Zena Hadjivasiliou
@zenahadjivasiliou.bsky.social
Group Leader Mathematical and Physical Biology Lab @TheCrick and @UCL Physics. Interested in how size, shape and patterns develop and evolve; https://www.hadjivasilioulab.com/.
Pinned
50 fully funded 4-year EPSRC PhD Studentships in Science and Engineering at UCL
Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...
www.jobs.ac.uk
🔊 We are looking for a PhD student to join our group and the vibrant community @ucl.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social and @crick.ac.uk 💥. Details on the call: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPF708/5... and our project on offer: ucl-epsrc-dtp.github.io/2026-27-proj.... Please share and drop me a line if interested!
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Researchers have identified a signalling feedback loop that may have been vital to the evolution of insect wings and therefore flight.
The signals, called morphogens, act like lighthouses in most developing tissues, guiding nearby cells towards their fate.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
The signals, called morphogens, act like lighthouses in most developing tissues, guiding nearby cells towards their fate.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
When evolution took flight
Researchers have revealed how a genetic circuit may have helped the evolution of insect wings.
www.crick.ac.uk
November 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Researchers have identified a signalling feedback loop that may have been vital to the evolution of insect wings and therefore flight.
The signals, called morphogens, act like lighthouses in most developing tissues, guiding nearby cells towards their fate.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
The signals, called morphogens, act like lighthouses in most developing tissues, guiding nearby cells towards their fate.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Looking forward to this meeting!! Join us this February in Heidelberg 🦋🪰🐟🐁🌱🧫🦠
Have you submitted your abstract for #EESCollectivity? No? It's about time! This new event will discuss how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems, from cells to animal groups. 🦠🐾
👉 Join us and submit your abstract by 18 Nov: s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl
👉 Join us and submit your abstract by 18 Nov: s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl
November 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Looking forward to this meeting!! Join us this February in Heidelberg 🦋🪰🐟🐁🌱🧫🦠
🔊 We are looking for a PhD student to join our group and the vibrant community @ucl.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social and @crick.ac.uk 💥. Details on the call: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPF708/5... and our project on offer: ucl-epsrc-dtp.github.io/2026-27-proj.... Please share and drop me a line if interested!
50 fully funded 4-year EPSRC PhD Studentships in Science and Engineering at UCL
Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...
www.jobs.ac.uk
November 5, 2025 at 1:35 PM
🔊 We are looking for a PhD student to join our group and the vibrant community @ucl.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social and @crick.ac.uk 💥. Details on the call: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPF708/5... and our project on offer: ucl-epsrc-dtp.github.io/2026-27-proj.... Please share and drop me a line if interested!
Couldn’t be prouder of the first PhD graduate of the lab, super congrats @danafd.bsky.social 🙌🎓🌟. Such a pleasure to supervise you together with @cohouart.bsky.social @houartlab.bsky.social, the learning journey never ends 😌. Huge thanks to @jamesasharpe.bsky.social and Sylvie Retaux for examining 💥
October 24, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Couldn’t be prouder of the first PhD graduate of the lab, super congrats @danafd.bsky.social 🙌🎓🌟. Such a pleasure to supervise you together with @cohouart.bsky.social @houartlab.bsky.social, the learning journey never ends 😌. Huge thanks to @jamesasharpe.bsky.social and Sylvie Retaux for examining 💥
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Opportunity for a Master’s/Bachelor’s student:
- Join us for up to 5 months 🗓️
- Build computational/mathematical models 💻
- Learn about genotype-phenotype maps and evolution 🧬
- Work closely with PhD student Manuela Giraud - full info here:
www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
- Join us for up to 5 months 🗓️
- Build computational/mathematical models 💻
- Learn about genotype-phenotype maps and evolution 🧬
- Work closely with PhD student Manuela Giraud - full info here:
www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
October 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Opportunity for a Master’s/Bachelor’s student:
- Join us for up to 5 months 🗓️
- Build computational/mathematical models 💻
- Learn about genotype-phenotype maps and evolution 🧬
- Work closely with PhD student Manuela Giraud - full info here:
www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
- Join us for up to 5 months 🗓️
- Build computational/mathematical models 💻
- Learn about genotype-phenotype maps and evolution 🧬
- Work closely with PhD student Manuela Giraud - full info here:
www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
We're now recruiting early career group leaders at the Crick to lead ambitious research programmes and explore bold scientific questions.
Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research.
Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research.
Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
October 9, 2025 at 2:06 PM
We're now recruiting early career group leaders at the Crick to lead ambitious research programmes and explore bold scientific questions.
Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research.
Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research.
Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Don’t miss the exciting ISSCR Webinar: Integrating Biophysics into Stem Cell Biology next Tuesday October 14!
The webinar features paired tandem talks that brings together experimentalists and theorists working at the interface of stem cell biology and biophysics. 1/2
www.isscr.org/upcoming-pro...
The webinar features paired tandem talks that brings together experimentalists and theorists working at the interface of stem cell biology and biophysics. 1/2
www.isscr.org/upcoming-pro...
www.isscr.org
October 9, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Don’t miss the exciting ISSCR Webinar: Integrating Biophysics into Stem Cell Biology next Tuesday October 14!
The webinar features paired tandem talks that brings together experimentalists and theorists working at the interface of stem cell biology and biophysics. 1/2
www.isscr.org/upcoming-pro...
The webinar features paired tandem talks that brings together experimentalists and theorists working at the interface of stem cell biology and biophysics. 1/2
www.isscr.org/upcoming-pro...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
October 5, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Motivated graduates with backgrounds in biological or biomedical sciences, physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering and/or computer science are invited to apply to our 4-year fully funded PhD programme.
Apply by 05 November 2025
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
Apply by 05 November 2025
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
PhD students
Our PhD programme attracts the brightest scientific minds and is an opportunity for talented people to embark on their career in biomedical research.
www.crick.ac.uk
October 2, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Motivated graduates with backgrounds in biological or biomedical sciences, physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering and/or computer science are invited to apply to our 4-year fully funded PhD programme.
Apply by 05 November 2025
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
Apply by 05 November 2025
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
We have a PhD project here, along with many other cool projects:
"Characterising and predicting seizure onsets from longitudinal sEEG data",
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
with @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social (Crick), Torsten Baldeweg (UCL) and Martin Tisdall (UCL).
Apply by: 14 November 2025.
"Characterising and predicting seizure onsets from longitudinal sEEG data",
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
with @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social (Crick), Torsten Baldeweg (UCL) and Martin Tisdall (UCL).
Apply by: 14 November 2025.
October 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM
We have a PhD project here, along with many other cool projects:
"Characterising and predicting seizure onsets from longitudinal sEEG data",
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
with @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social (Crick), Torsten Baldeweg (UCL) and Martin Tisdall (UCL).
Apply by: 14 November 2025.
"Characterising and predicting seizure onsets from longitudinal sEEG data",
www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...
with @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social (Crick), Torsten Baldeweg (UCL) and Martin Tisdall (UCL).
Apply by: 14 November 2025.
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
LMB PhD studentship available in the Baum lab to use informatics to infer cell structure from genomic data in collaboration with the brilliant Tom Williams. If you write to me and I don’t reply - try again - the spam filter is hungry…
October 2, 2025 at 9:04 AM
LMB PhD studentship available in the Baum lab to use informatics to infer cell structure from genomic data in collaboration with the brilliant Tom Williams. If you write to me and I don’t reply - try again - the spam filter is hungry…
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
New research from EMBL scientists is shedding light on how shape transitions help tissue boundaries form during development.
The results reveal a new class of adaptive material dynamics & could provide design principles for smart materials that respond to changing environments.
The results reveal a new class of adaptive material dynamics & could provide design principles for smart materials that respond to changing environments.
September 29, 2025 at 2:08 PM
New research from EMBL scientists is shedding light on how shape transitions help tissue boundaries form during development.
The results reveal a new class of adaptive material dynamics & could provide design principles for smart materials that respond to changing environments.
The results reveal a new class of adaptive material dynamics & could provide design principles for smart materials that respond to changing environments.
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Come join us in Basel! @biozentrum.unibas.ch is an amazing place to start your group.
Assistant/Associate Professor in Structural Biology, Biophysics or Biological Imaging
www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/open-positio...
#biozentrum #University #Basel #Professor #Structural #Biology #Biophysics #Biological #Imaging
www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/open-positio...
#biozentrum #University #Basel #Professor #Structural #Biology #Biophysics #Biological #Imaging
September 29, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Come join us in Basel! @biozentrum.unibas.ch is an amazing place to start your group.
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Can pressure gradients persist over long timescales in animal cells? We induced intracellular pressure gradients and examined the resulting flows in single cells. We reveal surprisingly long lasting pressure gradients.
More here: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
More here: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
elifesciences.org
September 29, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Can pressure gradients persist over long timescales in animal cells? We induced intracellular pressure gradients and examined the resulting flows in single cells. We reveal surprisingly long lasting pressure gradients.
More here: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
More here: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Our latest preprint! Into morphogenesis, Yap, ECM, signaling, vertex models, feedbacks/robustness? There is something here for everyone. We discovered a positive feedback loop that extends inner ear canals, and a built-in mechanism that shuts it down when morphogenesis is done. tinyurl.com/464wsjhd
September 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Our latest preprint! Into morphogenesis, Yap, ECM, signaling, vertex models, feedbacks/robustness? There is something here for everyone. We discovered a positive feedback loop that extends inner ear canals, and a built-in mechanism that shuts it down when morphogenesis is done. tinyurl.com/464wsjhd
🚨New Preprint🚨
How do morphogens integrate dynamically with other modes of signalling+what can this do for pattern precision and robustness?
We used the Drosophila visual system as our muse to dive into this question with the amazing Vil Fernandes @ucl.ac.uk 🧠🪰 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do morphogens integrate dynamically with other modes of signalling+what can this do for pattern precision and robustness?
We used the Drosophila visual system as our muse to dive into this question with the amazing Vil Fernandes @ucl.ac.uk 🧠🪰 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 10:35 AM
🚨New Preprint🚨
How do morphogens integrate dynamically with other modes of signalling+what can this do for pattern precision and robustness?
We used the Drosophila visual system as our muse to dive into this question with the amazing Vil Fernandes @ucl.ac.uk 🧠🪰 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How do morphogens integrate dynamically with other modes of signalling+what can this do for pattern precision and robustness?
We used the Drosophila visual system as our muse to dive into this question with the amazing Vil Fernandes @ucl.ac.uk 🧠🪰 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Development does not happen in isolation! Material properties, geometry, stiffness, fluid flows...can all steer how development unfolds. If you’re exploring these kinds of questions, we’d love to see your work @dev-journal.bsky.social
More info below ⬇️
More info below ⬇️
📢Call for papers. Submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – The Extracellular Environment in Development, Regeneration and Stem Cells
Guest Editors: Alex Hughes and Rashmi Priya
📅 Deadline: 1 March 2026
journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/ex...
#DevBio
Guest Editors: Alex Hughes and Rashmi Priya
📅 Deadline: 1 March 2026
journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/ex...
#DevBio
September 19, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Development does not happen in isolation! Material properties, geometry, stiffness, fluid flows...can all steer how development unfolds. If you’re exploring these kinds of questions, we’d love to see your work @dev-journal.bsky.social
More info below ⬇️
More info below ⬇️
I love the Ig Nobel prizes, asking questions for the sake of curiosity is so inherent to being human and the reason I love doing science. Make some notes for your pasta protocols y'all!
Highlights of this year’s Ig Nobel recipients include a nutrition prize for studying the preferred pizza toppings of rainbow lizards at a seaside resort in Togo
go.nature.com/4n5HQv7
go.nature.com/4n5HQv7
Tipsy bats and perfect pasta: Ig Nobels celebrate ‘improbable’ research
The annual awards are a celebration of weird but thought-provoking science.
go.nature.com
September 19, 2025 at 9:58 AM
I love the Ig Nobel prizes, asking questions for the sake of curiosity is so inherent to being human and the reason I love doing science. Make some notes for your pasta protocols y'all!
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
We only had a very minor contribution to this story with Alexis, but definitly worth a reading for those interested by patterning, precision and refinment. Nice combining of quantitative live imaging, modeling and optogenetics to dissect vein patterning dynamics
www.cell.com/developmenta...
www.cell.com/developmenta...
Signaling-dependent refinement of cell fate choice during tissue remodeling in Drosophila pupal wings
Herszterg et al. show that during morphogenesis of the Drosophila pupal wing, a wave
of Notch signaling activity updates cell fates to ensure robust and precise patterning
of wing veins.
www.cell.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM
We only had a very minor contribution to this story with Alexis, but definitly worth a reading for those interested by patterning, precision and refinment. Nice combining of quantitative live imaging, modeling and optogenetics to dissect vein patterning dynamics
www.cell.com/developmenta...
www.cell.com/developmenta...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems.
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems.
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
We have been fortunate to have a stream of extraordinary Fellows as part of our community. They have gone on to wonderful positions .. It is time, once more, to renew. Our annual search is a chance for us to understand what the brightest young people in the community are doing! Please apply!
apply here by 10/1/25! puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...
September 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
We have been fortunate to have a stream of extraordinary Fellows as part of our community. They have gone on to wonderful positions .. It is time, once more, to renew. Our annual search is a chance for us to understand what the brightest young people in the community are doing! Please apply!
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
Crick researchers have generated a computer simulation of the evolution of gene networks, which has helped them establish general principles about the evolution of body patterns over time.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
How evolution rewires gene circuits to build new patterns
TBC
www.crick.ac.uk
September 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Crick researchers have generated a computer simulation of the evolution of gene networks, which has helped them establish general principles about the evolution of body patterns over time.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
Fresh from the press💥 We asked what happens when you evolve gene regulatory networks computationally at scale. Do general principles of GRN evolution jump out? Is the process predictable? Read on to find out @prxlife.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social 👉 journals.aps.org/prxlife/abst...
Gene Network Organization, Mutation, and Selection Collectively Drive Developmental Pattern Evolvability and Predictability
The historical order in which mutations appear during evolution determine the evolutionary trajectory of gene regulatory networks and influence how developmental patterns change and diversify over tim...
journals.aps.org
September 16, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Fresh from the press💥 We asked what happens when you evolve gene regulatory networks computationally at scale. Do general principles of GRN evolution jump out? Is the process predictable? Read on to find out @prxlife.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social 👉 journals.aps.org/prxlife/abst...
Reposted by Zena Hadjivasiliou
(1/14) I’m happy and proud to introduce: SpinePy – a framework to detect the "spine" of gastruloids and measure biological and physical signals in a local dynamic 3D coordinate system. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
(1/14) I’m happy and proud to introduce: SpinePy – a framework to detect the "spine" of gastruloids and measure biological and physical signals in a local dynamic 3D coordinate system. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...