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Alexey Veraksa

@veraksa.bsky.social
1.4K followers 230 following 198 posts

Drosophila developmental biologist. Cell signaling. Proteomics. Professor at UMass Boston.

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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Helena Cocheme @cochemelab.bsky.social · 12h
✨Excited to share our latest paper in Aging Cell!✨ "Direct Pharmacological Activation of AMPK Extends Lifespan in Yeast, Worms and Flies" Thanks to all the collaborators who made this multi-organism study possible! 💊🪱🪰🐁⏳ #TeamScience #Drosophila #C.elegans #S.pombe #Ageing doi.org/10.1111/acel...
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Here is my motivational poster of the day for academics. Thanks @forkjoin.bsky.social for the idea during a lunch conversation.
A modified Nike logo that says "Tempted by AI? Just write it."
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“Even flawless prose wouldn’t make me less reluctant to spend an hour reading something that its author spent less than 10 minutes “writing.””
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Science peeps: Looks like SciENcv updated the digital certificate used to sign Biosketch and Current & Pending documents without notification. The old certificate expires Saturday, September 26, 2026. SciENcv docs before that date may fail validation in eRA Commons delaying or blocking submission.
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John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky
I am writing to let you know that, unfortunately, your application was not successful.

Review process

As part of the initial triage of the 179 proposals submitted to this call, each was assessed using an AI-based review. Every proposal was read independently by several different AI models against the same seven criteria used to shape this call (including cyber security relevance, research quality and novelty, importance of the problem addressed, feasibility of the project plan, likely outputs and impact, value for money, and responsible research practice), with each model asked to give a score and a written justification with supporting quotations from the text. To guard against any one model's idiosyncrasies, we also ran a second, independent process in which different AI models debated the merits and weaknesses of each proposal before reaching a judgement, again against the same criteria. Scores from both processes were combined to produce an overall ranking. 

This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review.  Projects selected for funding were drawn from those that progressed to the full human review stage. We recognise that AI-assisted assessment is a new and evolving part of the review process, and we are continuing to evaluate how well it aligns with the judgements of human reviewers on this call. We will soon produce a document detailing our method, so that others can build upon it and improve it.

Feedback on your application

Your application was not selected to progress beyond the AI triage stage.  To provide transparency on the outcome of this assessment, we are sharing below the scores (out of 5) from each of the two AI review processes described above, together with the mean score across the two processes.
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Ben de Bivort @debivort.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Hello friends, the Harvard Life Science departments have banded together to hire a new colleague working at the intersection of Life Sciences and AI. Could be primarily an experimentalist, or could be primarily a compute/theorist. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/16773
academicpositions.harvard.edu
Tenure-Track Professor in Life Science and AI
The Life Sciences Departments in Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences seek to recruit a tenure-track professor whose research is at the interface of AI and life sciences, from methodological developme...
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 19/09/2026
What's your ice cream order? Gary Ruvkun isn't only a Nobel Prize laureate, he also helps out his local ice cream truck on occasion. After learning of his 2024 medicine prize Ruvkun celebrated his prize by hopping on board the 'Frosty Truck' and serving sundaes to his lab members and colleagues.
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Fillip Port @crisprflydesign.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Several FlyBase services are down. Probably just a glimpse of what it's like to work with most other genomes, but can't say I'm enjoying the experience. Please send decorated FASTA... 😭😭😭
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I signed! Fond memories visiting this museum with kids and friends.
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Sarah C Vogel, PhD @sarahcvogel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The UMass Boston Department of Psychology is hiring an assistant professor in our clinical area, with a developmental focus and emphasis on Black children and families. Please spread the word! #psychjobs employmentopportunities.umb.edu/boston/en-us...
employmentopportunities.umb.edu
Page Up - UMass Boston
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Sonya Neal @neal-lab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Come be my colleague!! 🎉 We’re hiring an Assistant Professor in Developmental Biology at UCSD! If you’re doing exciting work in development or regeneration, come join us!! Please spread the word and apply! apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04591
apol-recruit.ucsd.edu
Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology
University of California, San Diego is hiring. Apply now!
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Erik A. Rodriguez @erin-rod.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Today, I would like to honor the memory of Roger Y. Tsien, who died on August 24, 2016. His legacy lives with all who use his technologies, including calcium sensors, fluorescent proteins, the acetoxymethyl (AM) ester, & many more! #FluorescenceFriday www.nature.com/articles/nme...
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gavislab.bsky.social @gavislab.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
We are hiring! The Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University is conducting a search for a tenure-track Assistant Professor. Deadline is November 1, 2026 apply.interfolio.com/190686
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
David Green @greenbaron.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Really excited to finally show off our work on the specification of neuroblasts. While it has been a long-standing model for lateral inhibition, we show that Notch does not select the NB, but instead reinforces fate decisions. www.cell.com/current-biol... @currentbiology.bsky.social
cell.com
Positional cues, not Notch, direct neuroblast selection during early neurogenesis in the Drosophila embryo
Using quantitative live imaging, Green et al. show that proneural gene expression is biased by positional cues and that Notch is activated only after neuroblast selection in the Drosophila embryo. Thi...
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Kurianlab @kurianlab.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
www.nature.com/articles/s41... how cool!
nature.com
Intestinal stem cells count self-renewal divisions to switch multipotency - Nature
In Drosophila, cell fate switching in adult intestinal stem cells is determined through an epigenetic mechanism in which these cells count divisions, switching from producing enterocytes to producing ...
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Everyone says AI will accelerate science. I don't think it will -- at least not in biology, and at least not soon. New post where I explain why, and how the productivity paradox can be resolved: blekhman.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
blekhman.substack.com
Why AI will not speed up science (yet)
You can see AI everywhere except in the productivity statistics
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Yo Akiyama @yoakiyama.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Excited to share our now published paper @cp-cell.bsky.social highlighting advances in modeling the evolution of protein-protein interactions with MSA Pairformer. Big thanks to Zhidian Zhang, Olivia Tang, @eunbelivable.bsky.social @milot.bsky.social @martinsteinegger.bsky.social and @sokrypton.org!
cell.com
Expanding the scope of protein language modeling to protein-protein interactions with MSA Pairformer
Protein language models have excelled at modeling individual proteins, but extending these capabilities to protein complexes remains a major challenge. MSA Pairformer, a parameter-efficient protein la...
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 15/07/2026
The elongated shape of the #Drosophila #wing is regulated by the Dachsous-Fat signalling pathway, but how? This study shows that mechanical forces regulated by this pathway modulate tissue-wide #cytoskeletal tension to orient growth during larval development @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4vp9EOh
The image illustrates the shape of the wing outlining the oriented growth of cells within the developing wing, which depends on cytoskeletal forces and Dachsous-Fat signaling. Image Credit: Bipin Kumar Tripathi
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Andrew Wehrman @profwehrman.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Today is the 250th anniversary of Boston’s mass inoculation against smallpox on July 3, 1776. The city was effectively closed to commerce from July through September 1776. The mass immunization effort was cheered as evidence of true independence. Here's how I described it in my book:
While John Adams and fifty-five men in Philadelphia debated a resolution on independence and the final wording of the Declaration of Independence, the people of Boston declared their own independence from smallpox. The measures taken in both cities provided hope that America would not only be a republic free of a king but also a country free from disease. On July 3, 1776, a day after independence was declared in Philadelphia, the Massachusetts General Court voted to allow inoculation. Despite the dangers of infection, the people of Boston and the surrounding areas cheered the news. Ezekiel Price, a court official and insurance broker, declared “Liberty is given for to inoculate for the small-pox; many begin upon it this afternoon.” Hannah Winthrop described the scene: “Boston has given up its Fears of an invasion & is busily employd in Communicating the Infection. Straw Beds & Cribs are daily Carted into the Town.” She wrote that “Men Women & children eagerly crowding to inoculate is I think as modish as running away from the Troops of a barbarous George was the last year.” Dr. James Warren wrote to John Adams that the “rage for inoculation” had “whirled me into its vortex.…”  Warren and his wife Mercy Otis joined Abigail Adams and her four children who had been invited to be inoculated at Abigail’s uncle’s house in Boston along with Abigail’s sisters Elizabeth Cranch and Mary Shaw and their families. Even though Boston was teeming with the sick, the prospect that the city could conquer smallpox made it "a scene delightful indeed." Cotton Tufts was satisfied that he could now "take my leave of Earth, satisfied that the Day of American Redemption was at Hand."
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Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center @bdsc.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
We are pleased to announce a major donation to support the work of the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center. Lawerence Washington, husband of former BDSC director Kathy Matthews, has established an endowment in her honor. bdsc.indiana.edu/news-events/...
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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
As I've said many times, often in the context of publishing, when the barrier to production is lowered, curation becomes even more important. It applies here, too. And everywhere. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Rethinking bioinformatics expertise in the era of artificial intelligence - npj Digital Medicine
npj Digital Medicine - Rethinking bioinformatics expertise in the era of artificial intelligence
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paveltomancak.bsky.social @paveltomancak.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Big paper from @hejnol.bsky.social lab. Title says it all. Congrats, Stanislav Kremnyov and the team. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A blastoporal organizer in a ctenophore - Nature
Experiments using the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi and the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis reveal that the emergence of a core signalling pathway may have been a key innovation enabling the transit...
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
As Editor of @dev-journal.bsky.social I get asked "What are you doing about your impact factor?" In our new editorial we say: Ask not what Dev can do for the impact factor. Ask what you can do for Dev's IF The IF is about how we all cite, review & assess each other's work doi.org/10.1242/dev....
doi.org
The elephant in the room: impact factor
Summary: This Editorial offers an honest look at impact factor trends in developmental biology, explains how Development serves its community, and makes the case that sustaining developmental biology ...
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Now published - the #BANC! A full central nervous system (CNS) connectome of a limbed animal at single-synapse resolution, enabling us to follow sensory-motor arcs and understand how the CNS controls the body. rdcu.be/fncjS. #neuroscience. Video by @quorumetrix.bsky.social 1/18
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elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Calling all Scientists! Research Administrators! Deans! Fans of Science! No one is coming to save us. Here is your assignment. I have written a step by step, easy to understand "how-to" document to help you comment on the proposed OMB rule. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...
elizabethginexi.substack.com
What We Need to do NEXT: OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule (OMB 2026-10817)
What OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule Means in Practice
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I-75 Scientist @flscitriguy.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
NIH Definition of Foreign components. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-26-084: Reminder Definition of Foreign Components
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Reminder Definition of Foreign Components NOT-OD-26-084. NIH
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turrigiano.bsky.social @turrigiano.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Amazing job opportunity at Brandeis - we are looking for a new manager of our Light Microscopy Facility! Cool instruments, a great community to work with, lots of opportunities for growth - please circulate! brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Jobs/j...
brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
Light Microscopy Facility Manager
The main purpose of this job is to bring cutting-edge light microscopy research approaches to Brandeis researchers and oversee the day-to-day operations of the Brandeis light microscopy facility. The ...
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Reposted by Alexey Veraksa
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 22/05/2026
“Units of the NIH are privately directing grantees to request permission in advance for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, even if all the work was done in the United States.” Grantees also told to remove papers with foreign authors from progress reports.
science.org
U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators
NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication
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I-75 Scientist @flscitriguy.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Please share widely. The new (simpler) MIRA R35 for Early Stage Investigators (ESI) NOFO is published. First due date is 10/2/2026. files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunitie...
files.simpler.grants.gov
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Tobias Warnecke @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
I wrote an essay. It’s about gain-of-function mutations. And penguins. Also ion channels, chihuahuas, the film Alien, recycled cardboard, and the Apollonian mind. Oh, and muffins. Thanks to the editors of #GENETICS @genetics-gsa.bsky.social for letting me take some stylistic liberties. 1/2
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Yanlan Mao @yanlanmao.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
This exciting paper is now out in PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
3D epithelial cell topology tunes signaling range to promote precise patterning | PNAS
Cell behaviors in multicellular organisms are coordinated via both diffusible molecules and by signals based on direct cell–cell contacts. The mode...
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
If you thought Notch was always a receptor, think again! In this paper, Notch was found to function as a _ligand_ for Draper, a phagocytic receptor. #Drosophila www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Notch is a ligand of Draper mediating spermatogonia cell death - Nature Communications
Here they show that, in Drosophila testes, Notch functions as a ligand to activate Draper-dependent signalling in neighboring phagocytes and eliminate germline progenitors, revealing Reverse Notch sig...
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Slightly diminish a book: The Origin of Subspecies
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Journal of Cell Biology @jcb.org · 29/04/2026
#Polyploidy reprograms epithelial cells for #motility and #phagocytosis via stress signaling. New study by Youfang Zhou, Xianfeng Wang, and colleagues from the Wu-Min Deng lab @tulanemedicine.bsky.social: rupress.org/jcb/article-...
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
how your email finds me
an image showing the number of items in an email inbox: 55,176
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Stefan Luschnig @luschnig.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
We´re hiring a #PhD student - if you´re interested in combining genetics, cell biology and state-of-the-art imaging to study #epithelial tissue dynamics in #Drosophila, apply to the CiM-IMPRS PhD program by May 1st (see below) Please RT @uni-muenster.de @sfb1348.bsky.social
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 23/04/2026
How to find a career you love – for gen Z and everyone else: ‘You don’t want your life’s compass to be dread’
theguardian.com
How to find a career you love – for gen Z and everyone else: ‘You don’t want your life’s compass to be dread’
In her new book, New York Times investigative journalist Jodi Kantor has set her mind to helping young people find their life’s work. What should they, or anyone else who feels lost and overwhelmed right now, do to get started?
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Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
On April 18, 1905, William Bateson introduced the term “genetics,” giving identity to the study of heredity and variation. 🔗 Learn more: buff.ly/Yuqq3aC
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BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
NIH funded / aspirant peeps: “The percent of applications discussed in most meetings will be reduced to 30-35%, instead of the usual ~50%.” grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-26-069: Continuation of Modifications to Peer Review Practices
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Continuation of Modifications to Peer Review Practices NOT-OD-26-069. NIH
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canaztekin.bsky.social @canaztekin.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
🚨 Why can’t mammals regenerate limbs like frog tadpoles or salamanders? In our new paper in @science.org , we show that species-specific oxygen sensing acts as a gatekeeper for initiating limb regeneration 🐭🐸 🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #EvoDevo
science.org
Species-specific oxygen sensing governs the initiation of vertebrate limb regeneration
Why mammals cannot regenerate limbs like amphibians do presents a long-standing puzzle in biology. To uncover the underlying differences, we compared amputation responses of embryonic mouse (Mus musculus) and Xenopus laevis tadpole limbs. Lowering ...
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Orthodox Easter is tomorrow. I bake these traditional holiday cakes, kulichi, every year, and share with friends.
A set of holiday cakes, kulichi, for Orthodox Easter
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Who does not want an AMAZING 3D printed fly???? This Drosophila was printed for me today as a prop for a talk at the @rigb.org It caused a minor commotion on the tube on my way home. And I LOVE IT - @bittelmethis.bsky.social 🤓🪰🤘
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Yogesh Goyal @goyallab.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
*POSTDOC Positions* Multiple positions open in my group at @biohub.org & @feinberg.northwestern.edu / @nitmb.bsky.social We welcome PhDs from diverse disciplines interested in QBio & BioE job-boards.greenhouse.io/biohub/jobs/... job-boards.greenhouse.io/biohub/jobs/... www.goyallab.org/positions
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Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Sayantanee Paul, Khandan Ilkhani, Nathan Strozewski, Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social & team discover that ERK inhibits Capicua repressor function via multisite phosphorylation. Highlight: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... #OpenAccess
Figure showing that Cic activity in vivo correlates with the degree of phosphosite substitution.
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I am excited to share that our paper on ERK-mediated Capicua (Cic) phosphorylation was published in its final form at @jcellsci.bsky.social ! A short 🧵 1/5 journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
journals.biologists.com
ERK inhibits Capicua repressor function via multisite phosphorylation
Highlighted Article: Multisite phosphorylation is important in the regulation of the Capicua (Cic) repressor by ERK, in part because multiple phosphosites contribute to Cic protein degradation.
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Rebecca D. Burdine, PhD @rburdine1.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | There’s a Good Reason You Can’t Concentrate
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Alexey Veraksa @veraksa.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Founding Father spotted at #NoKings in Boston
Protester at #NoKings rally, dressed as Benjamin Franklin, holding a sign that says “I turn in my grave”.
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Brian Calvi @briancalvi.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
A short video of a global heat map of real time pings to FlyBase website from one of our talented developers (not sped up) @flybase.bsky.social @iubiology.bsky.social
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Rita Strack @ritastrack.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Well here's an answer to a question I hadn't thought of asking www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Limitations of serial cloning in mammals - Nature Communications
Here they show that extended serial somatic cell cloning imposes a threefold increase in de novo mutations compared to natural reproduction, progressively reducing birth rates and ultimately limiting ...
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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Happy birthday to 🇨🇦Canadian medical researcher & #biochemist Maud Menten (1879-1960). 👩🏼‍🔬🧪🐡 #histsci Not only was she an author of Michaelis-Menten equation for enzyme kinetics, she invented the azo-dye coupling for alkaline phosphatase, 1st example of enzyme histochemistry, still used in imaging of
Linocut portrait of biochemist and medical researcher Maud Menten (1879-1960) with the Michalis-Menten equation in blue and a histology image in pinks and purples in the background.
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