Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Apr 30

Congratulations to UC Davis faculty member Alice Accorci as the recipient of the UC Davis Award for Innovation and Creative Vision

biology.ucdavis.edu/news/snail-r...

Snail Researcher Wins UC Davis Award for Innovation and Creative Vision

Developmental biologist Alice Accorsi, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, is the recipient of the 2025 UC Davis Early Career Faculty Award for Creativity and I...

biology.ucdavis.edu

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Reposted by Sean Burgess

Megan Dennis @mydennis.bsky.social · Apr 24

Wow! Congrats @gcbias.bsky.social on election to American Academy of Arts and Sciences! 🤩 www.amacad.org/new-members-...

New Academy Members

Elected in 2025

www.amacad.org

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · Apr 15

As a recipient of federal grants from #NIH (for now! 😭) that funds research in my lab, I'd like to sincerely thank American taxpayers on #TaxDay for investing in scientific research that lays the foundation for medical and technological innovation in this country and keeps us all safe and healthy

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Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · Apr 10

Ayo @ucdavis.bsky.social peeps! I’m your next IGG seminar speaker this coming Monday (4/14), 3PM in 1022 Green Hall. I’ll be talking about our recent & ongoing work “Exploring the Angiosperm Polyploidy Continuum at the Species and Population Levels”. Come say hi! biology.ucdavis.edu/events/integ...

Integrated Genetics & Genomics Graduate Seminar Series: “Exploring the Angiosperm Polyploidy Continuum at the Species and Population Levels”

Arun Sethuraman, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, San Diego State University, presents “Exploring the Angiosperm Polyploidy Continuum at the Species and Population Levels”.

biology.ucdavis.edu

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Apr 1

Congratulations to our three Integrative Genetics and Genomics faculty members as new Fellows of the the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS): Drs. Frédéric Chédin, Dario Cantù and Huaijun Zhou!
www.ucdavis.edu/news/eight-e...

8 Elected as AAAS Fellows

Eight faculty from UC Davis are among 471 scientists, engineers and innovators newly elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the society announced today (March 2...

www.ucdavis.edu

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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · Mar 23

Multicolored ‘skinbow’ cells on an adult zebrafish scale. Credit to Dr. Chen-Hui Chen (prev. Duke University). #ZebrafishZunday 🧪

Layer of multi-colored cells on the surface of a zebrafish scale.

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 22

Thanks Needhi. Your past work was inspiring!

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 22

Happy to report our pre-print on meiotic prophase checkpoints (or lack thereof) in zebrafish.

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Mar 19

Zebrafish lack a strong meiotic checkpoint response to defects in chromosome synapsis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.18.644038v1

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bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Mar 19

Zebrafish lack a strong meiotic checkpoint response to defects in chromosome synapsis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.18.644038v1

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 22

Thanks for the shout-out Zebrafish Rock!

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Fred Chedin @fredchedin.bsky.social · Mar 8

Great turnout at Stand Up for Science march in Sacramento, CA!! Nice to see many colleagues and our wonderful trainees fight for science and a better world. Shout out to @doctheagrif.bsky.social @elisazhang.bsky.social and @rogerslabucd.bsky.social for inspiring speeches and organizing!

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 6

I write this from the perspective of an instructor of two upper division courses: Advanced Molecular Biology and Human Genetics and Genomics. ~1/3 of students are transfer students and many students are relying on summer internships for research and professional experience.

Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 6

Two additional points in support of the proposed UC switch to semesters: 1) The accelerated quarter system disadvantages transfer students not accustomed to pace. 2) UC students (excluding Berkeley) are disadvantaged for acceptance to important off-campus internships that start in early June.

Tiffany Lowe-Power 🌱🦠 @tlowepower.bsky.social · Mar 6

I agree! Semesters provide more opportunity for depth! And also more buffer to have resilience through disruptions

Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · Mar 6

Many reasons including

1. I think longer courses work better
2. I think there is a ton of “overhead” cost / time spent per course and think it would be better to have fewer longer courses
3. Would prefer fewer longer breaks between courses
4. More time to develop connections to students

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Crystal Rogers, PhD @rogerslabucd.bsky.social · Mar 5

Huge thank you to Chancellor May and our wonderful @ucdavis.bsky.social donors for choosing me as a Chancellor’s Fellow! The UC Davis SVM did a lovely write up if you are interested in learning more about me and this award! www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/crystal...

Crystal Rogers Honored as Chancellor's Fellow

Associate Professor Crystal Rogers is one of eight faculty members who comprise the newest class of UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellows, given to early career academics doing exemplary work in their fields.

www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Mar 5

Preliminary injunction in nationwide indirect cost rate case.

This means that the judge found that the plaintiffs (AAMC, et al.) are likely to win on the merits when the ruling is finalized.

www.statnews.com/2025/03/05/n...

Judge issues preliminary injunction blocking Trump cuts to NIH research overhead payments

A federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing NIH payments for research overhead

www.statnews.com

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 5

Congratulations to MCB Professor Kassandra Ori-Mckenney as a new UC Davis Chancellors Fellow!

www.ucdavis.edu/news/meet-20...

Meet The 2024-2025 Chancellor's Fellows

Meet the eight faculty members who comprise the newest class of Chancellor’s Fellows, given to early career academics doing exemplary work in their fields.

www.ucdavis.edu

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Mar 5

Congratulations to IGG professors Megan Dennis and Randy Carney as new Chancellor's Fellows

www.ucdavis.edu/news/meet-20...

Meet The 2024-2025 Chancellor's Fellows

Meet the eight faculty members who comprise the newest class of Chancellor’s Fellows, given to early career academics doing exemplary work in their fields.

www.ucdavis.edu

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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Feb 21

PLOS has issued a statement on recent US Executive Orders and scientific integrity.

We are determined to stand firmly behind our mission, our values and our principles, and against any attempt at censorship or undermining of the core principles of scientific inquiry.

plos.io/3D4O8cH

PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders and scientific integrity - The Official PLOS Blog

Since its founding over twenty five years ago PLOS has been dedicated to advancing open science, ensuring that knowledge is accessible to…

plos.io

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Cohen Lab @Cornell @cohenlab.bsky.social · Jan 1

Happy new year to all! I am delighted to say that our new preprint went on @biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social today! The work was a labor of love for Mercedes Carro from my lab and Alexis Dzuibek from Andrew Grimson's lab - congrats to all! #meiosis #meiosis4eva #RNA

biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Argonaute proteins regulate the timing of the spermatogenic transcriptional program

Argonaute proteins are best known for their role in microRNA-mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing. Here, we show that AGO3 and AGO4, but not AGO2, localize to the sex chromatin of pachytene sp...

biorxiv.org

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · Jan 2

We have updated our preprint, in response to reviews organized by @elife.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧪 #Meiosis4Eva

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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · Feb 15

Varmus: "the executive branch is waging war on America’s scientific enterprise...nominating leaders hostile to science and unqualified for their roles...This is not a fight that our country can afford to lose." www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

Opinion | American Science is Under Attack

The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.

www.nytimes.com

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Feb 8

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%.

I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD

grants.nih.gov

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Soni Lacefield @lacefieldlab.bsky.social · Jan 31

Feeling very lost today with the news of the passing of my undergrad advisor Scott Hawley. He had a huge impact on the field and on me personally. He was the first person to see me as a scientist and gave me the confidence to apply to grad school. I am so grateful to be a part of his legacy.

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Sean Burgess @smburgess.bsky.social · Jan 31

Scott will be dearly missed. He was a pioneer in the meiosis community. He inspired me in many ways. He made significant insights into the mysterious process of homolog pairing that have guided my research. He was mentor, friend and champion throughout my career, and inspired me as an educator.

HunterLab.bsky.social @hunterlab.bsky.social · Jan 31

Sadly, our colleague and friend Scott Hawley passed away this morning. He was an irreplaceable presence and force for good in the meiosis an Drosophila communities and will be sorely missed.

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Rog lab at the University of Utah @theroglab.bsky.social · Jan 15

New preprint from the lab! We defined the kinetics of strand invasion during meiosis in C. elegans. Great work from Antonia, Henry and Divya.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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