Karla Kaun

It's difficult to know how motivated a fly is, and how motivated behaviors change with experience. To do this, we've been developing new ways to measure operant learning in flies, as described in our new Open-LA paper below.

Shaping of olfactory responses by taste in a new assay for operant learning in Drosophila melanogaster Summary: A new assay that characterizes subtle behaviors and assesses operant learning in freely behaving Drosophila reveals that olfaction more strongly influences stimulus-seeking behavior than tast...

Ever wonder how individuals decide what to eat & what to avoid? We used our novel #OperantLearningAssay (Open-LA) to let #Drosophila control their sensory world and study their motivated choices over time. Read my full work with @karlakaun.bsky.social & co-authors at doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

We make baggies of 1-3 cookies (depending on cookie size) and everyone brings a baggie for each person participating in the exchange.

Gingerbread cookie of a fruit fly with 'stained glass' wings

peanut butter cup cookies by Tim Mosca

Cookie flavor winner by lab baker Ari Bouchie

Members of the Kaun Lab

Friday was one of my favorite lab meetings of the year: the lab cookie swap. This year we had guest cookie appearances by @drosophilosophy.bsky.social and Thum lab PhD student Nadine Nowag. It was just too good not to share. www.kaunlab.com/post/2025-co...

Research Assistant opening The Kaun Lab is hiring new full-time Research Assistants!The position is ideal for someone interested in investigating how changes in gene regulation impact individual variation in addictive substance...

The lab is hiring Research Assistants to look at how changes in gene regulation impact motivation for addictive stimulants. www.kaunlab.com/post/researc...

Are flies a good model to discover and investigate mechanisms of treatments for alcohol use disorder? We validated known treatments and suggest a potential new treatment: gamma secretase inhibitors.

Professor Joel Levine Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada - Ecology & Evolutionary Biology The University of Toronto’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is proud to announce that Professor Joel Levine has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the highest h...

Boom, congratulations Joel

And getting to hang out with colleagues and chat about inspiring research is always the best part. @camronbryant.bsky.social @davidmoorman.bsky.social

The keynote lecture by @dgordonwinder.bsky.social was a huge highlight!

presented my first data blitz on our MDMA-assisted therapy work at the first new england addiction neuroscience (NEAN) research conference, hosted at brown. thanks to the organizers for the opportunity! @karlakaun.bsky.social

So grateful to have been a part of organizing the first New England Addiction Neuroscience Research Conference alongside @karlakaun.bsky.social, @dgordonwinder.bsky.social , @mariedoyle.bsky.social, & John Hernandez. I learned so much from the wonderful talks and the discussions they sparked!

And that's a wrap! I had a ton of fun at the inaugural New England Addiction Neuroscience Research Conference Friday and am looking forward to seeing everyone next year, if not sooner! newenglandaddictionconsortium.wordpress.com/annual-confe...

Coming up in just a few weeks! @karlakaun.bsky.social and colleagues have great things in store. Prizes available for trainee presentations. Spots are still available, so please consider attending! Looking forward to chatting about growing and connecting addiction neuroscience in the area.

Please join us!

If you are a mentor for Native students, please keep in mind that some students are staying connected with their ways of life. Not all, bc forced assimilation has led to some Natives being removed from land and family, so not every Native needs time like this.

I spent most of 30 years in the Lower '48 earning my degrees and getting training. During grad school I only had the funding and time to return every 3 years, on average. I've only been home in the winter once in the last 20 years, when my aunt died. Subsistence living is year round. I missed a lot.

US-CAN Doctoral Excellence Award Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

My university has announced a special international graduate fellowship for PhD students whose acceptance at a US university has been rescinded. Check it out: grad.uwo.ca/finances/wes...

Calling local addiction neuroscientists! I'm excited to be involved in @karlakaun.bsky.social's great brain child, this year's New England Addiction Neuroscience Conference, to be held on the Brown campus August 15th. Hope to see you there! See attached flyer for details and registration.

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯

Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below.

This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Karla giving a seminar standing in front of. A screen showing a fly with odor molecules represented as dots on front of its antennae

Seth and Karla standing in front of a medicine-themed Herky statue on the University of Iowa medical school campus

Advertisement for Karla's talk showing on a computer screen in the University of Iowa MERF building

Great visit yesterday from @karlakaun.bsky.social to the University of Iowa to give a seminar in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics' Current Topics in Genetics Seminar Series.

With support for mental health research under threat, clear communication is key to securing public understanding and support.

Thanks @ericjnestler.bsky.social, @karlakaun.bsky.social & Omar Abubaker for this insightful piece in @thetransmitter.bsky.social

Scientists turned out to Stand Up For Science at the State House in Providence. There’s power in numbers 💪.

To all parents of school age kids: University labs train nearly all people going into science in the US, which is about 25% of the US workforce. These budget cuts to the NIH and NSF means your kids won’t be able to get trained to be scientists. This crisis is putting your kids’ future in peril.

Dear All, I believe that this thread will become one of my most important contributions to the fly field (I hope I will make other contributions)! Here, I introduce the Soy Milk Machine Fly Food Method, a.k.a., DeepCook!#Drosophila#NewPI

Federal restrictions & funding freezes threaten vital research and halts scientific progress that benefits all Americans.

Join fellow #NeuroAdvocates in urging Congress to protect congressionally approved funding & ensure uninterrupted support for the scientific workforce.

👇 #NeuroSky

A Case for Addiction Science Advocacy Karla Kaun argues that addiction researchers should talk about their work in their everyday lives. Those conversations can shape how drug, tobacco and alcohol use is studied in labs, taught in schools...

Us scientists can advocate for how science brings hope in so many ways. I'm in awe of the advocacy work my colleagues at the Brown Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies do! carney.brown.edu/news/2025-01...

Neuroscientists need to do better at explaining basic mental health research The knowledge gap between scientists, health-care professionals, policymakers and people with mental health conditions is growing, slowing the translation of basic science to new treatments.

Neuroscientists need to do better at explaining basic #MentalHealthResearch. Opening lines of communication will help us understand people’s needs & identify barriers @ericjnestler.bsky.social @karlakaun.bsky.social Omar Abubaker via @thetransmitter.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/addiction/ne...

In your New Year’s resolutions for 2025, consider public outreach If every person in the neuroscience community committed to doing one thing, imagine the cumulative difference it would make.

Thank you for the motivation! www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

Omar Abubaker, Eric Nestler and I spoke about how science brings hope for those suffering from alcohol and substance use disorders at an Advocacy forum @sfn.org #SfN24. Our message is that as scientists we need to be better at communicating this. @ericjnestler.bsky.social

FlyBoard elections are open through Feb. 16, 2025. Please look for Genetics Society of America email: Select future FlyBoard leadership! Here is a link to access the candidate statements and ballot: genetics-gsa.org/2025-fly-boa...
Please repost.
#Dros25 @GeneticsGSA