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Megan Dennis

@mydennis.bsky.social
2.6K followers 1.8K following 301 posts

Prof & Assoc Director of Genomics @UCDavis Genome Center. Neurogenetics, evolution/function of gene duplications, human, zebrafish. Posts my own. #firstgen #jogger (mee-gun) dennislab.org

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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We are recruiting at the assistant professor level ~ Ideal candidates have expertise in genomics and/or biochemistry, applying emerging experimental, computational, AI-driven methods to answer mechanistic questions in human health. Please share! First review 10/30. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07832
recruit.ucdavis.edu
Assistant Professor- Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
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Andy Baxevanis @baxevanislab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
📢 Applications are now open for the NIH Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator Program! We're recruiting early-career scientists across all areas of biomedical research for tenure-track faculty positions in the NIH Intramural Research Program. Deadline: Sept 30, 2026. 🔗 tinyurl.com/stadtman26
irp.nih.gov
Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigators | NIH Intramural Research Program
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Our vole preprint is officially published in Cell Genomics @cellpress.bsky.social as part of the T2T special issue! www.cell.com/cell-genomic... Lead author @mabuelanin.bsky.social also built this amazing website that we hope will be a useful resource to the vole community: voles.dennislab.org 🐭
cell.com
Single-library chromosome-scale diploid assemblies of vole genomes resolve a species-specific duplication implicated in pair bonding
Abuelanin et al. combine PacBio HiFi with low-coverage CiFi proximity-ligation reads in a single library and sequencing run to generate contiguous, near-telomere-to-telomere, accurately phased diploid...
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Adam Phillippy @aphillippy.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
For the past 30 years, “whole-genome sequencing” has been a misnomer. Today the T2T Consortium publishes a dozen papers heralding a future of truly complete genomes for humans and nearly any vertebrate 👨‍🔬🐒🐦🐀🦒🐎🫏🐹🐟 (sorry, no salamanders): www.cell.com/consortium/t... 🧵[1/15]
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Joe Brennan @biologyjoe87.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
UC Davis Ecology & Evolution Grad Preview Program is accepting applications until July 20th! It's a fully virtual program where you are paired with a grad student mentor and learn about what grad school entails, how to apply, and what student life is like! Please share widely!
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Our previously preprinted study "Influence of cis-regulatory elements on expression divergence in human segmental duplications" is now published in @genomeresearch.bsky.social! Please check it out: genome.cshlp.org/content/earl...
genome.cshlp.org
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Summarizing Davis youth soccer drama from Nextdoor as a comic adaptation is a totally justified use of ChatGPT (and my evening) ⚽
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Both a lion and a bear spotted this week... it’s getting wild in Davis! #OhMy 🦁🐻🐾
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Zebrafish Disease Models Society (ZDMS) @zdmsociety.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Introducing our third set of invited speakers at #ZDM19! Please join Rashmi Priya, Paul Riley, Caroline Wee & the rest of the #ZDMS community in Oxford 🐟 We hope to see you there! Don't forget to submit an abstract! Extended deadline ends May 15th ⌛ To submit: www.zdmsociety.org/zdm19-abstra... ✨
Banner for the speakers at the Zebrafish Disease Models Society Annual Conference, ZDM19, which will be held September 28-30, 2026 at the Mathematics Institute at the University of Oxford. Invited speakers include Rashmi Priya (The Francis Crick Institute), Paul Riley (University of Oxford) & Caroline Wee (A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology). Extended abstract submission deadline: May 15th.
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Gen Wojcik @genandgenes.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Happy AAPI month and belated Mother's Day to all the second generation tiger moms doing the work figuring out which parts to carry forward versus leave behind. I know it's a trip, but so so worth it.
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Don't miss the ASHG annual meeting abstract submission deadline, just one week away! This year's meeting will be held in Montreal, October 20–24. The deadline is earlier than in previous years, so be sure to submit and share your research: ashgmeeting.ashg.org/programs/abs... #ASHG26 #ASHG2026
Banner to submit an ASHG research abstract for the Oct 20-24, 2026 meeting in Montreal, due May 18.
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American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) @geneticssociety.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Science advocacy in action! 🧬 ASHG Board members met w/ lawmakers on Capitol Hill to push for $51.303B NIH base budget + key policies impacting research. With proposed cuts to NIH/NSF/ARPA-H, you can add your voice from your state: complete the ASHG Action Alert 👉 bit.ly/4u9YrBe
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
On the Hill with @geneticssociety.bsky.social advocating for NIH funding. 🧬 Genetics research drives better diagnoses & treatments, trains the next generation of scientists, and keeps the U.S. competitive in biomedical innovation. Thanks to the lawmakers who engaged with us today! 🇺🇸
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Charikleia Karageorgiou (Clio) @evobioclio.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
The special issue Functional and Adaptive Effects of Genomic Structural Variation is now out in Heredity. Many thanks to all contributors for their submissions, to the editorial team at @heredityjournal.bsky.social and to @ellenleffler.bsky.social, @mydennis.bsky.social & @gokcumenlab.bsky.social!
nature.com
Special Issue: Functional and Adaptive Effects of Genomic Structural Variation
See more information on the new Heredity special issue on functional and adaptive effects of genomic structural variation.
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University of Iowa Department of Biology @uiowabiology.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Diedre Reitz ( @diedrereitz.bsky.social ), PhD, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at UC Davis, will be giving a seminar on Monday, March 23rd at 4:00pm in Kollros Auditorium. We hope to see you there!
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Everyone could use a little purple cat in their life - happy Thursday from my 5yo 🐾
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Whoa! Looking forward to checking this one out
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Mohamed Abuelanin 🦖 @mabuelanin.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
I had a blast working on this paper! This was the first mammalian assembly paper using the new CiFi tech, and we combined multiple lines of evidence to verify a prairie-vole-specific duplication of Avpr1a. All methods will be open source and reproducible, enabling the community to build on them.
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Excited so share our newest study using a single-library HiFi-CiFi approach to generate chromosome-scale diploid assemblies of two vole genomes, identifying putative drivers of divergent pair-bonding behavior, namely a prairie-vole-specific duplication of Avpr1a gene, led by @mabuelanin.bsky.social
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bioRxiv Genomics @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
BenchDrop-seq: a microfluidics-free platform for benchtop single-cell long-read RNA sequencing www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
parents in davis this morning waiting for summer camp registration to open
media.tenor.com
a close up of a monkey 's face with ndnbc written on the bottom right
ALT: a close up of a monkey 's face with ndnbc written on the bottom right
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AGBT @agbt.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
GENETICS: @mydennis.bsky.social from University of California Davis discussed the querying complex genomic regions important in human disease and evolution at the 2026 AGBT General Meeting. #AGBTGM26
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JAX Genomic Education @jaxeducation.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
JAX Long-Read Sequencing Workshop Keynotes by @aphillippy.bsky.social & @mydennis.bsky.social Co-organized by @olgaanczukow.bsky.social, @christinebeck.bsky.social & Mark Adams ✈️ Trainee travel awards 📝 Abstracts due March 3 🥼 Optional wet-lab training session 🔗 www.jax.org/education-an...
jax.org
Long-Read Sequencing Workshop
The program will involve sessions on Genome Evolution, Genome Regulation, Transcriptomics, Rare Diseases, Common Diseases, and Viral and Microbial Genomes. Committed speakers include Adam Phillipy (NH...
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Crystal Rogers, PhD @rogerslabucd.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Please check out these amazing women! They are fantastic scientists, committed mentors, supportive friends and honestly super stars! 🤩@bradylabs.bsky.social @mydennis.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social www.ucdavis.edu/news/podcast...
ucdavis.edu
2 First-Gen Scientists on Curiosity, Community and Discovery
Megan Dennis, associate professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, and Siobhan Brady, professor in the Department of Plant Biology and the Genome Center, are more than an just office neighbors ...
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Wythe Lab at UVA School of Medicine @wythelab.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Anyone in the U.S. got an ERK biosensor zebrafish line they'd be willing to share/ship to VA? vascular specific would be preferred, but I'll take global too. @zebrafishrock.bsky.social
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Recently learned that I will be promoted to FULL PROFESSOR(!) this coming summer. So happy and thankful for those that have supported me along the way, including collaborators, mentors, colleagues, friends, family, trainees, and letter writers. #bighugs #youdabest #firstgen
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Please repost and share widely - winter break is a perfect time to assemble application materials 😅
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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Did you know the last common ancestor of #zebrafish and humans was ~450 million years ago? A whole genome duplication event (3R) occurred early in the teleost fish phylogeny. Despite this event, zebrafish and humans have about the same number of chromosomes. #ZebrafishFunFacts 🧪
Phylogenetic tree showing relationships between zebrafish, mice and cartilaginous fishes. It shows the 3R genome duplication event in teleost lineage. Credit to MacDonald et al. 2018.
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Glennis Logsdon @glennislogsdon.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Absolutely thrilled to share the latest work from my lab focused on the variation and evolution of human centromeres among global populations! We assembled 2,110 human centromeres, identifying 226 new major haplotypes and 1,870 α-satellite HOR variants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Javier Santoyo @jsantoyo.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
CiFi: accurate long-read chromosome conformation capture with low-input requirements. #HiFi #LongRead #Sequencing @natcomms.nature.com 🧪🧬 🖥️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Consider applying for the Robert E. Chason Endowed Chair in Translational Research at the UC Davis MIND Institute! Join a vibrant community of colleagues studying neurodevelopment conditions like autism. UC Davis is an excellent place to work and live. Find more details here: lnkd.in/gZRyViNa
lnkd.in
Robert E. Chason Endowed Chair in Translational Research, MIND Institute
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Excited to share our final accepted version of the CiFi method out today: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
CiFi: accurate long-read chromosome conformation capture with low-input requirements - Nature Communications
Hi-C methods for studying 3D genome structure typically require millions of cells and struggle with repetitive regions. Here, authors develop CiFi, combining 3C with PacBio HiFi sequencing, enabling c...
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Lab ice skating and winter party ❄️⛄️
Ice skating Party
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Diedre Reitz @diedrereitz.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Very happy to share that I’ve been awarded a K99 Career Development Award from NIGMS for my work on MSH2-MSH6 and its role in recombination-mediated rearrangements. Big thanks to my mentor, Wolf Heyer, co-mentor, Megan Dennis, letter writers, and colleagues. mmg.ucdavis.edu/news/two-mmg...
mmg.ucdavis.edu
Two MMG rising academic stars, Diedre Reitz and Yuka Kitamura
Congratulations to Diedre Reitz and Yuka Kitamura, postdoctoral fellows in the Heyer and Namekawa laboratories, respectively, for being awarded prestigious K99 grants from the National Institutes of H...
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Olga Anczukow @olgaanczukow.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Join us at this exciting Workshop on #LongReads with keynotes from @aphillippy.bsky.social @mydennis.bsky.social co-organized by @christinebeck.bsky.social and Mark Adams @jacksonlab.bsky.social Register www.jax.org/longread #RNA #genomics #bioinformatics #cancer #medicine #evolution #neuroscience
jax.org
Long-Read Sequencing Workshop
The program will involve sessions on Genome Evolution, Genome Regulation, Transcriptomics, Rare Diseases, Common Diseases, and Viral and Microbial Genomes. Committed speakers include Adam Phillipy (NH...
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
The lab is coming out strong with their "fishman" pumpkin-contest submission this year for the Halloween Symposium today @ucdgenomecenter.bsky.social ! Pumpkin credit: @nicholashaghani.bsky.social 👻🎃
Fishman pumpkin for UC Davis Genome Center Halloween Pumpkin carving contest
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
😆
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Excellent review from @silparacchini.bsky.social’s lab with a nice bluetorial
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Bérénice A. Benayoun, PhD @bbparis1984.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Happy to share a new @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social from the lab, led by talented postdoctoral fellow #MinhooKim: "Single-cell exploration of ovarian aging across vertebrate models", a meta-analysis study of public ovarian aging sc/snRNA-seq data! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A 🧵, 1/5 🧬🖥️🧪 #GeroSky
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Kaessmann Lab @kaessmannlab.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
We are thrilled to share our new preprint entitled “The origin and molecular evolution of the mammalian liver cell architecture” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Happy to share work spearheaded by former grad student Colin Shew testing shared duplicated cis regulatory elements (CREs) using an MPRA. While we find some high effect CREs, collectively paralog differences represent modest effects accounting for observed gene expression divergence.
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Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution @official-smbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
🔁 Please share - we remind the SMBE community that the Call for Symposia for SMBE2026 in Copenhagen is open. We invite you to submit a symposium proposal to help shape the scientific content of our annual meeting. 🗓️ Deadline: October 15th More information: smbe2026.org/symposia #SMBE2026
SMBE2026 | Final call for symposia
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Jeremy Yoder says no war @jbyoder.org · 25/09/2025
Really cool, conceptually simple approach here: cross-referencing grant proposal scores with literature citations and explicit acknowledgments in drug patents to identify patents linked to projects that wouldn't have been funded given a smaller budget
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
While I'm sad our cover submission wasn't selected for our recent human duplication paper, check out the super cool illustration created with @lazaroillustration.bsky.social ! Certainly, you will be seeing Dennis lab members running around with "fishman" t-shirts at future meetings, inspired by Ohno
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Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Lab outing 😍
Lab biking Lab outing at brewery
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Suel-Kee Kim @suelkeekim.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Excited to share our recent study on human-specific features of the cerebellum and the unexpected, novel role of zona pellucida protein 2 (ZP2) in synapse development. Grateful to the Sestan lab and all our collaborators for their outstanding contributions. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Human-specific features of the cerebellum and ZP2-regulated synapse development
Understanding the unique features of the human brain compared to non-human primates has long intrigued humankind. The cerebellum refines motor coordination and cognitive functions, contributing to the...
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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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Marc Tollis @marcanthonytollis.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
bsky.app/profile/marc...
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Aida Andres @aidaandres.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Jasmin Rees PhD chapter as a paper just out at the AJHG @ajhgnews.bsky.social, with Sergi Castellano, who first envisioned the study. Jas investigated signatures of human local genetic adaptation in hundreds of micronutrient-associated genes.
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