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Mari Sosa

@marisosa.bsky.social
1.7K followers 761 following 106 posts

Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder | Systems neuroscientist | BRAIN Initiative K99 | Leading Edge Fellow | Hippocampal memory and reward learning | She/her. All opinions my own.

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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This seems like one of the most important findings I’ve seen in a while!
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AliciaDWright @aliciadwright.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
🆘🚨⏰🫵🏼✍🏻💻 “the comments could still slow implementation of the changes because the OMB must reply to them. And a monsoon could persuade Congress… Comments also put into the public record objections that, if the government doesn’t address them, could be raised again in lawsuits to stop the changes.”
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 09/07/2026
Only a few days left to comment if you have not! Please take the time. Just a few paragraphs are needed.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Reminder that there are 12 days left to submit a public comment in response to the OMB's proposed rule! Submit comment here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/OM... Here is a great summary of the proposed changes and how they will damage American science: elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...
elizabethginexi.substack.com
Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Russell Vought is going to destroy American Science
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
In this month’s “Liftoff,” @marisosa.bsky.social discusses the challenges and excitement of task-switching as a new PI, and @debyee.bsky.social shares how she plans to foster a culture of reproducibility in her lab. #neuroskyence By @franciscorr25.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...
thetransmitter.org
Liftoff: New lab alerts
Learn about early-career scientists starting their own labs.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Grateful to featured as a new PI by @thetransmitter.bsky.social! www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...
thetransmitter.org
Liftoff: New lab alerts
Learn about early-career scientists starting their own labs.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
“A single Tomahawk cruise missile runs about $3.6 million, roughly what it takes to fund one scientist’s multiyear grant. The entire National Science Foundation budget is less than what we spent in the first week of the war with Iran.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Science That Turned Lizard Venom Into GLP-1s Is Under Attack
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Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
I've seen a lot of info for specialized audiences (e.g. scientists, non-profits) on how to comment on the proposed OMB rule change for grants, but less for the general public. So I made this one-pager that can be shared more widely. docs.google.com/document/d/e...
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
So delighted to welcome the new Zara Weinberg cohort of Leading Edge fellows!!!
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Several people have asked for possible content and structure for comments regarding the proposed OMB regulations. With some suggestions from others, I have posted on example (as a Word document) for downloading). jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... I hope this is helpful.
jeremymberg.github.io
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Dr Kathleen Millen @neurodevkathy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
🚨🧪🧵URGENT INPUT NEEDED: NIH asks input for next strategic plan-including emphasis on non-animal models (NAMs) to replace animals. Per NIH insider, anti-animal responses now outnumber scientists 200-700x. Please please provide input. Deadline: May 26, 11:59 PM ET. grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
grants.nih.gov
NIH Seeks Input on Framework for Next NIH-Wide Strategic Plan | Grants & Funding
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Ryan Fink @finkryan.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
PinkyCaMP is finally published!! My first paper co-first authored with @sikmys.bsky.social where we make a great optogenetic and multiplex compatible red calcium indicator. Thank you to @massecklab.bsky.social and @campbell-lab.bsky.social for guiding this journey www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
PinkyCaMP: an mScarlet-based calcium sensor with enhanced brightness, photostability and multiplexing capabilities - Nature Methods
PinkyCaMP is a red genetically encoded calcium indicator with improved brightness and photostability. Derived from mScarlet, it does not exhibit photoswitching upon blue light illumination and is ther...
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
🎉🎉🎉
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
It was an honor to be part of this work! Getting the sparse knockout in CA1 to work with dual color 2p imaging — letting us compare Syntaxin3-KO cells to WT cells in the same animal — was particularly challenging and fun 😄
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Calling all neuroscientists with optical tables: do you float them with air or nitrogen? Why? Have used air in the past but am hearing arguments for both and trying to decide which is best! Context: mouse 2p imaging with behavior
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Kara McKinley @karalmckinley.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
1st McKinley Lab grad student’s 1st preprint! @claireang.bsky.social studied how the uterus safely excises massive amounts of tissue during menstruation and pregnancy. Come for her GORGEOUS images, stay for her incredible discoveries. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... w/ @akelleher1017.bsky.social
Immunofluorescence image of a mouse uterus with epithelium labeled in cyan. There is a folded lumen in the center and glands branching off like bunches of grapes.
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Paul Masset @paulmasset.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
The lab will be presenting two posters at #cosyne2026 #cosyne26 on dopamine-based distributed RL and hippocampal coding from a population-geometry perspective! @zijingwu.bsky.social @chenjiang01.bsky.social #compneurosky #neuroskyence
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Awesome article on medical breakthroughs that came from basic neuroscience research in rodents. Major success examples in postpartum depression, non-opioid pain and migraine treatment. This is exactly why funding basic science is so important! www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
thetransmitter.org
How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs
A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Very cool and elegant use of a model: “what might we have missed in our data?”
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Carla Golden @goldenneurons.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Thrilled to share our new paper, out now in @natneuro.nature.com, uncovering how estradiol, the most potent estrogen, modulates reinforcement learning and reward prediction errors across biological levels. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #blueprint 1/7
nature.com
Estrogen modulates reward prediction errors and reinforcement learning - Nature Neuroscience
Dopamine encoding of reward prediction errors naturally fluctuates over females’ reproductive cycles with estrogenic signaling due to reduced expression of dopamine reuptake proteins.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
A “promise of a vote” is no better than a “concept of a plan”
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Coleen Murphy @ctmurphy1.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
This White House made a choice to pay ICE instead of SNAP and ATC - we could just as easily be flying just fine and feeding people instead of harassing them. Don't cave now
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum. If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...
sosaneurolab.com
Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers
We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!
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Leading Edge Fellows Program @leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor. The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2. www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
Candid photo of Zara Weinberg. She has short red hair, bangs and glasses. She is laughing.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Applications are open for the 2026 Zara Weinberg cohort of Leading Edge, named in honor of the incredible, brilliant, fearless @weinberz.witchlab.org. The LE community has been truly transformative for my scientific journey and my happiness. Please apply!! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
leadingedgesymposium.org
Apply | leadingedgesymposium
Apply. The 2026 Leading Edge cohort application is now open! This cohort is named the Zara Weinberg Cohort, in honor of 2021 Leading Edge Fellow, Zara Weinberg. Applications are due February 2, 2026.
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catie profaci, phd @cprofaci.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
I have been blown away by the level of support (both practical and emotional support!) from the #LeadingEdge community. I feel so grateful to be a part of this group. Consider applying!! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
leadingedgesymposium.org
Apply | leadingedgesymposium
Apply. The 2026 Leading Edge cohort application is now open! This cohort is named the Zara Weinberg Cohort, in honor of 2021 Leading Edge Fellow, Zara Weinberg. Applications are due February 2, 2026.
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Willow Coyote-Maestas @willowcoyote.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed. She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
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Claudia Lopez Lloreda @claudia-lopez.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Hi everyone! We are taking a look at the state of funding in the neuroscience field so we are looking for PIs to answer this survey. Please feel free to fill out and share with colleagues. Ty!
thetransmitter.org
Quantifying funding sources across neuroscience labs
We want to hear from you about the sources of funding for your research.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
The Sosa Lab website is now live! www.sosaneurolab.com We will be seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the growing team! If you are a rodent neuroscientist and interested in doing systems neuro work in the mountains 🏔️, please check out the "Join" page.
sosaneurolab.com
Sosa Lab
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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 18/09/2025
New preprint alert! The uterus expands ~500-fold in pregnancy, yet we know little about how pressures are sensed. Led by @yunxiao-dr.bsky.social, we show PIEZOs are required for contractions and birth in mice, with dual roles of PIEZO1 in muscle and PIEZO2 in neurons www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
PIEZO channels link mechanical forces to uterine contractions in parturition
Mechanical forces are extensively involved in pregnancy and parturition, but their precise roles and mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we identify mechanically activated ion channels PIEZO1 a...
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Great news for science and for Stanford!! Laura’s research is amazing! 🤩
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 29/06/2025
The proposed budget slashes NIH by ~40%, devastating medical research, clinical trials, treatment breakthroughs—life-saving work. Thousands of lives at risk for tax cuts for the rich? NO THANKS. Tell your senators to oppose the cuts HERE: zurl.co/qiKdX zurl.co/RCR0y #CutsCostLives
zurl.co
Will the Senate Save NIH?
Rescuing biomedical research is every bit as important as saving Medicaid.
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
Great piece from @thetransmitter.bsky.social about the field’s current understanding of the hippocampus! Honored for the nod to our recent paper among these many other excellent studies www.thetransmitter.org/memory/expan...
thetransmitter.org
Expanded view of hippocampal function comes into focus
After decades of debate, the region’s role is being rewritten. Rather than using sensory input to simply log key points in time and space, the hippocampus may serve to contextualize our experiences…
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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 19/06/2025
I spoke with Jade Hindmon, host of @kpbssandiego.bsky.social Midday Edition, about the consequences of the current administration’s cuts to science funding. Please share to help spread the word and raise awareness. www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb...
kpbs.org
Nobel laureate on how Trump's cuts are hurting science
Neuroscientist, biologist and 2021 Nobel Prize winner Ardem Patapoutian joined Midday Edition to talk about how the Trump administration's effort to cut back on science spending is impacting researche...
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Add your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s latest Executive Order that appoints politicians — not scientists — to evaluate research. Take action now! actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...
actionnetwork.org
Sign The Open Letter to Stand Up For Science Now!
Science is under siege. Join us in adding your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s escalated assault on science in America.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
After ruling the NIH grant cuts were illegal yesterday, Judge Young, a Reagan appointee on the bench since 1985, ended the hearing with a blistering 15-minute speech. I've cleaned up my notes — here are his remarks in full. 🧵
nature.com
Judge rules against NIH grant cuts — and calls them discriminatory
The decision means that the US biomedical agency has to restore funding to hundreds of research projects, but the government will likely appeal.
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Neuroscience research and training has taken a $323 million hit in the form of grants rescinded by the U.S. NIH, according to an analysis by @thetransmitter.bsky.social. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/funding/nih-...
thetransmitter.org
NIH cuts quash $323 million for neuroscience research and training
“I am frightened for the state of the future of our field if this isn't reversed rapidly,” says Joshua Gordon, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former director of the National…
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
It's officially published!! In my main postdoc work with @markplitt.bsky.social and @lgiocomo.bsky.social, we found that the hippocampus simultaneously encodes an animal's spatial position and its experience relative to reward in parallel population codes. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A flexible hippocampal population code for experience relative to reward - Nature Neuroscience
Sosa et al. find that hippocampal neural activity in mice encodes both environmental location and experience relative to rewards, spanning distances far from reward, through parallel and flexible popu...
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Lisa Giocomo @lgiocomo.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
New paper from the lab officially out! Congratulations @marisosa.bsky.social - amazing work - and just before she sets off to UC Boulder to start her own lab!
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Many thanks to @stanfordbrain.bsky.social for this beautifully written feature of our latest work!!
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Has anyone successfully tried to submit Form ITA-338P to request a tariff exemption for scientific instruments for nonprofit use? www.trade.gov/sites/defaul...
trade.gov
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Ed Yong is offline @edyong209.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding. It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...
unbreaking.org
Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
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ACLU @aclu.org · 27/05/2025
We're suing the Trump administration over its politically-motivated termination of research grants that has already harmed scientists and our communities. Political ideology shouldn't dictate public health.
aclu.org
‘Devastated’ and ‘Hopeless.’ Researchers Speak Out on Funding Cuts | ACLU
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 24/05/2025
1. It's Fustilarian Friday and today's drop is the "Restoring Gold Standard Science" executive order. My read is that this is designed to (1) protect far-fringe figures such as the antvaxxers now heading our health agencies, and (2) kneecap efforts to use scientific evidence in regulatory policy.
whitehouse.gov
Restoring Gold Standard Science
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 24/05/2025
🚨Hiding under 6 sections of science sounding rhetoric is an edict to appoint officers at each agency that will be responsible for detecting research that isn't "Gold Standard Science" as defined by the White House🚨 Stay tuned for rapid response action! www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
whitehouse.gov
Restoring Gold Standard Science
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
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bergelsonlab @bergelsonlab.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Our R01 was part of yesterday's "mass termination" at Harvard; 1 of ~1000 NIH grants in Trump's "fight". The irony of how many Jewish (& non-Jewish) researchers/scientists/physicians/patients/students will be harmed in the name of "fighting antisemitism" is sickening.deliberately cruel. #AcademicSky
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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
This is extremely disappointing. My heart breaks for all of the scholars that spent so much time and energy on this.
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Michael Baym @baym.lol · 14/05/2025
Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab
A screenshot of the termination notice showing "Outstanding Investigator Grants"A screenshot of the termination notice with "This award is terminated effective the date of this award, due to unsafe antisemitic actions that suggest the institution lacks concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students." highlighted
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Lisa Giocomo @lgiocomo.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
New lab alert!! Mari is an incredibly creative and awesome scientist - plus an amazing mentor! If you have the opportunity to join her lab - I can’t recommend it enough - can’t wait to see her get started ❤️
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