Jeff Lewis
@lewislab.bsky.social
Interested in understanding how organisms sense and respond to stressful environments, and why some individuals are more sensitive or more resilient. he/his
Pinned
Jeff Lewis
@lewislab.bsky.social
· Sep 26
Assistant Professor Cell Biology
Current University of Arkansas System employees, including student employees and graduate assistants, need to log in to Workday via MyApps.Microsoft.com, then access Find Jobs from the Workday search ...
uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
Very excited to announce that our department is now accepting applications for a tenure track faculty position in Cell Biology: uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UASYS/...
Come join our wonderful department!
Come join our wonderful department!
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
“It is not acceptable to recruit a variety of students into the laboratory, subject them to a variety of stress tests and abuses, and then keep the students who thrive under abuse and get rid of the students who aren't able to thrive in the lab. That's straight-up exploitation.”
👏👏👏
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You know those labs that keep harming students, again and again? Some reflections on why it's so hard to stop this from happening and where our responsibilities lie.
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
Bad mentors hurt people
What to do about bad mentors?
scienceforeveryone.science
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 AM
“It is not acceptable to recruit a variety of students into the laboratory, subject them to a variety of stress tests and abuses, and then keep the students who thrive under abuse and get rid of the students who aren't able to thrive in the lab. That's straight-up exploitation.”
👏👏👏
👏👏👏
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
New preprint with @pyjiang.bsky.social and @kelleyharris.bsky.social! The discovery and patterns of the underlying long-standing mild-effect mutator alleles in S. cerevisiae populations www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The discovery and patterns of the underlying long-standing mild-effect mutator alleles in S. cerevisiae populations
Most mutations are neutral or deleterious, and mutator alleles that increase the mutation rate of an organism are considered rare and short-lived. Here, we report a genomic signature consistent with t...
www.biorxiv.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:12 PM
New preprint with @pyjiang.bsky.social and @kelleyharris.bsky.social! The discovery and patterns of the underlying long-standing mild-effect mutator alleles in S. cerevisiae populations www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
We are honored to share that our work, led by @katarina-aranguiz.bsky.social and @linder-surprise.bsky.social, has been featured as a Science Highlight on the DOE's Office of Science website. 200 articles are selected annually to be highlighted. Check it out! 🧫
www.energy.gov/science/ber/...
www.energy.gov/science/ber/...
Machine Learning Reveals Genes That Help Yeasts Resist Stress
Study provides a framework for connecting genetic mechanisms and trait variation across diverse yeast species.
www.energy.gov
October 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
We are honored to share that our work, led by @katarina-aranguiz.bsky.social and @linder-surprise.bsky.social, has been featured as a Science Highlight on the DOE's Office of Science website. 200 articles are selected annually to be highlighted. Check it out! 🧫
www.energy.gov/science/ber/...
www.energy.gov/science/ber/...
Some very profound changes. NDs will be split into competitive vs non-competitive, and competitive NDs could conceivably still get funded.
And summary statements will be very abbreviated with a sentence on level of SS consensus, and then bullet points on score driving strengths and weaknesses.
And summary statements will be very abbreviated with a sentence on level of SS consensus, and then bullet points on score driving strengths and weaknesses.
Updated guidance on NIH grant application due dates (10/1/2025-12/5/2025), along with some other Info. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-26-012: Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 - Lapse in Appropriations
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 - Lapse in Appropriations NOT-...
grants.nih.gov
November 24, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Some very profound changes. NDs will be split into competitive vs non-competitive, and competitive NDs could conceivably still get funded.
And summary statements will be very abbreviated with a sentence on level of SS consensus, and then bullet points on score driving strengths and weaknesses.
And summary statements will be very abbreviated with a sentence on level of SS consensus, and then bullet points on score driving strengths and weaknesses.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Gatekeeping by demanding expensive technology or approaches is the ancient tactic of the rich laboratory.
My favorite from an @hhmi.org scientist: “the great thing about optogenetics is it keeps the riff raff out of the field.”
Heard an established successful neuroscientist dismissing junior scientists as "people at the bottom" 🤦♀️
You folks with lots of research funds & power: young scientists more than ever need our respect and support even if you don't agree with their ideas and approaches
#sfn2025
You folks with lots of research funds & power: young scientists more than ever need our respect and support even if you don't agree with their ideas and approaches
#sfn2025
November 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Gatekeeping by demanding expensive technology or approaches is the ancient tactic of the rich laboratory.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Every once in a while I go back and rewatch this performance, and every time I'm glad I did youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y
Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, more - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" | 2004 Induction
YouTube video by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Every once in a while I go back and rewatch this performance, and every time I'm glad I did youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Yup. Totally fine with editors making decisions on say, split reviews, or requests for additional experiments. Reviewers are advisory, not the final word.
November 22, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Yup. Totally fine with editors making decisions on say, split reviews, or requests for additional experiments. Reviewers are advisory, not the final word.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
absolutely agree but then say THAT. the inability to be careful with our language and arguments is part of what brought us here, as did allying with some bad actors. Being clear about what our primary concerns are make our arguments more compelling and less likely to be manipulated against us
November 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
absolutely agree but then say THAT. the inability to be careful with our language and arguments is part of what brought us here, as did allying with some bad actors. Being clear about what our primary concerns are make our arguments more compelling and less likely to be manipulated against us
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Always so SUPER interesting who defends ONLY using peer review to determine who gets funded. 👀
I am a big believer in the value of peer review but have also seen its weaknesses and biases.
I am a big believer in the value of peer review but have also seen its weaknesses and biases.
November 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Always so SUPER interesting who defends ONLY using peer review to determine who gets funded. 👀
I am a big believer in the value of peer review but have also seen its weaknesses and biases.
I am a big believer in the value of peer review but have also seen its weaknesses and biases.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Those who are triggered by the notion one person (the IC Director) has dictatorial power to select #NIHgrants for funding should really be more concerned about the person who really has life or death power over your application’s fate.
drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/t...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/t...
The most powerful job in the NIH grant selection system is that of the SRO
I stand by this assertion. Whether they use this power to its fullest terrible extent is arguable. But that they possess this power is not. While there are many factors that go into determining wha…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Those who are triggered by the notion one person (the IC Director) has dictatorial power to select #NIHgrants for funding should really be more concerned about the person who really has life or death power over your application’s fate.
drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/t...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/t...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Study sections are also unaware of what other grants are currently funded either by other researchers or to the applicant. Just blindly funding the science that three people thought was cool (because really it’s the three reviewers who largely drive the score), may not be the best use of our money.
November 22, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Study sections are also unaware of what other grants are currently funded either by other researchers or to the applicant. Just blindly funding the science that three people thought was cool (because really it’s the three reviewers who largely drive the score), may not be the best use of our money.
FFS people, look at the curves for the ICs with "no paylines." It's not like percentile is completely uncorrelated with funding. This looks exceptionally healthy to me. That study sections are adding a lot of value, but that ICs do not just rigidly follow their advice.
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important.
A new webpage on the NIH site called “Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions” is causing a small kerfuffle on the socials. As per us…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
FFS people, look at the curves for the ICs with "no paylines." It's not like percentile is completely uncorrelated with funding. This looks exceptionally healthy to me. That study sections are adding a lot of value, but that ICs do not just rigidly follow their advice.
I’m very curious if those who think strict paylines are the way to go also strongly support the independent decisions of journal editors (especially when they overrule peer reviewers in their favor).
You are incorrect. Study sections are neither fair nor transparent. Neither are they objective. They suffer systematically from an inherent conservatism. and they are generally unable to produce a balanced portfolio because they do not have that knowledge in front of them.
November 22, 2025 at 1:34 AM
I’m very curious if those who think strict paylines are the way to go also strongly support the independent decisions of journal editors (especially when they overrule peer reviewers in their favor).
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
You are incorrect. Study sections are neither fair nor transparent. Neither are they objective. They suffer systematically from an inherent conservatism. and they are generally unable to produce a balanced portfolio because they do not have that knowledge in front of them.
November 22, 2025 at 1:25 AM
You are incorrect. Study sections are neither fair nor transparent. Neither are they objective. They suffer systematically from an inherent conservatism. and they are generally unable to produce a balanced portfolio because they do not have that knowledge in front of them.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
What I would very much like us to focus on is the nature of these priorities going forward, how they are developed and who is implementing them, instead of yelling about how a thing practiced by about half of the ICs alread is somehow the *structural* issue we should be fighting.
November 22, 2025 at 12:44 AM
What I would very much like us to focus on is the nature of these priorities going forward, how they are developed and who is implementing them, instead of yelling about how a thing practiced by about half of the ICs alread is somehow the *structural* issue we should be fighting.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Mostly me reiterating what was said in the blogpost: this was already policy at many ICs; what is important is not the change away from paylines (which were already a mess) but the quality and integrity of POs/SROs/etc. remains intact
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important.
A new webpage on the NIH site called “Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions” is causing a small kerfuffle on the socials. As per us…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Mostly me reiterating what was said in the blogpost: this was already policy at many ICs; what is important is not the change away from paylines (which were already a mess) but the quality and integrity of POs/SROs/etc. remains intact
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important.
A new webpage on the NIH site called “Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions” is causing a small kerfuffle on the socials. As per us…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:26 AM
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
"Nice" NIH study sections screw their applicants because of the way NIH calculates percentile. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/n...
“Nice” NIH study sections screw their applicants because of the way NIH calculates percentile.
I often write blog comments about NIH grant review matters that exist in an uncomfortable tension between what NIH wants us to do on study section and what I see as our professional obligation to t…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:50 AM
"Nice" NIH study sections screw their applicants because of the way NIH calculates percentile. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/n...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
I wrote about the recent autism-microbiome paper, why I think it's the most important microbiome paper this year, and what it says about the field
open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...
open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...
The Autism-Microbiome Hypothesis Is Falling Apart
Why this new review paper should be required reading for every microbiome researcher
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I wrote about the recent autism-microbiome paper, why I think it's the most important microbiome paper this year, and what it says about the field
open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...
open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
New preprint! We measured temperature- and pH-induced aggregation for over 18,000 natural and de novo designed protein domains!
November 19, 2025 at 9:16 PM
New preprint! We measured temperature- and pH-induced aggregation for over 18,000 natural and de novo designed protein domains!
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
☑️ GSA Board Elections are open—we're calling our members to make their voice heard!
Help shape the future of our Society by voting for the next Vice President, Treasurer, and three Directors. Cast your ballot by November 30, 2025: buff.ly/TAENAkq
Help shape the future of our Society by voting for the next Vice President, Treasurer, and three Directors. Cast your ballot by November 30, 2025: buff.ly/TAENAkq
November 19, 2025 at 5:05 PM
☑️ GSA Board Elections are open—we're calling our members to make their voice heard!
Help shape the future of our Society by voting for the next Vice President, Treasurer, and three Directors. Cast your ballot by November 30, 2025: buff.ly/TAENAkq
Help shape the future of our Society by voting for the next Vice President, Treasurer, and three Directors. Cast your ballot by November 30, 2025: buff.ly/TAENAkq
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Thrilled to finally share the magnum opus of my PhD that focuses on the genetic basis of evolutionary change! Specifically, we know we can map the genetic basis of a trait, but can we tell which genes will underlie the trait shift when it evolves? doi.org/10.1101/2025...
High-resolution mapping of a rapidly evolving complex trait reveals genotype-phenotype stability and an unpredictable genetic architecture of adaptation
The extent to which adaptation can be predicted, particularly for traits with complex genetic bases, is unknown. Here, we leveraged a model complex trait, model species, and high-powered longitudinal ...
doi.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Thrilled to finally share the magnum opus of my PhD that focuses on the genetic basis of evolutionary change! Specifically, we know we can map the genetic basis of a trait, but can we tell which genes will underlie the trait shift when it evolves? doi.org/10.1101/2025...