Javier Apfeld
@javierapfeld.bsky.social
Aging scientist. Worm expert. Community-engaged teacher. Lab at Northeastern University. I watch worms die to learn how to live.
Lab: apfeldlab.mystrikingly.com
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9897-5671
Lab: apfeldlab.mystrikingly.com
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9897-5671
Pinned
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
We in the C. elegans community are lucky to have the #wormfeed. Big shout out to @microbeminded.bsky.social for creating such a wonderful gathering place.
And you can pin the wormfeed to your homescreen: bsky.app/profile/did:...
And you can pin the wormfeed to your homescreen: bsky.app/profile/did:...
Why do some scientists say "Bluesky is dead. I have no engagement. I have more engagement on X"? My TL is full of cool science, queer art, weird history facts, politics and whimsy. You're just not doing it right, man. Plus the fascism
February 11, 2026 at 1:19 PM
We in the C. elegans community are lucky to have the #wormfeed. Big shout out to @microbeminded.bsky.social for creating such a wonderful gathering place.
And you can pin the wormfeed to your homescreen: bsky.app/profile/did:...
And you can pin the wormfeed to your homescreen: bsky.app/profile/did:...
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
I just want to shout out @somssich.bsky.social for making the lovely set of #PlantScience feeds––I think he's one of the reasons we have such good engagement in our particular 🌱community here.
Why do some scientists say "Bluesky is dead. I have no engagement. I have more engagement on X"? My TL is full of cool science, queer art, weird history facts, politics and whimsy. You're just not doing it right, man. Plus the fascism
February 11, 2026 at 12:13 PM
I just want to shout out @somssich.bsky.social for making the lovely set of #PlantScience feeds––I think he's one of the reasons we have such good engagement in our particular 🌱community here.
Post a banger that's not in English.
Soda Stereo, De Música Ligera.
Soda Stereo, De Música Ligera.
February 10, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Post a banger that's not in English.
Soda Stereo, De Música Ligera.
Soda Stereo, De Música Ligera.
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over and over again at work.
"We're building houses of brick, not mansions of straw."
"We're building houses of brick, not mansions of straw."
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Well it was definitely worth a shot. Let's try submitting to a different journal and hopefully they will send it out for review."
"Well it was definitely worth a shot. Let's try submitting to a different journal and hopefully they will send it out for review."
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Don't use gerunds in headlines and crossheads, for the love of God."
"Don't use gerunds in headlines and crossheads, for the love of God."
February 7, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over and over again at work.
"We're building houses of brick, not mansions of straw."
"We're building houses of brick, not mansions of straw."
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
A comprehensive and thought-provoking review on how perturbations of proteostasis impact immunity in C. elegans & comparisons/conserved principles w/ vertebrate immunity - Emily Troemel, @hawlelab.bsky.social, and Michalis Barkoulas
journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
Intersections between proteostasis and immunity: insights from Caenorhabditis elegans
Summary: Discoveries from the nematode C. elegans have provided insight into the many connections between immune responses and proteostasis, with examples of conservation across species.
journals.biologists.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:45 PM
A comprehensive and thought-provoking review on how perturbations of proteostasis impact immunity in C. elegans & comparisons/conserved principles w/ vertebrate immunity - Emily Troemel, @hawlelab.bsky.social, and Michalis Barkoulas
journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
We are hiring!! Lab Assistant II position to work with the killifish! 🐟🐟🐟 This is an amazing model to study aging and 'suspended animation'
careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/lab-ass...
Come and join our fantastic team at Stanford!! 🤩 Please share!
careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/lab-ass...
Come and join our fantastic team at Stanford!! 🤩 Please share!
February 5, 2026 at 12:43 AM
We are hiring!! Lab Assistant II position to work with the killifish! 🐟🐟🐟 This is an amazing model to study aging and 'suspended animation'
careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/lab-ass...
Come and join our fantastic team at Stanford!! 🤩 Please share!
careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/lab-ass...
Come and join our fantastic team at Stanford!! 🤩 Please share!
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
January 28, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
#Celegans friends, which 3D printed tools would you like to have in lab? Fill the survey below 👇
Survey link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/9RRGMZD. I'd like to disclose that this data might be used for a fellowship being offered for research that translates into business/services and I'm sort of desperate for a fellowship in this competitive climate. Thank you for anyone who gives feedback!
Assessing Community Interest in Affordable 3D-printed Tools for C. elegans Research
Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
www.surveymonkey.com
January 31, 2026 at 7:27 PM
#Celegans friends, which 3D printed tools would you like to have in lab? Fill the survey below 👇
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
Genetics.
The protein‐folding problem.
Biotechnology and society.
Engineers, scientists, and public controversies.
American science: ethical conflicts and political choices.
Genetics.
The protein‐folding problem.
Biotechnology and society.
Engineers, scientists, and public controversies.
American science: ethical conflicts and political choices.
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
American Society
Sociology of Childhood
Education Policy
Creative Nonfiction
Logic*
American Society
Sociology of Childhood
Education Policy
Creative Nonfiction
Logic*
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
Urban politics
Urban sociology
Mid 20th century U.S. History
Gender and Politics
World History (I'm sorry for sleeping through this at 8am, but the prof was so nice in office hours, I will always pay that forward)
Urban politics
Urban sociology
Mid 20th century U.S. History
Gender and Politics
World History (I'm sorry for sleeping through this at 8am, but the prof was so nice in office hours, I will always pay that forward)
January 31, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
Genetics.
The protein‐folding problem.
Biotechnology and society.
Engineers, scientists, and public controversies.
American science: ethical conflicts and political choices.
Genetics.
The protein‐folding problem.
Biotechnology and society.
Engineers, scientists, and public controversies.
American science: ethical conflicts and political choices.
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
How does evolution turn a harmless bacterial feeder into an active predator?
Our new study led by @marianneroca.bsky.social and published in @pnas.org explores how sensory systems were rewired to enable prey detection and predatory behaviour in nematodes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
🧵below!
Our new study led by @marianneroca.bsky.social and published in @pnas.org explores how sensory systems were rewired to enable prey detection and predatory behaviour in nematodes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
🧵below!
Evolution of sensory systems underlies the emergence of predatory feeding behaviors in nematodes | PNAS
Understanding how animal behavior evolves remains a major challenge, with few studies
linking genetic changes to differences in neural function and...
www.pnas.org
January 29, 2026 at 12:30 PM
How does evolution turn a harmless bacterial feeder into an active predator?
Our new study led by @marianneroca.bsky.social and published in @pnas.org explores how sensory systems were rewired to enable prey detection and predatory behaviour in nematodes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
🧵below!
Our new study led by @marianneroca.bsky.social and published in @pnas.org explores how sensory systems were rewired to enable prey detection and predatory behaviour in nematodes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
🧵below!
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
#wormwednesday how to be sure, really sure that you will not fail to run away from noxious chemicals…
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
January 29, 2026 at 3:42 AM
#wormwednesday how to be sure, really sure that you will not fail to run away from noxious chemicals…
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Our first 2026 paper is out @currentbiology.bsky.social!
👏 to @nathancsharris.bsky.social (now Asst Prof, GA State) and PD Priya Dutta.
Here we show how transcriptional and trafficking pathways coordinate thermoreceptor levels to precisely modulate response plasticity
www.cell.com/current-biol...
👏 to @nathancsharris.bsky.social (now Asst Prof, GA State) and PD Priya Dutta.
Here we show how transcriptional and trafficking pathways coordinate thermoreceptor levels to precisely modulate response plasticity
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Experience-dependent reconfiguration of thermoreceptors regulates neuronal response plasticity
Harris, Dutta, et al. find that experience-dependent plasticity in the activation
threshold of the AFD thermosensory neurons is mediated by modulating warm and cold
thermoreceptor levels at the sensor...
www.cell.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Our first 2026 paper is out @currentbiology.bsky.social!
👏 to @nathancsharris.bsky.social (now Asst Prof, GA State) and PD Priya Dutta.
Here we show how transcriptional and trafficking pathways coordinate thermoreceptor levels to precisely modulate response plasticity
www.cell.com/current-biol...
👏 to @nathancsharris.bsky.social (now Asst Prof, GA State) and PD Priya Dutta.
Here we show how transcriptional and trafficking pathways coordinate thermoreceptor levels to precisely modulate response plasticity
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Great across-the-pond collaboration. I'm glad we could contribute a small sliver to this cool paper.
@javierapfeld.bsky.social and Co used so many different techniques to answer the question, its a fun read! 🪱
@javierapfeld.bsky.social and Co used so many different techniques to answer the question, its a fun read! 🪱
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
January 28, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Great across-the-pond collaboration. I'm glad we could contribute a small sliver to this cool paper.
@javierapfeld.bsky.social and Co used so many different techniques to answer the question, its a fun read! 🪱
@javierapfeld.bsky.social and Co used so many different techniques to answer the question, its a fun read! 🪱
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
January 28, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.
How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thread 1/
I had a great time visiting WPI today, learning about the interesting science being done in model organisms including worms, flies, and bacteria, and sharing our new work on the strategies and mechanisms that C. elegans uses to deal with hydrogen peroxide.
Thanks Karl-Frédéric Vieux for the invite!
Thanks Karl-Frédéric Vieux for the invite!
January 28, 2026 at 3:06 AM
I had a great time visiting WPI today, learning about the interesting science being done in model organisms including worms, flies, and bacteria, and sharing our new work on the strategies and mechanisms that C. elegans uses to deal with hydrogen peroxide.
Thanks Karl-Frédéric Vieux for the invite!
Thanks Karl-Frédéric Vieux for the invite!
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
The Murphy Lab did our annual retreat this week. This year's theme was using AI (what it's good and bad for). I wanted to be open-minded to make sure we are not missing something we should be using it for, so we did a few exercises to test, and had presentations.
January 15, 2026 at 4:51 PM
The Murphy Lab did our annual retreat this week. This year's theme was using AI (what it's good and bad for). I wanted to be open-minded to make sure we are not missing something we should be using it for, so we did a few exercises to test, and had presentations.
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.”
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
January 11, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.”
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
🚨My department is hiring a full-time Assistant Teaching Professor to teach undergrad Genetics & Genomics, upper-level Genomics, and an inquiry-based Computational Genomics course where students can do authentic research. 🧬💻
I’m on the search committee. DM me if you’re interested. Please share! 🙏
I’m on the search committee. DM me if you’re interested. Please share! 🙏
Assistant Teaching Professor, Biology
About the Opportunity About the Opportunity: We invite applications from qualified candidates for a full-time Non-Tenure-Track (NTT) Assistant Teaching Professor faculty position within the Department...
northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:11 AM
🚨My department is hiring a full-time Assistant Teaching Professor to teach undergrad Genetics & Genomics, upper-level Genomics, and an inquiry-based Computational Genomics course where students can do authentic research. 🧬💻
I’m on the search committee. DM me if you’re interested. Please share! 🙏
I’m on the search committee. DM me if you’re interested. Please share! 🙏
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Greetings! I decided to make a YouTube video of my AlphaFold workshop that I've given a few times in the past year. Caveats aside, people seem to find this useful for thinking about how to model protein interactions and how to interpret various AF outputs 1/2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u63o...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u63o...
David's AlphaFold WorkShop 2026
YouTube video by David Fay
www.youtube.com
January 2, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Greetings! I decided to make a YouTube video of my AlphaFold workshop that I've given a few times in the past year. Caveats aside, people seem to find this useful for thinking about how to model protein interactions and how to interpret various AF outputs 1/2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u63o...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u63o...
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
All right it’s time for the annual “please tell us about one (or a few if you are ambitious) paper from 2025 that really impressed you and why we should all read it“! Go! If you tell us how it changed your view of the world and what makes it so powerful and consequential It would be excellent.
December 21, 2025 at 3:10 AM
All right it’s time for the annual “please tell us about one (or a few if you are ambitious) paper from 2025 that really impressed you and why we should all read it“! Go! If you tell us how it changed your view of the world and what makes it so powerful and consequential It would be excellent.
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Flashbacks of ACeDB with accumulating C. elegans genome sequences and little/no tools; Paul Sternberg being frustrated and saying "we have to make this easier!" His solution was WormBase
December 19, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Flashbacks of ACeDB with accumulating C. elegans genome sequences and little/no tools; Paul Sternberg being frustrated and saying "we have to make this easier!" His solution was WormBase
This brings back memories of using Leon Avery's C. elegans WWW Server to get to the worm's parts list and to @vambros.bsky.social lab's comprehensive protocol collection 🪱✨️
December 19, 2025 at 3:34 AM
This brings back memories of using Leon Avery's C. elegans WWW Server to get to the worm's parts list and to @vambros.bsky.social lab's comprehensive protocol collection 🪱✨️
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
What tools do we need to start engineering #aging and #longevity ? A🧵about something we've been cooking up in lab with Jeremy Vicencio at the @crg.eu : technology that lets us reach inside living animals and precisely dial multiple proteins' levels up and down. 1/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
What tools do we need to start engineering #aging and #longevity ? A🧵about something we've been cooking up in lab with Jeremy Vicencio at the @crg.eu : technology that lets us reach inside living animals and precisely dial multiple proteins' levels up and down. 1/10
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
Join us in welcoming GSA’s newest Board members: VP David Greenstein, Treasurer @marymullins.bsky.social, & Directors Monica Colaiacovo (@colaiacovolab.bsky.social), Tania Reis, & @jrossibarra.bsky.social. We’re grateful for their leadership & excited for what’s ahead. Learn more: buff.ly/7LZjkoP
December 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Join us in welcoming GSA’s newest Board members: VP David Greenstein, Treasurer @marymullins.bsky.social, & Directors Monica Colaiacovo (@colaiacovolab.bsky.social), Tania Reis, & @jrossibarra.bsky.social. We’re grateful for their leadership & excited for what’s ahead. Learn more: buff.ly/7LZjkoP
Reposted by Javier Apfeld
This paper was written by my WormAtlas colleagues, Dave and Nate, in addition to 5 Nobel Prize winners. Hopefully more attention and funding will find its way to the invaluable C. elegans resources described in the paper.
A new paper, co-authored by WormAtlas directors Dave Hall and Nate Schroeder, describes how C. elegans community research resources, including WormAtlas, provide the infrastructure that supports nematode research around the world.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
December 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
This paper was written by my WormAtlas colleagues, Dave and Nate, in addition to 5 Nobel Prize winners. Hopefully more attention and funding will find its way to the invaluable C. elegans resources described in the paper.