Valerie Tornini
@valetornini.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @ UCLA. Views my own.
Happy to share our paper now out in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social - and check out our thread about the findings at bsky.app/profile/vale...
In vivo differentiation of embryonic cells devoid of key reprogramming factors
In vivo differentiation of embryonic cells devoid of key reprogramming factors
Youlten, Miao et al. use zebrafish transplantation to understand the fate of cells lacking pluripotency factors Nanog, Pou5f3, and Sox19b (NPS) in developmental reprogramming and cell identity establishment. They found that NPS are required for proper cell identity for most, but not all, lineages, likely through nuclear and cytoplasmic reprogramming.
dlvr.it
November 13, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Happy to share our paper now out in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social - and check out our thread about the findings at bsky.app/profile/vale...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
What cell states are possible when they are missing key factors - Nanog, Pou5f3 (Oct4), & Sox19b (Sox2) - that are required for the first embryonic reprogramming steps? Follow along with our latest publication, finally out at doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #devbio #reprogramming #zebrafish #embryo (1/6)
November 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM
What cell states are possible when they are missing key factors - Nanog, Pou5f3 (Oct4), & Sox19b (Sox2) - that are required for the first embryonic reprogramming steps? Follow along with our latest publication, finally out at doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #devbio #reprogramming #zebrafish #embryo (1/6)
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
The President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, PPFP, has been a jewel in the crown for faculty development and recruitment at the University of California for years and the results have been an expanded faculty with almost 100% tenure rates — unprecedented success.
November 2, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, PPFP, has been a jewel in the crown for faculty development and recruitment at the University of California for years and the results have been an expanded faculty with almost 100% tenure rates — unprecedented success.
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
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.
October 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM
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.
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Please help distribute this announcement for the Ph.D. in Biology Program @stowersinstitute.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Please help distribute this announcement for the Ph.D. in Biology Program @stowersinstitute.bsky.social
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.
Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
1/14
Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
1/14
jeremymberg.github.io
October 6, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.
Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
1/14
Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
1/14
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
As of this week, every public university in California is under investigation from the Trump administration for alleged antisemitism www.latimes.com/california/s...
Cal State universities now target of antisemitism probe by Trump administration
The Trump administration has launched a systemwide investigation into allegations of antisemitism at California State University and has started issuing subpoenas for employees' contact information.
www.latimes.com
September 27, 2025 at 10:58 PM
As of this week, every public university in California is under investigation from the Trump administration for alleged antisemitism www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
“I will end my career writing dissent, that is my future. And you understand that you’re writing for a future society. That dissents are not about today. Dissents are writing for a future society that will take that dissent, that will be ready for that dissent, & enact it”
@nhannahjones.bsky.social
@nhannahjones.bsky.social
The Trump administration has attacked diversity programs, historical discussions of slavery, civil rights and more as he pressures civic institutions to de-emphasize race. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of The 1619 Project, discusses what led to this movement. nyti.ms/4msq3x8
September 21, 2025 at 3:14 PM
“I will end my career writing dissent, that is my future. And you understand that you’re writing for a future society. That dissents are not about today. Dissents are writing for a future society that will take that dissent, that will be ready for that dissent, & enact it”
@nhannahjones.bsky.social
@nhannahjones.bsky.social
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
I wrote this for my US friends and colleagues, but also for all of us. Lessons from the past. open.substack.com/pub/verakemp...
Scholarship Under Autocracy
We Have Been Here Before
open.substack.com
February 25, 2025 at 7:17 AM
I wrote this for my US friends and colleagues, but also for all of us. Lessons from the past. open.substack.com/pub/verakemp...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Trump wants UCLA to pay $1.2 billion to settle allegations it violated civil rights law. I took a look at the more than 7,300-word proposed UCLA settlement. Here's the detailed breakdown of Trump's plan to remake one of the nation's top public campuses: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Here are the details of Trump's $1.2-billion call to remake UCLA in a conservative image
The Times describes the details, for the first time, of the 28-page proposal the Trump administration has made to remake the UCLA campus.
www.latimes.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Trump wants UCLA to pay $1.2 billion to settle allegations it violated civil rights law. I took a look at the more than 7,300-word proposed UCLA settlement. Here's the detailed breakdown of Trump's plan to remake one of the nation's top public campuses: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Last week, Boston received a letter from AG Bondi threatening to prosecute officials and withhold funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
August 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Last week, Boston received a letter from AG Bondi threatening to prosecute officials and withhold funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.
August 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM
A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
*Please read and share!* My NIH funds at UCLA were suspended last week.
It's hard to find the words to describe the impact of these grant suspensions. I have felt speechless and heartbroken that people in my lab, my friends, colleagues, researchers, trainees, and undergrads 1/9
It's hard to find the words to describe the impact of these grant suspensions. I have felt speechless and heartbroken that people in my lab, my friends, colleagues, researchers, trainees, and undergrads 1/9
August 11, 2025 at 9:16 PM
*Please read and share!* My NIH funds at UCLA were suspended last week.
It's hard to find the words to describe the impact of these grant suspensions. I have felt speechless and heartbroken that people in my lab, my friends, colleagues, researchers, trainees, and undergrads 1/9
It's hard to find the words to describe the impact of these grant suspensions. I have felt speechless and heartbroken that people in my lab, my friends, colleagues, researchers, trainees, and undergrads 1/9
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.
August 10, 2025 at 10:33 PM
BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
There is no nice, gentle way to say, “okay so a nation is, in effect, a currency, a military, and resource allocation. If you break all of those, you do not…have a country.”
August 8, 2025 at 10:27 PM
There is no nice, gentle way to say, “okay so a nation is, in effect, a currency, a military, and resource allocation. If you break all of those, you do not…have a country.”
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
The billion dollars is the least of it. It’s universities’ autonomy, independence, and integrity that Trump is really after. www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/p...
Trump administration seeking $1 billion settlement from UCLA | CNN Politics
The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, CNN has exclusively learned, marking the latest effort by the White House to shape higher ed...
www.cnn.com
August 8, 2025 at 5:53 PM
The billion dollars is the least of it. It’s universities’ autonomy, independence, and integrity that Trump is really after. www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/p...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
The constitution. They sliced out the parts of the constitution that they don’t like from the government website.
Yet another reminder that in an aspiring authoritarian government, you should never rely on online document as definitive sources.
Yet another reminder that in an aspiring authoritarian government, you should never rely on online document as definitive sources.
Key sections of the US Constitution deleted from government's website | TechCrunch
Internet sleuths say the U.S. Constitution's website is now missing key sections from its website, including a key legal provision relating to habeas corpus, which protects citizens from unlawful dete...
techcrunch.com
August 6, 2025 at 4:10 PM
The constitution. They sliced out the parts of the constitution that they don’t like from the government website.
Yet another reminder that in an aspiring authoritarian government, you should never rely on online document as definitive sources.
Yet another reminder that in an aspiring authoritarian government, you should never rely on online document as definitive sources.
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
“It backfired,” said one senior administrator at UCLA, reflecting the sense of whiplash felt among many who were interviewed. “Within hours of announcing our settlement, the DOJ was on our back.”
www.latimes.com/california/s...
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Ivy League universities paid hundreds of millions to settle with Trump. Is UCLA next?
President Trump's higher education battle comes to the University of California. After the Department of Justice found that UCLA had violated Jewish students' civil rights, the administration froze hu...
www.latimes.com
August 4, 2025 at 11:36 PM
“It backfired,” said one senior administrator at UCLA, reflecting the sense of whiplash felt among many who were interviewed. “Within hours of announcing our settlement, the DOJ was on our back.”
www.latimes.com/california/s...
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Terence Tao (@teorth.bsky.social) has written a thread on Mastodon about the impact of the federal grant freeze to UCLA, particularly to his own field of Mathematics. UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) could shut down entirely
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
Terence Tao (@tao@mathstodon.xyz)
The current administration in the US has, through various funding agencies such as the NSF and NIH, has recently suspended virtually all federal grants to my home university, UCLA (including my own p...
mathstodon.xyz
August 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Terence Tao (@teorth.bsky.social) has written a thread on Mastodon about the impact of the federal grant freeze to UCLA, particularly to his own field of Mathematics. UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) could shut down entirely
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Suspension of all grants to UCLA www.latimes.com/california/s...
Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism
The Trump administration has frozen roughly $200 million in National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agency-funded research at UCLA, citing allegations the school d...
www.latimes.com
August 1, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Suspension of all grants to UCLA www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Transitions in development – an interview with Jeffrey Farrell
@jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social talks about becoming a group leader, his insights on advocacy for developmental biology and his belief in unifying single-cell biology with classical approaches.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
@jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social talks about becoming a group leader, his insights on advocacy for developmental biology and his belief in unifying single-cell biology with classical approaches.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
July 28, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Transitions in development – an interview with Jeffrey Farrell
@jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social talks about becoming a group leader, his insights on advocacy for developmental biology and his belief in unifying single-cell biology with classical approaches.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
@jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social talks about becoming a group leader, his insights on advocacy for developmental biology and his belief in unifying single-cell biology with classical approaches.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Valerie Tornini
Gaza doctors ‘becoming too weak to treat patients’ as hunger crisis deepens
Gaza doctors ‘becoming too weak to treat patients’ as hunger crisis deepens
Malnourished medical staff say they are struggling to provide care to injured civilians, while recovery rates are also hit by
www.theguardian.com
July 23, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Gaza doctors ‘becoming too weak to treat patients’ as hunger crisis deepens