Lucas F. Fowler (he/they)

Congrats! These findings are so cool. 🧠😄

Screenshot of the article "Growing up in comfort: Enivronmental enrichment shapes maternal approach and sex differences in offspring neuroendocrine profiles in laboratory mice"

Congrats to Lucas Fowler & the Swift-Gallant Lab on their new Hormones and Behavior paper!. They show that larger cages & enrichment shape maternal approach and brain development in mice, with male pups showing greater benefits from enriched environments 🐭🧬🏠.

Read more: rb.gy/m94e6p

My masters research is published! I am so proud of the work myself and my lab mates put into this. 🐭🧬🏡

The mice. A great Christmas gift, featuring C57 and CD-1s; my girls.

Thank you!

Wow! So cool. Congratulations. The thyroid hormone transporter is super interesting. 🐁

They are the cutest.

No response when I emailed the editorial board about an inquiry…

So, you agree...you think people should be free to take hormones that make them feel better in their skin and improve their experience of life?

I was just asked to peer review a manuscript (from a legit journal) for the first time!

Somehow this feels like an ‘I made it’ moment. 🎉

Congrats to all recipients of this years' President’s Awards! This year, the Faculty of Science celebrates five recipients. 🎉

These awards shine a spotlight on folks who are among the most commendable members of the @memorialu.bsky.social community – read more here: gazette.mun.ca/campus-and-c...

Politics, Not Biology, Is Driving Legal Efforts to Classify Sex Sex is not one single, simple, uniform biological reality, so biology cannot be invoked as a basis for “immutable” legal classifications

"Sex is not one single, simple, uniform biological reality. Thus, biology cannot be invoked as a basis for such in legal terms."

Augustin Fuentes.

Does #Tylenol use during pregnancy cause autism?
Short answer: current evidence does not support a causal link.

Our latest Behind the Science blog breaks down what studies actually show, and why nuance matters.
🔗 Read more on the Women’s Health Blog: ow.ly/Tip550XIoPg

Research poster on perinatal nanoplastic exposure, maternal care, and offspring growth in a mouse model

I presented at my first toxicology conference this past weekend, highlighting some of my preliminary results from my work on perinatal nanoplastic exposure, maternal care, and offspring growth at the Society of Toxicology of Canada’s annual research symposium! 🐁🇨🇦

A diagram showing that pregnant female mice exposed to plastics in gestation have fetuses with sex-specific neuroendocrine-immune system disruptions

Congrats to PhD student Lucas Fowler & co-authors. Their new study shows that plastic exposure disrupts fetal neuroendocrine-immune systems in mice. Such disruptions overlap with those linked to neurodevelopmental disorders in humans. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018506X25001448 🧠🐁

A systematic review and experimental study of micro/nanoplastic-induced endocrine disruption in rodents: Potential links to autism spectrum disorder Recent research shows that microplastic (diameter < 5 mm) and nanoplastic (diameter < 1 μm) exposures can have endocrine-disrupting effects and lead t…

Read the full open-access paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Baby’s first, first-author publication! The work I led alongside my awesome co-authors is now published in Hormones & Behavior! This project kickstarted my Ph, and I will be expanding on these findings by investigating how plastic exposure can disrupt sexual differentiation in critical periods 🐁🧬

The NIH prescribing what data points scientists can collect is not how science works now

Nor how it should work in the future

It is the political manipulation of science

A hypothalamic circuit that modulates feeding and parenting behaviours - Nature Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of mouse hypothalamus and behavioural experiments show that specific hypothalamic networks regulate conflicting feeding versus parenting behaviours of female mice.

How do animals decide if they should forage for food or stay home to take care of newborn offspring? Whose needs come first? For my PhD work now out in Nature, we examined how hunger and parenting neurons interact and are reshaped postpartum in mice 🧵⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Better late than never… right? #SBN2025

Spatially coordinated predation with division of labor increases feeding success in killer whales The mechanisms of cooperative hunting in large marine predators are poorly known. Domenici et al. show that herring-hunting killer whales use spatially coordinated attacks with division of labor. By preferentially pairing up with long-standing partners, this cooperation bestows greater feeding success for paired than solitary individuals.

Spatially coordinated predation with division of labor increases feeding success in killer whales CurrentBiology

https://www.garnelio.de/spitzschlammschnecken-lymnaea-stagnalis

1/3 First evidence of anxiety in snails

They exhibit fear responses hours after the source of their anxiety is removed. These responses can be reduced with an anxiolytic, such as alprazolam. They have also demonstrated high-level learning.

(paper) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Tell me about it! Especially when they are citing sources that don’t exist or don’t even support the claim! 🤦🏻‍♂️

My first out-of-province conference! Looking forward to travelling to Vancouver and presenting my research on how environmental conditions can impact the brain and behaviour of mouse dams and their neonate pups, effecting the maternal-offspring dynamic! @sbn-bsky.bsky.social #SBN2025

🚨HUGE SCIENCE WIN ALERT🚨

NIH Grants to be restored en masse!!! Thank you Judge Young for standing up for science!

#StandUpforScience
#SummerFightforScience

The CPA convention is happening this weekend!

For those attending, see this MUN-specific schedule so we can support our own students and faculty!

Join us for the next installment of our Sex and Gender Speaker Series, where we welcome Dr. Samar Rezq from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Rezq will be discussing “The Role of Obesity in Androgen Excess-Mediated Renal Injury in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.”

Wow!

Maternal iron deficiency causes male-to-female sex reversal in mouse embryos - Nature Iron-deficient conditions in pregnant mice can cause XY mouse embryos to develop female rather than male genitalia, revealing that iron metabolism has a role in determining male sex in mice.

Nature research paper: Maternal iron deficiency causes male-to-female sex reversal in mouse embryos

https://go.nature.com/45fG1G1

Gender equality in research publishing is a responsibility for everyone A concerted effort is needed to support women in their choice of journal when submitting their manuscript.

Studies point to several reasons why fewer women than men are submitting their work

https://go.nature.com/3HlUFS8