This is essential to save science and research in the US.

I write in my personal capacity as a research-active faculty member, not on behalf of my institution. I am a distinguished professor at a leading state R1 university. I am also a Senior Principal Investigator whose research laboratory is NIH. I submit these comments in strong opposition to OMB's proposed rule revising 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (Docket OMB-2026-0034). I am requesting that OMB withdraw this rule entirely because of the devasting consequences it will have on biomedical research, human health, the economy, and the nation.

The proposed pre-issuance review requirement (§ 200.205) eliminates that independence by giving political appointees – who may have no experience or training in the biomedical research field - veto power over peer-reviewed funding decisions. As a Senior PI / Lab director whose research is supported by NIH, I am deeply concerned that the best science will not be funded, instead politicians will decide not based on merit and research quality, but rather ideology. Peer-review is critical for gold-standard science.

This proposed discretionary termination provision (§ 200.340) jeopardizes the future and well-being of the researchers in my laboratory, my department, my university, my state, and the United States. My research program has been continuously funded by the NIH for over two decades. My laboratory is like a small business – with NIH funding, I employ eight full-time personnel. These scientists are at all stages of their careers – newly minted bachelors who are working as research technicians or graduate students; postdoctoral researchers who are completing additional training in order to go onto careers in academia, biotech, industry, governments; senior scientists who have devoted their entire careers to biomedical research and training the next generation of scientists, physicians, dentists, teachers, etc.

The proposed international collaboration restrictions (§§ 200.202(e), 200.220) will isolate US scientists and lead to the demise…

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

@ahnaskop.bsky.social the midbody queen found a shampoo called Anaphase. It's for split ends. #momjoke

Hand holding a white bottle of shampoo with blue label "Anaphase"

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Today I pray to Ugly Worm, may NIH council smile favorably upon my grant application

Green stuffed animal worm with one yellow eye and two triangle teeth

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Writing two competing renewals for the July 6th NIH deadline is rough. Finished everything except the Introduction for the A1. Time for a paper plane and paperback. Enjoy your Sunday evening, Blueskees.

Pink cocktail on the rocks and pink paperback by Carl Hiaasen on a black table

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Is my coffee giving me the finger?

Blue coffee mug with frothy milk and hand-shaped coffee design

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

A fantastic week at the Cell Biology of the Neuron GRC in Tuscany. @roylab-ucsd.bsky.social & I are organizing 2028, June 4-9: same location A great perk of being a scientist is getting to hang with other scientists. My cup is full. Thank you! @channyskye.bsky.social @rodallab.bsky.social

Maureen & Monica Driscoll exploring Florence the day before the conference. Important for jet lag prevention! In the background is the Arno River, which looks very green

Antonina Roll-Mecak, Maureen, and Avi Rodal in Barca sitting at a green picnic table with red umbrella

Maureen and Chantell Evans at the end of conference dinner

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

A little fun: packing for GRC Cell Biology of the Neuron in Tuscany, Italy. One bathing suit or two? SPF 10000000 www.grc.org/cell-biology...

Outdoor pool overlooking mountains

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lcvbr-renaissance-tuscany-il-ciocco-resort-and-spa/overview/

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Lost a very loved one and almost another this week. Been discombobulated and lost my purse, days before an international trip. A kind man drove and dropped it at my home. Good people are everywhere, lost in the noise. So many good people on here. Thank you, good people.

A purse held in a man's hand with the text "Found at bank, Good Samaritan brought to you"

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Big week: son#2 earned his Masters and son#3 his bachelors. My entire family graduated with degrees from Rutgers, the state university of NJ. Public universities for the win!!! RU rah rah!

Masters graduation ceremony at Rutgers. A man gives a smile to his GF next to his mom who took the photo

Rutgers athletic center graduation for athletes with two brothers, one in regalia

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Grant application writing and exercising heart rate: correlation is not causation

Heart rate graphs with red high rate making a smile with two gray circle eyes, baseline blue a flat line

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

The International C. elegans meeting #worm27 is going to Kobe, Japan in 2027! genetics-gsa.org/celegans/ Organizers: Erik Andersen @erikandersen.bsky.social, Johns Hopkins University Kavita Babu @kavita-babu.bsky.social, IISc Bangalore Suhong Xu, Zhejiang University @genetics-gsa.bsky.social

Genetics Society of America. 26th International Worm Meeting
July 18-22, 2027
Kobe, Japan
Kobe Convention Center

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Side job, boy mom: My youngest F1 is graduating!

Five very happy, smiling people in Rutgers Jersey Mike's Arena, which is a ridiculously appropriate name

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Today is our 3rd annual Barr open lab for juniors at Passaic County Technical Institute STEM Academy. Their instructor is Dr. Deanna DeVore, who got her PhD from Rutgers/Barr lab in 2018! Postdoc @katiejacobs.bsky.social planned & coordinated this amazing day, with help from the rest of the lab.

Auditorium with seated high school students and standing scientist & science teacher. On the projector screen is C. elegans

Scientist showing how to use a dissecting microscope to view plates of C. elegans. High school students are watching

Scientist teaching five high school students how to use fluorescence microscope to visualize C. elegans neurons

The map of research stations for our high school visitors

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Grand finale of my Effective Research Communication course. Students learn to write an intro, give a 12-minute talk, and present a poster. They also pitch their research to a lay audience. These Rutgers STEM majors are our future scientists, doctors, health professionals. The future is bright!

Happy Genetics majors & professor after our poster session

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This scientist can now lift 1.25x her body weight 💪💪💪

Legs in black yoga pants and pink shoes. Paint flaked gray basement. Old bar (not me) & rusty weights

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

MacGyver-ing with lab temperature in the 80s. Rutgers "Energy Management Systems" fail every year with seasonal transition to cooling

Fan pointed to minus 80 freezer with two ice bins on the floor

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Weekend novel choice inspired by Artemis II and Project Hail Mary What are you reading to escape?

Book cover of a colorful galaxy: Orbital a novel by Samantha Harvey

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

New level unlocked! I can deadlift the equivalent of my 6'4" son!!!

Gray, paint flaked cellar floor with a bar bell, rusty weights and legs wearing pink sneakers

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Recombinant monoclonal antibodies to detect tubulin post-translational modifications work beautifully in #celegans neurons and cilia. @kjverhey1.bsky.social shared ONE ML of each rMAb! www.micropublication.org/journals/bio... Blasius...Verhey 2025 Cytoskeleton: 10.1002/cm.70011. PMID: 40650552

Representative immunostaining of anti-glutamylated tubulin (rMAb-GT335) in C. elegans hermaphrodites. Glutamylated tubulin is detected in labial and cephalic cilia (bracket) and the middle segments (MS) of amphid channel cilia. Scale bar=2μm.

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