Ben Martin
@benjaminmartin.bsky.social
Assistant Prof at McGill, Oncology & Biochem departments, Lady Davis Institute | chromatin/txn | previous member @adelmanlab, LeAnn Howe labs | he/him | Fragile Nucleosome co-organizer | FHC MNT alumn 🏑🇨🇦🦌 | https://www.martinlab.ca/
Pinned
Ben Martin
@benjaminmartin.bsky.social
· Nov 12
👋 (Re)introducing myself for all the new folks! I'm a #newPI & Assistant Professor at McGill & The Lady Davis Institute. Our lab explores chromatin & txn regulation in stem cell differentiation & cancer models, focusing on how gene duplications (paralogs) drive unique, context-dependent functions. 🧬
Reposted by Ben Martin
The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, which supports our work, has produced a short film about our research:
November 26, 2025 at 1:22 AM
The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, which supports our work, has produced a short film about our research:
Reposted by Ben Martin
🚨 Multiple #PhD opportunities for lab or computational applicants. Do you want to understand the molecular basis of #epigenetic dysfunction in human disease?
Come work with our group at the fantastic, collaborative @uoe-igc.bsky.social in a beautiful, liveable city.
🧵 1/4
Please repost 🙏
Come work with our group at the fantastic, collaborative @uoe-igc.bsky.social in a beautiful, liveable city.
🧵 1/4
Please repost 🙏
November 25, 2025 at 9:15 AM
🚨 Multiple #PhD opportunities for lab or computational applicants. Do you want to understand the molecular basis of #epigenetic dysfunction in human disease?
Come work with our group at the fantastic, collaborative @uoe-igc.bsky.social in a beautiful, liveable city.
🧵 1/4
Please repost 🙏
Come work with our group at the fantastic, collaborative @uoe-igc.bsky.social in a beautiful, liveable city.
🧵 1/4
Please repost 🙏
Reposted by Ben Martin
Do you have an exciting new chromatin/transcription story that you'd like to share with the #FN community?
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Application to speak in the Fragile Nucleosome series
Thank you for your interest in our seminar series!
We use a variety of different session formats but, in general, trainees can plan for a ~15 min talk + 5min Q/A and PIs can plan for a ~25min talk +...
forms.gle
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Do you have an exciting new chromatin/transcription story that you'd like to share with the #FN community?
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Reposted by Ben Martin
Excited to share this highlight of a beautiful study into how myeloperoxidase acts as a chromatin transformer
Myeloperoxidase transforms chromatin into an immune weapon #immunology
Myeloperoxidase transforms chromatin into an immune weapon
Burn et al. reveal a previously unrecognised, non-catalytic function of myeloperoxidase (MPO) in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation; integrating super-resolution microscopy and biochemical approaches, they demonstrated that MPO’s oligomeric state governs chromatin decondensation, redefining MPO as a structural chromatin modifier with implications for diseases driven by dysregulated NETosis.
dlvr.it
November 20, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Excited to share this highlight of a beautiful study into how myeloperoxidase acts as a chromatin transformer
Reposted by Ben Martin
🔔This Wednesday , in #FragileNucleosome seminar, we are excited to host @ishtiaqueh.bsky.social of Pastor lab and Prof. Sarah Teichmann, @teichlab.bsky.social, to tell us about their exciting studies!
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 18, 2025 at 9:43 AM
🔔This Wednesday , in #FragileNucleosome seminar, we are excited to host @ishtiaqueh.bsky.social of Pastor lab and Prof. Sarah Teichmann, @teichlab.bsky.social, to tell us about their exciting studies!
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Reposted by Ben Martin
Special mention for the care towards young scientists training, involved in every step from organisation to co-chairing session to (great) selected talks
November 15, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Special mention for the care towards young scientists training, involved in every step from organisation to co-chairing session to (great) selected talks
Fantastic to connect with colleagues & friends and be back in the mountains for the @ceehrc.bsky.social Canadian Epigenetics meeting!
November 15, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Fantastic to connect with colleagues & friends and be back in the mountains for the @ceehrc.bsky.social Canadian Epigenetics meeting!
Reposted by Ben Martin
Thrilled to share that the final piece of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With support from @nvidia and the @NSF, we used AlphaFold to screen 1.6M+ protein pairs, revealing thousands of potential novel PPIs. All data can be viewed at predictomes.org/hp
Proteome-wide in silico screening for human protein-protein interactions
Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) drive virtually all biological processes, yet most PPIs have not been identified and even more remain structurally unresolved. We developed a two-step computational...
biorxiv.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Thrilled to share that the final piece of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With support from @nvidia and the @NSF, we used AlphaFold to screen 1.6M+ protein pairs, revealing thousands of potential novel PPIs. All data can be viewed at predictomes.org/hp
Reposted by Ben Martin
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Reposted by Ben Martin
🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
November 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Reposted by Ben Martin
📣 Paper alert!
I am delighted that our paper exploring the impact of Neanderthal-derived variants on the activity of a disease-associated craniofacial enhancer has been published in Development today!
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
I am delighted that our paper exploring the impact of Neanderthal-derived variants on the activity of a disease-associated craniofacial enhancer has been published in Development today!
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
November 10, 2025 at 11:11 AM
📣 Paper alert!
I am delighted that our paper exploring the impact of Neanderthal-derived variants on the activity of a disease-associated craniofacial enhancer has been published in Development today!
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
I am delighted that our paper exploring the impact of Neanderthal-derived variants on the activity of a disease-associated craniofacial enhancer has been published in Development today!
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Ben Martin
In case anyone is wondering if Watson was really THAT bad, @lpachter.bsky.social compiled a list of quotes that are absolutely not for the faint of heart.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
November 7, 2025 at 10:18 PM
In case anyone is wondering if Watson was really THAT bad, @lpachter.bsky.social compiled a list of quotes that are absolutely not for the faint of heart.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
Reposted by Ben Martin
And we have another open position, this time with a focus on Genome Biology! Join a great community in Vienna to bring your research to the next level!
📢 Open Call! The Max Perutz Labs invite applications for a Tenure-Track Professorship in Genome Biology. We are particularly interested in researchers investigating the molecular and biophysical mechanisms underlying genome function and regulation. More details ➡️ tinyurl.com/3t7vvdct
November 6, 2025 at 4:35 AM
And we have another open position, this time with a focus on Genome Biology! Join a great community in Vienna to bring your research to the next level!
Reposted by Ben Martin
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
November 6, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
Reposted by Ben Martin
Please repost - Multiple PhDs available
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
November 5, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Please repost - Multiple PhDs available
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Ben Martin
We've been told by Finance that the 2024 budget commitments are intact, minus the $83 million. This is much better than I had been expecting.
2/ This matters enormously for granting councils. is the announced $83M cut from the 2024-25 baseline (which would be a real cut) or from the fiscal framework in which big instance were promised building up out to 2027-28 (which would mean a smaller rate of increase but not a cut)?
November 4, 2025 at 11:49 PM
We've been told by Finance that the 2024 budget commitments are intact, minus the $83 million. This is much better than I had been expecting.
Reposted by Ben Martin
Reposted by Ben Martin
The only reason to violate the confidentiality of peer reivew is to undermine it. The only reason to demand this kind of information is to abuse it.
a gross parliamentary overreach — article by @picardonhealth.bsky.social in the globe and mail; #academicsky #neuroskyence #psychscisky www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/91587b9...
How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as they think
A parliamentary committee is asking for academics’ private information on a strange anti-DEI crusade
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The only reason to violate the confidentiality of peer reivew is to undermine it. The only reason to demand this kind of information is to abuse it.
Reposted by Ben Martin
How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as you think. - Globe and Mail
November 4, 2025 at 11:19 AM
How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as you think. - Globe and Mail
Reposted by Ben Martin
🥁This Wednesday , in #FragileNucleosome seminar, we are excited to host @hannahlong.bsky.social and @jeffvierstra.bsky.social to tell us about amazing work they are doing!
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 3, 2025 at 12:03 PM
🥁This Wednesday , in #FragileNucleosome seminar, we are excited to host @hannahlong.bsky.social and @jeffvierstra.bsky.social to tell us about amazing work they are doing!
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
🗓️Register here for upcoming session and the entire series:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Reposted by Ben Martin
Hello Bluesky, as my first post ever I’d like to show off my Halloween costume this year (I was a degraded RNA bleach gel) 🎃🎃🎃
November 2, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Hello Bluesky, as my first post ever I’d like to show off my Halloween costume this year (I was a degraded RNA bleach gel) 🎃🎃🎃
Reposted by Ben Martin
🚨 Exciting conference for stem cell aficionados!
‘Frontiers in Stem Cell Innovation’ will bring together experts in stem cell biology from academia & industry to discuss key developments as well as challenges in regenerative medicine and disease modelling.
fisci2026.eventbrite.co.uk
Please repost 🙏
‘Frontiers in Stem Cell Innovation’ will bring together experts in stem cell biology from academia & industry to discuss key developments as well as challenges in regenerative medicine and disease modelling.
fisci2026.eventbrite.co.uk
Please repost 🙏
Frontiers in Stem Cell Innovation 2026
Join leading academics and industry professionals exploring cutting-edge stem cell technologies and disease modelling for drug discovery
FISCI2026.eventbrite.co.uk
November 1, 2025 at 8:56 PM
🚨 Exciting conference for stem cell aficionados!
‘Frontiers in Stem Cell Innovation’ will bring together experts in stem cell biology from academia & industry to discuss key developments as well as challenges in regenerative medicine and disease modelling.
fisci2026.eventbrite.co.uk
Please repost 🙏
‘Frontiers in Stem Cell Innovation’ will bring together experts in stem cell biology from academia & industry to discuss key developments as well as challenges in regenerative medicine and disease modelling.
fisci2026.eventbrite.co.uk
Please repost 🙏
Reposted by Ben Martin
Fantastic opportunity at The Hospital for Sick Children. Please repost. www.nature.com/naturecareer...
SCIENTIST – Developmental, Stem Cell & Cancer Biology Program - Toronto (City), Ontario (CA) job with The Hospital for Sick Children - Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program | 12848200
Discovery-based and/or translational research using model organism genetics and/or stem cell and organoid platforms to study paediatric cancer.
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Fantastic opportunity at The Hospital for Sick Children. Please repost. www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Reposted by Ben Martin
Any #postdoc / #researchassociate / #ECR out there interested in coming to Montreal (all expenses paid + honorarium) to give a seminar at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute?
We wanna hear about your #research work! 😎🧪
#AcademicSky #science #IRCM #DrivenByLife
We wanna hear about your #research work! 😎🧪
#AcademicSky #science #IRCM #DrivenByLife
Call for applications: A fifth edition for the Early-Career Scientist Seminar Series
www.ircm.qc.ca
October 23, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Any #postdoc / #researchassociate / #ECR out there interested in coming to Montreal (all expenses paid + honorarium) to give a seminar at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute?
We wanna hear about your #research work! 😎🧪
#AcademicSky #science #IRCM #DrivenByLife
We wanna hear about your #research work! 😎🧪
#AcademicSky #science #IRCM #DrivenByLife
Landed in St Louis- Excited to meet new and catch with old friends @ the NICE conference over the next couple days 😊
Thanks to the organizers for their work putting this conference together! www.nicechromatin.com
Thanks to the organizers for their work putting this conference together! www.nicechromatin.com
Home | Nice
www.nicechromatin.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Landed in St Louis- Excited to meet new and catch with old friends @ the NICE conference over the next couple days 😊
Thanks to the organizers for their work putting this conference together! www.nicechromatin.com
Thanks to the organizers for their work putting this conference together! www.nicechromatin.com