Joel Boerckel
@jboerckel.bsky.social
Assc Prof @pennmedicine.bsky.social.
Co-Director, McKay Orthopaedic Research Labs.
Mechanobiology of development & regeneration.
Prov. 25:2. 🦛
Philadelphia, PA
Co-Director, McKay Orthopaedic Research Labs.
Mechanobiology of development & regeneration.
Prov. 25:2. 🦛
Philadelphia, PA
Pinned
Joel Boerckel
@jboerckel.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Why do babies kick in the womb?
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
Apparently it's #WorldHippoDay! 🦛🦛
Let's celebrate with this #Egyptian carving of a Hippo, made 5.000 years ago from calcite.
Hippopotami were associated with life, regeneration, and rebirth.
On display at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
📷 me 🏺
Let's celebrate with this #Egyptian carving of a Hippo, made 5.000 years ago from calcite.
Hippopotami were associated with life, regeneration, and rebirth.
On display at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
📷 me 🏺
February 16, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
NEW: Another NIH institute director hasn't been renewed — the director of NIAMS (arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin diseases institute).
That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.
That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.
February 12, 2026 at 5:16 PM
NEW: Another NIH institute director hasn't been renewed — the director of NIAMS (arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin diseases institute).
That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.
That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.
With all their speed forward they may be a step backward in civilization—that is, in spiritual civilization. It may be that they will not add to the beauty of the world, nor to the life of men’s souls.
- Booth Tarkington, 1918
- Booth Tarkington, 1918
February 8, 2026 at 8:19 PM
With all their speed forward they may be a step backward in civilization—that is, in spiritual civilization. It may be that they will not add to the beauty of the world, nor to the life of men’s souls.
- Booth Tarkington, 1918
- Booth Tarkington, 1918
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
Thrilled to share our new bioRxiv preprint led by Eloise Fadial (@efadial.bsky.social) 🥳🎉! Using PRDM16 cKO mice, hiPSC models, scRNA-seq & CUT&RUN, Eloise shows that PRDM16 is a key genetic and epigenetic regulator of knee chondrogenesis and chondrocyte identity.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
February 7, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Thrilled to share our new bioRxiv preprint led by Eloise Fadial (@efadial.bsky.social) 🥳🎉! Using PRDM16 cKO mice, hiPSC models, scRNA-seq & CUT&RUN, Eloise shows that PRDM16 is a key genetic and epigenetic regulator of knee chondrogenesis and chondrocyte identity.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I present the most interesting graph ever made.
HUMAN ON BICYCLE beats every other living thing.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
HUMAN ON BICYCLE beats every other living thing.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
February 5, 2026 at 5:49 AM
I present the most interesting graph ever made.
HUMAN ON BICYCLE beats every other living thing.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
HUMAN ON BICYCLE beats every other living thing.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
Our new paper just out!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
January 31, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Our new paper just out!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
The NIH has indicated a “leniency” period for implementation of the Common Forms (SciENcv) May 2026:
grants.nih.gov/faqs#/common...
Note: the “warning” that says your materials are not in compliance is also displayed if you submit using the Common Forms. This warning can be ignored.
grants.nih.gov/faqs#/common...
Note: the “warning” that says your materials are not in compliance is also displayed if you submit using the Common Forms. This warning can be ignored.
January 29, 2026 at 5:45 PM
The NIH has indicated a “leniency” period for implementation of the Common Forms (SciENcv) May 2026:
grants.nih.gov/faqs#/common...
Note: the “warning” that says your materials are not in compliance is also displayed if you submit using the Common Forms. This warning can be ignored.
grants.nih.gov/faqs#/common...
Note: the “warning” that says your materials are not in compliance is also displayed if you submit using the Common Forms. This warning can be ignored.
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
New to ORS? 👋 Join our virtual New Member Orientation on Feb 4, 12–1 PM CT to dive into member benefits, networking opportunities, and more! Hear from a current member on ORS’s impact & join the live Q&A. Register: https://ors.memberclicks.net/nmo020426
January 27, 2026 at 9:05 PM
New to ORS? 👋 Join our virtual New Member Orientation on Feb 4, 12–1 PM CT to dive into member benefits, networking opportunities, and more! Hear from a current member on ORS’s impact & join the live Q&A. Register: https://ors.memberclicks.net/nmo020426
To the light at the end.
January 27, 2026 at 2:50 AM
To the light at the end.
“You are a slow learner, Winston."
"How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four."
"Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”
"How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four."
"Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”
January 26, 2026 at 2:06 PM
“You are a slow learner, Winston."
"How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four."
"Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”
"How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four."
"Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
The Senate may choose to vote together on the DHS and LHHS bills. Thus, a filibuster on DHS may mean no funding for NIH. What my colleagues are saying:
“Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.”
- anonymous NIHer
“Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.”
- anonymous NIHer
January 25, 2026 at 5:19 AM
The Senate may choose to vote together on the DHS and LHHS bills. Thus, a filibuster on DHS may mean no funding for NIH. What my colleagues are saying:
“Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.”
- anonymous NIHer
“Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.”
- anonymous NIHer
To my children, Fearing for them Wendell Berry
January 22, 2026 at 12:53 PM
To my children, Fearing for them Wendell Berry
for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
-Eliot
-Eliot
January 22, 2026 at 10:42 AM
for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
-Eliot
-Eliot
DH Lawrence, quoted in Robert Stone's introduction to Oakley Hall’s Warlock.
America has never stopped being Warlock.
America has never stopped being Warlock.
January 21, 2026 at 3:14 PM
DH Lawrence, quoted in Robert Stone's introduction to Oakley Hall’s Warlock.
America has never stopped being Warlock.
America has never stopped being Warlock.
writing is iterative. it pulls out your heart and stomps on it until eventually you wrestle it to the ground, just in time to put your heart back in and fall in bed sick for a week.
January 18, 2026 at 7:30 PM
writing is iterative. it pulls out your heart and stomps on it until eventually you wrestle it to the ground, just in time to put your heart back in and fall in bed sick for a week.
This is what you get if you search "opto-YAP" on google scholar.
✨Alternative Approaches✨
✨Alternative Approaches✨
January 16, 2026 at 3:57 AM
This is what you get if you search "opto-YAP" on google scholar.
✨Alternative Approaches✨
✨Alternative Approaches✨
There aren’t many gifts better than having your work written about by someone you admire.
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
January 15, 2026 at 12:14 PM
There aren’t many gifts better than having your work written about by someone you admire.
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
NIAMS leadership out there fighting the good fight ❤️
January 13, 2026 at 12:50 AM
NIAMS leadership out there fighting the good fight ❤️
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
As we usher in the new year, we also wanted to celebrate the achievements of a giant in the hashtag#osteoarthritis community.
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
January 12, 2026 at 1:19 AM
As we usher in the new year, we also wanted to celebrate the achievements of a giant in the hashtag#osteoarthritis community.
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
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.
“You should consolidate your grant down to two aims” is my grant advice superpower. It’s amazing how often it works.
January 8, 2026 at 7:31 PM
“You should consolidate your grant down to two aims” is my grant advice superpower. It’s amazing how often it works.
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
January 6, 2026 at 11:29 PM
If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.