Nick Silva
@nicholasjsilva.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Neuroscientist & glia lover. UCSF, Umich, & SFSU alum. 🐟🧠🏳️🌈 nicholassilvalab.org
Pinned
Microglial cathepsin B promotes neuronal efferocytosis during brain development https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.03.626596v1
Microglial cathepsin B promotes neuronal efferocytosis during brain development https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.03.626596v1
Half of all newborn neurons in the developing brain are removed via efferocytosis - the phagocytic c
www.biorxiv.org
Excited to share my 2nd first author work from @annamolofskylab.bsky.social. We show that microglial cathepsin B promotes neuronal efferocytosis in 🐟&🐁 🧠 Possible w/ amazing lab members, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Escoubas, Sunny Mula, & Dr. Nakajo. 🙏🏽 More later.
Reposted by Nick Silva
“By performing longitudinal live imaging of intubated adult fish we observe vascular regrowth and immune responses to [meningeal cerebrovascular injuries] over time in the same animal with unprecedented resolution”
New work from #WeinsteinLab at NIH
New work from #WeinsteinLab at NIH
Live longitudinal imaging of meningeal cerebrovascular injury and its sequelae in adult zebrafish https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.14.688311v1
November 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
“By performing longitudinal live imaging of intubated adult fish we observe vascular regrowth and immune responses to [meningeal cerebrovascular injuries] over time in the same animal with unprecedented resolution”
New work from #WeinsteinLab at NIH
New work from #WeinsteinLab at NIH
Reposted by Nick Silva
#ZebrafishFunFacts: Known to hobbyists as the leopard Danio, TL or Tüpfel longfin #zebrafish consist of two alleles (leo and lof). leo is a gap junction protein (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...), while lof is caused by upregulation of a K+ channel (journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...). 🧪 1/2
November 13, 2025 at 9:03 AM
#ZebrafishFunFacts: Known to hobbyists as the leopard Danio, TL or Tüpfel longfin #zebrafish consist of two alleles (leo and lof). leo is a gap junction protein (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...), while lof is caused by upregulation of a K+ channel (journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...). 🧪 1/2
Reposted by Nick Silva
November 2, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Nick Silva
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
October 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
Reposted by Nick Silva
Applications for the Neuroscience Scholars Program close tomorrow!
Don't miss the opportunity to join a growing network that provides guidance for today's challenges & connections for your future.
🚨Deadline: Tuesday, October 21, 5 p.m. EDT
Apply now: vist.ly/4b3np
Don't miss the opportunity to join a growing network that provides guidance for today's challenges & connections for your future.
🚨Deadline: Tuesday, October 21, 5 p.m. EDT
Apply now: vist.ly/4b3np
October 20, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Applications for the Neuroscience Scholars Program close tomorrow!
Don't miss the opportunity to join a growing network that provides guidance for today's challenges & connections for your future.
🚨Deadline: Tuesday, October 21, 5 p.m. EDT
Apply now: vist.ly/4b3np
Don't miss the opportunity to join a growing network that provides guidance for today's challenges & connections for your future.
🚨Deadline: Tuesday, October 21, 5 p.m. EDT
Apply now: vist.ly/4b3np
Reposted by Nick Silva
Congrats to Mary Brunkow from @isbscience.org on winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine! Brunkow was honored with collaborators Ramsdell and Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking work on immune system regulation.
A proud moment for science and Seattle!
🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
A proud moment for science and Seattle!
🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Work on Immune Systems
www.nytimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Congrats to Mary Brunkow from @isbscience.org on winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine! Brunkow was honored with collaborators Ramsdell and Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking work on immune system regulation.
A proud moment for science and Seattle!
🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
A proud moment for science and Seattle!
🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
Reposted by Nick Silva
Celebrating #PostdocAppreciationWeek2025 🎉Meet Amanda Iglesias, Ph.D., postdoc in the Fioravante Lab at CNS. She investigates the neural circuits underlying motivated behavior and reward-related psychopathologies. Learn more about research in the Fioravante Lab: www.fioravantelab.ucdavis.edu
September 18, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Celebrating #PostdocAppreciationWeek2025 🎉Meet Amanda Iglesias, Ph.D., postdoc in the Fioravante Lab at CNS. She investigates the neural circuits underlying motivated behavior and reward-related psychopathologies. Learn more about research in the Fioravante Lab: www.fioravantelab.ucdavis.edu
Reposted by Nick Silva
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya and am sending him a hard copy by registered mail.
1/14
1/14
August 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya and am sending him a hard copy by registered mail.
1/14
1/14
Reposted by Nick Silva
Reposted by Nick Silva
Really important article in the NY Times today about cuts to NIH diversity grants, featuring a profile of Ashley Albright @aralbright.bsky.social who is an amazing and super inspiring cell biology postdoc whose K99 was prematurely terminated.
“If you cut out these diversity measures, you're going to make science full of people that are very elite…Full of people who have grown up with a large amount of privilege, who were able to work in a lab in high school because their dad was a prof at Cornell.” 🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural White Americans Too
www.nytimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Really important article in the NY Times today about cuts to NIH diversity grants, featuring a profile of Ashley Albright @aralbright.bsky.social who is an amazing and super inspiring cell biology postdoc whose K99 was prematurely terminated.
Reposted by Nick Silva
We're now appreciating how the immune and nervous systems communicate across body & brain, and there's still more to explore!
Had a fun time co-writing this with some amazing immunologists and neuroscientists @nickmroz.bsky.social @arimolofskylab.bsky.social @annamolofskylab.bsky.social 😎🧠
Had a fun time co-writing this with some amazing immunologists and neuroscientists @nickmroz.bsky.social @arimolofskylab.bsky.social @annamolofskylab.bsky.social 😎🧠
Cross-regulation between the nervous system and type 2 immunity
The nervous and type 2 immune systems regulate each other via cytokines and neurotransmitters, suggesting previously unidentified therapeutic avenues.
www.science.org
May 23, 2025 at 11:28 PM
We're now appreciating how the immune and nervous systems communicate across body & brain, and there's still more to explore!
Had a fun time co-writing this with some amazing immunologists and neuroscientists @nickmroz.bsky.social @arimolofskylab.bsky.social @annamolofskylab.bsky.social 😎🧠
Had a fun time co-writing this with some amazing immunologists and neuroscientists @nickmroz.bsky.social @arimolofskylab.bsky.social @annamolofskylab.bsky.social 😎🧠
Reposted by Nick Silva
Calling all @apsphysiology.bsky.social members: let’s help raise some money to support ABRCMS student presentation awards! Goal is $1200/discipline to support 12 awards by Sept 30th! 🧪 abrcms.org/donate/stude...
ABRCMS Fundraising - Student Presentation Awards - ABRCMS
Judges – Help Us Raise Funds for Student Presentation Awards Thank you for your service as a judge at ABRCMS. Your dedication has helped shape the future of countless student scientists, and we’re dee...
abrcms.org
August 21, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Calling all @apsphysiology.bsky.social members: let’s help raise some money to support ABRCMS student presentation awards! Goal is $1200/discipline to support 12 awards by Sept 30th! 🧪 abrcms.org/donate/stude...
Reposted by Nick Silva
Please RT: Published today, a super fun collaboration w/ @fanjumeng.bsky.social and Marnie Halpern's lab to establish methods for transgene mapping in zebrafish - TransTag enables simple and efficient transgene mapping in zebrafish via tagmentation: Cell Reports Methods www.cell.com/cell-reports...
TransTag enables simple and efficient transgene mapping in zebrafish via tagmentation
Meng et al. develop a method called TransTag for simple and efficient mapping of Tol2-based
transgenes in zebrafish. TransTag robustly identifies transgene insertion sites and
offers an alignment-free...
www.cell.com
July 8, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Please RT: Published today, a super fun collaboration w/ @fanjumeng.bsky.social and Marnie Halpern's lab to establish methods for transgene mapping in zebrafish - TransTag enables simple and efficient transgene mapping in zebrafish via tagmentation: Cell Reports Methods www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Nick Silva
MOSAIC scholars: Sharing again in case anyone missed this. Less than an hour left in this deadline 👇🏾
APHA is gathering grants by TOMORROW NOON for Phase 2 of their lawsuit vs. NIH which regards NIH **applications** that were unfairly pulled from review, mishandled, or delayed from being awarded due to DEI issues.
To add your grant to this lawsuit, become an APHA member & submit this survey:
To add your grant to this lawsuit, become an APHA member & submit this survey:
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
June 27, 2025 at 3:09 PM
MOSAIC scholars: Sharing again in case anyone missed this. Less than an hour left in this deadline 👇🏾
Reposted by Nick Silva
Trump, who said last year that he had “saved” historically Black colleges, has canceled $140 million in grants to them since March.
Agencies told HBCUs “to change the language in grant applications that explicitly focus on Black people — or lose federal funding.”
www.chronicle.com/article/hbcu...
Agencies told HBCUs “to change the language in grant applications that explicitly focus on Black people — or lose federal funding.”
www.chronicle.com/article/hbcu...
HBCUs Reel as Trump Cuts Black-Focused Grants: ‘This Is Our Existence’
HBCUs’ mission-driven effort to serve Black communities could now result in severe budget cuts under Trump’s crusade against DEI. It’s all a big misunderstanding, advocates say.
www.chronicle.com
June 26, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Trump, who said last year that he had “saved” historically Black colleges, has canceled $140 million in grants to them since March.
Agencies told HBCUs “to change the language in grant applications that explicitly focus on Black people — or lose federal funding.”
www.chronicle.com/article/hbcu...
Agencies told HBCUs “to change the language in grant applications that explicitly focus on Black people — or lose federal funding.”
www.chronicle.com/article/hbcu...
Reposted by Nick Silva
So important! Please contact your Republican senators, especially Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). 🙏 amplify!
As Robert Kuttner writes, the NIH will need support from Republican Senators to avoid draconian cuts to its FY2026 budget.
prospect.org/politics/202...
prospect.org/politics/202...
Will the Senate Save NIH?
Rescuing biomedical research is every bit as important as saving Medicaid.
prospect.org
June 25, 2025 at 1:01 AM
So important! Please contact your Republican senators, especially Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). 🙏 amplify!
Reposted by Nick Silva
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
June 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Reposted by Nick Silva
Many w current R16s are also waiting on renewals and those planning on submitting for the May deadline had it cancelled last minute. These are the R01 like grants for unis w >$6M NIH funding that serve >25% Pell students. Lots of fear this mechanism would be permanently cancelled
June 13, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Many w current R16s are also waiting on renewals and those planning on submitting for the May deadline had it cancelled last minute. These are the R01 like grants for unis w >$6M NIH funding that serve >25% Pell students. Lots of fear this mechanism would be permanently cancelled
Reposted by Nick Silva
I’ve warned that this was only a matter of time, but it’s still shocking to see in person.
Here AI generated content is being used to create a fake news ecosystem, disparaging a professor who has been critical of unscientific bullshit in the form of deextinction hype.
Here AI generated content is being used to create a fake news ecosystem, disparaging a professor who has been critical of unscientific bullshit in the form of deextinction hype.
Four AI-generated "articles" have now disparaged me, "Colleagues and experts in the field have expressed concerns about the consistency and scientific integrity of his work"
gripeo.com/02/vincent-l...
gripeo.com/02/vincent-l...
June 13, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I’ve warned that this was only a matter of time, but it’s still shocking to see in person.
Here AI generated content is being used to create a fake news ecosystem, disparaging a professor who has been critical of unscientific bullshit in the form of deextinction hype.
Here AI generated content is being used to create a fake news ecosystem, disparaging a professor who has been critical of unscientific bullshit in the form of deextinction hype.
Reposted by Nick Silva
Powerful statement by Sen. Alex Padilla.
Please notice that anytime senators or representatives try to conduct oversight, they’re blocked.
In this case, a sitting US senator was tackled to the ground and handcuffed—for asking a question.
Where the hell has Chuck Schumer been on this?
Please notice that anytime senators or representatives try to conduct oversight, they’re blocked.
In this case, a sitting US senator was tackled to the ground and handcuffed—for asking a question.
Where the hell has Chuck Schumer been on this?
June 12, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Powerful statement by Sen. Alex Padilla.
Please notice that anytime senators or representatives try to conduct oversight, they’re blocked.
In this case, a sitting US senator was tackled to the ground and handcuffed—for asking a question.
Where the hell has Chuck Schumer been on this?
Please notice that anytime senators or representatives try to conduct oversight, they’re blocked.
In this case, a sitting US senator was tackled to the ground and handcuffed—for asking a question.
Where the hell has Chuck Schumer been on this?
Reposted by Nick Silva
If they can do it to a United States senator, what do you think they’ll do to you?
June 12, 2025 at 6:51 PM
If they can do it to a United States senator, what do you think they’ll do to you?
Reposted by Nick Silva
$160 billion in new spending on building jails, hiring more ICE 'agents' to carry out kidnappings & flying people to torture prisons.
For comparison, the 2024 NIH budget, which funds essentially all US medical research, was $47.1 billion.
Funding racism instead of research.
For comparison, the 2024 NIH budget, which funds essentially all US medical research, was $47.1 billion.
Funding racism instead of research.
The “big beautiful bill” has $160bn in new anti-immigrant measures including $8bn for ICE personnel, $15bn for deportations and $45bn to build detention facilities. Current total ICE budget is ~$8bn. They want to scale up this terror to an unimaginable level.
www.wola.org/analysis/160...
www.wola.org/analysis/160...
$160 Billion to Detain and Deport: Congress’s “Reconciliation” Bill is a Betrayal of Priorities and Will Harm the Most Vulnerable - WOLA
This piece focuses on the incredible scale of what the U.S. Congress is proposing to spend on enforcement and border security. The reconciliation bill’s mammoth dimensions are not getting the attentio...
www.wola.org
June 11, 2025 at 12:50 PM
$160 billion in new spending on building jails, hiring more ICE 'agents' to carry out kidnappings & flying people to torture prisons.
For comparison, the 2024 NIH budget, which funds essentially all US medical research, was $47.1 billion.
Funding racism instead of research.
For comparison, the 2024 NIH budget, which funds essentially all US medical research, was $47.1 billion.
Funding racism instead of research.
Reposted by Nick Silva
Led by @scienceyael.bsky.social & out today in @natneuro.nature.com: the brain's fluid-secreting organ — the choroid plexus — can reshape neural development through a powerful, little-known process. & it can be hijacked by serotonergic drugs like LSD. 🧠👇 A thread
rdcu.be/eoaSY
rdcu.be/eoaSY
Choroid plexus apocrine secretion shapes CSF proteome during mouse brain development
Nature Neuroscience - The choroid plexus (ChP) provides molecular cues for brain development. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study identifies an apocrine secretion mechanism...
rdcu.be
May 28, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Led by @scienceyael.bsky.social & out today in @natneuro.nature.com: the brain's fluid-secreting organ — the choroid plexus — can reshape neural development through a powerful, little-known process. & it can be hijacked by serotonergic drugs like LSD. 🧠👇 A thread
rdcu.be/eoaSY
rdcu.be/eoaSY
Reposted by Nick Silva
No…next question.
There is a clear reason so few other countries have the research infrastructure our country does.
There is a clear reason so few other countries have the research infrastructure our country does.
Can Scientific Research Survive Without Federal Funding?
Universities are offering temporary relief to researchers whose projects have been disrupted by federal funding cuts. But it won't help in the long term, and experts say industry and philanthropy are ...
www.insidehighered.com
May 20, 2025 at 4:55 AM
No…next question.
There is a clear reason so few other countries have the research infrastructure our country does.
There is a clear reason so few other countries have the research infrastructure our country does.
Reposted by Nick Silva
We recently wrote a review about neuroimmune interactions in retinal repair. We dive into the literature regarding immune influences in Muller glia reprogramming, cell transplantation, and axon regeneration. Hopefully its useful, free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-FL4pAsj...
May 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
We recently wrote a review about neuroimmune interactions in retinal repair. We dive into the literature regarding immune influences in Muller glia reprogramming, cell transplantation, and axon regeneration. Hopefully its useful, free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-FL4pAsj...