iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Two openings for a Staff Research Associate (Study Coordinator/Lab Manager) in the Brain & Body Lab and SAND Labs at UCLA with @jasilvers.bsky.social and @drbcallaghan.bsky.social working on different #NIMH #NIA funded research studies. Apply here: jobs.ucla.edu/jobs/9781 jobs.ucla.edu/jobs/9782

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

I'll be speaking at the Brain, Behavior, & Mind 2026 Spring Conference on April 21st! I hope to see you there! #BBMSpring2026 by @CSTS_USU is free, virtual, and open to the public. Continuing education credits are available. Register here: brainbehaviormind.org/conferences/...

brainbehaviormind.org

2026 Brain, Behavior, & Mind Conference

2026 Spring Conference Tuesday, April 21, 20269:00am – 4:15pm EST (virtual) REGISTER The Center...

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Tell me you are a parent without telling me you are a parent …

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Great release timing!! Looking forward to reading this over the holidays!

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Fun times were had #ISDP2025. Wish us luck driving home in this rain!! See you in NOLA 2026 ✌🏻

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

New Paper ‼️ Read @pw-savoca.bsky.social paper on discrimination, alexithymia, and anxiety in women.

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

So Proud of @fquerdasi.bsky.social and Dr. Jess Uy for this exciting paper linking gut microbiome to mental health in school age kids.

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Fran Querdasi @fquerdasi.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Just out! ✨ Using a novel machine learning approach, we identify a developmental pathway by which the early life gut microbiome may shape mental health at school age via effects on functional brain development. This work can help identify microbial biomarkers of later health issues. 👉 rdcu.be/eNsUK

rdcu.be

Childhood gut microbiome is linked to internalizing symptoms at school age via the functional connectome

Nature Communications - Here, the authors find that relative abundances of stress-sensitive gastrointestinal microbes at age 2 years predicts internalizing symptoms in middle childhood through...

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

I really resonate with this sentiment

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

The Brain & Body Lab at UCLA is hiring a Staff Research Associate to work on a productive and dedicated team under the NIMH funded Teen Bugs study - investigating brain-gut communication in teens. Send your best and brightest! jobs.ucla.edu/jobs/8072

jobs.ucla.edu

Staff Research Associate in Los Angeles, California | The Regents of the University of California on behalf of their Los Angeles Campus

UCLA is hiring a Staff Research Associate in Los Angeles, California. Review all of the job details and apply today!

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

So proud of @shibaesfand.bsky.social for this amazing achievement. Very well deserved. What a 🪨 ⭐️

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Shiba Esfand @shibaesfand.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Very honored to have recieved the NSF GRFP amidst all the current budget cuts toward research. Feeling immense gratitude to everyone who supported me, including current @drbcallaghan.bsky.social and past @levelsof.bsky.social @diegopizzagalli.bsky.social mentors! (1/3)

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Mary Ford @maryeford.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Full of gratitude-my experience as a research assistant in the bablab has meant so much to me. This has been one of the most formative chapters in my life-growing in ways I didn’t even know I needed to. Thank you for opening the door and mentorship @drbcallaghan.bsky.social @pw-savoca.bsky.social

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

HUGE congratulations to Brain & Body Lab graduating seniors: @maryeford.bsky.social, Andrea Sosa, Angelina Meng, Brandon Parenti, and Naomi Escobar. And special appearance from aspiring Bruin graduate - Freddie! All the best on your wonderful futures in science and life!

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Alex Fornito @alexfornito.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Have recent changes led to uncertainty in your future scientific career? Wonder it's like in Australia? Good news! Monash's is seeking to hire talented EMCRs from other countries. Come join a wonderful community of brain mappers & modellers! www.monash.edu/research/eme...

monash.edu

EMERGE

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

An enormous congratulations to the newly appointed Dr Fran Querdasi!

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Emi Tanaka @emitanaka.org · 02/04/2025

Looking for a postdoc in stats or a job with computer vision / deep learning? Postdoctoral position in statistics is now out at Australian National University! jobs.anu.edu.au/jobs/postdoc... And also APPN is looking for a data lead @scienceanu.bsky.social jobs.anu.edu.au/jobs/data-le...

jobs.anu.edu.au

Postdoctoral Fellow - Canberra / ACT, ACT, Australia

Classification: Academic Level ASalary package: $85,010 - $106,702 per annum plus 17% superannuationTerm: Full time, Continuing (contingent funded) This position is continuing (contingent funded). The...

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Technically effective July 1st, but I need a celebration today. You are looking at Associate Professor with Tenure at UCLA. Tickled pink! 🤓🥳

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Go Mary!! Excited for you to be presenting this!!

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Just ordered my copy!! Can’t wait to sit down and binge this!! @drtomori.bsky.social nice work!!

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Maya Opendak @maya-opendak.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

So excited to share our Perspective out this week in Translational Psychiatry! We provide a conceptual framework for studying brain function in infancy. A true labor of love and hopefully useful for many related questions! @drbcallaghan.bsky.social Open access link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Understanding the development of a functional brain circuit: reward processing as an illustration - Translational Psychiatry

Translational Psychiatry - Understanding the development of a functional brain circuit: reward processing as an illustration

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Special thanks to the BABLab team @fquerdasi.bsky.social @ngancz.bsky.social @pw-savoca.bsky.social @shibaesfand.bsky.social @genesisflores.bsky.social as well as Matt Figueroa and Savannah Lopez for brainstorming logo ideas and lab content!

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Extremely excited to launch our new Brain & Body Lab website and branding today! It was a pleasure to work with the great team at @stellatecomms.bsky.social to create this. I am thrilled with the outcome. Please drop on over and check us out! www.brainandbodylab.psych.ucla.edu

brainandbodylab.psych.ucla.edu

Brain & Body Lab

The Brain and Body Lab (BABLab) at UCLA explores how early experiences shape health and development to improve emotional and physical well-being across generations.

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Ida Momennejad @neuroai.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Honored that a piece I wrote made it to NYTimes. It’s about how my mom’s stroke changed my connection to time, science, and nature. What a privilege to honor my mom in Modern Love. Below is a gift link. Let me know your thoughts 🙏🏼 www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/s...

nytimes.com

Grief Makes Us Time Travelers (Gift Article)

A neuroscientist studying memory, I used to believe time was linear. Then my mother had a stroke.

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

check out the fantastic papers contained in this special issue on maternal cognition in Archives of Women’s Mental Health co edited by Jodi Pawluski and myself link.springer.com/collections/... You can read a summary in our editorial here rdcu.be/d2AZZ ❤️🥳🧠

helath.you

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Anytime Julia! It was so good to have you!!

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Julia Ditzer @juliaditzer.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Today, I’m reminiscing about my summer research stay at @drbcallaghan.bsky.social 's BaBlab @UCLA! 🤩 Thanks to @cfmhlab.bsky.social's support, I spent the summer geeking out on interoception & early adversity research. 🤓 Now there’s even a news piece—read more here: tu-dresden.de/mn/psycholog...

tu-dresden.de

Julia Ditzer about her stay at UCLA

Thanks to the support of the Society of Friends and Sponsors of TU Dresden, Julia Ditzer, doctoral student at the Chair of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology at TU Dresden under the direction of...

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

And that’s a wrap. 5 days of giving thanks to 5 fabulous graduate students. I’m going to continue slowly introducing you to all the wonderful people in the lab, including our great study coordinators over the next few days as we lead up to a big reveal 🥳 New Lab WEBSITE!!! For now, enjoy the weekend

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

You will be seeing a lot more of Genesis as her thoughtful and skilled approach to working with microbiome data yields exciting and hopefully actionable knowledge! Thrilled to get the opportunity to work with you Genesis!

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Genesis’ first project in the lab will be analyzing the impact of prenatal maternal stress on development of the gut microbiome longitudinally across the first year of life. Genesis

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Post thanksgiving - day 4 of appreciating my BABLab peeps. Today is a highlight of our newest lab member @genesisflores.bsky.social who has more than hit the ground running, starting with an NSF GRFP, and working on a protocol paper for our new NIMH funded Teen Bugs study.

flores.bsky.social

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Shiba has a great clinical mind and deep knowledge about reward circuit involvement in mental health. I appreciate the way she openly contributes this knowledge to the lab and am excited for more to come. Gratitude to Shiba for being an awesome student (& one who shares my love of #ACOTAR). 🤠🥳🧠❤️

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Shiba's research focus is to understand the effects of adversity on the development of reward networks, and what role the microbiome plays in the development of these circuits. She is also heavily involved in our new NIMH funded study - Teen Bugs - where we are directly addressing that question.

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

She hit the ground running by organizing the lab to do a Paper in a Day #PiaD early in the summer to write up the protocol for our Mind, Brain, Body (MBB) study, which is now finished enrollment! The protocol is now published in Brain, Behavior, Immunity: Health www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

The mind, brain, and body study: A protocol for examining the effects of the gut-brain-immune axis on internalizing symptoms in youth exposed to caregiving-related early adversity

Experiences of caregiving-related adversity are common and one of the strongest predictors of internalizing psychopathology (i.e., anxiety and depress…

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Continuing our theme of giving thanks to the graduate students who make the research happen, next up for Black Friday we have a Shiba Shoutout @shibaesfand.bsky.social. Shiba joined the lab last year and has been a delight to have on our team.

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

She also just submitted a paper with former postdoc Dr. Jessica Uy using a symptom anchored approach to link microbiome with brain data. 💩 🧠 osf.io/preprints/ps... I love working with Fran! Thanks for being such a bright light in the lab! Stay tuned tomorrow for @shibaesfand.bsky.social highlight 🤓

osf.io

OSF

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

For her dissertation, Fran is looking at how adversity is associated with changes in the gut microbiome and inflammatory gene expression. She has learned a ton of bioinformatics approaches and new analytic skills to work with these data.

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Installment #3 of thanks giving to my wonderful students and their cool research. Next is @fquerdasi.bsky.social who is on the job market right now! Fran has been working so hard on her dissertation this year and it has been a pleasure to watch her bring everything together.

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Feeling a swell of pride at #Aussie representation at Macy’s TG Day parade. ❤️😍🦃🌟 So special for my American-Aussie boy!

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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Dan Wuori @danwuori.bsky.social was the best thing about Twitter. Thrilled to see him here in the blue sky! I love using his examples in my child development lectures. Follow along for wonderment and cuteness.

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