Jeff Lewis
@lewislab.bsky.social
Interested in understanding how organisms sense and respond to stressful environments, and why some individuals are more sensitive or more resilient. he/his
Pinned
Jeff Lewis
@lewislab.bsky.social
· Sep 26
Assistant Professor Cell Biology
Current University of Arkansas System employees, including student employees and graduate assistants, need to log in to Workday via MyApps.Microsoft.com, then access Find Jobs from the Workday search ...
uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
Very excited to announce that our department is now accepting applications for a tenure track faculty position in Cell Biology: uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UASYS/...
Come join our wonderful department!
Come join our wonderful department!
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
A CR until January 30th at FY24 levels will mean continued ultra conservative funding policies at the NIH. Expect the MYF "policy" to continue too. Not a great scenario considering the appropriations bills on the table look promising.
November 10, 2025 at 1:06 AM
A CR until January 30th at FY24 levels will mean continued ultra conservative funding policies at the NIH. Expect the MYF "policy" to continue too. Not a great scenario considering the appropriations bills on the table look promising.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
This kind of inconsistency is often used to lift up a few women without helping all, maintaining misogyny. How many other women, and non-white people, could have had a similar effect given the chance or opportunity? We will never know.
November 8, 2025 at 10:50 PM
This kind of inconsistency is often used to lift up a few women without helping all, maintaining misogyny. How many other women, and non-white people, could have had a similar effect given the chance or opportunity? We will never know.
The Acknowledgements sections from papers of that era, through even the 80s, are truly maddening. Having had this pointed out to me many years ago has made me much more aware of how to be fair about authorship in my own lab. So thanks @merz.bsky.social for highlighting this.
November 7, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The Acknowledgements sections from papers of that era, through even the 80s, are truly maddening. Having had this pointed out to me many years ago has made me much more aware of how to be fair about authorship in my own lab. So thanks @merz.bsky.social for highlighting this.
Is it okay to be skeptical of peer-review AI trained on real human reviewers? Considering the variable quality of reviews and the ever-increasing demands for additional experiments that largely do not change main interpretations. I respect the idea, but worry that it will exacerbate revision costs.
Excited to launch an openRxiv partnership with the scientist-run AI review service qed (@qedscience.bsky.social), the brainchild of @odedrechavi.bsky.social 1/n
openrxiv.org/enabling-rev...
openrxiv.org/enabling-rev...
Enabling options for review: from training and transparency to author-centered AI tools - openRxiv
Peer review is widely viewed as a critical aspect of biomedical communication. Ideally, it provides authors with feedback so they can improve manuscripts and gives readers, particularly nonspecialists...
openrxiv.org
November 6, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Is it okay to be skeptical of peer-review AI trained on real human reviewers? Considering the variable quality of reviews and the ever-increasing demands for additional experiments that largely do not change main interpretations. I respect the idea, but worry that it will exacerbate revision costs.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
obviously, it's unclear what will happen with the final budget but the Senate appropriations committee explicitly blocked the MYF plan in their proposed budget while the House committee doesn't mention it in theirs
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
www.science.org/content/arti...
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
www.science.org/content/arti...
November 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
obviously, it's unclear what will happen with the final budget but the Senate appropriations committee explicitly blocked the MYF plan in their proposed budget while the House committee doesn't mention it in theirs
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
www.science.org/content/arti...
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
It’s nuts not to acknowledge that readability and clarity matter. Or that attempts to evade page / font limits by throwing in massive descriptive “figure legends” at 6pt won’t irritate the fairness nerve
October 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM
It’s nuts not to acknowledge that readability and clarity matter. Or that attempts to evade page / font limits by throwing in massive descriptive “figure legends” at 6pt won’t irritate the fairness nerve
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
I encourage you to read the replies to this post, even — especially — if you did not know Zara.
Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.
November 1, 2025 at 2:05 AM
I encourage you to read the replies to this post, even — especially — if you did not know Zara.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
We get amazing combination a lot. I actually think much of it goes back to a deep misunderstanding: people believe you must have mechanism to show causality. And you don't. And there is no forum in which you can just-in-time train them on this foundational concept.
October 28, 2025 at 7:23 PM
We get amazing combination a lot. I actually think much of it goes back to a deep misunderstanding: people believe you must have mechanism to show causality. And you don't. And there is no forum in which you can just-in-time train them on this foundational concept.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
As an author, I frequently encounter reviewers who should be overruled -- gatekeepers. My main complaint is has been that many editors do not have the confidence/expertise to do so (but some do). a) Thank goodness for preprints, b) I review with the expectation that the paper will be published.
Remember, reviewers make recommendations, not decisions. Editors make decisions. If an editor ignores your comments, that's their prerogative
October 28, 2025 at 7:06 PM
As an author, I frequently encounter reviewers who should be overruled -- gatekeepers. My main complaint is has been that many editors do not have the confidence/expertise to do so (but some do). a) Thank goodness for preprints, b) I review with the expectation that the paper will be published.
The application deadline closes at the end of the week. Apply to join our awesome department.
Very excited to announce that our department is now accepting applications for a tenure track faculty position in Cell Biology: uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UASYS/...
Come join our wonderful department!
Come join our wonderful department!
Assistant Professor Cell Biology
Current University of Arkansas System employees, including student employees and graduate assistants, need to log in to Workday via MyApps.Microsoft.com, then access Find Jobs from the Workday search ...
uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:50 PM
The application deadline closes at the end of the week. Apply to join our awesome department.
Seems like a good time to re-up this for a department that does not act like this. bsky.app/profile/lewi...
I know of multiple cases 1st hand where junior scholars on the job market share that they were informed that they wouldn't receive a job offer until their CVs included a Nature Communications (or "comparable") publication. What's weird to me is that "comparable" didn't include NAR or similar.
October 27, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Seems like a good time to re-up this for a department that does not act like this. bsky.app/profile/lewi...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Breaking the publication bias against null results requires authors to submit the manuscript, sure, but also requires reviewers to tell the Editor why it is important to publish.
October 27, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Breaking the publication bias against null results requires authors to submit the manuscript, sure, but also requires reviewers to tell the Editor why it is important to publish.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Simple scaling laws control the genetic architectures of human complex traits
Genome-wide association studies have revealed that the genetic architectures of complex traits vary widely. This study shows that differences in architectures of highly polygenic traits arise mainly f...
journals.plos.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
We (*gestures at society at large*) do not discuss the many externalities from 2020-c.2022 enough (read at all)
Ooof, COVID definitely hit a bunch of people disproportionately, and was supposed to be considered by reviewers with predictable unevenness. Some of my colleagues had newfound time to write up papers. Those of us with young kids, caregivers, newer labs, among others, were hit much harder.
October 25, 2025 at 12:01 AM
We (*gestures at society at large*) do not discuss the many externalities from 2020-c.2022 enough (read at all)
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
"I couldn’t beat em. So I joined em. And I tell more junior folks to do the same. Cite your funding generously."
totally agree but would like to point out ways that other NIH policies are pushing people to consider whether they should cite their funding, pushing work back into the shadows
totally agree but would like to point out ways that other NIH policies are pushing people to consider whether they should cite their funding, pushing work back into the shadows
Thinking about this one for..reasons.
From the Archive: The NIH is concerned about overcitation of grant awards, decades too late to have effect drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2023/10/20/t...
From the Archive: The NIH is concerned about overcitation of grant awards, decades too late to have effect drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2023/10/20/t...
The NIH is concerned about overcitation of grant awards, decades too late to have effect
In a recent blog post, Mike Lauer (the head of the NIH Office of Extramural Research) implores extramurally funded investigators not to “overcite” grant awards on their papers. “O…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
"I couldn’t beat em. So I joined em. And I tell more junior folks to do the same. Cite your funding generously."
totally agree but would like to point out ways that other NIH policies are pushing people to consider whether they should cite their funding, pushing work back into the shadows
totally agree but would like to point out ways that other NIH policies are pushing people to consider whether they should cite their funding, pushing work back into the shadows
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Some in this audience are, or will become, peer reviewers. It is important in these discussions to point out how things are supposed to go, or how we think things should go, while we are talking about survival strategies.
October 24, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Some in this audience are, or will become, peer reviewers. It is important in these discussions to point out how things are supposed to go, or how we think things should go, while we are talking about survival strategies.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
If the NIH is working up to mandating open access publishing, we should just be able to supply the grant number and let the publisher bill the NIH directly. right?
October 23, 2025 at 9:11 PM
If the NIH is working up to mandating open access publishing, we should just be able to supply the grant number and let the publisher bill the NIH directly. right?
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Oh and one last thing: it provides a SKILL based argument for things like the PDEP and contributions to DEI statements, critically illustrating that these were NOT ideological statements but competencies that more diverse training environments required for the benefit of all trainees
October 23, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Oh and one last thing: it provides a SKILL based argument for things like the PDEP and contributions to DEI statements, critically illustrating that these were NOT ideological statements but competencies that more diverse training environments required for the benefit of all trainees
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
One of the most exciting works of my career, years in the making. We used high-throughput precision genome editing to test the fitness effects of thousands of natural variants. Our findings challenge the long-held assumption that common variants are inconsequential.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Massively parallel interrogation of the fitness of natural variants in ancient signaling pathways reveals pervasive local adaptation
The nature of standing genetic variation remains a central debate in population genetics, with differing perspectives on whether common variants are almost always neutral as suggested by neutral and n...
www.biorxiv.org
October 22, 2025 at 5:46 PM
One of the most exciting works of my career, years in the making. We used high-throughput precision genome editing to test the fitness effects of thousands of natural variants. Our findings challenge the long-held assumption that common variants are inconsequential.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
This is an incredibly clear line- the SRO serves many purposes but handling conflicts of interest and monitoring discussion is the number one job in my mind. Panel members are not to communicate about any application outside of panel discussion- otherwise no way to certify discussion appropriate
October 21, 2025 at 8:34 PM
This is an incredibly clear line- the SRO serves many purposes but handling conflicts of interest and monitoring discussion is the number one job in my mind. Panel members are not to communicate about any application outside of panel discussion- otherwise no way to certify discussion appropriate
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Unlike extramural PIs, no one working at the NIH/NSF or in the federal government is currently getting a paycheck. So if I am worried about people keeping a roof over their head, I am more worried about federal employees than extramural PIs at the moment.
October 21, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Unlike extramural PIs, no one working at the NIH/NSF or in the federal government is currently getting a paycheck. So if I am worried about people keeping a roof over their head, I am more worried about federal employees than extramural PIs at the moment.
IMHO, there needs to be mechanisms in place that allow for upward mobility. There should be a place for funding great ideas. I prefer having a number of mechanisms that weigh differently support for (non-traditional) entry into the system vs rewarding productivity and established labs. 1/
Everything would be much simpler/cheaper/efficient if scientists could apply for funding by just sending their CV to the funder. If the funder likes what's on the CV, they send money. Instead of progress reports, the scientist just sends an updated CV, and the funder can decide whether to give more.
October 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
IMHO, there needs to be mechanisms in place that allow for upward mobility. There should be a place for funding great ideas. I prefer having a number of mechanisms that weigh differently support for (non-traditional) entry into the system vs rewarding productivity and established labs. 1/
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
Happy "No Kings" Day!
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya regarding the recently appointment of a new NIEHS Director.
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya regarding the recently appointment of a new NIEHS Director.
October 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Happy "No Kings" Day!
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya regarding the recently appointment of a new NIEHS Director.
I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya regarding the recently appointment of a new NIEHS Director.
Reposted by Jeff Lewis
A university that signs the “compact” is one that acknowledges its own inability to compete and succeed based talent and merit. It would signal insecurity and mediocrity to current and future students and faculty. Say no. Recruit the best people, protect their freedom and support their hard work.
October 18, 2025 at 12:05 AM
A university that signs the “compact” is one that acknowledges its own inability to compete and succeed based talent and merit. It would signal insecurity and mediocrity to current and future students and faculty. Say no. Recruit the best people, protect their freedom and support their hard work.