🍁 Bryan Heit, PhD 🍁

A country road, lined with leaflets trees and snow covered shoulders. A lead grey sky is overhead.

Selfie of a very winded old dude with a grey beard, in a hoodie, wearing a bike helmet, trying not to fall. A gravel road, lined with snow and pines, in the background.

First ride of 2026. Slightly chilly!

Returned to work this morning after a long weekend. First email in my inbox was an acceptance letter for a paper! Not a bad way to start off the week. Its under an embargo, so I can't say more, but we're really excited about this one!

Oh I know, this is our 8th year raising these buggers. Our buck got through the electric fence back in September, so we're a few months early on when we'd prefer them to be born.

Two newborn goats in a jacuzzi-style bathtub, standing on yellow and blue towels

#Goat update. It was too cold last night, so they spent the night in our bathtub.

A large mommy goat, grey-brown in colour, with two babies. One is brown with gray ears. The other is a brownish-grey with white moon spots

Two baby goats in a blue hut with light from a heat lamp coming from above

Wasn't expecting to come across 2 new #goats when I went out to do chores tonight. Looks like someone was having sex through the electric fence.

Happy Valentines Day, Gracie, I guess....

The sequel is also excellent!

I do a big cloning/recombinant protein section in my 3rd year micro lab course, complete with all those calcs. It's always a surprise to those students when they come to my lab for their honors where our "calculations" for cloning volumes is basically vibes and laziness.

The damage its already done to education alone will take a generation to recover from.

A real loss to our country.

a woman in a pink dress is dancing on a stage and saying `` i still got it '' . Alt: a woman in a pink dress is dancing on a stage and saying `` i still got it '' .

My cloning worked!

An ugly and dirty Ikea lamp

I'm sitting under one right now. It's gotta be 20 years old. Ugly as sin, full of dead bugs, but it just won't die.

Five shaker bottles filled with a red-brown sauce in front of a green mixing bowl filled with shredded cabbage .

Bottled my smoked habanero #hotsauce that I started fermenting back in September, and I got a fresh batch of #sauerkraut started.

Five mini-fermenters, each containing a unique yeast.

Beer going into the large fermenter

Final #brewday of 2025 is in the bag. This is my annual teaching beer that I ferment with 6 different yeasts, which are then used as aroma samples in my course on industrial fermentation. A fun way to explore yeast biochemistry! This year I'm using a Czech style pilsner as the base beer.

There is some evidence that chickenpox is associated with dementia...which given that the virus persists in nerves is not all that unexpected.

I had a small patch of shingles a few years ago, about the size of the palm of my hand, on my back. Even the lightest t-shirt hurt, and putting on a parka felt like running a blowtorch down the side of my back. You do not want that - and I cannot imagine the pain of a larger outbreak.

Did I do this right? #icestorm

Congrats! 🎉

Come work with us. Huge strengths in MRI, neuroscience and musculoskeletal health and their intersections such as pain, child development or ageing. Preclinical and clinical research and translation are also big opportunities. Shoot me a note if you have questions.

Western is seeking outstanding leaders for the Canada Impact+ Research Chair program. Candidates in AI, cybersecurity, and other advanced technologies are of interest to Western Computer Science. If you are interested, please reach out or see ad below. Applications considered starting Jan 19 2026.

I've literally spent two days reading papers, just to make sure the last sentence I wrote is actually correct...only to delete that sentence the next draft.

It's happening! Canada launched two programs to recruit international researchers.

Canada Impact+ Research Chairs (1 million/yr for 8 yrs +)
Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders.

I will do my best to facilitate the process for those interested. Hit me up.

www.canada.ca/en/impact-pl...

A brown ale in a nonic pint glass, held infront of a brightly lit Christmas tree

It's the most wonderful time of the year...by which I mean it's the time of year when my brewing club does our big advent exchange. I've been under the weather, so I'm playing catch-up, but here's beer #1 - an abbey-inspired winter ale 🎄 🍺🍻 🎁

It's a great series!

Oldest Brewing School In The US Leaving For Canada, Citing Trump Visa Restrictions The Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy, which has been in Chicago for 157 years, is relocating to Montreal next year. Trump's proposed changes to student visa policy have been li...

One of North America's best known brewing schools is moving from Chicago to Montreal!

Bienvenue au Canada!

blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/21/o...

Sealing Chambers GeneCone chambers, HybriWell sealing chambers, ONCYTE Film-WellT for cell based microarrays, HybriSlip hybridization cover, MultiSlip cell culture coverslip inserts, Secureslip cell Culture coverslips...

I think these are similar: www.emsdiasum.com/secure-seal-...

Also, we've used 3D printing to make microchambers for mammalian cell microscopy and recently have experimented with printing directly onto glass - that may be an alternative as well.

That's pretty cool!

It's unethical (& in most jurisdictions, illegal) to include people in trials who are at a high known risk for adverse events. That said, the trial size is more than large enough to capture MCAS at rates noted in COVID patient cohorts.

The work you "wish" would be done is, and has been, done. For decades (in general) and since the early 2000s for mRNA vaccines specifically. The issue isn't that this work isn't being done - it's that you're not aware of this work and therefore assumed incorrectly that no one is doing it. /end

You stated that a rare side effect has only been known about for 15 years and therefore not enough research has been done. In reality, it's been investigated for nearly 50 years to the tune of over 800 studies. /1