iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Sneak peek at our team’s latest collaborative preprint 👀 We adopted LabGym to create LabGrymace, an accessible and flexible AI-powered platform that can assess pain-related facial dynamics in freely moving mice 🐭

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Check out this feature of our team’s recent work! 🐭🦷

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Rodents love to gnaw… which can be cute or annoying (e.g. when they decided to destroy my car wiring). But our new study uncovers why: incisor tactile input is relayed by a sensorimotor-motivational circuit to drive gnawing! So fun collaborating with lead author Xinyu Su and Bo Duan Lab on this!

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Our new @cp-starprotocols.bsky.social paper is out! It was an honor to co-lead this project with Shuhao Wan. Finding ways to selectively activate sensory neurons within internal tissues is particularly challenging. This is especially true for the tooth. Check out how we solved this! 🦷⚡️

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Beautiful new work by @manduh21.bsky.social and our team! Clumsy, a kainate-type glutamate receptor, mediates noxious cold sensation and cold behavioral avoidance in fruit flies. This expands our prior work demonstrating this class of receptors also functions as a cold receptor in worms and mammals.

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Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Ultrasonic signals support a large-scale communication landscape in wild mice. 👇 New paper by the ENES Bioacoustics Research Team in @currentbiology.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/a/1llMH3QW8S...

authors.elsevier.com

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

New preprint with @manduh21.bsky.social ! 🎉 We introduce LabGym, an open-source AI platform for analyzing C. elegans behavior.🪱 LabGym makes worm behavior analysis accurate, customizable, and accessible, no coding or costly setup required.

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Register to attend the virtual 2025 LabGym Symposium! LabGym is a powerful and customizable AI-based tool enabling automated quantification of behavior (+ more!)

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Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Really interesting (ha ha i can't stand this roller coaster) back and forth on NIH funding. 9 Senate Republicans sent a letter warning Vought not to hold NIH funds. Vought tries to hold NIH funds. He loses. [though still lots of budget shenanigans] www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

wsj.com

Trump Administration Scraps Effort to Pause Health-Research Funding

The administration halted and then restarted billions in new research grants flowing from the National Institutes of Health.

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Jim Woodgett @jwoodgett.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

This “administration” acts like it’s playing musical chairs with people’s lives.

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Piali Sengupta @senguptalab.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Well, none of us may ever get funded again but in the meantime, here's some new science! Led by recent PhD Anjali Pandey w/ex-UG Maya Katz. Here we identify an asymmetric molecular mechanism that underlies symmetric context-dependent sensory plasticity in the AWC olfactory neuron pair in C. elegans

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Check out our first research article from the Emrick lab, published in Cell Reports! We define the sensory neurons in the tooth as sentinels: tuned to detect tooth damage and trigger a protective jaw opening reflex. 🦷🔨 I’m officially a mammalian somatosensory biologist (but I still 🩷 worms 🪱)

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Official paper thread coming soon… this work represents a major career milestone for many of the authors 🥹 I couldn’t be prouder to work with such an inspiring team to bring this project to the finish line! 💙💛

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Dustin Updike @dustinupdike.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

C. elegans, ba ba ba. #Worm25

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

C elegans can sense sound AND serve as a genetic model for an understudied form of human hearing loss! As the moderator mentioned- what CAN’T worms do?? 🤩 🪱 #worm25

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Worm meeting bucketlist: ✅ Photo with Nobel laureate (and @manduh21.bsky.social) Thank you Dr. Ambros, for spending time with early stage scientists! I love this community 🪱 #Worm25

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Day 4 of #Worm25: 15k+ steps/daily, sweating through 95°F+ Cali heat, followed by shivering in AC, all while being immersed in the latest C. elegans research. Is this a genetics conference or a worm-themed detox?

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

“Do you have any advice for aspiring young scientists?” “Do genetics.” *mic drop* #worm25

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 26/06/2025

“The idea that taking walks, reading things unrelated to your research, and hanging out with strangers in a campus pub should be considered part of the serious process of thinking, but might well meet with skepticism in practice.” www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

The forgotten half of scientific thinking | PNAS

The forgotten half of scientific thinking

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Samal Tazhibayeva @samal-tjb.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

As it’s my first time joining Worm Meeting, I was excited to participate in Worm Art show as well. This year’s topic is resilience. In times of scarcity, worms gather holding one another to reach new grounds. Alone - they are fragile, together - they rise. Even the sky yields in unity. #worm25

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Piali Sengupta @senguptalab.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

".....but a key feature of this community became abundantly clear: Worm people tend to help one other. They readily share insights, lab processes, even worms themselves." So true. The worm community is the best.

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

The fast approaching June K99 deadline is getting to me but flowers and NA rose from my husband are helping with the final push 🥹 🌺 💪

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Metabo_Dave @metabodave.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

The brain drain will be when scientists are forced into other careers/jobs so that they can keep paying the bills. They will never return. There aren't enough science jobs in other countries to absorb even a fraction of those laid off.

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Kyla @boysek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Great News, Michigan! Lansing #StandUpForScience2025 is happening. Friday, March 7, 12-4pm, East steps of the Capitol Bldg. Tell 3 friends! Make a carpool plan! Have a sign-making party! Share with your networks! #ScienceIsForEveryone @standupforscience.bsky.social

Flyer for event.

Stand Up For Science 2025

Friday, March 7, 12-4pm, East steps of the Capitol Bldg. Lansing, MI

Science is for Everyone.

Get involved: standupforscience2025.org

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Kyla @boysek.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

THIS FRIDAY in Lansing, MI, 12-4pm #StandUpForScience with featured speaker: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed! Dr. El-Sayed is a physician, epidemiologist, educator, author, and public servant. @michigan4science.bsky.social @michigannoah.bsky.social @mallorymcmorrow.bsky.social @leahlitman.bsky.social

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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

PubMed has gone dark A database I've used for over 30 years I hope and pray it comes back soon!

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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

It seems PubMed has disappeared. This is the digital equivalent of burning a library.

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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

OH SNAP!!! OHIO VS. MICHIGAN HEADED INTO OVERTIME!!! Which rally will have the biggest crowd?!?! #standupforscience #scienceforall @standupforscience.bsky.social

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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

At the NIH, posters of women and scientists of color have been taken down. Shared by @ivancalcantara.bsky.social on X. 2/x

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Becoming a daily struggle 😮‍💨

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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Get in Dorks, we are going protesting. STAND UP FOR SCIENCE. MARCH 7th 12-4pm. DC AND YOUR STATE CAPITALS. More information to come.

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Miriam Goldstein @miriamgoldstein.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

🧵: I am getting texts on what scientists should do in this perilous and scary moment. My advice: your biggest power is to organize through your professional societies. A few ideas -

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

The Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social is "advocating for science and for scientists. We seek to cultivate an inclusive, diverse research community that engages with the public...& serves as an authoritative source of information." Pls consider joining genetics-gsa.org/membership/

genetics-gsa.org

Join or Renew Membership - Genetics Society of America

Visit our website to learn more.

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Our PhD interview weekend 10 years ago changed my life in so many ways 🥹🫶 Thank you PIBS for all the special memories and friendships you helped me create ☺️

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Mike Feigin 🥯 @mikefeigin.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

I worked too fucking hard to get here for this fucking asshole to take it away. This is the attitude I’m going with. Now, to stop reading social media and do some science.

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

As a c elegans neuroscientist… is there a worm community starter pack tho 😂

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Ally C., PhD 🧠🔬 @acara333.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

my gender is "large reproductive cell"

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Really getting tired of living through unprecedented times every few years 😮‍💨

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Jane Liebschutz, MD MPH (she/her) @liebschutz.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Before panic sets it. The New NIH Director and Congress will want research to continue, so the machine will start up at some point. Keep writing papers and preparing proposals. AND educate the public about the key role peer review plays in science and the time and infrastructure investment needed

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C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

The most important thing in writing is to finish. A finished thing can be fixed. A finished thing can be published. A finished thing can be made into a movie. An unfinished thing is just a dream. And dreams fade if you don't hold on tight enough. So finish the thing.

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Jayme McReynolds @jaymemcreynolds.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

I made a starter pack for neuroscience folks but I just saw that it’s capped at 150 people. Sorry if I missed anyone! Maybe #neuroscience folks should start making subfield starter packs? 🧪 go.bsky.app/Q69XurQ

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Valentino Lasso🌿 @valentinolasso.bsky.social · 05/09/2023

HERPETARY🌿✨

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 03/09/2023

I’m in Malaysia for 2 weeks meeting my husbands family. We decided to be adventurous last night and booked a rainforest resort near his hometown in Seremban. Finishing our Nasi Lemak breakfast and going to unplug for the next 24 hours 🔌 🏊‍♀️

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Liz Ronan, PhD @elizabithian.bsky.social · 02/09/2023

Introduction: I’m Liz, I recently finished my PhD in sensory biology using C. elegans. These days, you can find me in the dental school, studying sensory innervation of the oral cavity. Here’s a recent photo I took of pain-sensing neuron endings (in green) penetrating the tooth pulp and dentin.

Nociceptive neuron endings penetrating the pulp and dentin of a murine molar.

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