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Patrick Kerstein

@patrickkerstein.bsky.social
442 followers 494 following 85 posts

vision scientist, developmental neurobiologist, assistant prof at purdue, he/him hhs.purdue.edu/kersteinlab

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Patrick Kerstein @patrickkerstein.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A new paper came out this week from our lab in @devbiol.bsky.social. This was work I started as a post-doc with @kevinmawright.bsky.social. Here, we investigated the role of Gbx2 and Robo receptors in dendrite stratification of amacrine cells in the retina. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
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Nicholas M Tran @nmtranlab.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Our lab is recruiting! If you are interested in learning about retinal ganglion cell resilience and regeneration please see the Research Assistant I position listing below. We are looking for a candidate with experience in either mouse research or stem cell culture. jobs.bcm.edu/job/Research...
jobs.bcm.edu
Research Assistant I - Molecular & Human Genetics
Research Assistant I - Molecular & Human Genetics
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Vaughn Smider, MD, PhD @vvsmider.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
“Without notifying Congress or the American people, DoD has signed an interagency agreement that could give the Department access to billions of dollars that Congress provided to NIH for critical biomedical research.” Seriously?
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Levi Todd @levi-todd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
First paper entirely from our lab is out in the wild! We tested if reprogramming still works in the aged CNS and found the aged retina blocks neurogenesis both intrinsically in Müller glia and through exacerbated inflammation. Then point at some ways to overcome this. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Aging limits neuronal regeneration from glia in the mouse retina | PNAS
Reprogramming resident glia into neurons holds great therapeutic promise for neurodegenerative diseases across the central nervous system, yet thes...
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Dario Tommasini @dariotommasini.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Excited to share our new paper on the evolution of inhibitory neurons in the retina 👀 now out in Science Advances! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Please see my previous post for a brief summary: bsky.app/profile/dari...
science.org
The extreme diversity of retinal amacrine cells has deep evolutionary roots
Amacrine cells (ACs) comprise a heterogeneous class of inhibitory neurons in the vertebrate retina, exhibiting morphological and functional complexity rivaling that of cortical interneurons. Here, we ...
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Kevin Wright @kevinmawright.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Excited to release the newest preprint from the lab into the wild. Super proud of @ninaluong.bsky.social, who did 99% of the experiments in this beast of a paper. Want to know more about some novel RGC subtypes? Buckle up! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/9
biorxiv.org
A pooled genetic approach provides multimodal access to uncharacterized retinal ganglion cell subtypes
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the sole output neurons of the retina, responsible for transmitting visual information to the brain. Recent transcriptomic studies have revealed extensive molecular d...
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Jan Lause @janlause.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Meet Eyewire II: a new connectomic resource for the mouse retina. ~1 mm² of retina at nanometer resolution, with synapses and circuits of ca. 100,000 neurons, plus visual responses from the ~400 neurons shown in the video! Preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202... Data: eyewire.ai 🧠📈 🧠💻🧪 #VisionScience
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
NIH is not okay. @nytimes.com highlights how grant-making & ability to obligate funding is at risk from staff shortages and time consuming screening processes designed to censor research to align with the administration's political ideology. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/s... Some highlights:
nytimes.com
Pace of N.I.H. Funding Slows Further in Trump’s Second Year
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Dario Tommasini @dariotommasini.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Inhibitory neurons are among the most transcriptomically diverse class of neurons in the CNS, with some brain regions having 60+ distinct cell types. Do humans share the same repertoire as rodents? Birds? Fish? 1/13
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Justin Kumar @flyeyelab.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
The 2026 Visual System Development GRC and GRS are fast approaching. Jeremy Kay, Kristen Kwan, Robert Johnston, and I have built an exciting program that we hope you will enjoy. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting this summer in beautiful Maine. Register and RT!
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Here’s the deal with the FY26 NIH funding bill: One line in the 1000+ pg bill = significantly less science. The increase to ~40% of grants moving to MYF is estimated to result in a 35% decrease in the NUMBER of NIH grants funded annually—moving the paylines from 10% to around 4%. THIS IS BAD.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Absolute debasement of academic standards *student submits opinion in psych class *gets bad grade *instructor says she can make whatever arguments she wants but must draw on empirical sources *student & Turning Point says her religious freedom & first amendment rights violated *professor suspended
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vikkiweake.bsky.social @vikkiweake.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Our Biochemistry department at Purdue has an open tenure-track position as part of a cluster hire in advanced chemistry including drug discovery and biosynthetic pathways: careers.purdue.edu/job/Assistan...
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 15/10/2025
"Humans aren’t very efficient movers—until you put us on a bicycle, when we become some of the most energy-efficient land travelers in the animal kingdom." www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
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Krista Koeller @kristalerista.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Dear funding agencies, I know we all want to discover the wonder drug that will cure the horrible diseases, but to do that, we need to invest in basic, unsexy, foundational research on how the systems work. Funding can’t all be drug development. Sincerely, Looking for basic research grants.
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Marcos Aranda @marcosaranda.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Our paper is out today! In @tiffmschmidt.bsky.social lab, we identified a single transcription factor, BRN3B, that shapes multiple, key features that define diverse ipRGC subtypes🧬👁️🐭
urldefense.com
Genetic tuning of retinal ganglion cell subtype identity to drive visual behavior
Nature Communications - This study reveals that graded expression of the transcription factor BRN3B fine-tunes the identity and function of melanopsin-expressing ipRGC subtypes in the retina....
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 14/09/2025
That view is exceptionally naive. As @narosenblum.bsky.social and I wrote last fall, “basic scientific research [is] a long-term investment, one that only governments have the time horizon to make, and it brings enormous payoffs.” It can’t just be moonshots and looking for unicorn behemoths.
infotimes.us
Basic Science Is The Foundation Of Future Cures
Injecting partisan politics into American basic science would be terrible for the US: for the economy, and for development of future treatments for diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer's.
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Kara Cerveny @kara-cerveny.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Come be my colleague! We are hiring for two tenure-track positions. www.reed.edu/dean_of_facu...
reed.edu
Tenure-Track Positions in Functional Genomics/Genetics and Systems Biology - Office of the Dean of the Faculty - Reed College
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Patrick Kerstein @patrickkerstein.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Paper submitted! Preprint to come.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 04/08/2025
Go, a college student, has a dependent visa (her mother, an Episcopal minister, is here on a religious worker visa), which doesn't expire until Dec. But when she tried to renew it early, ICE nabbed her and sent her halfway across the US to a detention center. www.wthr.com/article/news...
wthr.com
Purdue student detained by ICE and taken to troubled Louisiana holding facility
Yeonsoo Go, 20, was detained after her immigration hearing in Manhattan and taken away by ICE agents.
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Dr. Anna Radke @aradprof.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Miami is hiring a neurobiologist! I am excited to welcome a new colleague to our Neuroscience community! Please share! miamioh.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/miamio...
miamioh.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor
Job Title Assistant Professor Department Biology Department Worker Type Regular Pay Type Salary Salary will be commensurate with the level of the position, education, and experience. Benefit Eligible ...
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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Reminder! Tenure track position in Genetics at Trinity College Dublin! Come join us, we're nice... 😊 Please repost! 🙏
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Mara Breen @mbreen.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Mount Holyoke College in lovely western Massachusetts is hiring a tenure-track neuroscientist. Amazing students and fantastic faculty support - please share! mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Behavior
Job no: R-0000002388 Position Title: Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Behavior Work Type: Faculty Full time In-Person Start Date: 07/01/2026 Job Description: The Department of Neuroscience and ...
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Michel Cayouette @michelcayouette.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Hi all, we got a grant for a cool project that will follow up of our paper published a few months ago (see below). We will explore how light acts as a morphogen to instruct PCP. If you are looking for a postdoc position and interested in this topic, please reach out!
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Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention @iansample.bsky.social writes @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
theguardian.com
Quality of scientific papers questioned as academics ‘overwhelmed’ by the millions published
Widespread mockery of AI-generated rat with giant penis in one paper brings problem to public attention
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Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Got stunning fluorescence microscopy images? 🌈🔬 SDB wants to feature YOUR work for #FluorescenceFriday! We highlight images from SDB members with a short description and the image creators 📸. Fill out the form to be featured: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
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ClutchScience (Jen Phillips) @clutchscience.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
I think a lot of people don’t realize how hard it is to get approval to work on animals in the first place. You have to have a clear & well-researched justification for every experiment. You have to fully explain why there is no other way to address the question without animals 1/
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator. 🧪🌎
americanscientist.org
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
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Metabo_Dave @metabodave.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
Given the SCOTUS ruling yesterday, it's seems possible....even highly likely....that the NIH IDC ruling will now only apply to the states that filed. If you're in a red state, that means 15% IDCs might be a reality soon.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
“I personally was pretty surprised, actually, at how efficient the government was,” Sahil Lavingia told NPR's Juana Summers.
npr.org
Former DOGE engineer says federal waste and fraud were 'relatively nonexistent'
NPR's Juana Summers talks with Sahil Lavingia, who worked for the Department of Government Efficiency as a software engineer assigned to the Department of Veterans Affairs, about his experience.
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Bita Moghaddam @bita137.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
This is worse than many appreciate because it is not merely a delay. Many institutions such as mine are TERMINATING these otherwise active grants if the NoA is delayed by more than a month because they cannot afford to keep the grant supported personnel on payroll
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Edward Doherty PhD. @drtcell.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
A study finds, US based academic research institutes account for 50% of new medical drugs in the last 4 years. 🧪 www.statnews.com/2025/06/06/u... #science #savescience #stat
statnews.com
We set out to quantify U.S. academic contributions to medicines. The results stunned even us
From 2020 to 2024, universities contributed patents underpinning 50% of FDA-approved drugs. 87% of those academic breakthroughs came from American institutions.
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Kevin Wright @kevinmawright.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
nature.com
Distinct functional domains of Dystroglycan regulate inhibitory synapse formation and maintenance in cerebellar Purkinje cells
Communications Biology - Genetic manipulation of functional domains on Dystroglycan reveals distinct developmental roles in inhibitory synapse formation and maintenance in cerebellar cortex.
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Adam Sternbergh @sternbergh.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Senate hearing on the FY26 NIH budget with Jay Bhattacharya June 10, 10am ET www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/a-r...
appropriations.senate.gov
A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the National Institutes of Health | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd. It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.
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@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
It is beyond disturbing when the NIH and HHS Directors do not understand that animal models are essential in research www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/a...
statnews.com
There is no replacement (yet) for animal models in medical research
The NIH is “reducing animal use in research.” But there is no replacement for animal models.
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
important historical perspective on the value of federal funding of basic research at universities: "These are the building blocks of America's extraordinary strength, created over the last 100 years, and they are now being dismantled in 100 days" 🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qk4...
youtube.com
Fareed’s Take: Trump is gutting what made American science great
YouTube video by CNN
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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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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 10/05/2025
HAPPY 75th, NSF! We’re celebrating this milestone by highlighting some of NSF’s most transformative accomplishments—innovations that have shaped our world and continue to drive progress in health, technology, the environment, and beyond. Read on 🧵(1/11):
A chocolate cake with red and white decorations and lit candles shaped as the number 75. Bold text reads: ‘The NSF Turns 75 Today. What has it done over the past 7 decades?’ The background is a celebratory red with a spray-paint texture.
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Kevin Wright @kevinmawright.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
With all the chaos and destruction of academic research going on in the US right now, it feels a little weird to post this. But.... New preprint from the lab is now live: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/n
biorxiv.org
PTEN regulates starburst amacrine cell dendrite morphology during development
Neurons are subject to extensive developmental regulation to ensure precise subtype-specific morphologies that are intimately tied to their function. Starburst amacrine cells (SACs) in the mammalian r...
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NIH Fellows United @nihfellowsunited.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
A thread: NIH Fellows United is committed to showing up, even when leadership won’t. 🧪
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Patrick Kerstein @patrickkerstein.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Just a couple of photos of Labony and Shaherah representing our lab at #ARVO25. It’s been a great meeting for both scientific discussion and catching up with friends.
Labony presenting her research poster on optic nerve demyelination. Shaherah presenting her research poster on amacrine cell fate and survival.
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Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
The NIH move to restrict animal research is a bad one and not just about health - it's about national security. More here: medium.com/@eblissmorea...
medium.com
This will kill us: restricting animal research
Tuesday, as my lab gathered to celebrate the completion of one of our big studies, the National Institutes of Health announced that they…
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Patrick Kerstein @patrickkerstein.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
I’m assuming this doesn’t belong to one of the vision scientists at ARVO. Maybe one of the ophthalmologists.
Bright red corvette parked in front of the conference center.
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
RFK Jr. ordered the NIH’s Integrated Research Facility in Frederick to stop all research on serious infectious diseases yesterday at 5:00 PM. They study pathogens like Ebola there. You may be familiar with it from The Hot Zone. www.wired.com/story/hhs-ni...
wired.com
RFK Jr.'s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research
NIAID's Integrated Research Facility is one of the few federal facilities charged with studying Ebola. Tuesday afternoon, all of its work was put on indefinite pause by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s departm...
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Franki Kung @frankikung.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
I'm disappointed to share that my NSF career grant on anti-Asian dehumanization was terminated. This affects ongoing project activities, which have shown great progress so far, and support for my research team and more. I'm sad to share that the hiring of the postdoc role is currently on pause.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 21/04/2025
The startup has raised over $2B in venture capital, much of it from firms with ties to Trump and Musk. In addition to Thiel, other major backers include Thrive Capital, which was founded by Jared Kushner's brother, and 8VC, a firm run by Musk allies. By @chrisbing.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
propublica.org
Trump Team Eyes Politically Connected Startup to Overhaul $700 Billion Government Payments Program
A little-known firm with investors linked to JD Vance, Elon Musk and Trump could get a piece of the federal expense card system — and its hundreds of millions in fees. “This goes against all the…
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