Fred Wolf

Imprisoning children is child abuse. No matter how a child arrived in our country, we should not use government resources, taxpayer money, to abuse and traumatize children.

Author spotlight thread!
This study was heroically led by @qsb-uc-merced.bsky.social grad student Jesselynn LaBelle who consistently pushed for our work to be quantitatively rigorous. She is looking for a postdoc position! Her interests are mathematical biology, image analysis, and microscopy. 1/6

No NCE button for R15s nearing their end date—1st NCEs need prior approval through the NIH Prior Approval Module. More steps, delays, and stress since active R15 PIs can’t be PIs on other NIH grants. Nothing I submitted in 2025 has even been reviewed/decisioned. I guess it was nice having a lab.....

New paper alert! We report that #zebrafish endodermal cells use contact inhibition of locomotion as a dispersal and spacing mechanism. It’s a neat example of large-scale patterns emerging from local interactions using a simple set of rules. Summary in the thread below 1/9
doi.org/10.1016/j.is...

I handwrite markup the article PDF on an iPad, export the messy PDF to a searchable database, and summarize my notes in a very long text file (with embedded references). Rewriting the notes is what makes information stick for me, I suspect. Wish I could take your course!

Hungover and awake Monday morning? Been daydrinking?? Come to Lina Garcia's poster #SfN2025 to learn how the first drink creates memories and impacts your sleep (well, if you are a fruit fly)! LBP167 (program LBP051.08) late-breaking poster session H.08 – Drugs of Abuse and Addiction.

Sad that even biorxiv is falling victim to AI slop

UC Merced biologist Néstor Oviedo is exploring how the brain may hold the key to controlling cancer.

Supported by a $2 million NIH grant, his lab is studying how molecular signals influence the earliest stages of cancer development. 🔗 ucm.edu/orzdvg

The incredible @doc-brock.bsky.social, @qsb-uc-merced.bsky.social @ucmerced.bsky.social alumni, is guest teaching my grad prof skills class today!

Excited to announce our new pre-print (www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...)!

This collaborative work (co-led by Adriane Otopalik and Gerry Rubin) examines how neuronal circuits regulate social behaviors, like courtship🫶 and aggression🥊, across sexes. #neuroscience #Drosophila #WomenInSTEM 🧪1/

Grew up under a dictatorship, they attacked expertise first. This is alarmingly familiar. Trust in expertise is the foundation of modern civilization. Even as a researcher, I rely on expert knowledge I could never master in a lifetime. Rejecting that isn’t freedom, it’s how societies collapse!

Happy to be hosting NeLLi scientist Frederik Schulz for a QSB grad program @qsb-uc-merced.bsky.social JGI/RENEW seminar here at @ucmerced.bsky.social today! And you should sign up for this excellent symposium too.

Just in time for the Cold Spring Harbor Neurobiology of Drosophila meeting - read up on the receptor for the best neuropeptide, ever, NPF/NPY, and thirsty water seeking.

Male CNS Connectome A team of researchers has unveiled the complete connectome of a male fruit fly central nervous system —a seamless map of all the neurons in the brain and nerve cord of a single male fruit fly and the ...

www.janelia.org/project-team...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

NSF GRFP solicitation is finally up. Life Sci deadline extended to Nov 10 but 2nd year grad students no longer eligible www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

A new large study of alcohol intake using genetics (Mendelian randomization) finds a dose-response relationship for risk of dementia with no protective effect at low levels of intake
ebm.bmj.com/content/earl...

Way to go Andy!

I’ve tried three NJ pharmacies and none of them have the Novavax COVID vaccine. Is availability very limited? The mRNA vaccines take me out for 48-72 hours every single time, and Novavax doesn’t. I don’t have time to sleep for 3 days! 💉

Recently 'retired' umbrella bio chair here: Do other programs allow PI's w/o funding to admit students? Historically we have (esp eco/evo), but unionized TAship salaries are high cost to the U, & TAships are being reduced. Like to help btw grant PIs, & keep have/have not split minimized.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

While full solicitation isn’t up, looks like we have 2025 proposal deadlines for the GRFP: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Please help me to celebrate Mei Zhen, an innovator and tremendous collaborator, named to the Royal Society of Canada Academy of Science on September 4, 2025

These 10 rules for teachers and students really good! Adopted all but one (because of course we all get to make the rules)

We are looking forward to the 2026 #Alcohol GRC in Ventura, CA! The main meeting starts Feb 22, 2026 (GRS Feb 21-22). For both, we will be selecting additional invited talks from the submitted abstracts. For consideration, submit your abstract by Oct 10! #alcoholGRC2026 #alcoholGRS2026

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

Still no NSF GRFP announcement for this year. Another week or two and the program is going to be effectively cancelled, because students will not have time to prepare. Any chatter out there about whats going on???? www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

MCDB Opens Search for Faculty | U-M LSA Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) MCDB welcomes applications at the Assistant Professor level from outstanding biological scientists in all areas of physiology and neuroscience, spanning molecular, cellular, systems, and organismal le...

Tenure-track assistant professor position in neuroscience or physiology at University of Michigan LSA Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB): lsa.umich.edu/mcdb/news-ev...

Smells like Oracle adoption

Class starts on Monday and I'm trying to write GRFP draft deadlines into the syllabus... Is this even happening?

Still nothing about this year's NSF GRFP. Will there even be any?

As a young man I used to think it would be a shame if humanity didn’t get off Earth and spread across the galaxy.
Now I understand that (a) we definitely won’t and (b) that’s a very good thing. No other sentient species should have to deal with us

If you haven't already, ask (or have your campus legal counsel ask) your congressperson to advocate on your behalf.