Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · Sep 2

Congrats to @susankilgas.bsky.social and all other authors on this fantastic publication! Make sure to check it out.

Chowdhury Lab @chowdhurylab.bsky.social · Sep 2

Excited to share our new paper from the Buhrlage lab & Chowdhury labs! 🎉 We designed CAS-010, a selective, low nanomolar USP28 inhibitor that reduces p53 transcriptional activity, mimics p53 loss & disrupts 53BP1-USP28 binding, offering new insights into USP28 function.
www.cell.com/cell-chemica...

Pharmacologic interrogation of USP28 cellular function in p53 signaling

Bratt, Kilgas et al. describe the SAR-driven design of CAS-010, a selective USP28 probe, alongside a control compound and an inhibitor-resistant mutant. They show that USP28 inhibition mimics p53 path...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Chiara Masnovo

Susan Kilgas @susankilgas.bsky.social · Aug 20

🧬 Calling grad students & postdocs in genome stability/oncology: don’t forget to register for the 2026 Gordon Research Seminar runs Feb 28–Mar 1, Ventura, CA. Keynote: @chowdhurylab.bsky.social. Abstracts due Nov 23, 2025. 🔗 Sign up here: www.grc.org/dna-damage-m...

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · Jul 2

Big congrats! So glad to see many wonderful scientists getting the fellowship! (Even though obvs bummed I didn’t get it hehe)

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 22

Me too but I’d rather not

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 22

lol now you’re proving their point though

Reposted by Chiara Masnovo

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · May 22

Terminations of active NSF grants have overwhelmingly targeted STEM education specifically.

Canceled funding from in-progress grants

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 22

This is terrifying.

But also they really killed it with the graphics 🤣

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · May 22

🧪 Detailed data viz NYT article, out today, on the extent of funding cuts at the National Science Foundation.

This "broken pie chart" is neat & new to me: Powerfully shows the slowdown in new NSF awards across areas.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 22

📣 New paper from the lab 📣 showing how the CST complex inhibits end resection during DNA double-strand break repair! Congrats to all authors.

Chowdhury Lab @chowdhurylab.bsky.social · May 22

Excited to share our latest publication, out in @science.org! We define a key role for the CST complex in double-strand break repair pathway choice. This study was conducted in close collaboration with the Sung lab at UT Health San Antonio. Congrats to @michelleswift.bsky.social and all authors!

CTC1-STN1-TEN1 controls DNA break repair pathway choice via DNA end resection blockade

Antagonistic activities of the 53BP1 axis and the tumor suppressor BRCA1-BARD1 determine whether DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired by end joining or homologous recombination. We show that t...

www.science.org

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 20

I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at @statnews.com about how it feels to see opportunities shrink after finding out that the HGF HHMI postdoctoral competition has been canceled this year.

Have a read here.

www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/h...

Private funder HHMI pauses postdoc fellowship

As HHMI pauses Hanna Gray fellowship applications, opportunities for young scientists shrink further, making them look overseas.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Chiara Masnovo

Rheum Cat @rheumcat.bsky.social · May 20

My friend and fellow Swiftie @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social's story:

"Molecular biologist Chiara Masnovo spent weeks filling out an application for a research fellowship earlier this year — taking it over the finish line as she was 38 weeks pregnant and starting a new job."

Usha Lee McFarling @usha.bsky.social · May 19

More bad news for early career scientists. By @aniloza.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/05/19/h...

Private funder HHMI pauses postdoc fellowship

As HHMI pauses Hanna Gray fellowship applications, opportunities for young scientists shrink further, making them look overseas.

www.statnews.com

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 17

In other news, officially got hooded today! Thank you to my advisor Sergei Mirkin and all my other mentors and mentees.

Baby’s first doctoral hooding too!

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 17

Happens all the time!

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

Need

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

Not at all!

Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

I was a first/second year grad student during the pandemic 😅 hits left and right

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

Yeah that’s pretty much all I can say about it too….

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

Sits back down, 38 weeks pregnant, to work on another fellowship application… :(

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

And for us international students/postdocs the private foundations were the only option to begin with…

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

And for us international students/postdocs the federal funding wasn’t an option anyways so private foundations were the only option to begin with :/

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

Having a hard time processing this. HHMI is pausing all competitions. Very demoralizing for early career scientists like me @hhmi.org

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · May 16

And now private foundations are pausing funding altogether too — very demoralizing for early career scientists like me

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Reposted by Chiara Masnovo

Petr Cejka @cejkalab.bsky.social · May 5

Please see our latest paper on the role of EXO1 in meiosis: "EXO1 promotes the meiotic MLH1-MLH3 endonuclease through conserved interactions with MLH1, MSH4 and DNA". Congratulations to both first authors, Megha Roy and Aurore Sanchez and thanks to all our collaborators!

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Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · Apr 29

I am SO GOOD at this “taking it easier” thing!

Jokes aside starting next week my WFH time will massively increase because my body is toast and this baby needs rest.

Chiara Masnovo @chiaramasnovophd.bsky.social · Apr 29

Before being pregnant I had never realized how much of an active job being a bench scientist is 😂

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Reposted by Chiara Masnovo

Aaron Quinlan (he/him) @aaronquinlan.bsky.social · Apr 28

The Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah is sponsoring the Rising Stars in Genetics and Genomics symposium!

- We are seeking nominations bu June 1.
- September 18-19, 2025
- Please share with the star postdocs that you know.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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