Ryan Hernandez

Event details: Wed, Jan 30 | 9 am–1 pm PT (12–4 pm ET), virtual via Zoom. Can’t attend? A senior postdoc can represent your lab. Follow‑ups encouraged.
Faculty deadline: Dec 10, 5 pm PT
Sign up: propelscholars.org/matchmaking-...

Why your time matters: Shrinking PhD cohorts and curtailed NIH Diversity Supplements mean fewer opportunities for strong applicants. Even a 10‑minute chat with faculty helps them hear the science, refine interests, and stay in the game.

Constraints are real: many campuses have hiring freezes, and exceptions are often possible. Funding can shift—today’s conversation can become a future match.

Unsure about hiring? Please join. The MME is a first step—not a commitment. Early conversations create options and keep pipelines moving.

Multi‑campus partnership: OHSU • UI • UCSF • UW–Madison • VCU. Join to meet top candidates across our network and build your pipeline of future scientific leaders.

Who are the scholars? Exceptional postbacs aiming for PhD/MD‑PhD/PharmD‑PhD—spanning a wide range of biomedical research interests (wet lab, computational, translational, clinical). Record interest: largest cohort yet (168).

What is the MME? A virtual, fast‑paced series of 10‑minute conversations where faculty meet recent grads for full‑time research roles and identify strong lab matches.

Faculty at OHSU, UIowa, UCSF, UW–Madison, and VCU: Your next amazing mentee could be one 10‑minute conversation away. PROPEL Virtual Matchmaking Event is Jan 30: 9–1 PT. Faculty registration deadline extended to 5pm PT on Wed Dec 10: propelscholars.org/matchmaking-...

"Prebunking works by exposing people to the techniques used to create misleading arguments before they encounter them in the wild."

Play on Princess Bride, converting ROUS (rodents of unusual size) to VOUS (variants of unknown significance).

Amazing to be at the #CAGI7 conference. As a data PRODUCER, no less! Fascinating discussions about variants of unknown significance, and how to get rid of them. Sad they are almost always acronymized as VUS, and only once was it VOUS.

My quote of the day

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

Abraham Lincoln

A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...

Did you publish with researchers outside your lab during grad school? Or published as faculty with a student not under your supervision?

I’m collecting examples of cross-lab collaboration in graduate training.

Please share your experience & this post!

Repository: bit.ly/4pT66BE

YouTube video by Erick Matsen Agentic Coding for Scientists (Dec 2025 edition)

The era of coding agents is here. How do we approach this as scientists?

Wednesday Dec 10th at 9am PT I'll livestream an interactive demo of what I have learned (matsen.group/agentic.html) about how to leverage agentic coding to do rigorous science.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbhs...

"I love Slate! Everything is so intuitive and seamless!!"
- No grad program director or program manager I've ever met...

For those who attempted to submit your apps to PhD programs and have gotten strange errors, my apologies for the added stress... Folks are working hard to resolve issues!! 🤞🏽

I have a new preprint demonstrating a genome-architecture-aware approach to inferring species trees and introgression landscapes from a small number of genomes. If you are interested in phylogenomics, birds, or hybridization, this is for you! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Photo of the book "A Primer of Molecular Population Genetics" authored by Asher D. Cutter and published by Oxford University Press

It's the home stretch teaching undergrad Evolutionary Genetics with @aneil-agrawal.bsky.social using my Primer of Mol Pop Gen text! Grateful it's free for all 67 of our students courtesy @uoftlibraries.bsky.social LMK if you use it and suggestions for improvements! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Records: WMU police called twice to aid Kneeland Western Michigan University police were twice called to perform welfare checks on former Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland while he played for the school.

Reminder to everyone - mental health issues and depression generally do not just magically go away - it is important to be vigilant if you or ones you love have or are going through such issues www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered Not with a bang but with a whimper

I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵

PROPEL builds community in science! Hear directly from our scholars at our 5th annual PROPEL Symposium!

For the first time in my career, I can’t tell people to trust what the CDC website says. And that is an incredibly sad and devastating place for this country to be.

The Autism-Microbiome Hypothesis Is Falling Apart Why this new review paper should be required reading for every microbiome researcher

I wrote about the recent autism-microbiome paper, why I think it's the most important microbiome paper this year, and what it says about the field

open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...

The 2026 EMBL symposium 'Reconstructing the human past using ancient and modern genomics' is live with a fantastic invited speaker lineup!

Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉.

Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.

On official UC letterhead: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA James B. Milliken President Office of the President 1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607 universityofcalifornia.edu CAMPUSES Berkeley Davis Irvine UCLA Merced Riverside San Diego San Francisco Santa Barbara Santa Cruz MEDICAL CENTERS Davis Irvine UCLA San Diego San Francisco NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES November 18, 2025 Dear Chancellors: I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive. As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California. Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines. Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership. [continued on next image]

After learning more about the history and success of the program and weighing the thoughtful perspectives that have been shared, I have concluded that barring extraordinary financial setbacks, the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program will continue while the University continues to assess the program's structure as well as its long-term financial sustainability. As a result of our continuing consultation and review, there may be consideration of some changes to elements of the program including the total number of incentives supported, a number that has fluctuated significantly over the years, and how the awards are distributed among campuses. In the meantime, the University will continue to fund the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program and campuses may continue to take advantage of these incentives. We will have an opportunity to discuss any potential changes prior to adoption. As we look to the future, I will continue to engage with faculty leaders, program stakeholders, and UC community members about this important program. I especially appreciate the thoughtful perspectives shared in recent weeks by Academic Council Chair Palazoglu and Vice Chair Scott, the Council of Graduate Deans, UC faculty members, and you as our campus leaders. Sincerely, James B. Milliken President

WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)

Why we made Affinity free, and how we’ll keep it that way We’ve made Affinity completely free, empowering professional designers with studio-grade creative software, supported by Canva’s sustainable ecosystem.

I'm a longtime fan of Affinity Designer as an affordable Illustrator-killer for figures, and... it's now free?! www.canva.com/newsroom/new...
Highly recommended if you're sick of paying Adobe $. Maybe Canva can buy NPG too and get rid of the OA fees.

Judge indefinitely bars Trump from fining UC over alleged discrimination The Trump administration demanded UCLA pay $1.2 billion to restore frozen research funding and ensure eligibility for future funding after accusing the school of allowing antisemitism on campus.

Judge bars Trump from fining University of California over discrimination : NPR share.google/ZrIFMLciT7ct...

Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.

Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.

I wish more people would understand that real progress and innovation lies in using everyone’s potential, not just the few…that is where the real strength lies. The question is always, who is really benefiting from the status quo…let’s follow the money, shall we?

The Real Reason DEI Programs Failed According to Civil Rights Icon Bryan Stevenson YouTube video by Katie Couric

Powerful conversation on Next Question with Katie Couric from September: The Real Reason DEI Programs Failed According to Civil Rights Icon Bryan Stevenson. www.youtube.com/watch?app=de....