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Dan Starr

@danstarrucdavis.bsky.social
2K followers 2.2K following 70 posts

Cell Biologist, Nuclear Envelope, Allen Distinguished Investigator, co-Director of PREP. Associate Dean of Research. Views are my own.

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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I agree. Do not bring back the SAT.
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"To reinstate the SAT is to follow the pack rather than to lead, to grasp at a dubious shortcut rather than tackle more intractable underlying issues, chief among them the reality that the best public university in the country relies on one of the weakest, most inequitable public school systems"
nytimes.com
Opinion | The University of California Dumped the SAT. Let’s Not Bring It Back. (Gift Article)
There are more intractable underlying issues to tackle.
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Sue Biggins @suebiggins.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Junior faculty position in Basic Sciences @fredhutch.org! Please repost!
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I am honored. So many of my scientific heroes are ASCB fellows. Thanks to my nominators, my mentors, and to UC Davis ASCB fellows Mark Winey, Jon Scholey, and Jodi Nunnari. But thanks most to all those who have done science with me, @gwgl.bsky.social and all the graduate students and postdocs
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
thanks Needhi!!!
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I might take the latest offer up and publish in the Journal of Pain. 😂
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Led by @xiangyiding.bsky.social . Starr-Luxton lab (me and @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social) with the @stephanieweber.bsky.social lab. Supported by @NIGMS and the @allenphilanthro.bsky.social .
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Sunset over some houses.
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anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
A 20 year study on 2 NIH diversity programs in Science Advances shows they doubled undergrads' odds of getting a Ph.D. That is, before the funding for those programs and for the study itself was terminated last year: www.statnews.com/2026/06/17/n...
statnews.com
NIH diversity programs doubled undergraduates’ odds of getting a Ph.D., 20-year study finds
A new study found that two diversity-oriented programs supported by the NIH doubled the odds that an undergraduate would earn a Ph.D.
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Reaganism, the perennial student loan debt debate and decency drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/04/14/r...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
Reaganism, the perennial student loan debt debate and decency
The response of many Boomers, particularly those who went through higher education in California, to talk of ballooning student loan debt and the unaffordability of University education is often a …
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Neither my 18 or 20 year old would go with me. So I worked on a manuscript instead. The 18 year old did go to the first two.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
We are around 30% (down 70%) from a couple of years ago. Despite flat NIH funding. We are going to regret this and excellent students are losing their opportunities. 😭
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
I’m completely convinced we should never use student evaluations (good or bad) to merit and promotion at the university. What can we use to better evaluate teaching at the university?
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 18/02/2026
Recent studies in living animals reveal that the cytoplasm is a thick, jam-like fluid. And yet, miraculously, hoards of molecules find their way to each other in every crowded cell. www.quantamagazine.org/the-biophysi...
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 20/02/2026
Forget the textbook view of a cell as a calm, orderly place. Glowing trackers reveal that it is jam-packed as a crowded nightclub — raising questions about how molecules can encounter their partners for the reactions that enable life. www.quantamagazine.org/the-biophysi...
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 22/02/2026
An estimated 1 billion biochemical reactions occur every second in every cell of our bodies. New research is revealing how cells harness physics by packing molecules into tiny spaces to make these reactions happen.
quantamagazine.org
The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell | Quanta Magazine
Innovations in imaging and genetic engineering are coming together to probe the biophysics of cytoplasm inside living animals.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
New in @quantamagazine.bsky.social: the science of cytoplasmic crowding. From Liam Holt & Simone Reber's work to our discovery that in vivo cytoplasm is 50x more crowded than cultured cells. Thanks @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social & @gabepopkin.bsky.social! www.quantamagazine.org/the-biophysi...
quantamagazine.org
The Biophysical World Inside a Jam-Packed Cell | Quanta Magazine
Innovations in imaging and genetic engineering are coming together to probe the biophysics of cytoplasm inside living animals.
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Bruce Springsteen @brucespringsteen.net · 28/01/2026
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free
youtu.be
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I too have family members in Minneapolis out protesting. if the Democrats shut the government down, we will lose. Trump will find other ways to send goons to our cities. This doesn’t stop until he is out. We should pass the rest of the budget that saves education
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Don't forget about the trainees who would be unemployed, out of science, and the international students that would be deported.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I disagree. Trump wants a 40% cut to NIH. It's easy for tenured profs to say "shut it all down". But what about our trainees? This would mean thousands of trainees unemployed and leaving science. And thousands of students would be deported. Our trainees are scared. This language doesn't help.
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
My sister-in-law's dad died last week, in hospice in the VA hospital in Minneapolis. I just learned Alex Pretti was part of his care team. They shot Alex less than 1/2 mile from my niece's house while doing the same observation work that my niece is doing. These are real people. Step up folks!
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
The conference (agreement between House and Senate) appropriations bill that includes HHS and NIH was released this morning. www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majorit... 1/5
appropriations.senate.gov
Committee Releases Conferenced Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Bi...
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
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JoAnn Trejo @joann-trejo.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
NIGMS R35 Maximizing Investigator's Research Award (MIRA) for Outstanding Investigators new NOFO is available!! Submission dates starting in January 2026 through May 2028. See link below: simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...
R35 MIRA NOFO
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
We persist.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
worst conference app ever. There were better apps in 2005, before I had a cell phone.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Grateful to be featured in Nature Methods discussing how @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social and I run the joint Starr-Luxton Lab @ucdavis.bsky.social together. Thanks to Vivien Marx for the thoughtful interview - she really captured what makes this model work. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Two as one: when scientists run a lab together - Nature Methods
Leading a lab is both a venture and an adventure. It’s double that for these researchers.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
This is our community!
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Clearly, Collabfold is the only correct answer.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Thank you. This is what we in California want.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
@padilla.senate.gov @schiff.senate.gov do not vote to open the govern without obtaining an extension of the ACA subsidies. Protect working class. Protect access to healthcare. DO NOT CAVE.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
For UCD attendance verification, first year students can get official "proof of enrollment" paperwork from the registrar's office.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
nature.com
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
This is less than half out harvest of pomegranates and persimmons
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Ironic this would be in Nature Cell Biology
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
A lesson I learned initially in grad school and constantly work on today is that old Jewish guys should not try to give inspirational talks.
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Submitting an R01 to NIH today. We're super proud of the work, and feel its important, but where is it going now?
media.tenor.com
a blurry picture of a person wearing red sunglasses and a colorful shirt
ALT: a blurry picture of a person wearing red sunglasses and a colorful shirt
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Josh Currie @joshcurrie.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Just a reminder if you're getting a manuscript together (like we are) to thank your core facilities!
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Xiangyi Ding @xiangyiding.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
🎉Check out our new preprint!! 🧬We found that lamin mutations in muscular dystrophy don’t just affect the nucleus — they disrupt a nucleolar–ribosomal axis that reorganizes the entire cytoplasm. Very grateful to @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social, @gwgl.bsky.social and our lab for collaboration & support!
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
🧬 NEW Starr-Luxton Lab PREPRINT: Our 🌠grad student @XiangyiDing figured out why muscular dystrophy mutations cause such widespread cellular chaos. The answer wasn't what we expected - and it changes how we think about the disease. Thread🧵 (1/6). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
biology.ucdavis.edu/news/worms-r...
biology.ucdavis.edu
Worms Reveal Just How Cramped Cells Really Are
In a new study published in Science Advances on September 10, a team of UC Davis researchers tracked the movement of fluorescent particles inside the cells of microscopic worms, providing unprecedente...
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
🧬Want the full story of our paper without the science jargon? Our @ucdavis.bsky.social department broke down our "cells are crowded AND constrained" findings in plain English! Perfect explanation of why worm cells are nothing like cultured cells 🪱🌠
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
🧬BREAKING!🪱Plot twist: Cells aren't meditation pools, they're overcrowded concerts with VIP ropes everywhere! Our study reveals worm cells are insanely crowded AND compartmentalized. Ribosomes = packing peanuts, ANC-1 = the bouncer! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Giant KASH proteins and ribosomes establish distinct cytoplasmic biophysical properties in vivo
Living tissues maintain unique intracellular biophysical properties under the control of cytoplasmic constraints and crowding.
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Xiangyi Ding @xiangyiding.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Thrilled to share that a big piece of my thesis here in the Starr–Luxton is now out in Science Advances! We discovered that the cytoplasm of living animal tissues is extremely crowded and constrained, maintained by ribosomes and the giant KASH protein ANC-1. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Giant KASH proteins and ribosomes establish distinct cytoplasmic biophysical properties in vivo
Living tissues maintain unique intracellular biophysical properties under the control of cytoplasmic constraints and crowding.
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GW Gant Luxton @gwgl.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
🚨Our fabulous graduate student Selin's paper on how the KASH protein UNC-83 regulates the activity of kinesin-1 to control developmental stage-specific nuclear migration is out! Another great collaboration between the Starr-Luxton and MOM labs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
The KASH protein UNC-83 differentially regulates kinesin-1 activity to control developmental stage-specific nuclear migration
Nuclear migration plays a fundamental role in development, requiring precise spatiotemporal control of bidirectional movement through dynein and kines…
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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 05/09/2025
One of the best arguments I have read about DEI: Gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...
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Dan Starr @danstarrucdavis.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
What does one do if there is an owl on our bathroom?
Screech owl on a windowsill
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prathima14.bsky.social @prathima14.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Would recommend constitutional law professor Steve Vladeck’s take which is more optimistic! www.tiktok.com/@steve_vlade...
tiktok.com
A quick video on Thursday’s #SCOTUS ruling re: NIH funding—a short-term win for Trump, but one that signals a big long-term loss. #supremecourt
TikTok video by Steve Vladeck
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