Danielle Spitzer
dspitzer.bsky.social
Danielle Spitzer
@dspitzer.bsky.social
🧬👩🏻‍🏫 Teaching Assistant Professor at Pitt BioSci ⭐️💙 Biology nerd enthusiastic about evidence-based and inclusive pedagogy. She/her.
Pinned
My PhD work from @hariharanlab.bsky.social is finally out in @dev-journal.bsky.social! We investigated an interesting paradox: how can reduced function of the adhesion molecule Echinoid (Ed) cause seemingly opposite phenotypes—overgrowth and elimination—in different contexts? (1/8)
The cell-adhesion molecule Echinoid promotes tissue survival and separately restricts tissue overgrowth.

Read this #OA Research Article by Danielle Spitzer
@dspitzer.bsky.social , William Sun, Anthony Rodríguez-Vargas, and Iswar Hariharan:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
Issue 15 is complete!

On the cover: When echinoid (ed) mutant clones (white) and wild-type twin clones (red) are generated in the developing Drosophila eye (right), the mutant tissue is eliminated. See Research Article by Spitzer et al.

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
August 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
Don’t lose your Ed: adhesion molecules in growth and survival

This Research Highlight showcases the work from Danielle Spitzer, William Sun, Anthony Rodríguez-Vargas, and Iswar Hariharan:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
August 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
To find out more about their work, we spoke to first author Danielle Spitzer @dspitzer.bsky.social and corresponding author Iswar Hariharan, Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, USA:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
August 8, 2025 at 10:57 AM
My PhD work from @hariharanlab.bsky.social is finally out in @dev-journal.bsky.social! We investigated an interesting paradox: how can reduced function of the adhesion molecule Echinoid (Ed) cause seemingly opposite phenotypes—overgrowth and elimination—in different contexts? (1/8)
The cell-adhesion molecule Echinoid promotes tissue survival and separately restricts tissue overgrowth.

Read this #OA Research Article by Danielle Spitzer
@dspitzer.bsky.social , William Sun, Anthony Rodríguez-Vargas, and Iswar Hariharan:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
August 7, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
The cell-adhesion molecule Echinoid promotes tissue survival and separately restricts tissue overgrowth.

Read this #OA Research Article by Danielle Spitzer
@dspitzer.bsky.social , William Sun, Anthony Rodríguez-Vargas, and Iswar Hariharan:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
August 7, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
Important to note that this work (and nearly all US based biomedical research) would not have been possible without funding from the #NIH.
May 8, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
First Bluesky post! I'm excited to share a preprint from my postdoctoral work where we 1) define the developmental mechanisms guiding formation of a vagal gut-brain circuit and 2) discover that this circuit regulates much more than just appetite. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ontogeny of the vagal gut-brain axis
Gut-brain communication is a key component of homeostasis which regulates behaviors such as appetite and reward. Intestinal entero-endocrine cells (EECs) translate nutrient intake into signals which a...
www.biorxiv.org
May 8, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
It's Monday again, but try not to have a "bat" attitude 🦇 Instead, check out these views of a bat embryo showing developing cartilage and vasculature!

The image was captured by previous #MBL Embryology student @dspitzer.bsky.social with a ZEISS Axio Zoom.V16 microscope and an Axiocam 702 camera.
March 31, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
I quit my job at the NIH last month, in large part because it seemed like I could no longer honestly write about topics like health equity. so I wrote about it for Slate instead 🧪 slate.com/technology/2...
I Just Quit My Job at the NIH. Slashing DEI Is Going to Haunt the Future of Medicine.
We’d only started to correct a major gap in understanding.
slate.com
March 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
Want to join the UNC Biology teaching faculty team? We’re hiring a new TAP! Please share. unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/297...
Teaching Asst or Teaching Associate Professor
The position calls for teaching three classes per semester, which may include fundamental classes for biology majors such as cell biology and genetics, and biodiversity (ecology, evolution, and organi...
unc.peopleadmin.com
February 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
The University of Pittsburgh confirmed Friday that there would be no new Ph.D. offers of admission while Pitt works to understand how reduced federal aid could impact the institution.
The University of Pittsburgh pauses its Ph.D. admissions process amid research funding uncertainty
A spokesperson for the University told WESA Friday that the school has "temporarily paused additional Ph.D. offers of admission," while Pitt works to understand how proposed federal funding cuts could...
www.wesa.fm
February 21, 2025 at 9:56 PM
One perk of being a teaching prof is not needing to worry about the NIH grants…or so I thought. Took 10 mins at the start of class today to teach a crash course on biomedical research funding in the US. Many students said they were confused about what they've been hearing in the news. 1/4
February 13, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
Hello, Bluesky! 🌟 We're thrilled to join this community and share the latest in #BER and #DBER research, events, and more. Let’s connect!
December 6, 2024 at 7:23 PM
On my to-do list for today: "write exam question about how genetics can be weaponized for eugenics." How convenient that I check the socials and this is today's main topic. Ugh.
April 10, 2024 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Danielle Spitzer
Please consider donating to Black Matters, a project w/ Science Communication Lab about being a Black scientist & much more (similar to Picture A Scientist).

I know many of us don’t have spare cash. But I hope you’ll consider giving what you can!

secure.givelively.org/donate/scico...
February 12, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Every semester in my lesson about the autonomic nervous system I pretend to give my physiology students a pop quiz. Instant activation of sympathetic physiological responses. It's mean but...they never mix up sympathetic vs parasympathetic after that 😈 muahahhaha
February 6, 2024 at 7:39 PM
Grades submitted! First semester teaching is in the books!! Time for a nice long nap 😴
December 19, 2023 at 3:19 PM
Today at work I realized I was wearing the same outfit as the bathroom
December 8, 2023 at 11:40 PM