James Gagnon

Congratulations!!!

Neuro grad students! Applications for the 6th annual - Rising Stars in Neuroscience - due Jan 9!

Don’t miss this chance to present research, sharpen science communication skills and connect with peers & faculty. Plus you’ll get to experience stunning Utah!

medicine.utah.edu/neurobiology...

We have a new preprint on bioRxiv from postdoc Delai Huang and colleagues. It's not about peacocks. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

MathJobs from the the American Mathematical Society Mathjobs is an automated job application system sponsored by the AMS.

I'm hiring a postdoc through Utah Math. Deadline Dec 15.

If you work in math/comp bio (SciML, stochastic modeling, single-cell data), please apply! Vibrant math bio community & unbeatable outdoors.

Mention me in your cover letter & reach out with any questions. www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/27...

it only takes one ...

***Important***
BIO will host a Virtual Office Hour (VOH) on Thurs, Dec 18th, 2025, 1 - 2 pm ET.

In this VOH, we’ll be joined by leadership to outline updates to NSF’s review process & share news relevant to all areas of research funded by BIO.

Register here: nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/regi...

Development's Pathway to Independence Programme Our grants support and encourage the sharing of knowledge throughout the community by facilitating international collaboration, event attendance and the organisation of scientific meetings, conference...

Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions:

Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building

Spread the word...

www.biologists.com/grants/devel...

SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT

is this the basis of handedness??! 🤯

YouTube video by John Rawls Zebrafish in the wild

Part 6: For decades, the zebrafish has helped scientists unlock the mysteries of genetics, development, & disease. But the fish that power most discoveries have spent generations inside lab tanks. This video captures footage of zebrafish in their natural environment in Nepal.
youtu.be/cCZhZpPALqw

Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...

I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A

An illustration comparing a kingfisher beak to a high-speed train

An engineer wanted to make a quiet high-speed train. “The question then occurred to me — is there some living thing that manages sudden changes in air resistance as a part of daily life?” The answer: the kingfisher. See my story today for more tales of bioinspiration. Gift link: nyti.ms/4otNQyl

Sperm sequencing reveals extensive positive selection in the male germline - Nature A combination of whole-genome NanoSeq with deep whole-exome and targeted NanoSeq is used to accurately characterize mutation rates and genes under positive selection in sperm cells.

Now published! Our paper on:
(1) Accurate sequencing of sperm at scale
(2) Positive selection of spermatogenesis driver mutations across the exome
(3) Offspring disease risks from male reproductive aging
[1/n]
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Awesome, congratulations!

we will find out ...

FY2023
NIGMS R01 23.2% funded
NIGMS R35 53.1% funded

A cat flea in mid-jump, drawn with Micron pens using a crosshatched technique. The drawing is in a sketchbook, which is on a wooden table with glasses, pens, and eraser next to it.

Cat flea, homage to Hooke. Micron in Moleskine. 🔬🖊️

You can get denominators from Table 205A.

FY2024
NIGMS R01 14.4% funded
NIGMS R35 49.7% funded

One of your future coworkers in the Currie Lab, an adorable axolotl.

💥OUR LAB IS HIRING!!💥

We are hiring a research assistant/lab manager to assist with managing our axolotl colony and enabling some kick-ass science! Looking for high levels of organization, collaboration, problem solving and curiosity.

Application link: tinyurl.com/3tpvphpm
#SciJob #JobAlert

1🧵
Excited to share my first PhD paper, published in @dev-journal.bsky.social
What if fish gills —often overlook —hold secrets about development, patterning, and function?
We uncovered how early patterning shapes adult gill architecture.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

#DevBio #Zebrafish

Tenure-track faculty positions in Neuroscience - Columbus, Ohio job with The Ohio State University, Dept of Neuroscience | 39081 Faculty studying mechanisms underlying normal nervous system function and/or how these mechanisms and interactions are affected by disease or injury

Come be my colleague in the department of neuroscience at OSU. We are hiring for an open rank tenure track faculty position in several focus areas.

neurojobs.sfn.org/job/39081/te...

Just keep thinking about fish

Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 across 𝟲𝟬 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social

Welcome back!!! Let me know if you'd like to get a coffee any time, I'm on sabbatical in Human Genetics, one building over :)

I must have watched this a hundred times over the years. So good

maybe that is cheating with a cartoon

Ooo fun! How about hox conservation

Woo! Keep up the great work !

Voices: Federal funding cuts to genetic research will be devastating for years to come Proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation “would cause immense and largely irreversible damage to the successful American scientific enterprise,” write Jerry Kaplan and Dana Carroll in an op-ed.

Proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation “would cause immense and largely irreversible damage to the successful American scientific enterprise,” write Jerry Kaplan and Dana Carroll in an op-ed.

Woohoo congratulations!!! This is so exciting! Let me know if you need anything or visit before January!!