Maxwell Shafer
@maxshafer.bsky.social
Assistant Professor UofT Cell & Systems Biology - ππ π‘ comparative genomics/ethology & evolutionary cell biology of sleep π€ π΄ + adventures with @hilsawh - https://csb.utoronto.ca/faculty/maxwell-shafer/
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Drug discovery for nervous system disorders is really challenging. We think early/rapid in vivo testing with zebrafish will accelerate the drug development cycle for conserved targets. Check out our proof-of-principle pilot study and virtual drug discovery pipeline (tinyurl.com/3whr23hs). #Skytorial
January 21, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Drug discovery for nervous system disorders is really challenging. We think early/rapid in vivo testing with zebrafish will accelerate the drug development cycle for conserved targets. Check out our proof-of-principle pilot study and virtual drug discovery pipeline (tinyurl.com/3whr23hs). #Skytorial
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Team fish - we need your help! We are trying to build a database of all the fish chromosome-scale genomes where sex chromosomes have been identified. Have you build one or some? Do you know someone who has? Can you post the link in the comments? Please spread the word and repost! Thank you!
November 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Team fish - we need your help! We are trying to build a database of all the fish chromosome-scale genomes where sex chromosomes have been identified. Have you build one or some? Do you know someone who has? Can you post the link in the comments? Please spread the word and repost! Thank you!
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Looking forward to my trip to @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social this week. Thanks to @maxshafer.bsky.social for the invitation!
We are pleased to welcome Prof Ingo Braasch @fishevodevogeno.bsky.social on Friday, Dec 5 for a fascinating talk on βA Blast From the Past: βLiving Fossilsβ Bridge Gene Regulation Across Long Evolutionary Distances in Vertebratesβ! Join us at 11am in RW432 csb.utoronto.ca/events/csb-s...
December 1, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Looking forward to my trip to @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social this week. Thanks to @maxshafer.bsky.social for the invitation!
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Join our upcoming course on cutting-edge evolutionary & genomic methods for Evo-Devo studies!
We'll cover: comparative & single-cell transcriptomics,ATAC-seq, phylogenomics, comparative genomics, gene regulation, and much more
Spots still available: sites.google.com/view/evodevo...
We'll cover: comparative & single-cell transcriptomics,ATAC-seq, phylogenomics, comparative genomics, gene regulation, and much more
Spots still available: sites.google.com/view/evodevo...
I will be participating in this EvoDevo course in Madrid, organised by @patrialvarezcam.bsky.social and other colleagues.
sites.google.com/view/evodevo...
I will be covering scRNA-seq, other topics are transcriptomics, ATAC-seq, phylogenomics
Registration closes on Nov 20!
Dates: Dec 15-18
sites.google.com/view/evodevo...
I will be covering scRNA-seq, other topics are transcriptomics, ATAC-seq, phylogenomics
Registration closes on Nov 20!
Dates: Dec 15-18
November 14, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Join our upcoming course on cutting-edge evolutionary & genomic methods for Evo-Devo studies!
We'll cover: comparative & single-cell transcriptomics,ATAC-seq, phylogenomics, comparative genomics, gene regulation, and much more
Spots still available: sites.google.com/view/evodevo...
We'll cover: comparative & single-cell transcriptomics,ATAC-seq, phylogenomics, comparative genomics, gene regulation, and much more
Spots still available: sites.google.com/view/evodevo...
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Rapid canalization of chromosome conformation-transcription fingerprints during embryogenesis revealed by fully-automated cell identity decoding with CeSCALE https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.22.684035v1
October 23, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Rapid canalization of chromosome conformation-transcription fingerprints during embryogenesis revealed by fully-automated cell identity decoding with CeSCALE https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.22.684035v1
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Interested in the brain, circuits, and behavior?
Enjoy tinkering and asking bold questions in neuroscience?
The Forli Lab (IIT, Genova, Italy) is hiring!
π§ π¬ π©β»οΈπ₯->ππ«π
Check out our website for updates:
sites.google.com/view/forli-lab
Enjoy tinkering and asking bold questions in neuroscience?
The Forli Lab (IIT, Genova, Italy) is hiring!
π§ π¬ π©β»οΈπ₯->ππ«π
Check out our website for updates:
sites.google.com/view/forli-lab
September 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Interested in the brain, circuits, and behavior?
Enjoy tinkering and asking bold questions in neuroscience?
The Forli Lab (IIT, Genova, Italy) is hiring!
π§ π¬ π©β»οΈπ₯->ππ«π
Check out our website for updates:
sites.google.com/view/forli-lab
Enjoy tinkering and asking bold questions in neuroscience?
The Forli Lab (IIT, Genova, Italy) is hiring!
π§ π¬ π©β»οΈπ₯->ππ«π
Check out our website for updates:
sites.google.com/view/forli-lab
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Reposting for the Monday morning scrollers! Funded PhD opportunity with me @multipleye-lab.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social - spiders, their eyes, and their babies under long- and short-term light pollution!
Exciting times ahead - I'm beyond delighted to be joining @bristolbiosci.bsky.social in 2026! ππ·οΈπππ
I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us ππ·οΈπ π
I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us ππ·οΈπ π
October 20, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Reposting for the Monday morning scrollers! Funded PhD opportunity with me @multipleye-lab.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social - spiders, their eyes, and their babies under long- and short-term light pollution!
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
One week to apply for our fully funded PhD position in Norway! This is a really exciting project in collab. with University of Helsinki and Benchmark Genetics.
Samples are ready - you do (read: learn) everything - functional genomics, bioinformatics, genotype-phenotype associations π€©
Please RT!
Samples are ready - you do (read: learn) everything - functional genomics, bioinformatics, genotype-phenotype associations π€©
Please RT!
How do regulatory genes control alternative life histories? We have an open PhD position to answer this question using functional genomics in Atlantic salmon.
Apply by October 15th through www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Please share widely! π§¬π¦π₯οΈ
Apply by October 15th through www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Please share widely! π§¬π¦π₯οΈ
October 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM
One week to apply for our fully funded PhD position in Norway! This is a really exciting project in collab. with University of Helsinki and Benchmark Genetics.
Samples are ready - you do (read: learn) everything - functional genomics, bioinformatics, genotype-phenotype associations π€©
Please RT!
Samples are ready - you do (read: learn) everything - functional genomics, bioinformatics, genotype-phenotype associations π€©
Please RT!
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
The Department of Cell & Systems Biology at University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in the field of Animal Morphogenesis.
#CellBiology #DevelopmentalBiology #mechanobiology #TissueMorphogenesis
#SystemsBiology
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
#CellBiology #DevelopmentalBiology #mechanobiology #TissueMorphogenesis
#SystemsBiology
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
Assistant Professor - Animal Morphogenesis
Assistant Professor - Animal Morphogenesis
jobs.utoronto.ca
September 19, 2025 at 9:21 PM
The Department of Cell & Systems Biology at University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in the field of Animal Morphogenesis.
#CellBiology #DevelopmentalBiology #mechanobiology #TissueMorphogenesis
#SystemsBiology
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
#CellBiology #DevelopmentalBiology #mechanobiology #TissueMorphogenesis
#SystemsBiology
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Do you like cichlids? Fossils? Fossil cichlids? Would you like to study them as part of a graduate degree at the University of Michigan, joining an NSF-funded project? Get in touch.
September 12, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Do you like cichlids? Fossils? Fossil cichlids? Would you like to study them as part of a graduate degree at the University of Michigan, joining an NSF-funded project? Get in touch.
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Excited to share our latest work on brain evolution, where we dive into the evolution of Cajal-Retzius cells! If you are interested in cell type evolution and cerebral cortex evo-devo, please read on⦠www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 𧡠1/7
Evolution of Cajal-Retzius Cells in Vertebrates from an Ancient Class of Tp73+ Neurons
In the developing cerebral cortex, Cajal Retzius (CR) cells are early-born neurons that orchestrate the development of mammalian-specific cortical features. However, this cell type has not been conclu...
www.biorxiv.org
August 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Excited to share our latest work on brain evolution, where we dive into the evolution of Cajal-Retzius cells! If you are interested in cell type evolution and cerebral cortex evo-devo, please read on⦠www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 𧡠1/7
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Think you know shark teeth? Think again! π¦π¦·
Nathan Lujan (Curator of Fishes at ROM), and Kevin Seymour (Research Associate, Natural History) showed us many different types of shark jaws while they prepared for Sharks, opening October 11.
Nathan Lujan (Curator of Fishes at ROM), and Kevin Seymour (Research Associate, Natural History) showed us many different types of shark jaws while they prepared for Sharks, opening October 11.
September 3, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Think you know shark teeth? Think again! π¦π¦·
Nathan Lujan (Curator of Fishes at ROM), and Kevin Seymour (Research Associate, Natural History) showed us many different types of shark jaws while they prepared for Sharks, opening October 11.
Nathan Lujan (Curator of Fishes at ROM), and Kevin Seymour (Research Associate, Natural History) showed us many different types of shark jaws while they prepared for Sharks, opening October 11.
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Update of our preprint on Inter-individual gene expression variability in fishes! We improved statistical analyses of continuous variables, and especially added machine learning on promoters which confirms cis-regulation of organ-specific expression variability.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Inter-individual gene expression variability implies stable regulation of brain-biased genes across organs
Phenotypic variation among individuals plays a key role in evolution, since variation provides the material on which natural selection can act. One important link between genetic and phenotypic variat...
www.biorxiv.org
September 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Update of our preprint on Inter-individual gene expression variability in fishes! We improved statistical analyses of continuous variables, and especially added machine learning on promoters which confirms cis-regulation of organ-specific expression variability.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
September 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
Modelling sleep states in zebrafish, and conservation of multi-stage sleep in fish! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Zebrafish sleep displays distinct sub-states
Sleep is an essential and evolutionarily-conserved behavior. While mammals and several other species have been shown to exhibit well-defined sleep sub-states, some of which have been ascribed specific...
www.biorxiv.org
September 2, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Modelling sleep states in zebrafish, and conservation of multi-stage sleep in fish! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of π΄ππ¦π¦π± across π²π¬ ππ½π²π°πΆπ²π of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
August 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of π΄ππ¦π¦π± across π²π¬ ππ½π²π°πΆπ²π of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social
Beautiful figures!! Can't wait to dig in to this one!
Excited to announce that the 1st paper from my postdoc is now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social ! Using a large dataset of 3D preserved fossils, we explore the diversification of jaws in early bony fishes. 1/15
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Macroevolutionary role reversals in the earliest radiation of bony fishes
Troyer et al. examine lower jaw evolution in Silurian-Devonian bony fishes and find
substantial differences in patterns of morphological disparity, rates of shape evolution,
and functional diversity b...
www.cell.com
September 1, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Beautiful figures!! Can't wait to dig in to this one!
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
This is just the first effort of our foray into cichlid behaviour and genetics! If you are interested in working on the evolution, genomics, and neurobiology of sleep and chronobiology @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social in beautiful Toronto, please reach out! shafer-lab.netlify.app
Sleep Evolution Group
A highly-customizable Hugo research group theme powered by Wowchemy website builder.
shafer-lab.netlify.app
August 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This is just the first effort of our foray into cichlid behaviour and genetics! If you are interested in working on the evolution, genomics, and neurobiology of sleep and chronobiology @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social in beautiful Toronto, please reach out! shafer-lab.netlify.app
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Analysis of behavioural, ecomorphological and genomic data of Lake Tanganyika cichlids reveals remarkable diversity of temporal niche partitioning
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Widespread temporal niche partitioning in an adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes - Nature Ecology & Evolution
An analysis of behavioural, eco-morphological and genomic data in 60 species of Lake Tanganyika cichlids reveals a remarkable diversity of temporal activity patterns across species, suggesting that te...
www.nature.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Analysis of behavioural, ecomorphological and genomic data of Lake Tanganyika cichlids reveals remarkable diversity of temporal niche partitioning
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Maxwell Shafer
Thanks to Andrew Conith for writing a fantastic @natecoevo.nature.com News & Views for our study! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
August 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Thanks to Andrew Conith for writing a fantastic @natecoevo.nature.com News & Views for our study! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Thanks to Andrew Conith for writing a fantastic @natecoevo.nature.com News & Views for our study! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
August 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Thanks to Andrew Conith for writing a fantastic @natecoevo.nature.com News & Views for our study! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
This is just the first effort of our foray into cichlid behaviour and genetics! If you are interested in working on the evolution, genomics, and neurobiology of sleep and chronobiology @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social in beautiful Toronto, please reach out! shafer-lab.netlify.app
Sleep Evolution Group
A highly-customizable Hugo research group theme powered by Wowchemy website builder.
shafer-lab.netlify.app
August 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This is just the first effort of our foray into cichlid behaviour and genetics! If you are interested in working on the evolution, genomics, and neurobiology of sleep and chronobiology @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social in beautiful Toronto, please reach out! shafer-lab.netlify.app
Thanks to all my coauthors, including my first two grad students in Toronto, Amelia & Ayasha; thanks to @schierlab.bsky.social and Walter Salzburger as always for everything; and many huge thanks to @annika-nichols.bsky.social, who is my co-first-author and forever friend and colleague!!
August 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Thanks to all my coauthors, including my first two grad students in Toronto, Amelia & Ayasha; thanks to @schierlab.bsky.social and Walter Salzburger as always for everything; and many huge thanks to @annika-nichols.bsky.social, who is my co-first-author and forever friend and colleague!!
Finally, we took advantage of extensive genomic data already generated by the Salzburger group to link activity and sleep phenotypes to genomic loci - intriguingly, they were not enriched for clock genes as hypothesised, but synaptic genes, and genes associated with neurological diseases in humans!
August 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Finally, we took advantage of extensive genomic data already generated by the Salzburger group to link activity and sleep phenotypes to genomic loci - intriguingly, they were not enriched for clock genes as hypothesised, but synaptic genes, and genes associated with neurological diseases in humans!