Mari Sosa

How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.

Awesome article on medical breakthroughs that came from basic neuroscience research in rodents. Major success examples in postpartum depression, non-opioid pain and migraine treatment.

This is exactly why funding basic science is so important!

www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...

Very cool and elegant use of a model: “what might we have missed in our data?”

Estrogen modulates reward prediction errors and reinforcement learning - Nature Neuroscience Dopamine encoding of reward prediction errors naturally fluctuates over females’ reproductive cycles with estrogenic signaling due to reduced expression of dopamine reuptake proteins.

Thrilled to share our new paper, out now in @natneuro.nature.com, uncovering how estradiol, the most potent estrogen, modulates reinforcement learning and reward prediction errors across biological levels. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#blueprint 1/7

A “promise of a vote” is no better than a “concept of a plan”

This White House made a choice to pay ICE instead of SNAP and ATC - we could just as easily be flying just fine and feeding people instead of harassing them. Don't cave now

Yep. And it means all that suffering was for nothing because “a promise of a vote” is just a “concept of a plan”

Tell me more about “there’s still time to stop them.” What do we do to stop them?

Sosa Lab - Postdoctoral Researchers We are seeking postdocs to start in 2026!

The Sosa Lab is going to #SfN25 and actively recruiting ✨postdocs✨ with systems neuroscience experience! We study both fundamental memory processes and how memory changes during pregnancy and postpartum.

If you are interested in meeting at SfN, please email me! www.sosaneurolab.com/join/postdoc...

Candid photo of Zara Weinberg. She has short red hair, bangs and glasses. She is laughing.

The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.

The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.

www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/

Apply | leadingedgesymposium Apply. The 2026 Leading Edge cohort application is now open! This cohort is named the Zara Weinberg Cohort, in honor of 2021 Leading Edge Fellow, Zara Weinberg. Applications are due February 2, 2026.

Applications are open for the 2026 Zara Weinberg cohort of Leading Edge, named in honor of the incredible, brilliant, fearless @weinberz.witchlab.org.

The LE community has been truly transformative for my scientific journey and my happiness. Please apply!! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/

Apply | leadingedgesymposium Apply. The 2026 Leading Edge cohort application is now open! This cohort is named the Zara Weinberg Cohort, in honor of 2021 Leading Edge Fellow, Zara Weinberg. Applications are due February 2, 2026.

I have been blown away by the level of support (both practical and emotional support!) from the #LeadingEdge community. I feel so grateful to be a part of this group. Consider applying!!

www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/

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.

There are no sufficient words for how profound an impact she had on the Leading Edge community. I'm so sorry for your and all of our loss. We will miss you terribly, Zara

Quantifying funding sources across neuroscience labs We want to hear from you about the sources of funding for your research.

Hi everyone! We are taking a look at the state of funding in the neuroscience field so we are looking for PIs to answer this survey. Please feel free to fill out and share with colleagues.

Ty!

Sosa Lab

The Sosa Lab website is now live!
www.sosaneurolab.com

We will be seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the growing team! If you are a rodent neuroscientist and interested in doing systems neuro work in the mountains 🏔️, please check out the "Join" page.

PIEZO channels link mechanical forces to uterine contractions in parturition Mechanical forces are extensively involved in pregnancy and parturition, but their precise roles and mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we identify mechanically activated ion channels PIEZO1 a...

New preprint alert! The uterus expands ~500-fold in pregnancy, yet we know little about how pressures are sensed. Led by @yunxiao-dr.bsky.social, we show PIEZOs are required for contractions and birth in mice, with dual roles of PIEZO1 in muscle and PIEZO2 in neurons
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Great news for science and for Stanford!! Laura’s research is amazing! 🤩

Thank you Abhilasha!!! 🤗🤗

Congratulations Chris!! 🥳 Excited to follow the amazing discoveries from your lab!

Will the Senate Save NIH? Rescuing biomedical research is every bit as important as saving Medicaid.

The proposed budget slashes NIH by ~40%, devastating medical research, clinical trials, treatment breakthroughs—life-saving work.

Thousands of lives at risk for tax cuts for the rich? NO THANKS.

Tell your senators to oppose the cuts HERE:
zurl.co/qiKdX


zurl.co/RCR0y
#CutsCostLives

Love them!!!

Expanded view of hippocampal function comes into focus After decades of debate, the region’s role is being rewritten. Rather than using sensory input to simply log key points in time and space, the hippocampus may serve to contextualize our experiences…

Great piece from @thetransmitter.bsky.social about the field’s current understanding of the hippocampus! Honored for the nod to our recent paper among these many other excellent studies www.thetransmitter.org/memory/expan...

Nobel laureate on how Trump's cuts are hurting science Neuroscientist, biologist and 2021 Nobel Prize winner Ardem Patapoutian joined Midday Edition to talk about how the Trump administration's effort to cut back on science spending is impacting researche...

I spoke with Jade Hindmon, host of @kpbssandiego.bsky.social Midday Edition, about the consequences of the current administration’s cuts to science funding. Please share to help spread the word and raise awareness.
www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb...

Sign The Open Letter to Stand Up For Science Now! Science is under siege. Join us in adding your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s escalated assault on science in America.

Add your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s latest Executive Order that appoints politicians — not scientists — to evaluate research.

Take action now! actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...

Judge rules against NIH grant cuts — and calls them discriminatory The decision means that the US biomedical agency has to restore funding to hundreds of research projects, but the government will likely appeal.

After ruling the NIH grant cuts were illegal yesterday, Judge Young, a Reagan appointee on the bench since 1985, ended the hearing with a blistering 15-minute speech.

I've cleaned up my notes — here are his remarks in full. 🧵

NIH cuts quash $323 million for neuroscience research and training “I am frightened for the state of the future of our field if this isn't reversed rapidly,” says Joshua Gordon, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former director of the National…

Neuroscience research and training has taken a $323 million hit in the form of grants rescinded by the U.S. NIH, according to an analysis by @thetransmitter.bsky.social.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/funding/nih-...

Thanks Oliver! It’s been a journey! 😅

Thanks Dan!! 😊

Locations of treats are stored in specialized neural maps Research from the Giocomo lab finds that mice create neural maps of the location of rewards, distinct

Check out a great summary of this work and its potential implications from @stanfordbrain.bsky.social! neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/locatio...

Finally, when the reward location changed, the reward-relative neural activity tended to update just before the animal's behavior fully adapted, suggesting this code could inform behavioral decisions.