Izabella A. Pena, PhD 🇧🇷🇨🇦

Just a reminder that vaccines are safe and the best tool to protect you and your loved ones from sickness. More than 1.2 million pregnant women vaccinated against Covid-19 (including myself) and research shows clear benefits from mother and baby. #vaccinesAREsafe

By the way - congratulations to our MSc student Maanas Vankalapati for his acceptance to med school!!

I feel incredibly fortunate to work alongside such brilliant and kind trainees and colleagues. Here's to the exciting discoveries and collaborations ahead!

#science #collaboration

My lab (1st photo), together with the Djaoud lab (2nd photo) took a little break from the lab to enjoy the stunning fall colors and crisp air at Gatineau Park. It was a refreshing gathering, full of connection and shared appreciation for each other, celebrating the accomplishments this past semester

A photo of and quote by Jane Goodall: “ it actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”

RIP Jane Goodall. Fellow difficult women everywhere salute you.

A screenshot of a post by the Jane Goodall Institute on LinkedIn stating that they learned that Dr. Goodall passed away due to natural causes in California while on her speaking to her current speaking tour there.

The world has lost its most powerful advocate for nature and hope. Yet many remain who will continue her legacy and I know she will continue to inspire generations more.

A friendly reminder from the Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus), who weighs 9 grams on a good day…

Never give up.

a man pointing to a sign that says believe ALT: a man pointing to a sign that says believe

I haven’t shared this before but it is worth remembering - the day I was offered my first position leading a lab/core (at Yale), with a substantial start up, I was rejected from a Portuguese institution my application got 60%.

Faculty positions are not dependent on you alone - keep trying.

(Attenborough voice)

Behold the majestic splendor of the North American Rescue Mutt, master of all he surveys in this suburban yard

“You can get a other job, but you cannot get another soul”.

We’re all getting so emotional here! 🥹Time moves so fast - congratulations to all graduates! Savour this moment! #uograd25

Celebrating the first MSc graduation from my lab, Rahima Hasmani! It was a truly wonderful experience to mentor you through your science journey. I’m very proud of you and I’m excited to follow your next journey! Viva! #uoGrad25

Samantha Anthony: Career breaks should be supported, not feared - The BMJ We owe it to ourselves and to our patients to take time out when we need to As I near the end of a one year career break, it has [...]More...

Samantha Anthony: Career breaks should be supported, not feared

'We owe it to ourselves and to our patients to take time out when we need to'

#PermittedToPause

blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2018/03/...

YouTube video by Amanpour and Company Breakthrough Prize-Winning Biochemist on the Deadly Cost of Funding Cuts | Amanpour and Company

David Liu @harvard.edu beautifully articulates the criticality of basic science funding for developing revolutionary therapeutics like life-saving base editors 👏

youtu.be/8YhJM6zxYDw?...

Cool! And very curious!!!

How much ultra-processed food do you eat? Blood and urine record it Samples could provide an objective measure of diets and help to unravel their contribution to disease.

Molecules in urine and blood can reveal how much of a person’s diet comes from ultra-processed foods

https://go.nature.com/4kybHea

Marsupial research reveals how mammalian embryos form Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have revealed insight into why embryos erase a key epigenetic mark during early development, suggesting this may have evolved to help form a placenta.

“demethylation isn't universally required for formation of an early mammalian embryo, because the opossum embryo develops without being fully wiped of this epigenetic mark…wiping may have evolved specifically for the development of the placenta.”
#ReproSky #Placenta

www.crick.ac.uk/news-and-fea...

Are you based in the U.S. 🇺🇸 or Canada 🇨🇦 and thinking of doing research in Europe?

ERC grants offer up to €4.5 million to support groundbreaking, investigator-driven frontier research in all fields.

Watch the dedicated info session for researchers in your region👉 youtu.be/92QYink1Lik

#ChooseEurope

First Patient Treated with Personalized CRISPR Therapy, Developed in Just Six Months The first on-demand CRISPR therapy for an infant with a rare metabolic disease developed by the IGI and collaborators around the world.

This is what can be achieved today due to longstanding federal support of academic basic science alongside close partnership of universities, private industry and NIH intramural initiatives. An ecosystem worth not just saving but doubling down on!

innovativegenomics.org/news/first-p...

Patient-Specific In Vivo Gene Editing to Treat a Rare Genetic Disease | NEJM Base editors can correct disease-causing genetic variants. After a neonate had received a diagnosis of severe carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency, a disease with an estimated 50% mortality ...

Whoa!!

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

It was a great conference! Thanks so much for organizing!!! Looking forward to next year’s!

What a great day of zebrafish research! Thanks to everyone who shared their amazing work at the 3rd CZRC and congrats to our award winners!

The Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah is sponsoring the Rising Stars in Genetics and Genomics symposium!

- We are seeking nominations bu June 1.
- September 18-19, 2025
- Please share with the star postdocs that you know.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Ages 0-4 are the most important, emotionally & intellectually, in human development.

Yet, in the US, we have a very high rate of childhood poverty and a broken child care system.

Congratulations to New Mexico for leading the way forward for high quality, free child care. Other states must follow.

Very nice work, congrats Jason!

Just had an incredible week at the Bellairs Research Institute, McGill, discussing CRISPR and functional genomics with brilliant folks. It was, without a doubt, the best scientific meeting I've ever attended! Super small and informal meeting, with plenty of time for discussions and work at the beach

Hahahah omg I love this

Today we learned the Diels-Alder Reaction

Photo featuring a white woman sitting crossed legged wearing white shirt and trousers sitting on and in front of a huge textile artwork resembling an eco system in greens browns and blue

Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão's large-scale handwoven artworks using techniques of her ancestors such as latch hook, crochet and felt needle with recycled materials #womensart

National Letter Open Letter from Canadian Researchers to the Federal party leaders Click here to sign this letter See who has signed - version française se trouve à page 3 - Dear Party Leaders We, the undersigne...

Dear Canadian researchers, faculty, RAs, PDFs and grad students, this letter is for the federal party leaders asking them to defend and expand Canadian research sovereignty with a historic investment in science, please sign and share
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Microbial metabolite drives ageing-related clonal haematopoiesis via ALPK1 - Nature ADP-heptose binds to ALPK1, triggering transcriptional reprogramming and NF-κB activation, endowing pre-leukaemic cells with a competitive advantage due to excessive clonal proliferation.

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