Penn State Department of Biology

Join us tomorrow! Arrive earlier for cookies and coffee, bring your mug!

Today!

Dr. Timothy Currier, Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine is scheduled to present a seminar on Wednesday, February 18 at 12:00 – 1:00 PM W203 Millennium Science Complex titled: “Deciphering the synaptic constraints on visual processing.”

Join us next week for amazing seminars:

Dr. Kelsey Tyssowski, a Research Associate at Harvard University is scheduled to present a seminar on Monday, February 16 at 12:00 – 1:00 PM in W203 Millennium Science Complex titled: “The neural basis of the evolution of dexterity in deer mice.”

We’re lucky to have you, Joan 💙 #PennStateBio #PostdocSpotlight #HealthyAging #WomenInSTEM

Looking ahead, Joan hopes to manipulate these pathways to enhance memory in aging brains — work that could inform future treatments for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Her advice:
“Find research you love — and a lab that respects you. Don’t sacrifice your mental health.”

Day-to-day life as a postdoc looks like:
🐭 Mouse handling & behavioral assays
🧪 Surgeries and tissue work
🔬 Immunofluorescence + confocal microscopy
🧬 Protein biochemistry
✍️ Grants, papers, and lots of reading
True bench-to-brain science.

Her research asks how memory forms at the molecular level.
She studies how the protein lamin B1 interacts with histone deacetylase 3 in hippocampal neurons to regulate gene expression during memory formation — and how this relationship changes with age.

She came to Penn State University for its strong aging research community and was supported in her first year by the GDPC (brainhealth.ssri.psu.edu) — helping her find the perfect home for her postdoctoral work.

Joan first fell in love with research as an undergrad at UC Berkeley and later discovered her passion for the biology of aging during grad school at Rutgers–Newark.

🔬✨ Postdoc Spotlight: Dr. Jiyeon “Joan” Baek
Meet Joan, a postdoctoral researcher studying how the brain forms memories — and how these processes change with age. Her work bridges aging, neuroscience, and gene regulation.
A quick thread 🧵👇

Come join us today at this special seminar

Come join us for the seminar today! Hot coffee, tea and cookies offered prior to the seminar!

This transformative gift helps keep a Penn State degree within reach and advances our land-grant mission. Learn more 👇
👉 science.psu.edu/news/development-and-alumni-relations/story/55-million-estate-gift-will-support-scholarships/
#WeArePennState #Scholarships #AccessAndOpportunity

🎓💙 Penn State will soon expand scholarship support thanks to a $55 million estate gift — the second-largest commitment in University history — benefiting Pennsylvania undergraduates with financial need across every college and campus.

It's tomorrow!
Come join us

Join us for our first Biology Department seminar of the semester:
🎤 Cecile Viboud (NIH)
🗓️ Jan 13 | 12 PM | 8 Müller Lab
Evolution, Immunity, and the Predictability of Respiratory Virus Epidemics

Welcome back, everyone! 🌿
The Biology Department is starting the semester with our first seminar — come reconnect, learn, and celebrate another term of great science together.

Warblers borrow color-related genes from evolutionary neighbors, study finds | Penn State University A new study has uncovered several instances of wood warblers — some of the most colorful birds in North America — passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are no...

🔗 www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...

#Evolution #Genomics #Warblers #BiologyDept #PSUResearchers

Scientists found gene introgression across species that influences bright plumage colors like yellow and red — shedding light on rapid evolution in these songbirds. 🧬✨ Read more 👇

📢 New research from Penn State Bio shows wood warblers borrow color-related genes from evolutionary neighbors — helping explain their dazzling diversity! 🎨🕊️

We celebrated the start of 2025 with dinner and bowling! 🎳✨
Grateful for the wonderful community that makes Penn State Biology such a great place to learn, work, and grow.

Join us today!

Can Animal Super-Agers Teach Us Their Secrets? Some animals seem to defy the rules of aging. Understanding how they do it could help us live longer, healthier lives.

PSU Biology’s Manny Vásquez discusses how animals like bats and whales hold clues to slowing aging — from cancer resistance to exceptional longevity.
Check out the segment to learn how comparative biology could shape the future of human health.
🔗 sciencefriday.com/segments/animal-fountain-of-youth/

#GradSchool #PennStateBiology #Ecology #Evolution #MolecularBiology #LifeSciences

🎓 Thinking about grad school?
Join the vibrant research community at Penn State Biology! 🌿🔬
We’re accepting applications on a rolling review basis through Dec 10, 2025 for Fall 2026 admission.

Learn more & apply 👉 science.psu.edu/bio/grad/how...

✨ This week, grad students held the Eberly Research Showcase – “From Molecules to Galaxies”, bringing together researchers across all departments for a day of inspiring, cross-disciplinary science.
Huge thanks to everyone who presented, organized, and attended! 💙

👏 Please join us in congratulating Daniel, Hong, Laura, and Laurel on these exceptional accomplishments!
#PennStateScience #Biology #HighlyCitedResearchers #SimonsFoundation #Neuroscience #RisingStars

🔹 Laurel Seemiller, postdoc in the Crowley Lab, was selected as one of The Transmitter’s 25 Rising Stars in Neuroscience. Her work on adolescent binge drinking is supported by an F32 NRSA fellowship from NIAAA.