Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
@needhibhalla.bsky.social
Cell biologist and geneticist, Professor, mom and consumer of alcohol. Those might all be related. I grind til I own it.
She/her/hers.
ORCID: 0000-0002-6859-0073
personal account
She/her/hers.
ORCID: 0000-0002-6859-0073
personal account
Pinned
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
www.nature.com
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
The recent sharp rise in Black women's unemployment is striking, even as it has largely escaped notice.
November 26, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The recent sharp rise in Black women's unemployment is striking, even as it has largely escaped notice.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
This is the kind of thing that makes people say study sections are risk averse. That is not always a bad thing as many good proposals are low-risk, but it is undeniably true.
November 26, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This is the kind of thing that makes people say study sections are risk averse. That is not always a bad thing as many good proposals are low-risk, but it is undeniably true.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Julie Menin declares victory in NYC Council speaker race
Julie Menin declares victory in NYC Council speaker race
The Manhattan legislator said she has enough votes to secure the leadership post come January.
dlvr.it
November 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Julie Menin declares victory in NYC Council speaker race
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
BREAKING: SCOTUS will not grant the Trump administration’s request to allow it to fire Shira Perlmutter, the director of the Copyright Office, at this time. It puts off any decision while the court is considering the other two firings cases. Perlmutter stays in office during that time.
November 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
BREAKING: SCOTUS will not grant the Trump administration’s request to allow it to fire Shira Perlmutter, the director of the Copyright Office, at this time. It puts off any decision while the court is considering the other two firings cases. Perlmutter stays in office during that time.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
The CDC has turned off its vaccine search tool.
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
They also removed text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy” and added a banner saying the site is being updated.
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
They also removed text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy” and added a banner saying the site is being updated.
November 26, 2025 at 5:50 AM
The CDC has turned off its vaccine search tool.
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
They also removed text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy” and added a banner saying the site is being updated.
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
They also removed text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy” and added a banner saying the site is being updated.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Faculty plan out our grant writing MONTHS if not YEARS in advance - having programs suddenly disappear like this is utterly demoralizing and completely destructive for everyone’s productivity (including students!)
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Faculty plan out our grant writing MONTHS if not YEARS in advance - having programs suddenly disappear like this is utterly demoralizing and completely destructive for everyone’s productivity (including students!)
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
New: As the Trump administration eliminates incentives for energy-efficient appliances, California is joining New York and Boston to spur a market for affordable electric window heat pumps and battery-equipped induction stoves to decarbonize housing. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
As Federal Support Withers, California Invests in Cheap Heat Pumps
The state is allocating more than $100 million to create demand for energy-efficient technologies that renters and low-income residents can afford.
www.bloomberg.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:38 PM
New: As the Trump administration eliminates incentives for energy-efficient appliances, California is joining New York and Boston to spur a market for affordable electric window heat pumps and battery-equipped induction stoves to decarbonize housing. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
A very moving read. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
www.newyorker.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
A very moving read. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
I want this moment for us
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I want this moment for us
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Democrats have an uphill climb to win back the Senate next year. If they want to do it, they have to win Maine and North Carolina. Then the need to flip at least of these seats:
-Alaska
-Kansas
-Iowa
-Ohio
-Texas
All of them are longshots.
-Alaska
-Kansas
-Iowa
-Ohio
-Texas
All of them are longshots.
November 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Democrats have an uphill climb to win back the Senate next year. If they want to do it, they have to win Maine and North Carolina. Then the need to flip at least of these seats:
-Alaska
-Kansas
-Iowa
-Ohio
-Texas
All of them are longshots.
-Alaska
-Kansas
-Iowa
-Ohio
-Texas
All of them are longshots.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Huge thanks to everyone involved: @gautamdey.bsky.social and @gsherloc.bsky.social for their unwavering support and @kausthubh.bsky.social for helping me see the forest for the trees. Final thanks: @embl.org and Stanford University for hosting the work, and the Life Science Alliance for funding me.
November 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Huge thanks to everyone involved: @gautamdey.bsky.social and @gsherloc.bsky.social for their unwavering support and @kausthubh.bsky.social for helping me see the forest for the trees. Final thanks: @embl.org and Stanford University for hosting the work, and the Life Science Alliance for funding me.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
November 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Curious about how this story came to be (we never planned to study centromeres!)? Here’s a glimpse behind the scenes of how a naive method to count chromosomes unlocked the rules behind centromere evolution.
P.S. There are cartoons!
👉 tinyurl.com/4rz4ve6u
P.S. There are cartoons!
👉 tinyurl.com/4rz4ve6u
Counting Chromosomes: The Simple Idea That Unlocked the Rules Behind Centromere Evolution
tinyurl.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Curious about how this story came to be (we never planned to study centromeres!)? Here’s a glimpse behind the scenes of how a naive method to count chromosomes unlocked the rules behind centromere evolution.
P.S. There are cartoons!
👉 tinyurl.com/4rz4ve6u
P.S. There are cartoons!
👉 tinyurl.com/4rz4ve6u
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
If all the grants this year are strong with no weaknesses, NIH doesn’t get to fund them all. If the grants are all riddled with moderate weaknesses, NIH will still fund this year’s crap fest.
The job is to rank the submissions in a given FY.
The job is to rank the submissions in a given FY.
November 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM
If all the grants this year are strong with no weaknesses, NIH doesn’t get to fund them all. If the grants are all riddled with moderate weaknesses, NIH will still fund this year’s crap fest.
The job is to rank the submissions in a given FY.
The job is to rank the submissions in a given FY.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
I’m not a fan of all this subjectivity masquerading as objectivity, one, and the structure that insists static all time standards, two.
November 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I’m not a fan of all this subjectivity masquerading as objectivity, one, and the structure that insists static all time standards, two.
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
The CDC has turned off its vaccine search tool.
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
Also missing: the text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy”
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
Also missing: the text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy”
November 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
The CDC has turned off its vaccine search tool.
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
Also missing: the text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy”
The vaccines.gov site now gives an error when you enter a valid zip code.
Also missing: the text saying “Vaccines can help you stay healthy”
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
“Research doesn't have to be exploitative.”
If you are interested in the methodology behind the Data Workers' Inquiry Project (@dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social), this is the paper for you.
Research doesn't have to be exploitative.👇🏽
Research doesn't have to be exploitative.👇🏽
📣New paper!
Thrilled to share the methodological recipe for @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social in this article co-authored with @adiod.bsky.social @krystalkauffman.bsky.social Camilla Salim Wagner, Laurenz Sachenbacher @alexhanna.bsky.social & @timnitgebru.bsky.social
👉 ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...
Thrilled to share the methodological recipe for @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social in this article co-authored with @adiod.bsky.social @krystalkauffman.bsky.social Camilla Salim Wagner, Laurenz Sachenbacher @alexhanna.bsky.social & @timnitgebru.bsky.social
👉 ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...
November 26, 2025 at 1:38 AM
“Research doesn't have to be exploitative.”
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Deeply troubling dukechronicle.com/article/duke...
Duke has sought to tighten faculty media engagement to minimize federal scrutiny
The messages reflect a broader University strategy: keeping Duke out of the national spotlight by exercising caution at the faculty level when it comes to politically sensitive topics.
dukechronicle.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Deeply troubling dukechronicle.com/article/duke...
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
I've always loved the openness and collegiality of our C. elegans community 🪱, but this perspective really helps emphasize just *how important* those traits are for scientific progress. A true tribute to how curiosity-driven science leads to innovation! 🙌
Read this inspiring perspectives coauthored by the Worm Resource directors and worm Nobel Laureates! 4 Nobel Prizes and how they were enabled by major NIH-supported research resources (the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, WormBase, and WormAtlas) www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 26, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I've always loved the openness and collegiality of our C. elegans community 🪱, but this perspective really helps emphasize just *how important* those traits are for scientific progress. A true tribute to how curiosity-driven science leads to innovation! 🙌
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
Cancer Undergrad Research Educational Program
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
Cancer Undergraduate Research Education Program (CUREP) - UNC Lineberger
Our objective is to create a summer undergraduate research program in a collaborative partnership with two other North Carolina universities. Our goal is to enhance the success rates of undergraduate ...
unclineberger.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Cancer Undergrad Research Educational Program
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
(3/3) The researchers found that the cell’s division machinery acts as a critical filter, allowing only those centromere variants that are compatible with effective attachment to survive and spread.
@gautamdey.bsky.social @helsenjana.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social @kausthubh.bsky.social
@gautamdey.bsky.social @helsenjana.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social @kausthubh.bsky.social
Progressive coevolution of the yeast centromere and kinetochore | Nature
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
(3/3) The researchers found that the cell’s division machinery acts as a critical filter, allowing only those centromere variants that are compatible with effective attachment to survive and spread.
@gautamdey.bsky.social @helsenjana.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social @kausthubh.bsky.social
@gautamdey.bsky.social @helsenjana.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social @kausthubh.bsky.social
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
(1/3) Imagine reconstructing a history over a billion years in the making.
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
(1/3) Imagine reconstructing a history over a billion years in the making.
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
you should support liberal currents!
November 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
you should support liberal currents!
Reposted by Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
TNR EXCLUSIVE trib.al/Yn8As1B
In an interview with The New Republic, House primary candidate Richard Ojeda—and retired Army major—revealed he received enough death threats that the FBI has gotten involved.
In an interview with The New Republic, House primary candidate Richard Ojeda—and retired Army major—revealed he received enough death threats that the FBI has gotten involved.
November 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
TNR EXCLUSIVE trib.al/Yn8As1B
In an interview with The New Republic, House primary candidate Richard Ojeda—and retired Army major—revealed he received enough death threats that the FBI has gotten involved.
In an interview with The New Republic, House primary candidate Richard Ojeda—and retired Army major—revealed he received enough death threats that the FBI has gotten involved.