Quentin Smith
@qmsmith.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital & Harvard Medical School in the Ha and Farnung labs.
PhD at Imperial College London in the Rueda lab.
PhD at Imperial College London in the Rueda lab.
Reposted by Quentin Smith
I’m honored to be part of the next GRS Single Molecule Approaches to Biology, thanks Chairs @qmsmith.bsky.social and Alba Gomez Segalas for organizing this great event! The GRS is a wonderful opportunity for young scientists to share their exciting science and build communities. See you there!
🗣️ Keynote Speaker: @sulianamanley.bsky.social
👥 Mentoring Session: Careers Across Biophysics featuring @valdavinson.bsky.social @timcraggs.bsky.social @sulianamanley.bsky.social @esisamakis.bsky.social
📈 Selected talk and poster presenters: You!
☀️ Please repost, share and we'll see you in June!
👥 Mentoring Session: Careers Across Biophysics featuring @valdavinson.bsky.social @timcraggs.bsky.social @sulianamanley.bsky.social @esisamakis.bsky.social
📈 Selected talk and poster presenters: You!
☀️ Please repost, share and we'll see you in June!
January 23, 2026 at 11:21 AM
I’m honored to be part of the next GRS Single Molecule Approaches to Biology, thanks Chairs @qmsmith.bsky.social and Alba Gomez Segalas for organizing this great event! The GRS is a wonderful opportunity for young scientists to share their exciting science and build communities. See you there!
🔬 Calling all early-career researchers (ECRs) for the GRS Single Molecule Approaches to Biology!
🌎 Location: Les Diablerets, Switzerland
📆 Save the date: June 27-28, 2026
🔗 More information: www.grc.org/single-molec...
#biology #biophysics #single-molecule #microscopy #ECR
🌎 Location: Les Diablerets, Switzerland
📆 Save the date: June 27-28, 2026
🔗 More information: www.grc.org/single-molec...
#biology #biophysics #single-molecule #microscopy #ECR
January 22, 2026 at 3:18 PM
🔬 Calling all early-career researchers (ECRs) for the GRS Single Molecule Approaches to Biology!
🌎 Location: Les Diablerets, Switzerland
📆 Save the date: June 27-28, 2026
🔗 More information: www.grc.org/single-molec...
#biology #biophysics #single-molecule #microscopy #ECR
🌎 Location: Les Diablerets, Switzerland
📆 Save the date: June 27-28, 2026
🔗 More information: www.grc.org/single-molec...
#biology #biophysics #single-molecule #microscopy #ECR
Reposted by Quentin Smith
We have an opening for a research support officer. Come and join us! Please share.
Are you an enthusiastic and ambitious scientist looking for a challenging project?
Come and join @kellythd-nguyen.bsky.social’s group as a Research Support Officer and help decipher the molecular mechanisms of telomere maintenance!
Apply by 11 JAN
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPU715/r...
Come and join @kellythd-nguyen.bsky.social’s group as a Research Support Officer and help decipher the molecular mechanisms of telomere maintenance!
Apply by 11 JAN
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPU715/r...
December 22, 2025 at 12:09 PM
We have an opening for a research support officer. Come and join us! Please share.
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Do you have an exciting new chromatin/transcription story that you'd like to share with the #FN community?
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Application to speak in the Fragile Nucleosome series
Thank you for your interest in our seminar series!
We use a variety of different session formats but, in general, trainees can plan for a ~15 min talk + 5min Q/A and PIs can plan for a ~25min talk +...
forms.gle
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Do you have an exciting new chromatin/transcription story that you'd like to share with the #FN community?
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...
Please repost and share!
Reposted by Quentin Smith
We are recruiting! PDRA to work on a BBSRC funded position with Prof. Yiliang Ding and Dr. Tim Craggs. We are looking for someone with experience with cell culture and gene expression analysis - Please do share. Happy to answer any questions. Details below:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 11:49 AM
We are recruiting! PDRA to work on a BBSRC funded position with Prof. Yiliang Ding and Dr. Tim Craggs. We are looking for someone with experience with cell culture and gene expression analysis - Please do share. Happy to answer any questions. Details below:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Exciting project!Great opportunity!
We are recruiting! PDRA to work on a BBSRC funded position with Prof. Yiliang Ding and Dr. Tim Craggs. We are looking for someone with experience with cell culture and gene expression analysis - Please do share. Happy to answer any questions. Details below:
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Exciting project!Great opportunity!
It’s an honor to be awarded the LMS PhD Prize, I am truly grateful for the kind comments made by my examiners and for the MRC LMS acknowledging my graduate studies as an achievement! 🥳
Congratulations to @qmsmith.bsky.social for winning the LMS PhD Prize in recognition of his outstanding thesis and viva performance!
We wish him the best of luck in his new role as a joint postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
We wish him the best of luck in his new role as a joint postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Quentin Smith awarded LMS PhD Prize
We’re delighted to announce that Quentin Smith has been awarded the latest LMS PhD Prize for his outstanding thesis and viva performance.
lms.mrc.ac.uk
December 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
It’s an honor to be awarded the LMS PhD Prize, I am truly grateful for the kind comments made by my examiners and for the MRC LMS acknowledging my graduate studies as an achievement! 🥳
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Congratulations to @qmsmith.bsky.social for winning the LMS PhD Prize in recognition of his outstanding thesis and viva performance!
We wish him the best of luck in his new role as a joint postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
We wish him the best of luck in his new role as a joint postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Quentin Smith awarded LMS PhD Prize
We’re delighted to announce that Quentin Smith has been awarded the latest LMS PhD Prize for his outstanding thesis and viva performance.
lms.mrc.ac.uk
December 17, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Congratulations to @qmsmith.bsky.social for winning the LMS PhD Prize in recognition of his outstanding thesis and viva performance!
We wish him the best of luck in his new role as a joint postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
We wish him the best of luck in his new role as a joint postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Happy to see our latest work online. Here we present a new method for microsecond time-resolved cryo-EM based on jet vitrification! Details in the 🧵 below... we hope you enjoy reading! (Hint, there's some fun videos...) #cryoEM #structuralbiology
Microsecond Time-Resolved Cryo-EM Based on Jet Vitrification https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.21.689681v1
November 22, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Happy to see our latest work online. Here we present a new method for microsecond time-resolved cryo-EM based on jet vitrification! Details in the 🧵 below... we hope you enjoy reading! (Hint, there's some fun videos...) #cryoEM #structuralbiology
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies
Ranawat et al. show the cryo-EM structures of Asgard archaeal chromatin assemblies,
revealing that the histone HHoB assembles into both compact closed and extended open
hypernucleosomes. The closed co...
www.cell.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Thank you, Daniela, @danielabarilla.bsky.social, for a wonderful commentary! 🤗🤗 More spotlight on the Asgards and their chromatin! ❤️ #archaea #chromatin
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies
Ranawat et al. show the cryo-EM structures of Asgard archaeal chromatin assemblies,
revealing that the histone HHoB assembles into both compact closed and extended open
hypernucleosomes. The closed co...
www.cell.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Thank you, Daniela, @danielabarilla.bsky.social, for a wonderful commentary! 🤗🤗 More spotlight on the Asgards and their chromatin! ❤️ #archaea #chromatin
Reposted by Quentin Smith
16 (! What?) years ago I went to my first ABRCMS and was welcomed and encouraged to pursue my scientific dreams. I met folks that provided direct feedback on my graduate school applications and served a pivotal role in my career. I am honored return and give back again as faculty.
#ABRCMS2025
#ABRCMS2025
November 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
16 (! What?) years ago I went to my first ABRCMS and was welcomed and encouraged to pursue my scientific dreams. I met folks that provided direct feedback on my graduate school applications and served a pivotal role in my career. I am honored return and give back again as faculty.
#ABRCMS2025
#ABRCMS2025
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Happy to share our latest preprint.
We uncover a previously uncharacterised and evolutionarily conserved chromatin architecture in premeiotic gonadal germ cells, revealed through integrated cytological and high-resolution Hi-C approaches.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread🧵🔽
We uncover a previously uncharacterised and evolutionarily conserved chromatin architecture in premeiotic gonadal germ cells, revealed through integrated cytological and high-resolution Hi-C approaches.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread🧵🔽
November 18, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Happy to share our latest preprint.
We uncover a previously uncharacterised and evolutionarily conserved chromatin architecture in premeiotic gonadal germ cells, revealed through integrated cytological and high-resolution Hi-C approaches.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread🧵🔽
We uncover a previously uncharacterised and evolutionarily conserved chromatin architecture in premeiotic gonadal germ cells, revealed through integrated cytological and high-resolution Hi-C approaches.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thread🧵🔽
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Please join us on November 20th! We are very grateful for our first sponsorship - Molecular Instrument!
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Please join us on November 20th! We are very grateful for our first sponsorship - Molecular Instrument!
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions at the John Innes Centre.
Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!
Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to give a seminar at the Fellows Conference, which will be held on 10 March 2026.
Candidates who win Fellowships will be offered a Tenure Track Group Leader position from the outset, initially for 5 years.
Find out more: www.jic.ac.uk/training-car...
Candidates who win Fellowships will be offered a Tenure Track Group Leader position from the outset, initially for 5 years.
Find out more: www.jic.ac.uk/training-car...
Independent Research Fellowships Leading to Tenured Faculty Positions | John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre (JIC), is a world leading centre of excellence in plant and microbial sciences based on the Norwich Research Park, UK. We are inviting applications from outstanding researchers…
www.jic.ac.uk
October 3, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions at the John Innes Centre.
Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!
Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!
Reposted by Quentin Smith
🎉Congrats to Freeman Hrabowski Scholar @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social on receiving the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award! His research will explore how sense of touch contributes to communal behaviors.
October 13, 2025 at 6:12 PM
🎉Congrats to Freeman Hrabowski Scholar @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social on receiving the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award! His research will explore how sense of touch contributes to communal behaviors.
Reposted by Quentin Smith
🧬 Meet ORF Verifier (orfverifier.farnunglab.com) 🧬
Validating ORFs from plasmid sequences—such as those from @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social —can be tedious and error-prone. Manual inspection and alignments in tools like SnapGene take time and attention.
ORF Verifier automates sequence verification.
Validating ORFs from plasmid sequences—such as those from @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social —can be tedious and error-prone. Manual inspection and alignments in tools like SnapGene take time and attention.
ORF Verifier automates sequence verification.
ORF Verifier
orfverifier.farnunglab.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
🧬 Meet ORF Verifier (orfverifier.farnunglab.com) 🧬
Validating ORFs from plasmid sequences—such as those from @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social —can be tedious and error-prone. Manual inspection and alignments in tools like SnapGene take time and attention.
ORF Verifier automates sequence verification.
Validating ORFs from plasmid sequences—such as those from @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social —can be tedious and error-prone. Manual inspection and alignments in tools like SnapGene take time and attention.
ORF Verifier automates sequence verification.
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Della Syau successfully defended her PhD thesis today. Congrats, Dr. Syau. Strike #3!
October 9, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Della Syau successfully defended her PhD thesis today. Congrats, Dr. Syau. Strike #3!
Reposted by Quentin Smith
NEB remains undefeated. Truly the GOAT of biotech. Wait time for live chat was mere seconds near EOD on a friday. Sorted my order in less than 3 mins. Why would I buy from anywhere else?
June 13, 2025 at 10:10 PM
NEB remains undefeated. Truly the GOAT of biotech. Wait time for live chat was mere seconds near EOD on a friday. Sorted my order in less than 3 mins. Why would I buy from anywhere else?
Reposted by Quentin Smith
1/10 New pre-print(s) from the Sternberg Lab in collaboration with Leifu Chang's Lab! We uncover the unprecedented molecular mechanism of CRISPR-Cas12f-like proteins, which drive RNA-guided transcription independently of canonical promoter motifs.
Full story here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Full story here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
1/10 New pre-print(s) from the Sternberg Lab in collaboration with Leifu Chang's Lab! We uncover the unprecedented molecular mechanism of CRISPR-Cas12f-like proteins, which drive RNA-guided transcription independently of canonical promoter motifs.
Full story here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Full story here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Celebrate Black in Biophysics Week! #BIBPStutorial
Biophysics 101: Visualizing proteins with ChimeraX
Tuesday, May 27, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM US Eastern
Learn how to visualize and analyze complex molecular structures with presenter Bryan Nicholson-Dews buff.ly/faiCWTj
Biophysics 101: Visualizing proteins with ChimeraX
Tuesday, May 27, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM US Eastern
Learn how to visualize and analyze complex molecular structures with presenter Bryan Nicholson-Dews buff.ly/faiCWTj
May 26, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Quentin Smith
Celebrate Black in Biophysics Week! #BIBPStutorial
Biophysics 101: Visualizing proteins with ChimeraX
Tuesday, May 27, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM US Eastern
Learn how to visualize and analyze complex molecular structures with presenter Bryan Nicholson-Dews buff.ly/faiCWTj
Biophysics 101: Visualizing proteins with ChimeraX
Tuesday, May 27, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM US Eastern
Learn how to visualize and analyze complex molecular structures with presenter Bryan Nicholson-Dews buff.ly/faiCWTj
May 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Celebrate Black in Biophysics Week! #BIBPStutorial
Biophysics 101: Visualizing proteins with ChimeraX
Tuesday, May 27, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM US Eastern
Learn how to visualize and analyze complex molecular structures with presenter Bryan Nicholson-Dews buff.ly/faiCWTj
Biophysics 101: Visualizing proteins with ChimeraX
Tuesday, May 27, from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM US Eastern
Learn how to visualize and analyze complex molecular structures with presenter Bryan Nicholson-Dews buff.ly/faiCWTj
Reposted by Quentin Smith
We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
May 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
Reposted by Quentin Smith
LocScale-SURFER is now also available for quick install via the ChimeraX toolshed:
cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu
cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu
LocScale-2.0 is deliberately designed to optimise contrast for both high-resolution detail & weak contextual densities such as membrane/micelle or flexible/low-occupancy regions
LocScale-SURFER is a ChimeraX plugin aiding w/ visualisation of contextual structure.
cryotud.github.io/locscale-sur...
LocScale-SURFER is a ChimeraX plugin aiding w/ visualisation of contextual structure.
cryotud.github.io/locscale-sur...
May 26, 2025 at 11:10 AM
LocScale-SURFER is now also available for quick install via the ChimeraX toolshed:
cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu
cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu
Reposted by Quentin Smith
We are happy to release LocScale2.0: a tool for context-aware, confidence-weighted cryoEM map optimisation.
Taking two half maps as input, LcoScale-2.0 produces feature-enhanced maps along with a robust confidence score that guides objective map interpretation.
cryotud.github.io/locscale/
Taking two half maps as input, LcoScale-2.0 produces feature-enhanced maps along with a robust confidence score that guides objective map interpretation.
cryotud.github.io/locscale/
May 22, 2025 at 10:10 AM
We are happy to release LocScale2.0: a tool for context-aware, confidence-weighted cryoEM map optimisation.
Taking two half maps as input, LcoScale-2.0 produces feature-enhanced maps along with a robust confidence score that guides objective map interpretation.
cryotud.github.io/locscale/
Taking two half maps as input, LcoScale-2.0 produces feature-enhanced maps along with a robust confidence score that guides objective map interpretation.
cryotud.github.io/locscale/