Patrick Phillips

Very important paper for the geroscience hypothesis. Healthy aging is critical, even in the face of obvious disease states.

I don’t need to tell you, but one cool scaffolding idea is to take one example and to return to it at each stage of the course to slowly unpeel the genetics onion. Mouse coat color is perfect for that because you can go from transmission to molecular to biochemistry to population genetics.

Bateson and Punnett’s first example was rooster combs, which is cool. Mouse coat color is great because you can tie it directly to molecular function that explains the epistasis. Check out my 2008 NRG paper for examples and pictures. Also plant examples if you are into that kind of thing 😁

Homepage - Population, Evolutionary, and Quantitative Genetics Conference Visit our website to learn more.

Save the date! #PEQG26 June 9-12 2026 in Asilomar, CA. Happens only every 2yrs, but is my favorite conference. Full website coming soon, and registration and abstract submission opens November 14, but I'm allowed to tease that keynotes will be @jnovembre.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social and me!

"Random" variation in just a handful of genes explains differences in reproductive outcomes across genetically identical individuals. It's Ground Hog Day or Midnight Library for worms — if those stories also revealed epigenetic associations (I'm sure they were supposed to be in there someplace).

Just out in press in eLife, a cool and brilliant piece of work by @amywebster.bsky.social: Gene expression variation across genetically identical individuals predicts reproductive traits. elifesciences.org/articles/106...

Although other work, which I have also never published, shows that this domain can be much bigger than you would expect. (Other than that Dr. Fermat, how is your research going).

The situation that you describe is the physical manifestation of of that more general principle. And of course it will almost always be true within a certain small chromosomal region, say within the confounds of a gene.

Something that I discovered as a graduate student, but have never published. Formally, from a statistical point of view, dominance and epistasis are only distinguishable under linkage equilibrium. Otherwise they are confounded.

You become twice as spicy every ten years.

Your next, much more major test, is the Baroque Cycle, which I loved, but boy does it take a while to get rolling. I read these books and then read Cryptonomicon because I wanted to follow the story. This has to be the most oblique prequel ever written. Great read for scientists in particular.

New position in Developmental Neuroscience in the University of Oregon Department of Biology. There is also a neuroengineering search going on in the Knight Campus at the same time, so exciting buildouts in that area at the UO. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30255

Come be my boss! My dept. at GT is searching for a new chair. Drop me a line if you are interested, I'd be happy to talk about this position, GT, ATL- anything. It's a drama-free department filled with cool people in a dynamic city.

www.biosciences.gatech.edu/chair-search

Bittersweet to be leaving @docedge.bsky.social after a wonderful postdoc, but excited to share that I'm joining @uoregon.bsky.social next month as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Data Science.

Congress says they have our back...let's hold them to their word!

All gas, no breaks this August with the 31 Days of Action campaign.

Sign up for our daily action notes here: act.standupforscience.net/forms/31-day...

The point is that we are only seven months in and many things have already gone back and forth multiple times. Doesn't mean that it won't skid to the dirt, but even those pay lines could reverse at the last moment since the money is sitting there. Courts and Congress.

My point was that these things are on a fast cycle. It sucks that NCI folks (and others?) are in the 5% payline cycle, which may indeed persist. No where did I say that you should not be pissed. Targeted efficacious action through Congress at this very moment is what will shift the cycle back a bit.

Mostly continuing awards for me. The new award landscape is becoming very challenging. This is essentially a zero funding stance, so we should be seeing those patterns emerge shortly. Very sorry that you are in this situation. There does seem to be a cycle to this, which adds extra randomness.

My students will testify that your GIF game also makes you a man after my own heart 😆. Decided to tone down the bitmoji's a few years ago.

8. A day may come when the courage of scientists fails, when we forsake our colleagues, and break all bonds of mutual support, but it is not this day. 9/9

7. So keep your head up the best that you can. Every scientist has succeeded via raw persistence and dog headedness. Discouragement is the intent. We are not at that point yet, and people are in the trenches every day fighting to keep it that way. 8/n

6. So my general take is that new funding is clearly being slow walked and changes in policy are intended to limit investment, but the system is still grinding forward. Initial steps by congress are promising so supporting those efforts remains key. 7/n

5. I have also served on or chaired 5 or so NIH study sections and/or workshops since January. I have tried to say yes most times when I can. The broader community continues to be fantastic at this important work, and the SROs again remain dedicated to the task of moving things forward. 6/n

4. Tracking information from @jeremymberg.bsky.social has been critical to my understanding of the situation, even ironically keeping me calm by knowing that we are all in the same boat when things ebb and flow. We are lucky to have him helping to serve as an extremely credible spokesperson. 5/n

3. The POs for NIGMS and NIA have been phenomenal (as well as NIBIB, which is an aspiration for us). They have been very calm and reassuring, even as I know that their individual lives are very challenging. We are very lucky to have these staff and should be fighting for them whenever possible. 4/n

2. We have had some NOAs that are two months overdue (i.e., people working without funding) and some that have come in right on time with no warning. The pattern seems to simply follow the national landscape of when the NIH as a whole is issuing funding or not. 3/n

1. My situation is obviously unusual and is the result of working broadly across fields as well as working on service-oriented U-awards. I also work on worms and so tend to have many small grants rather than a couple of big ones. So this is not a flex, but instead intended to provide hope.

I've now received five NIH notice of awards for new or continuing grants since January. Almost enough data to detect some patterns. Here are a few observations. 1/n

L’Orangarie is in a hotel. Surprised if it is closed, but maybe. Pleasant seating around a central courtyard. Not super fussy (but still formal).

There are multiple Michelin star restaurants near the Arc de Triomphe, so you are going to need to figure out your target range for dinner.