Michael P Hart 🏳️‍🌈 (he/him)

Natural variation in Caenorhabditis elegans collective behavior reveals potential adaptation to novel environments Recent advances in quantitative approaches to behavior have enabled rigorous trait measurements that allow us to understand how behavior evolves in multiple taxa([1][1]–[7][2]). However, placing these...

And together with work from Serena Ding on variation of the behavior in wild C elegans isolate strains, completes a survey of social feeding in our favorite nematodes! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Conserved autism-associated genes tune social feeding behavior in C. elegans Nature Communications - C. elegans aggregate in large clumps during feeding. Here, the authors find conserved autism-associated genes mediate distinct molecular and circuit signaling components...

This new work gives broader context for @maracowen.bsky.social's paper on social feeding and conserved autism genes in C. elegans!
rdcu.be/eQMoB

Variation in Social Feeding Behaviors and Interactions Among Caenorhabditis Nematodes Different species of roundworms (nematodes) are frequently found together in the wild and can aggregate in groups while feeding. We find that different species of worms display a range of feeding beh...

A fun evolution and behavior project initiated by a summer undergrad Reina Eugene (PGSIP intern!) with Dustin Haskell - Variation in Social Feeding Behaviors and Interactions Among Caenorhabditis Nematodes @penngenetics.bsky.social @ecol-evol.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Amazing!! Should blow it up and frame it!!

In the October issue of #GENETICS, @michaelphart1.bsky.social and colleagues report #Celegans mutant analysis that identified conserved #autism genes with functions in experience-dependent neuron remodeling and circuit plasticity. buff.ly/ZrxH4rM

In #GENETICS, @michaelphart1.bsky.social and colleagues performed a mutant screen in #Celegans to identify conserved #autism genes with functions in experience-dependent neuron remodeling and circuit plasticity. buff.ly/f5UYogl

CAJAL enables analysis and integration of single-cell morphological data using metric geometry - Nature Communications Cell morphology is one of the most described phenotypes in biology, yet systematic quantification and classification of morphology remains limited. Here, the authors present a computational approach f...

Also thrilled to continue an awesome collaboration with
@camarapg.bsky.social (@penngenetics.bsky.social) using the #CAJAL algorithm to analyze >1000 DVB neuron reconstructions from the screen!! (original CAJAL paper = doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39424-2)

Stay tuned for follow-up mechanistic work exploring H4K20 methylation as a regulator of neuron remodeling involving set-4 (KMT5B), and a bunch of conserved synaptic genes!!

Multiple autism genes influence GABA neuron remodeling via distinct developmental trajectories Abstract. Variation in over 100 genes are now associated with increased risk for autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions, but how this variation r

Do you like neuronal #plasticity? #genetics? #Celegans? Check out 1st installment of work by Kristi Zoga in the lab. Kristi screened 20 conserved #autism genes for roles in experience-dependent #neuron remodeling and a related behavior.
doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaf156

Awesome, excited to see it @ethanewe.bsky.social !!

This all checks out. As a donor, the endless fundraising texts and emails I receive after donating make me donate LESS!!! Figure out a better way to not piss off unit supporters @housedemocrats.bsky.social

🔗 Check out the full paper:
www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltex...

📢 Read the Science coverage:
www.science.org/content/arti...

💙 Excited to keep pushing this conversation forward!

Feature article on latest work from @tdrivas.bsky.social Genetic testing of critically ill adults yields surprises—and reveals disparities in treatment of Black patients | Science www.science.org/content/arti...

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Learn more at votesaveamerica.com/run

SCIMaP - Impacts of Federal Cuts to Science and Medical Research Developed by an interdisciplinary research team, this website shows how funding cuts reduce economic activity and employment nationwide

The White House's proposed FY26 budget would cut NIH funding by >40%. Our new #SCIMaP report projects the budget would lead to economic losses throughout the US with $10M+ lost in almost every House district.
scienceimpacts.org/fy26

@joshuasweitz.bsky.social @asinclair.bsky.social @cl10.bsky.social

(5/5)

🚨 It’s time to flood the zone.

NIH scientists just took a huge risk speaking out. Now it’s our turn.

📜 Read the Bethesda Declaration
✍️ Sign the Public Letter of Support
👯‍♀️Follow NIHers doing the work: @nihvigils.bsky.social

Read and sign here 👉 www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...

"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.

Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."

Devastated by the loss of my amazing friend and colleague Laura Grafe (@grafelab.bsky.social, Bryn Mawr). She was beautiful, brilliant, and bursting with life! Her love and light burned so bright, it will forever be with everyone who was lucky enough to know her. Rest In Peace @pennngg.bsky.social

Beyond excited to host @dacolon.bsky.social today for the Distinguished Seminar Series at @pennmedicine.bsky.social @penngenetics.bsky.social!! Come see a terrific talk at noon!

RFK pushes to find 'environmental' cause of autism, calls rising rates an 'epidemic' Researchers and advocates have pushed back at what they consider inaccurate and stigmatizing comments made by the health secretary, and note the causes of autism are complex.

Researchers and advocates have pushed back at what they consider inaccurate and stigmatizing comments made by the health secretary, and note the causes of autism are complex.

RFK Jr. Calls Autism ‘Preventable,’ Drawing Ire From Researchers The health secretary said he would prioritize studies into environmental causes while harshly discounting other factors scientists say are likely contributing to rising rates of the condition.

Ire isn't the right word... he is wrong and is stigmatizing 1 in ~40 children. 'Kennedy called research into the genetic factors in whether a child will develop autism “a dead end.” “Genes don’t cause epidemics,” he said. “You need an environmental toxin.”" www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/u...

‘Treated like a criminal': US citizen says he was detained returning from Canada Bachir Atallah, a real estate attorney from New Hampshire, says he and his wife, Jessica Fakhri, were stopped crossing from Canada into Vermont

"After nearly five hours, he and his wife were released. They are now pursuing legal action.

"It's not about the immigrants," his sister, told NBC10 Boston. "It's coming to us Americans, and it's going to go after all of us."

www.nbcboston.com/news/politic...

So excited to host @singhvilabglia.bsky.social (One of my favorite scientists to spend time with!!) tomorrow for the @pennngg.bsky.social and MINS seminar!! Come learn about glia!!

A genotype-first approach identifies high incidence of NF1 pathogenic variants with distinct disease associations - Nature Communications Our current understanding of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is based on patients ascertained through phenotype-first approaches, which estimate a low prevalence at 1 in 3,000. Here, the authors levera...

Patience, collaboration, and perseverance pay off! Our investigation of the population prevalence of NF1 pathogenic variants is out today in @naturecomms.bsky.social! We find these variants are much more common than anticipated and confer increased risk for cancer.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Join the C. elegans Community Mentor Match Program! Join the C. elegans Community Mentor Match Program! sign up for mentors sign up for mentees and to join peer-mentoring groups https://forms.gle/DpGTWRMrNGL96wHy8 https://forms.gle/pVBD5DYGXyLT4waLA

attention worm peeps! we need YOU to help recruit more mentees for the C. elegans Community Mentor Match program! 🪱🧪 mentees of all stages are welcome to join!

Please help us sign up more mentees by sharing this this slide with your lab in your next lab meeting!

docs.google.com/presentation...

Amazing support for SCIENCE with so many familiar faces! (Dog, sign, and picture courtesy of @glennislogsdon.bsky.social) @tdrivas.bsky.social @korblab.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social #standupforscience2025

Wonder what it would be like to present your research at a conference attended by #NobelPrize recipients? See them in the hallway & have a chance to chat? Hear about their illustrious work that earned them this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine? This is your chance!

1/3🧵

Philly-area lawmakers walk out of meeting with Penn president over DEI cuts A Pennsylvania state senator and state representative left the meeting after they say a university administrator referred to diversity as a “lightning rod.”

Not great… not great
whyy.org/articles/pen...

Philadelphia Stand Up For Science! #standupforscience2025

Friday, March 7 · 11am - 1pm
Philadelphia City Hall

standupforscience2025.org

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE March 7, 2025. Washington DC and nationwide. Because science is for everyone.

Join the @standupforscience.bsky.social rally on March 7 to help protect the American scientific enterprise & defend science as a public good that drives social, political, & economic progress. Learn more & find your local site: https://buff.ly/3EWhSZM #standupforscience2025 #scienceforall