Brian Trainor
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briantrainor.bsky.social
Brian Trainor
@briantrainor.bsky.social
Behavioral neuroscientist at Univ. of California at Davis. Studying stress, brains, puberty, and social behavior in a super large mouse. Here for science and other fun stuff. Trainorlab.ucdavis.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4627-5478
Great visit from former @ucdavispsych.bsky.social grad student Dr. Alexis Williams to talk about careers in science communication
November 4, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
Fully funded Ph.D. Opportunity - Behavioral Neuroscience @ TCU (Fall 2026)
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
November 4, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
4511 people at Davis No Kings
October 18, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Current vibes in Davis
October 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
Congratulations to Rebekah Rashford and team, it’s finally out! We tagged early life stress-activated neurons in VTA and found that chromatin those cells was much more open, even into adulthood, and that open CREs predicted greater gene expression in response to stress later in life
rdcu.be/eLa9z
Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA
Scientific Reports - Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA
rdcu.be
October 15, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
Woo-hoo!!! A win for the UCLA research community! A win for science! A win for sanity! calmatters.org/education/20...
Federal judge orders 500 health science grants at UCLA restored, rebuffing Trump’s suspensions
The ruling follows a string of orders since June that have restored hundreds of other UC research grants from multiple agencies
calmatters.org
September 23, 2025 at 2:13 AM
If you are funded by NIMH and only received 85% of your budget this year (like we did), check era commons to see if you have a new award notice. We just got the remaining 15% today.
September 23, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
If you run a life science lab where research has either significantly slowed or shut down completely due to Trump administration policies, I’d like to hear your story. I'm a biotech and life sciences reporter for @statnews.com, and you can reach me at jonathan.wosen@statnews.com #journorequest
September 10, 2025 at 5:08 PM
My health provider is giving Covid boosters next week. It was interesting to see that in making decision to give booster they do not mention CDC. Go science 🧪 🧬🔬!
September 12, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
I will work with any Republicans willing to put science and facts over politics and ideology to push out RFK Jr.

That man is a serious threat to public health and American lives.

It's never too late to do the right thing. Join me in calling for RFK Jr. to be fired immediately.
September 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
🧪 And House appropriators say: no cuts to NIH budget!

House subcommittee version just came out (link below). Holds NIH flat at $48 billion.

To be clear: this is far from over. But a good sign that science still matters across both sides of aisle.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!
September 1, 2025 at 10:37 PM
When I became a faculty member I had no idea how many letters I would write (grad/med/vet school, promotion etc). I've been told I write strong letters, here are some things I do to write the best letter possible
September 1, 2025 at 8:13 PM
July 17, 2025 at 4:07 AM
A collaboration with Taconic Biosciences E Jasarevic shows that loss of microbiota (germ free mice) reduces reproductive output across multiple mouse strains, associated with premature ovarian aging #SBN2025
July 14, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Social instability stress during adolescence increases negative cognitive bias and inflammatory markers in the brain @travisehodges.bsky.social #SBN2025
July 14, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Microglia can engulf oxytocin and vasopressin fibers within the brain modulating their availability to be released @neurokaty.bsky.social #SBN2025
July 14, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Early life adversity impairs microglia function and synaptic pruning of corticotropin releasing hormone neurons that promote active coping responses in male but not female mice @jessicalbolton.bsky.social #SBN2025
July 14, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Dietary fiber reduces inflammatory responses while enhancing microglia function -A. Ciernia #SBN2025
July 14, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Keep working until they take that pipette out of your cold unfunded hand @pegmccarthy.bsky.social #sbn2025 💪
July 14, 2025 at 3:45 PM
We have a responsibility as scientists to combat misinformation by speaking the truth to our neighbors and politicians @pegmccarthy.bsky.social #sbn2025
July 14, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
While I’m a big fan of new technologies that help us study human biology…there’s still no replacement for animal research! See my article in Gen News. www.genengnews.com/topics/trans...
Why We Still Need Animal Research in a World of AI and Organoids
The portrayal of uncaring scientists without any thought for the animals being used in their research is far from the truth.
www.genengnews.com
July 12, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
DO NOT GIVE UP!

Our advocacy is working.

A key Senate committee has indicated that it will reject Trump’s proposed cuts to science agencies including NASA and the NSF.

Keep speaking up and calling your electeds 🗣️🗣️🗣️
July 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Give it a try, you could actually get through to a person. Even leaving a message is helpful.
There is still time to save science funding. The key is to now call members of the Senate Appropriations Committee esp if you are a constituent:

Majority Members (15)
Collins, Susan M. (ME), Chairman
McConnell, Mitch (KY)
Murkowski, Lisa (AK)
Graham, Lindsey (SC)
Moran, Jerry (KS)
continued...
🧪 BREAKING (good news): Senate subcommittee says NO! to Trump's proposed slashes to NASA & NSF funding.

Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24.

See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it.

🧵 1/3
July 10, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Brian Trainor
Powerful story from Kate Zernike from the NYT

Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.

[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts
www.nytimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM