Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Apparently Vance has never hired or promoted people at UC Davis where the vast majority of employees are unionized and there’s no way to “undercut” wages. 010
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I think that I crossed the line re: offending my hens when I started feeding them left over chicken 😭 121
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Looking for everyone’s favorite egg recipes… all of our new hens are finally laying! 4173
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 20/09/2026This is a must read. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/m...nytimes.comIn Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice. 040
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 20/09/2026FFS… www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/s...nytimes.comWhite House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants (Gift Article)Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending. 092
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Highly recommend reading the “we can grow human neurons in mouse brains” paper and then learning a bit about all of the ways we can get primate neurons to grow in dif contexts. 030
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I’m so deeply committed to your commitment on this. 021
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Inquiring minds want to know if this would be a good meeting for my animal model crew? We’ve got lots of people working on early development. 110
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Further proof that mice are a terrible model of both brain and behavior… 030
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Connectivity via imaging? Or histological approaches? 100
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 31/08/2026My dept/area is hiring! We're open to animal species/model and research area. UCD is an amazing place to do nonhuman animal work - major 🐒 center, a band new rodent vivarium in the Psych building, and capacity to house all sorts of other animals! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07812recruit.ucdavis.eduAssistant Professor of Psychology - Biological Bases of BehaviorUniversity of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now! 05642
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 31/08/2026This is insane and also perhaps we should start vaccinating people for rabies more regularly? (I got vaccinated pre field work and I am now the default ‘bat lady’ in social network 😭) 010
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 29/08/2026We're currently hiring a new director for the renowned UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. The director will be appointed as a Professor in our psychology department: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07814recruit.ucdavis.eduDirector of the Center for Mind and Brain & Professor of PsychologyUniversity of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now! 05740
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 14/08/20265/ Along the way, my group learned a lot about lipid nanoparticles and the Dong lab learned a lot about 🐒 research and the importance of 🐒 as a translational 🌉. 000
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 14/08/20264/ ...which to my mind is an ethical advance. The goal of the The 3Rs is not just reduction of animal numbers and refinement of techniques, but making sure that we are reducing numbers (overall) by using individuals to their fullest potential. 100
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 14/08/20263/ We were connected with Yizhou Dong by a colleauge. Dong's lab had done a lot of work in cells and rodents but knew they needed to show safety and efficacy in 🐒. We were able to do that and we did the work with 🐒 individuals unlikely to be enrolled in other studies... 100
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 14/08/20262/ One of the incredible things about @nbri-ucdavis.bsky.social is our access to 🐒 and our ability to support teams that aren't local. In this case, my own team knows little about lipid nanoparticles, but we know how to design a good 🐒 study and how those studies are translational bridges... 100
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 14/08/2026New collaborative work supported by my group out in PNAS today: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 1/pnas.orgOvercoming the blood–brain barrier using central nervous system–accessing lipid nanoparticles for enhanced mRNA therapeutics | PNASMessenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics hold potential for central nervous system (CNS) disease treatment. However, the blood–brain barrier (BBB) present... 130
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Interested in the neurobiology of mood from womb-to-tomb, with a particular emphasis on social environment? My team is hiring! Project Scientist: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07788 Postdoc: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07789 Specialist (all levels of education + experience): recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07785recruit.ucdavis.eduAssistant Project Scientist - Dr. Bliss-Moreau LabUniversity of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now! 066
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Yes, what functional data exist suggest this is the case and also the anatomy supports this idea! Some additional evidence re: gradients and connectivity from our group here: direct.mit.edu/imag/article...direct.mit.eduIntrinsic functional and structural network organization in the macaque insulaAbstract. In recent decades, in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have provided previously inaccessible insights into the structure and function of healthy and pathological human brains in... 110
Reposted by Eliza Bliss-MoreauJoey Charbonneau @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Out today in @natneuro.nature.com is (a highly evolved version of) the second chapter of my dissertation (with @eblissmoreau.bsky.social) assessing the comparative anatomy of the insula across 🐁mice, 🐀rats, 🐒monkeys, and 🚶humans! rdcu.be/fyd7Trdcu.beComparative insights into insula structure and functionNature Neuroscience - Charbonneau et al. compare how the insula is structured and functions in humans, monkeys and rodents, revealing similarities and differences across species that are likely to... 25020
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 07/08/2026YEAYYYYYY JOEYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAYYYY!!!!! 020
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Amazing! FWIW, my take home is that if rodents are the target for models, rats are the way to go! 120
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I always see the typo after I press publish 🙈... 010
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/202611/ Someday (soon), @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social will write about how strong field norms re: 🐭 shaped the publication process in concerning ways, if translation is important. To those of you fighting the good fight about using the best animal model for your questions, keep up the good fight! 070
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/202610/ ... & mood disorders to develop new interventions to improve lives. Circuit and cellular level understanding to do that translational science requires animal models. So for translational neuroscience re: the insula - what does the whole picture of the insula say? 🐒 are 🤴 rdcu.be/fyd7Trdcu.beComparative insights into insula structure and functionNature Neuroscience - Charbonneau et al. compare how the insula is structured and functions in humans, monkeys and rodents, revealing similarities and differences across species that are likely to... 180
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20269/ Insula is broadly implicated in emotions and affect. It's active during emotion experience & perception, feelings of pleasantness, etc. It also seems to be really important for the actual feeling/consciousness part of emotions and mood. My life long scientific obsession is understanding mood... 1112
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20268/ Finally, why care about the insula so much? My obsession is "how we feel". Insula is important for feeling. Early on, I modeled human emotion and affect experience and the how was about the flavors of experience. The "how" became about mechanism which drove me to behavioral neuroscience... 1100
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20267/ ... whether we need animals to answer our questions and if yes, which animals we need. Sometimes we don't need animals. Sometimes 🐟 are the best model and 🐒 aren't. Being open to the possibilities and cognizant of true species differences is really important to speed discovery. 1102
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20266/ ...our lab motto is "pick the species for the question, don't to fit the question to the species". We publish mostly on 🐒 because our questions mostly call for 🐒, but across my career, we've scienced with: 👨👨👦👦, 🐒 (x5 species), 🐑, 🐐, 🐬, 🐌, 🐟, 🐀. Committed to the 3Rs, we are always thinking about... 1150
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20265/ ... but what data exist suggest that if you want to advance the understanding of 👨👨👦👦, the 🐒 🧠 is the best model. You might think: well, that sounds like bias, Bliss-Moreau, because you work with 🐒. We do work with 🐒, but... 190
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20264/ Our take home is that rodent insula is really different from primate insula and that in many cases arguments for homology across species are based on beliefs and assumptions rather than evidence. To be clear, there is work that must be done in 🐒 too to establish translational relevance... 2151
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20263/ Here we asked: what does it look like to take structural and functional homology seriously in translational neuroscience? Focusing on insula, what is known about homology and what is unknown? Which species are the best model for humans? 1100
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20262/ Much of modern behavioral neuroscience and neuroanatomy is framed in "translational" terms - that is, implications for human health. This happens in our grants, in our papers, in our talks. But not all anatomical structures in all species provide sufficient homology to support such translation. 191
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/20261/ New paper out today from my group, in @natneuro.nature.com, in which we review the anatomical & functional data on insula structure across species. This was a "whole lab" project led by @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social. It's been a 5 year in the making (a full 3 years in review)! rdcu.be/fyd7Trdcu.beComparative insights into insula structure and functionNature Neuroscience - Charbonneau et al. compare how the insula is structured and functions in humans, monkeys and rodents, revealing similarities and differences across species that are likely to... 712138
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 18/07/2026The good news about goats is that they'd actually do the task (unlike sheep). The bad news about goats is that 50% of them would eat the experimental materials. Ask me how I know... 😂 (also that pupil shifts around/re-orients in space) 130
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Some professional news: In mid-May, I was appointed to be the Associate Director of Scientific Strategy & Innovation at @nbri-ucdavis.bsky.social. One of my tasks in this role is to facilitate other people's science. If you are interested in working with our 🐒s or other resources, please reach out! 3145
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Time flies! Today is my 18th anniversary at @ucdavis.bsky.social! I arrived as a new social psych PhD ready to learn 🐒🧠 anatomy. 18 years later, I'm the Associate Director of Scientific Strategy at @nbri-ucdavis.bsky.social and Chancellor's Leadership Professor of Psych @ucdavispsych.bsky.social! 1131
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Exciting new work characterizing a 🐒 model of ADOA vision loss by @sarathomasy.bsky.social's group. We looked at old behavioral data for 2 🐒 from my lab w the heterozygote ADOA genotype to show had behavioral signs of vision loss, long before we knew to look at their eyes. 031
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Spread the word! We are recruiting for 6 new research professors at UC Davis' California National Primate Research Center. Open rank, open area, but must leverage 🐒 resources. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07561recruit.ucdavis.edu6 Positions - Assistant, Associate, Full Professional ResearcherUniversity of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now! 07095
Reposted by Eliza Bliss-MoreauVinny Costa @vincentcostaphd.bsky.social · 04/04/2026Instead of analyzing the IBL dataset, use your computational skills to analyze this dataset and your results will be 1,000 times more translationally relevant 0194
Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 04/04/2026Seems like someone could test the “everything is everywhere” hypothesis w these data? But probably won’t bc I imagine they won’t support that hypothesis? 030