Joel Boerckel
@jboerckel.bsky.social
Assc Prof @pennmedicine.bsky.social.
Co-Director, McKay Orthopaedic Research Labs.
Mechanobiology of development & regeneration.
Prov. 25:2. 🦛
Philadelphia, PA
Co-Director, McKay Orthopaedic Research Labs.
Mechanobiology of development & regeneration.
Prov. 25:2. 🦛
Philadelphia, PA
Pinned
Joel Boerckel
@jboerckel.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Why do babies kick in the womb?
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
writing is iterative. it pulls out your heart and stomps on it until eventually you wrestle it to the ground, just in time to put your heart back in and fall in bed sick for a week.
January 18, 2026 at 7:30 PM
writing is iterative. it pulls out your heart and stomps on it until eventually you wrestle it to the ground, just in time to put your heart back in and fall in bed sick for a week.
This is what you get if you search "opto-YAP" on google scholar.
✨Alternative Approaches✨
✨Alternative Approaches✨
January 16, 2026 at 3:57 AM
This is what you get if you search "opto-YAP" on google scholar.
✨Alternative Approaches✨
✨Alternative Approaches✨
There aren’t many gifts better than having your work written about by someone you admire.
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
January 15, 2026 at 12:14 PM
There aren’t many gifts better than having your work written about by someone you admire.
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Many thanks to @elizelzer.bsky.social for this clear and generous summary of our paper:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
NIAMS leadership out there fighting the good fight ❤️
January 13, 2026 at 12:50 AM
NIAMS leadership out there fighting the good fight ❤️
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
As we usher in the new year, we also wanted to celebrate the achievements of a giant in the hashtag#osteoarthritis community.
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
January 12, 2026 at 1:19 AM
As we usher in the new year, we also wanted to celebrate the achievements of a giant in the hashtag#osteoarthritis community.
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
Read more about Frank's legacy and the Frank Beier Graduate Opportunity Scholarship in this month's issue here: www.oarsijournal.com/article/S106...
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.”
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
January 11, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.”
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.
“You should consolidate your grant down to two aims” is my grant advice superpower. It’s amazing how often it works.
January 8, 2026 at 7:31 PM
“You should consolidate your grant down to two aims” is my grant advice superpower. It’s amazing how often it works.
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
January 6, 2026 at 11:29 PM
If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
I cannot get over how dysfunctional the now-required sciencv system is. It’s agonizingly slow, filled with errors, kicks you out repeatedly, and fails to save anything.
The current NIH in microcosm.
The current NIH in microcosm.
January 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
I cannot get over how dysfunctional the now-required sciencv system is. It’s agonizingly slow, filled with errors, kicks you out repeatedly, and fails to save anything.
The current NIH in microcosm.
The current NIH in microcosm.
You guys, we made it.
For all those playing along in the read-novels-from-19xy-in-20xy game, 1926 is the year we first met Hemingway (The Sun also Rises!) and Faulkner (Soldier’s Pay) and Nabokov (Mary).
A good year to play the game.
For all those playing along in the read-novels-from-19xy-in-20xy game, 1926 is the year we first met Hemingway (The Sun also Rises!) and Faulkner (Soldier’s Pay) and Nabokov (Mary).
A good year to play the game.
January 2, 2026 at 4:02 PM
You guys, we made it.
For all those playing along in the read-novels-from-19xy-in-20xy game, 1926 is the year we first met Hemingway (The Sun also Rises!) and Faulkner (Soldier’s Pay) and Nabokov (Mary).
A good year to play the game.
For all those playing along in the read-novels-from-19xy-in-20xy game, 1926 is the year we first met Hemingway (The Sun also Rises!) and Faulkner (Soldier’s Pay) and Nabokov (Mary).
A good year to play the game.
Thanks so much for the highlight @haoyin.bsky.social!! 🙌🏻
Commonly, tissue injury▶️local hypoxia
Bone fracture is an amazing exception☠️
Erythroid precursors pump up 🦴injury site oxygenation😎
Transferrin R1 Ab▶️
⏬Local hyperoxia
⏫Osteogenesis+Angiogenesis
🧵1/5
@amilangscience.bsky.social @jboerckel.bsky.social
#PNAS 2025
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
Bone fracture is an amazing exception☠️
Erythroid precursors pump up 🦴injury site oxygenation😎
Transferrin R1 Ab▶️
⏬Local hyperoxia
⏫Osteogenesis+Angiogenesis
🧵1/5
@amilangscience.bsky.social @jboerckel.bsky.social
#PNAS 2025
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
December 31, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Thanks so much for the highlight @haoyin.bsky.social!! 🙌🏻
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
Heads up I will be hiring a postdoc and some techs in the new year! Lots of ephys and fiber photometry. If you've got soon to graduate PhD students or undergrads, send 'em my way!
December 27, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Heads up I will be hiring a postdoc and some techs in the new year! Lots of ephys and fiber photometry. If you've got soon to graduate PhD students or undergrads, send 'em my way!
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
Look, I'm sure that Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey" will be fun, but I highly doubt it will be as good as the original.
December 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Look, I'm sure that Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey" will be fun, but I highly doubt it will be as good as the original.
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
Hey all, I reached out to the PO of my NIGMS MIRA to ask if the gov't shut down, and rescheduling of study sections, might allow for some accommodation to the standard rule that PIs cannot resubmit a MIRA while their MIRA (or other RPG) is under review (waiting in scores or summary statements) 🧪
December 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Hey all, I reached out to the PO of my NIGMS MIRA to ask if the gov't shut down, and rescheduling of study sections, might allow for some accommodation to the standard rule that PIs cannot resubmit a MIRA while their MIRA (or other RPG) is under review (waiting in scores or summary statements) 🧪
Why do babies kick in the womb?
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
December 16, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Why do babies kick in the womb?
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
Today I'm delighted to share our latest paper, led with great creativity by postdoc @cpane94.bsky.social, in wonderful collaboration with Niamh Nowlan at UCD Dublin.
"Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development"
A paper thread:
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
*New preprint alert* uncovering a mechanical pacemaker that synchronizes nephron formation with branching of the kidney's epithelial tubule tree. Read below to learn about this twisty journey lead by Sam Grindel and Sachin Davis in the lab. [Movie by Nils Lindstrom]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 13, 2025 at 12:08 AM
*New preprint alert* uncovering a mechanical pacemaker that synchronizes nephron formation with branching of the kidney's epithelial tubule tree. Read below to learn about this twisty journey lead by Sam Grindel and Sachin Davis in the lab. [Movie by Nils Lindstrom]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The path to this paper has so many stories.
Today I want to tell one about the value of saying so when you don't have the answer - and of the importance of community.
Today I want to tell one about the value of saying so when you don't have the answer - and of the importance of community.
Very excited to see our paper, led by @amilangscience.bsky.social, out today in @pnas.org!
This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn.
“Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.”
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn.
“Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.”
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche | PNAS
Oxygen tension dynamically regulates stem cell fate and tissue regeneration, yet how
local oxygen availability is controlled within the bone marrow...
www.pnas.org
December 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
The path to this paper has so many stories.
Today I want to tell one about the value of saying so when you don't have the answer - and of the importance of community.
Today I want to tell one about the value of saying so when you don't have the answer - and of the importance of community.
Had a major breakthrough in my grant proposal yesterday - by not writing. Sometimes not-writing is the best writing.
December 10, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Had a major breakthrough in my grant proposal yesterday - by not writing. Sometimes not-writing is the best writing.
Very excited to see our paper, led by @amilangscience.bsky.social, out today in @pnas.org!
This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn.
“Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.”
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn.
“Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.”
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche | PNAS
Oxygen tension dynamically regulates stem cell fate and tissue regeneration, yet how
local oxygen availability is controlled within the bone marrow...
www.pnas.org
November 13, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Very excited to see our paper, led by @amilangscience.bsky.social, out today in @pnas.org!
This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn.
“Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.”
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn.
“Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.”
www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...
My son is writing a report about viscous dampers and Newton’s Laws. He has asked for my help; I am in my glory.
October 21, 2025 at 1:56 AM
My son is writing a report about viscous dampers and Newton’s Laws. He has asked for my help; I am in my glory.
in college i did an engineering school study-abroad in paris. our assignment was to visit the louvre, decide what we would steal, and design a heist...
October 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
in college i did an engineering school study-abroad in paris. our assignment was to visit the louvre, decide what we would steal, and design a heist...
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
I call it “joyful rigor” when I explain this effort to my students. I don’t believe in or rather, I’m not a “suffering poet.” I’m a writer who enjoys writing. The work works on me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into the process at my own pace and to be changed by it.
That’s the other thing that baffles me about AI and creative writing, actually.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
In terms of process, I enjoy writing but revising????? Oh, that’s my real kink. A second or third draft???? A fourth???? Making tweaks on my desktop AND my phone???? *moans* I’m a WHORE for revision.
October 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I call it “joyful rigor” when I explain this effort to my students. I don’t believe in or rather, I’m not a “suffering poet.” I’m a writer who enjoys writing. The work works on me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into the process at my own pace and to be changed by it.
Reposted by Joel Boerckel
HUGE congratulations to Aboubacar Wague for 🏆 winning the ISFR 3-MT Research Pitch Competition today! Aboubacar presented his work on the anti-bacterial properties of Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors in infection control during fracture repair! 🦴🦠🔬 #bonehealing
June 26, 2025 at 4:13 AM
HUGE congratulations to Aboubacar Wague for 🏆 winning the ISFR 3-MT Research Pitch Competition today! Aboubacar presented his work on the anti-bacterial properties of Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors in infection control during fracture repair! 🦴🦠🔬 #bonehealing
Out latest preprint, from @cpane94.bsky.social in the lab, is out today!
Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
So excited for this one - a wonderful collab with Niamh Nowlan, supported by the US-Ireland Partnership Programme ❤️
Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
So excited for this one - a wonderful collab with Niamh Nowlan, supported by the US-Ireland Partnership Programme ❤️
June 19, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Out latest preprint, from @cpane94.bsky.social in the lab, is out today!
Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
So excited for this one - a wonderful collab with Niamh Nowlan, supported by the US-Ireland Partnership Programme ❤️
Maternal exercise rescues fetal akinesia-impaired joint and bone development.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
So excited for this one - a wonderful collab with Niamh Nowlan, supported by the US-Ireland Partnership Programme ❤️