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Hilliard Lab

@hilliardlab.bsky.social
56 followers 38 following 5 posts

Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology lab at the Queensland Brain Institute, Australia. We use C. elegans to study neuronal regeneration and degeneration. qbi.uq.edu.au/hilliardgroup

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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
"The prospect of reducing or discarding grant review panels has recently been raised in other countries, including the United States, as a measure to reduce administrative costs. Australia provides a stark example of the consequences of such an action."
science.org
Australia’s erosion of peer review
Throughout the world, peer review serves as the cornerstone of the scientific enterprise, providing rigorous quality control and building the confidence that underpins progress for both science and so...
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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Ben Schulz @benschulz.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Excellent critique of the dismantling of genuine peer review of health and medical grants in Australia in the name of efficiency www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
These problems are best highlighted by detailing the farcical process through which the NHMRC has eroded the pillars that should support every credible peer review process. This includes the involvement of qualified experts. Previous grant review panels were carefully considered and assembled. Typically, about 80% of the panel (usually 12 members) were independent laboratory heads with prior grant panel experience. Remaining members were either new laboratory heads or, rarely, senior postdoctoral fellows. For training purposes, some senior postdocs were invited to serve as confidential observers, preparing them for future panels. This formative educational process for emerging leaders has now been scrapped and replaced with a YouTube-style video for junior scientists to educate themselves on peer review. In this new system, each grant is assigned to four or five anonymous reviewers whose qualifications are unknown.Also gone is a stringent process that ensured fairness and accountability. Bias and conflicts of interest were frequently laid bare in prior grant review panels. Furthermore, to account for variation in raw scores, benchmarking and normalization was performed to guarantee that only the top grants from each panel were prioritized for funding. All of these measures have now been abandoned for a process that favors convenience over diligence. Reviewers do not interact, remain anonymous, and are not accountable. Consequently, variations in opinions and scores are simply mathematically averaged rather than scientifically debated, resulting in a 10% increase in funding cut-off scores and a decline of funding from 17.3% (2018) for grants reviewed at panel to 8.1% (2025).The previous NHMRC mechanism also provided applicants with detailed reviewer comments and the opportunity to submit a two-page response before adjudication. This process has been replaced by one that provides applicants with little feedback—initially with just raw scores, and more recently with an assessment summary of as few as 100 characters. Because there are often no distinguishing features to the reviews, it is often unclear whether a grant has even been read. When scientists receive these reviews, there is no pride or sense of meritocratic achievement for a successful grant and no solace or guidance for improvement if an application was unsuccessful. On the annual occasion when NHMRC grant outcomes are released, there is only one unifying sensation felt: Australian scientists are left with the stain of embarrassment of belonging to a system that lacks the credibility of rigorous scholarly review.
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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Prof. Fred Gachon (he/him) @fgachon.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
A good description of the awful Australian grant peer review system Australia’s erosion of peer review | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Australia’s erosion of peer review
Throughout the world, peer review serves as the cornerstone of the scientific enterprise, providing rigorous quality control and building the confidence that underpins progress for both science and so...
021
Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Ben Hogan @benjhogan.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Beyond time that we started seeing articles like this about the appalling state of Australia’s grant funding system……and peer review is just one problem that needs fixing. Australia’s erosion of peer review | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Australia’s erosion of peer review
Throughout the world, peer review serves as the cornerstone of the scientific enterprise, providing rigorous quality control and building the confidence that underpins progress for both science and so...
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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Josephine Bowles @josbowles.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
"If left unchecked, Australia will soon have a generation of scientists that has never been adequately trained, supervised, or mentored in upholding the pillars of peer review to provide an equitable adjudication on the scien- tific merit and value of a grant proposal".
science.org
Australia’s erosion of peer review
Throughout the world, peer review serves as the cornerstone of the scientific enterprise, providing rigorous quality control and building the confidence that underpins progress for both science and so...
011
Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Tony Cesare @thecesarelab.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
A brilliant editorial by @mafdawson.bsky.social and @hilliardlab.bsky.social highlighting frustrations many Australian scientists feel about the decline of peer review standards for NHMRC funding. I wholeheartedly agree. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Australia’s erosion of peer review
Throughout the world, peer review serves as the cornerstone of the scientific enterprise, providing rigorous quality control and building the confidence that underpins progress for both science and so...
151
Hilliard Lab @hilliardlab.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Our discovery of an epidermal membrane-associated periodic scaffold that protects axons from damage is out now in Science Advances and featured on the cover! Congratulations to Sean, Igor and Dat for their wonderful and inspiring work! @coakleylab.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
The MPS visits the axon's neighbors! Interesting results from @hilliardlab.bsky.social & @coakleylab.bsky.social in C. elegans where the epidermis forms a submembrane axon-imprinted periodic spectrin skeleton that restrict the endocytosis of cell surface proteins: doi.org/10.1126/scia...
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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Coakley Lab @coakleylab.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Latest paper is now out and features on the cover of Science Advances 👉 tinyurl.com/vea5862x Very grateful Igor Bonacossa Pereira, Dat Le & Massimo Hilliard @hilliardlab.bsky.social for their creativity & passion. Read more about it 👉 tinyurl.com/56awjda5 & 👉 tinyurl.com/2vp8p8uk
tinyurl.com
An epidermal membrane-associated periodic skeleton restricts endocytosis to stabilize neuron-epidermal attachment and preserve axons
An epidermal membrane periodic scaffold protects axons from damage.
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Hilliard Lab @hilliardlab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
🎙️New episode alert! Prof. Massimo Hilliard and Dr. Ramón Martínez-Mármol discuss neuronal fusion🧠, how viral infections🦠 can disrupt neural circuits through fusion, and how C. elegans🪱, a tiny roundworm, might one day revolutionise nerve injury repair! 🎧 Listen now: qbi.uq.edu.au/podcast-fusi...
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Reposted by Hilliard Lab
Sara Monaco @saramonaco-rc.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Had a great time at the #EMBOcellBioComm in Crete! Huge thanks to @gtavosanis.bsky.social, @hilliardlab.bsky.social, Claudia Bagni, Nektarios Tavernarakis & @embo.org for organising such a memorable event. Congratulations to Miguel Berbeira Santana, winner of the @reviewcommons.org poster prize!
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Hilliard Lab @hilliardlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Do not miss out on this amazing meeting! The deadline for abstract submission and registration is March 1st. Check out the program and apply now: meetings.embo.org/event/25-cel... #EMBOcellBioComm @embo.org
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Hilliard Lab @hilliardlab.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Out now! We found a new molecule, OSP-1, that protects neurons from damage caused by oxidative stress. We show that OSP-1 reduces cell death by regulating autophagy, and can be an exciting target for future treatments of acute insults such as stroke. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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