iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Found this bird proteinmaxxing; he kept dropping it because it was too heavy 😆

Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Over this timeframe he was able to capture individual SARS-CoV-2 viruses from first-cell-contact to internalization and discovered previously invisible mechanisms for how viruses can hijack and regulate actin-rich structures. Incredible work and some of the best visualizations you'll ever see. 2/2

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Very excited for Yuxin's (@yl774.bsky.social) new preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Yuxin rebuilt the 3D-TrIm high-speed tracking microscope to improve its' 3D imaging. He was able to follow single virus particles and watch them interact with 3D cellular environments for over an hour! 1/2

biorxiv.org

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

It’s been so wild to see companies April Fools jokes literally being the best idea they’ve had in ever because the other 364 days of the year they’re constrained to incremental ideas designed to optimize shareholder value that the one day they’re allowed to be creative they generate actual value.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

One of the strangest highlights of #ASBMB: While catching up with @yl774.bsky.social on the beach, we saw a random dude with the most beautiful and chill 🐱 in his backpack. Apparently he and his backpack cat have traveled all over the world together. Seemed like a super fun dude and let us pet the 🐈

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Reposted by Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ"

Caroline Bartman @cbartman.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

So much fun to see all the Leading Edge members at ASBMB. an honor to know such amazing women in science! @phosphotig.bsky.social @meghnag27.bsky.social @ceej64.bsky.social

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Here at National Harbor for #ASBMB to spread the good word about our adaptive optics method for fluorescence microscopy. Come see me and my images Tuesday AM at 9:40!

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I cut one crudely and affixed to the housing with double-sided Scotch tape. If you were feeling fancy you could pretty easily design and 3D print a fit-on slot holder for the head to easily slide sheets in and out. Super cool pick up.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

However I wanted to avoid unnecessarily exciting my samples and discovered Rosco filters. Super cheap for a massive sheet (~$10) and can cut-to-size. Available in a huge variety of colors and they even have spectra! Apparently these are commonly used for stage lighting applications in theaters. 2/3

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Sometimes I want to add top off buffer or inspect things in the dark so I got this very cool, super bright light from LED2Work that has a flexarm, fully articulated head that locks in place, and has the strongest magnetic base I have ever seen. 1/3 cc @retof.bsky.social

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I sometimes wonder if we grieve our unlived lives in parallel universes.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Went to the sushi buffet to celebrate hard work paying off over the last few months and got this cookie. It is completely true: My journey into science hasn’t ever been easy, but pursuing worthy challenges has never failed to pay off in multiples.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I always think of this quote for some reason 😅 like "we're not catching ALL THE PHOTONS" smh 😂

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

That’s why the pilots have so much glass to look through 😂

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Makes sense! Kind of weird timing to fall right on the holiday 😅 it was interesting to catch some of the local festivities but I can imagine trying to balance travel and childcare is rough.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Are You still around or did you head back already to beat the ice?

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

At #PhotonicsWest #BIOS today (Monday)? I am giving a talk at 2:00 pm in Moscone South 307 on our work developing a rapid and robust technique for Adaptive Optics in Light-Sheet microscopy

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Reposted by Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ"

Leading Edge Fellows Program @leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

We are thrilled to announce the 2025 Leading Edge Fellows! 40 outstanding postdoctoral fellows doing pioneering research in a wide range of biological and biomedical disciplines. Learn more about these exceptional scientists: www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

If you are attending the Optica Biophotonics conference in San Diego, be sure to check out Magdalena's talk on this work!

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

DeepPD obtains better de-aberrated images without requiring optical correction, and more completely estimates wavefronts by accounting for nonlinearities in our deformable mirror and other assumptions not captured in our original analytic approach.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

In our new preprint, we combine a deep learning framework with our phase-diverse image acquisition called "DeepPD".

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

We demonstrated that by acquiring few extra images with added optical aberrations ("phase diversities") wavefront sensing can be achieved using an analytic optimization scheme.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Last year we published a simple experimental method for image-based wavefront sensing in fluorescence microscopy using phase diversity. opg.optica.org/optica/fullt...

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Excited to announce the release of a preprint I have been working in collaboration with Magdalena C. Schneider on to improve phase diversity-based wavefront sensing using deep learning. arxiv.org/abs/2504.14157

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Reposted by Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ"

Andy Richter @andyrichter.co · 28/02/2025

From @yepicurus on instagram

Toxic positivity, be damned, Herman Hesse reminds us that true optimism is not the denial of suffering. It is the will to perceive beauty amidst the suffering, and to conceive compassion despite suffering: “because the world is so full of death and horror I try again and again to console my heart and pick the flowers that grow in the midst of hell“

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Reposted by Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ"

Holden Thorp @holdenthorp.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Freewheeling discussion about the current moment with two great editors and three brilliant people. @chronicle.com @amnauncensored.bsky.social Enjoyed this. www.chronicle.com/article/ther...

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Something that has become really clear to me is that we really need more movies, TV series, and documentaries which romanticize and glorify scientific struggle. We have so many medical and cop dramas, we need a "Law and Order" or "ER" for science so people finally understand and appreciate our work.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Too bad it will involve actual legwork to distinguish against the broader uses of these terms. My research project is literally called "Phase Diversity" - it originated in the 1980's in Astronomy - I study physics, not DEI. Wait until they find out how much cis/trans gets used in Chemistry!

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

This is utterly insane. I literally study a method called "Phase Diversity" that originates in Astronomy and deals with physics - not DEI. I am lucky that I will not be affected in the short term but this is absolutely horrifying censorship and it is only the start.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

All of these structures and checks and balances are theoretical: they have never been stress tested in this manner before. Laws are meaningless if not enforced. The question is: how much will -unelected- Elon Musk be allowed to dismantle the government in this clearly unconstitutional manner.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

This has been the darkest week for science in recent memory. Horrifying to imagine what else is to come.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Last night, I went to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the first time in almost 8 months and today, everything is going right ...Coincidence? 🤔😂

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Me in 2008, a community college student watching House: “I don’t know what to do with my life, I would be a great doctor”. Me in 2025, a postdoc watching The Pitt: I am so glad I did not become that type of Doctor I am not cut out for any of this nonsense .

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

I like to think there are others out there on their own improbable journeys. These are the students who perhaps stand to gain the most if successful, and we do them a great disservice when we give up on them before giving them a chance because they deviate from an increasingly-precise template end/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

The dilemma is not just who fails when we select candidates purely on numbers, but who are we excluding that would have succeeded? What do these metrics inadequately model about what makes someone a successful research scientist? 8/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Which is to say, academia is not alone in this problem of using indicators of past performance to predict future success - particularly when the past performance insufficiently captures the physical, mental, and emotional tolls to be endured in future training. 7/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

How to select SEAL Candidates who will be successful in training has been a long-standing problem. It turns out that physical fitness scores are not sufficiently predictive: grit is also a critical component - but difficult to measure. 6/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

It reminds me of a similar problem the military faces: How do you assess and select Navy SEALS? BUD/S, the school for SEAL Candidates, has a physical fitness test that represents a high barrier to entry - and yet up to 90% of those that enter fail to become SEALS. 5/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

What do you do when the answer isn't in the back of the book? When nobody knows the answer and you only have yourself to rely on? Students used to achieving high scores and riding the coattails of impressive team projects may flounder in conditions of relentless failure and uncertainty. 4/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

I felt intimidated and hopelessly out of my depth the first week among students who were more prepared or from better schools And yet... All those smart students who knew all the answers week 1? Most of them didn't make it to the end. What I lacked in knowledge I made up for in mental toughness 3/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

I came from a small, unranked public school with poor test scores, a poor math background, and one co-author manuscript in preparation. If you lined me up in class rank I was probably near the bottom. 2/

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

The recent discussion on X with @mbeisen.bsky.social about how grad students are selected made me reflect on my own journey. I often wonder about who it was that made the life-changing decision to approve my grad school app, and what it was about me that pushed them over the edge. 1/ #AcademicSky

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

I was at a Sonic concert last weekend and it was ground zero for weapons-grade-autism. Literally doesn’t get more autistic than Sonic lol

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I can’t help but think this is a good thing: so many companies latched onto wokeness and DEI as performative virtue signaling: we will now see who is serious about change and improving things and who just wanted to look good while doing nothing.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

The common theme through both of these articles is that becoming the type of person who continually seeks challenge to drive growth will make you a better scientist, labmate, and leader. These traits are not innate - you develop them over time when you focus on becoming 1% better every day.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Further, you are shown the fact that teams can accomplish feats - like continuously carrying a 200# sand log for over a mile - that individuals cannot. Building a mindset that is team-oriented will take you farther than being a person who is focused solely on their own priorities.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

This order applies even - and especially if you are personally suffering. You are taught to instead look for a teammate to help. If every teammate is looking out for each other instead of themselves, no one is left behind.

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Courtney Johnson, Ph.D. "Dr. CJ" @ceej64.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

For my 2nd article I discuss the impact of participating in the GORUCK Challenge - a Special Operation Forces-led military-style rucking challenge which seeks to develop teamwork, leadership, and stress inoculation. As both a leader and follower you are taught to prioritize: Team > Teammate > Self

sealgrinderpt.com

Pushing Limits: A GORUCK Tough Finisher's Journey - An Interview with Courtney Johnson

SEALgrinderPT | Pushing Limits: A GORUCK Tough Finisher's Journey - An Interview with Courtney Johnson | Interviews

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