Joy Franco, PhD

Even after 18 yrs of bike racing, it never ceases to amaze me what the human heart 🫀 can achieve. Oh, I guess I should also say thanks 🫁 .

It’s not easy coming back from vacationing in the best parts of Europe, but Boston’s automnal beauty certainly softens the blow.

Loved coming back to NE in full autumnal glory. Not even mad about the rain.

Folks whose jobs, postdocs or grad school fellowships or applications were cut short--drop them a line

One final vacation day before heading back home & it’s a big one: racing UCI Gravel World Championships. The course traverses some of the most beautiful farmland I’ve ever seen through Zuid-Limburg. Today is 100% all about just pushing myself to the absolute limit to see how hard & fast I can go.

Was given a very special chance to present our work at the Institut de l’Audition in Paris. It felt like such a magical experience & I don’t fully have the words to describe my gratitude other than to say: bless the PIs that give lil ole trainees like me big ole opportunities like this 😭.

Sharing some #auditory highlights from my visit to the Natural History Museum in Paris for all my fellow inner ear enthusiasts out there 🐌.

I’m especially taken with the how they managed to show « les labryinthes osseux »

Une obligatoire Américaine dans Paris truc.

Puis-je mettre ça sur mon CV?! 😂

Les vacances commence maintenant. Happy to report that everyone has been very kind and welcoming of my desire to practice speaking. Ce n’est pas facile et je suis très timide mais je l’aime vraiment beaucoup. Alors, j’essaie d’être courageuse 😇.

Great opportunity and submissions are a little down so nominate your outstanding recent graduate, worm peeps!

And since we’re chatting MBL, #MyMBLMoment was getting to see a hair cell dance thanks to Dr. Jonathan Ashmore at the Biology of the Inner Course… also fitting for #MicroscopyMonday

Applications for the Grass Fellowships at @mblscience.bsky.social are open! This is such a cool opportunity to work on an independent project at what is effectively the best science camp in the world. Something I wish I’d known about earlier. Reposting from the other place grassfoundation.org

What a race! Can’t believe I missed that one. Pretty sure this was her first time ever being at the tête of an elite Olympic race and what pressure to have Rissveds on your tail 🥵. Really exciting to see her progress.

And yeah, talk about a master class in bouncing back and never backing down 🔥

Thank you! 😭

Looks like @dacolon.bsky.social is hiring a postdoc. Reposting here from the other place because this is truly a great opportunity to do very exciting work with a renowned mentor.

What race was it? I saw the clip out of context and don’t want to search for it for fear of spoilers 😂

I just saw that clip today 😢 Really unfortunate esp because she truly is one of the most skilled XC riders for the US women right now.

#NewKitDay

Just 15 days till gravel world championships.

Want to support my journey? Help me reach my PMC fundraising commitment by donating before October 1st -> profile.pmc.org/JF0546

Funding op for grad students copied from the other place. Non X link to the app info: bit.ly/HF-application

HHMI adopts Plan U journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Good luck out there & feel free to reach out when in doubt! 🫶

Lastly: Plan ahead and leave time/room to receive and integrate feedback. Even the best prepared documents can often overlook key elements or benefit from a second set of eyes prior to submission. This isn’t just about typo checking. It’s about readability & captivating that target audience.

Tip 3: Zoom out at the end. Articulate how your work contributed to the broader mission of the lab. No need to overstate here, just show that you understand what this mission is and where your role fits.

Tip 2: invest time in finding powerful action verbs. The right word can convey crisp imagery that will help your reviewer understand WHAT you did. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a great resource for verb inspiration www.utica.edu/academic/Ass...

CRediT Contributor Role Taxonomy

Tip 1: reference Contributor Role Taxonomy. This is a great tool for understanding how the vague concept of "research" is broken down into clearly defined components and how these aspects are commonly described in STEM. This will help you articulate where you made contributions. credit.niso.org

Re tips for student researchers applying for programs: a big part of your app is describing the work that YOU performed in very specific terms but there’s often little guidance on how to articulate these ideas. Simply saying "I was the sole researcher" doesn’t tell the reviewer what YOU DID… 🧵

Weeps quietly in October NIH R01 deadline.

Ok one more for #MicroscopyMonday b/c it was a very fun afternoon. This is from live tissue. Auditory neurons in magenta & their friends (including satellite cells) in green. Big thx to @jessdixonneuro.bsky.social for being generous w/ reagents #ScienceSisters Imaged on FLIMmer @ HMS MicRoN core.

Sensorineural hearing loss in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome - PubMed We conclude that a significant number of patients with VKH experience sensorineural hearing loss and that every patient with VKH should undergo a review of systems for auditory abnormalities and refer...

More on VKH and hearing loss pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17003710/