Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · 1d

Cool new work- DynamicsPLM adds prot conformational dynamics to LMs: fuses seq with per-residue structure-token distributions from an ensemble (no averaging) → state-aware embeddings. Gains: +4% HumanPPI, +11% on multi-state proteins. Firing this up in the lab soon!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · 1d

Man after my own heart

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

John Pearson @jmxpearson.bsky.social · Sep 7

Duke Cell Biology is hiring in AI/ML! @scottsoderling.bsky.social, @rohitsingh8080.bsky.social, and others are building a very active community around ML for discovery science, and Duke is a great place to be.

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30509

Duke University, Cell Biology/Duke University Medical Center

Job #AJO30509, 24903 Tenure - Track Assistant Professor Position - AI/ML for Biology, Cell Biology/Duke University Medical Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, US

academicjobsonline.org

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Sep 7

Duke is recruiting a tenure-track Assistant Professor in AI/ML for Biology—joint Discovery AI Initiative × Cell Biology Search. Building models for protein design, single-cell/spatial omics, imaging, proteomics, genomics? Apply: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30509
#hiring #AIforBio #CompBio

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Priyom Adhyapok @priyomadhyapok.bsky.social · Sep 2

Building a spine is no joke, but thankfully zebrafish have their own clocks to keep the pace. Excited to share our preprint on the role of biological oscillators in coordinating notochord development! (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...)
Additional thread below

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Stefano Di Talia @ditalialab.bsky.social · Sep 2

Priyom's preprint is out on biorxiv. See below for a detailed thread. In a nutshell, she has discovered and characterized the oscillator that times notochord and spine segmentation in zebrafish. Turns out that there are uniform Erk oscillations across the entire tissue that act as timekeepers!

Priyom Adhyapok @priyomadhyapok.bsky.social · Sep 2

Building a spine is no joke, but thankfully zebrafish have their own clocks to keep the pace. Excited to share our preprint on the role of biological oscillators in coordinating notochord development! (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...)
Additional thread below

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Duke University School of Medicine @dukemedschool.bsky.social · Aug 20

Duke researchers have uncovered a promising path to potentially treat a family of rare neurodegenerative disease called neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA).

🔗: https://mgm.duke.edu/news/fundamental-cell-molecule-could-help-fight-rare-brain-disorders

#AcademicSky #MedSky

Fundamental Cell Molecule Could Help Fight Rare Brain Disorders | Duke Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Duke researchers may have found a path to treat a family of rare neurodegenerative disease called neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). People with NBIA have extra iron accumulation ...

mgm.duke.edu

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Aug 18

Another milestone for the amazing Munjal lab!

Akankshi Munjal @akankshi.bsky.social · Aug 18

So happy for Kira! She also received NOA for her F32.

Crystal Rogers, PhD @rogerslabucd.bsky.social · Aug 17

Congratulations to the @socdevbio.bsky.social 2025 West Coast Regional Meeting postdoc poster winners (left to right): 1st place- Celja Uebel (Villeneuve lab), 2nd place- Kira Heikes (Munjal lab), honorable mention- Hailey Edward's (Yelon lab)!

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Nature @nature.com · Aug 11

The order is the latest move by the Trump administration to assert control over US science

go.nature.com/3H6IxVr

Trump order gives political appointees vast powers over research grants

Researchers are alarmed that the move might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Debby Silver @debbysilver.bsky.social · Aug 10

Sharing our newest study led by the incredibly talented @federicamosti.bsky.social investigating new molecular mechanisms of human brain development. We discover a human-specific enhancer HAR1984 that influences chromatin looping to promote cortical size and folding! www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Aug 7

Great work from Huanghe Yang’s lab in Duke Biochemistry.

Duke University School of Medicine @dukemedschool.bsky.social · Aug 7

New research from Duke could transform how complications related to the placenta during pregnancy are detected and prevented.

This discovery may also lead to new insights into cancer, bone healing, and viral infections.

🔗 Read more: medschool.duke.edu/news/protein...

#AcademicSky #MedSky

The Protein That’s Crucial for a Healthy Pregnancy

Researchers have discovered for the first time that a particular protein plays a crucial role in the development of a normal placenta in the early stages of pregnancy. Learning more more about the pro...

medschool.duke.edu

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Aug 4

Congrats!!!

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Jul 29

Congrats James! Loved hearing about this at an earlier CZI meeting!

James Zou @jameszou.bsky.social · Jul 29

⚡️Thrilled that #VirtualLab is published in @nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We created a team of AI agents to mirror my Stanford lab 🤖. Led by a PI agent, the AI scientists ran their own group meetings and discovered effective binders to new CoVID variants that we validated.

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Jul 12

I like o3 pro even better.

Nature @nature.com · Jul 12

o3, an AI model developed by the creators of ChatGPT, has been ranked the best AI tool for answering science questions in multiple fields

go.nature.com/4lzaWlC

OpenAI's o3 tops new AI league table for answering scientific questions

SciArena uses votes by researchers to evaluate large language models’ responses on technical topics.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Albert Vilella, PhD. @albertvilella.bsky.social · Jul 11

Steve Jobs was a vibe coder, he just prompted Steve Wozniak

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Nature @nature.com · Jul 11

Researchers are making ever more sophisticated mini organs in the lab — and now they can grow their own blood vessels

go.nature.com/4nNF3ri

Mini hearts, lungs and livers made in lab now grow their own blood vessels

These sophisticated models will be used for human-development studies and drug testing.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Duke University School of Medicine @dukemedschool.bsky.social · Jul 10

The new Center of Excellence for Multiscale Immune Systems Modeling (MISM), launching soon by Duke University School of Medicine researchers, will transform how we understand and treat infectious and immune-related diseases.

#AcademicSky #MedSky

A New Hub for Fighting Infectious Diseases with Smarter Models

Duke University School of Medicine researchers will launch a new national Center of Excellence for Multiscale Immune Systems Modeling (MISM), funded by a U54 grant from the National Institutes of Heal...

medschool.duke.edu

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Jul 8

Congrats!!

Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Jul 4

Lab backpacking trip recently along the AT in NC. It's so nice to get away from it all, together.

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Rick Huganir @rhuganir.bsky.social · Jun 30

In this essay in Hopkins Magazine, I talk about how NIH budget cuts will delay or stop the translation of basic science to the clinic and impact kids with intellectual disability, autism, and epilepsy. hub.jhu.edu/magazine/202...

Research funding cuts: What's at stake

Researchers like Richard Huganir are closing in on a cure for SYNGAP1-related disorders. But in the face of federal funding cuts, can they finish what they started?

hub.jhu.edu

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Jun 25

corporate.dukehealth.org/news/duke-un...

Duke University Sets New National Standard for Safe, Scalable AI in Health Care

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University School of Medicine researchers have developed two pioneering frameworks designed to evaluate the performance, safety, and reliability of large-language models in health ...

corporate.dukehealth.org

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Scott Soderling @scottsoderling.bsky.social · Jun 24

AI research in collaboration with cell biologists is transforming research at Duke. More discoveries coming soon!!

Duke University School of Medicine @dukemedschool.bsky.social · Jun 24

The AI tool Raygun (named as an homage to “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”) is just one of several tools that a team led by Duke's Rohit Singh, PhD, has built to help scientists work both faster and smarter.

🔗 Read more: medschool.duke.edu/stories/hone...

#DukeB&B #DukeCellBiology #AcademicSky #MedSky

a group of people inside of a lab, huddled around a computer

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Duke University School of Medicine @dukemedschool.bsky.social · Jun 24

The AI tool Raygun (named as an homage to “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”) is just one of several tools that a team led by Duke's Rohit Singh, PhD, has built to help scientists work both faster and smarter.

🔗 Read more: medschool.duke.edu/stories/hone...

#DukeB&B #DukeCellBiology #AcademicSky #MedSky

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

HHMI @hhmi.org · Jun 20

Congrats to HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholars @channyskye.bsky.social , Josefina del Mármol (@delmarmollab.bsky.social), @yvetteefisher.bsky.social and Theanne Griffith (@doctheagrif.bsky.social), named 2025 McKnight Scholars for their demonstrated commitment to neuroscience & mentoring others! 🌟

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Reposted by Scott Soderling

Chantell Evans @channyskye.bsky.social · Jun 20

Excited to be joining a fantastic community of neuroscientists!

HHMI @hhmi.org · Jun 20

Congrats to HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholars @channyskye.bsky.social , Josefina del Mármol (@delmarmollab.bsky.social), @yvetteefisher.bsky.social and Theanne Griffith (@doctheagrif.bsky.social), named 2025 McKnight Scholars for their demonstrated commitment to neuroscience & mentoring others! 🌟

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