Evan C. Brooks, Ph.D.

So much of what’s wrong with our society is grounded in anti-Blackness—the governing ideology of this thing we’ve called democracy.

An excerpt from Adam Bonica’s Substack post critiquing a New York Times editorial. Bonica highlights how the Times dismisses academic research as “overly complex” and “disconnected from voter perceptions.” The quoted section from the editorial claims academic debates involve “statistical complexities” too hard for most people to follow and that researchers rely on “messy” data producing “bizarre results.” Bonica argues this preemptive dismissal is telling, suggesting the Times needs to discredit research showing that the electoral benefits of moderation have largely disappeared.

One tactic these data guys use online is to dismiss academic work they don’t like by calling it “overly complex” or “disconnected from reality.” I call this anti-rigor propaganda. It’s a move to sour people on serious scholarship when you don’t have better evidence.

Adam addresses it in the piece.

Dismantling the Institutional Review Board (IRB), that oversees all human subjects research, is bad. Really bad.

Source: @kylec.bsky.social
An amazing crowd and photo.
No Kings, Denver, Colorado.

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

“Epithets like “f----t,” “retarded” and “n--ga” appeared more than 251 times combined”

If you ever had any doubt that the youth wing of the GOP is fully radicalized and proudly racist these days:

Just here to remind everyone that while the federal government is shutdown, all study sections at the NIH are currently on hold. Another blow to science and to early career scientists like myself with young labs and research groups. Very hard to remain positive about this career path.

What’s especially wild (legally) about this is that NSBP, NSHP, and SACNAS have always welcomed people of all backgrounds, including white people. NSHP has had a white president, my SACNAS leadership institute class has several white members, and NSBP has a sizable white membership.

Half of the lab attended #SCGDB2025 and had a great time! @ecbrooks96.bsky.social

A recent report from Louisiana shows us what we already know: noncitizens voting is not a problem. Election safeguards work.

Image showing a CALL FOR PAPERS for a special issue of Developmental Biology on "Receptor Tyrosine Kinase signaling in Development".

CALL FOR PAPERS! 🧪

DB Special Issue highlights new insights into receptor tyrosine kinase signaling during development, with a focus on cell-cell interactions & signal transduction in the regulation of cell growth and division, differentiation & morphogenesis.

Submit here: tinyurl.com/RTKDevBio

Judge Issues Ruling Helpful to Harvard in Case Against Trump Harvard had sued the Trump administration in an effort to restore billions in research funds that the government canceled this spring.

Breaking News: In a win for Harvard University, a judge said that the government broke the law by freezing billions of dollars in research funds.

A dual role for GLI3 signaling in neural crest development https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.31.673339v1

Me, currently writing a paper on a topic that I’m still learning about while on a healthier diet plan (aka less amounts of my usual cheat snacks that helped me write my dissertation)

🎉 The Midwest SDB Regional Meeting is happening soon! Join at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for exciting developmental biology from across the Midwest. 🧬 Registration deadline: September 2nd ✨. More information here: www.midwestsdbincincy.org #MIDWESTSDB25

For my next story with @thexylom.com, I'm looking to interview researchers and science professionals who have left the U.S. for Asia due to Trump. They can be Asian nationals who returned to their home countries, or Americans who are seeking greener pastures overseas.

Please email or DM me!

They recovered over 180 bullet shells at the CDC. Debris from shattered glass is still being cleaned up. I am completely stunned at how quickly the news cycle has moved on. This was an act of terrorism targeting public health experts, and the response seems to be a collective shrug.

🐣Chick embryo (Gallus gallus domesticus): a window into vertebrate development. From heart and limb formation to neural crest migration and axis patterning, this model has been cracking the developmental code for over a century. Image by Vincent Pasque #ModelMonday #DevBio

ChatGPT is not a PhD-level expert because it coughs up fake citations and frequently doesn’t know what the hell it’s talking about to the extent that I’d expect a PhD-level expert to.

Authenticity, Racial Discrimination, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation Among Young Black Men, United States, 2024 | AJPH | Vol. 115 Issue 9 Objectives. To examine how perceived authenticity may buffer the impact of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among young Black/African American men. Methods. In 2024, ...

I’m excited to share our new article in AJPH exploring how perceived authenticity is a protective mechanism against the negative impacts of racial discrimination, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, among young Black men.

Access the article here: ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/... 🙂

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Modelling Neural Crest Anomalies (mouse/human) - the Node The Liu lab is looking for a postdoc with a love of embryos and developmental biology! This post is part of an MRC-funded collaboration between Karen Liu’s lab at King’s College London and Marco Trizz...

Dev biologists! 3-yr postdoc position at King's, collaboration with Trizzino lab @marcotrizzino.bsky.social modelling CHD3 neural crest. We are looking for postdocs with mad embryology skills @the-node.bsky.social #developmental @ccrb27.bsky.social

thenode.biologists.com/jobs/postdoc...

Join us for the Midwest SDB Meeting in Cincinnati.
Abstract submission deadlines:
For talk consideration: 8/7/25
For poster: 8/22/25
Registration deadline: 9/2/25

We are currently seeking to hire a new faculty member at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor to join our collegial, research-intensive Department. Job posting: cu.taleo.net/careersectio...

Real adulthood is asking for money for a new tooth (aka dental implant) for my birthday and Christmas this year lmao

18 year old me would’ve never thought that I’d be asking for that at 28 lol

Registration and abstract submission are open for the SCGDB annual meeting in Minneapolis! Deadlines: 8/25 abstract for short talk, 9/7 abstract for poster, 9/7 registration. More information at scgdb.org.

"Science is a process, not an output" would look mighty fine crocheted

people need to take more responsibility for “we literally made it illegal for teenagers to hang out outside of the house or school”

You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale, where every purchase will financially support bookstores, NOT billionaires 🥳

I am so grateful to @hypothesisfund.bsky.social for this honor. I am excited about the work we will be doing to decode the decisions that cells make:
Should they stay or should they go? Phenomenal to be chosen alongside @drstarbird.bsky.social! 🤩 #DevBio #CellBio #NeuralCrest

Not taking anything away from Senator Padilla because he was treated atrociously

But I JUST want to remind everyone that the Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, a Black woman, was just indicted for just asking questions at an ICE detention center in her state

Keep that same energy of support for her

Not that it matters, but my MOSAIC was scored a 14. Reviewed in study section w non-MOSAIC K99s. I'm to write another grant that may not be funded, that doesn't provide transition to faculty funds, instead of doing the work that was reviewed so highly?

That's the best use of time & tax payer money?