Itai Yanai
@itaiyanai.bsky.social
Professor at the NYU School of Medicine (https://yanailab.org/). Co-founder and Director of the Night Science Institute (https://night-science.org/). Co-host of the 'Night Science Podcast' https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/night-science/id1563415749
Pinned
Friends in Germany! I want to tell you about the process of discovery, the creativity that it requires and the sense of awe that it inspires. Come check out my "The Gorilla in the Genome" lecture on Monday at the International Science Festival in Heidelberg.
www.geist-heidelberg.de/de/programm/...
www.geist-heidelberg.de/de/programm/...
November 15, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Friends in Germany! I want to tell you about the process of discovery, the creativity that it requires and the sense of awe that it inspires. Come check out my "The Gorilla in the Genome" lecture on Monday at the International Science Festival in Heidelberg.
www.geist-heidelberg.de/de/programm/...
www.geist-heidelberg.de/de/programm/...
Reposted by Itai Yanai
Also, here’s an accessible video intro:
November 15, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Also, here’s an accessible video intro:
Reposted by Itai Yanai
This is a such an inspiring book about the art of improvisation and how it applies to our lives in general. I think it’s also very relevant also for what it’s like to do science. It was a pleasure to talk with Stephen about it on the Night Science podcast! open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This is a such an inspiring book about the art of improvisation and how it applies to our lives in general. I think it’s also very relevant also for what it’s like to do science. It was a pleasure to talk with Stephen about it on the Night Science podcast! open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
Reposted by Itai Yanai
Our NY area population genetics meeting is back and "upgraded", as Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org generously agreed to host. Please save the date: March 9, 2026. Look forward to seeing many of you from NY and beyond.
SAVE THE DATE: the yearly NY Population Genetics meeting will be back on March 9 2026, generously hosted by the
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
November 14, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Our NY area population genetics meeting is back and "upgraded", as Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org generously agreed to host. Please save the date: March 9, 2026. Look forward to seeing many of you from NY and beyond.
New Yorkers! Come to my talk at MSK on Thursday if you're interested in adaptive tumor-microenvironment interactions and cancer’s extended phenotype.
November 13, 2025 at 3:36 AM
New Yorkers! Come to my talk at MSK on Thursday if you're interested in adaptive tumor-microenvironment interactions and cancer’s extended phenotype.
International scientists constitute the engine of much of the most exciting US science. My friend Sonali Majumdar has written precisely the kind of guide that international scientists crave in order succeed as resilient and brilliant scientists. Check it out! @sonali-m-19.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 2:18 AM
International scientists constitute the engine of much of the most exciting US science. My friend Sonali Majumdar has written precisely the kind of guide that international scientists crave in order succeed as resilient and brilliant scientists. Check it out! @sonali-m-19.bsky.social
This is a such an inspiring book about the art of improvisation and how it applies to our lives in general. I think it’s also very relevant also for what it’s like to do science. It was a pleasure to talk with Stephen about it on the Night Science podcast! open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This is a such an inspiring book about the art of improvisation and how it applies to our lives in general. I think it’s also very relevant also for what it’s like to do science. It was a pleasure to talk with Stephen about it on the Night Science podcast! open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
🔥We released a new episode of the Night Science Podcast today, all about the power of improvisation in life, the arts and the sciences. We talked with Stephen Nachmanovitch who wrote the classic book "Free Play". Check it out and please me know what you think!
November 11, 2025 at 2:25 AM
🔥We released a new episode of the Night Science Podcast today, all about the power of improvisation in life, the arts and the sciences. We talked with Stephen Nachmanovitch who wrote the classic book "Free Play". Check it out and please me know what you think!
Starting in a few minutes!! Free registration here: cassyni.com/events/ZYQow...
November 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Starting in a few minutes!! Free registration here: cassyni.com/events/ZYQow...
Reposted by Itai Yanai
🔥A new episode of the Night Science podcast comes out today! Stephen Nachmanovitch is the author of the classic "Free Play" and the celebrated improvisational musician. We talk about chivalry in dialogue: the art of advancing (instead of blocking) each other’s ideas.
open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
November 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
🔥A new episode of the Night Science podcast comes out today! Stephen Nachmanovitch is the author of the classic "Free Play" and the celebrated improvisational musician. We talk about chivalry in dialogue: the art of advancing (instead of blocking) each other’s ideas.
open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
open.spotify.com/episode/165i...
Join us tomorrow for a Night Science Seminar Series presentation! Jennifer Oyler-Yaniv from Harvard will talk about how a scientific journey can be viewed as a mythological Hero's Quest by sharing work from her lab on how epithelial tissues restrict the spread of viruses.
cassyni.com/events/ZYQow...
cassyni.com/events/ZYQow...
November 9, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Join us tomorrow for a Night Science Seminar Series presentation! Jennifer Oyler-Yaniv from Harvard will talk about how a scientific journey can be viewed as a mythological Hero's Quest by sharing work from her lab on how epithelial tissues restrict the spread of viruses.
cassyni.com/events/ZYQow...
cassyni.com/events/ZYQow...
New Yorkers! Come to my talk at Rockefeller University on Friday if you're interested in the mechanisms of adaptive genome regulation.
November 6, 2025 at 3:42 AM
New Yorkers! Come to my talk at Rockefeller University on Friday if you're interested in the mechanisms of adaptive genome regulation.
Is science too obsessed with metrics, large-scale projects & “blockbuster” outputs? Desai & Jun argued that preserving the "auteur" spirit of individual creativity, exploration and risk-taking is essential for maintaining the creativity that drew us into science in the 1st place.
November 3, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Is science too obsessed with metrics, large-scale projects & “blockbuster” outputs? Desai & Jun argued that preserving the "auteur" spirit of individual creativity, exploration and risk-taking is essential for maintaining the creativity that drew us into science in the 1st place.
Interested in genome organization in bacteria? Come to Martin Lercher's live virtual talk Monday at the Night Science Seminar Series! Free register here: cassyni.com/events/AhWU3... @martinlercher.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Interested in genome organization in bacteria? Come to Martin Lercher's live virtual talk Monday at the Night Science Seminar Series! Free register here: cassyni.com/events/AhWU3... @martinlercher.bsky.social
Reposted by Itai Yanai
It was wonderful to reconnect at the NYC Postdoc Night Science! Such a great and inspiring conversation about how to give better talks and tell science stories that matter
October 16, 2025 at 10:05 AM
It was wonderful to reconnect at the NYC Postdoc Night Science! Such a great and inspiring conversation about how to give better talks and tell science stories that matter
I've used Q.E.D. and it was really useful!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM
I've used Q.E.D. and it was really useful!
Come learn the tricks of giving a BAD talk: begin the process by organizing your slides - the more, the better, try to impress, run over your time, embrace distractions, and treat questions as threats!
Join us tomorrow at Weill Cornell for this month's Postdoc Night Science NYC!
Join us tomorrow at Weill Cornell for this month's Postdoc Night Science NYC!
October 14, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Come learn the tricks of giving a BAD talk: begin the process by organizing your slides - the more, the better, try to impress, run over your time, embrace distractions, and treat questions as threats!
Join us tomorrow at Weill Cornell for this month's Postdoc Night Science NYC!
Join us tomorrow at Weill Cornell for this month's Postdoc Night Science NYC!
Reposted by Itai Yanai
Dear Postdocs of New York: Next Wednesday, we’re closing out an amazing year of NYC Postdoc Night Science Club sessions at our very own @weillcornell.bsky.social !
If you’re interested in giving engaging, memorable talks, you cannot miss this one.
Details below, hope to see you all there!
If you’re interested in giving engaging, memorable talks, you cannot miss this one.
Details below, hope to see you all there!
Interested in learning how to be a good speaker and give effective talks? Season 2 of the NYC Postdoc Night Science Club begins October 15th. Join us NYC Postdocs for a 2hr workshop and maybe also a drink at a bar! Free registration (usually ~100 come): docs.google.com/forms/d/1dII...
October 7, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Dear Postdocs of New York: Next Wednesday, we’re closing out an amazing year of NYC Postdoc Night Science Club sessions at our very own @weillcornell.bsky.social !
If you’re interested in giving engaging, memorable talks, you cannot miss this one.
Details below, hope to see you all there!
If you’re interested in giving engaging, memorable talks, you cannot miss this one.
Details below, hope to see you all there!
Congratulations to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It also demonstrates the fairness of the prize, as Mary Brunkow is a Senior Program Manager (not a professor) at the @isbscience.org
hood.isbscience.org/people/mary-...
hood.isbscience.org/people/mary-...
October 6, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Congratulations to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It also demonstrates the fairness of the prize, as Mary Brunkow is a Senior Program Manager (not a professor) at the @isbscience.org
hood.isbscience.org/people/mary-...
hood.isbscience.org/people/mary-...
Rest in peace Jane Goodall, a true giant among scientists. Your breakthroughs into the secret lives of chimpanzees viewed through an anthropomorphic lens – without yet knowing that science had forbidden it – changed science forever, and with it how we see ourselves.
October 1, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Rest in peace Jane Goodall, a true giant among scientists. Your breakthroughs into the secret lives of chimpanzees viewed through an anthropomorphic lens – without yet knowing that science had forbidden it – changed science forever, and with it how we see ourselves.
Reposted by Itai Yanai
9/22, Night Science: “Akiko Iwasaki & the art of creativity maintenance”
“Patients who are suffering from long COVID..given me a whole new perspective..it's my duty to be able to tackle these very complex problems where there's no biological diagnosis..”
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/7...
“Patients who are suffering from long COVID..given me a whole new perspective..it's my duty to be able to tackle these very complex problems where there's no biological diagnosis..”
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/7...
77 | Akiko Iwasaki and the art of creativity maintenance
Podcast Episode · Night Science · 09/22/2025 · 40m
podcasts.apple.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
9/22, Night Science: “Akiko Iwasaki & the art of creativity maintenance”
“Patients who are suffering from long COVID..given me a whole new perspective..it's my duty to be able to tackle these very complex problems where there's no biological diagnosis..”
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/7...
“Patients who are suffering from long COVID..given me a whole new perspective..it's my duty to be able to tackle these very complex problems where there's no biological diagnosis..”
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/7...
That’s really cool. Every lab should have it!
I made a sign for the lab with our informal lab motto, inspired by this convo between @itaiyanai.bsky.social and Martin Lercher: nightscience.buzzsprout.com/1744020/epis.... A good reminder that talking is among the best forms of thinking!
September 30, 2025 at 5:41 PM
That’s really cool. Every lab should have it!
Interested in learning how to be a good speaker and give effective talks? Season 2 of the NYC Postdoc Night Science Club begins October 15th. Join us NYC Postdocs for a 2hr workshop and maybe also a drink at a bar! Free registration (usually ~100 come): docs.google.com/forms/d/1dII...
September 30, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Interested in learning how to be a good speaker and give effective talks? Season 2 of the NYC Postdoc Night Science Club begins October 15th. Join us NYC Postdocs for a 2hr workshop and maybe also a drink at a bar! Free registration (usually ~100 come): docs.google.com/forms/d/1dII...
"That was not a question, it was a statement" said the famous physicist Paul Dirac after a long silence, in a lecture, when a student said to him, "I don't understand that equation".
That was a hundred years ago and not enough has changed since then in our 'welcoming' culture in science..
That was a hundred years ago and not enough has changed since then in our 'welcoming' culture in science..
September 27, 2025 at 1:54 PM
"That was not a question, it was a statement" said the famous physicist Paul Dirac after a long silence, in a lecture, when a student said to him, "I don't understand that equation".
That was a hundred years ago and not enough has changed since then in our 'welcoming' culture in science..
That was a hundred years ago and not enough has changed since then in our 'welcoming' culture in science..
Reposted by Itai Yanai
EMBO Young Scientists Forum 2025 in Vilnius wrapped up today. Huge thanks to fellow organisers, volunteer teams, @itaiyanai.bsky.social for a wonderful Night Science workshop & all speakers & attendees. Here's fellow organiser Stephen Jones taking YSF attendee entertainment to the next level.
September 26, 2025 at 7:29 PM
EMBO Young Scientists Forum 2025 in Vilnius wrapped up today. Huge thanks to fellow organisers, volunteer teams, @itaiyanai.bsky.social for a wonderful Night Science workshop & all speakers & attendees. Here's fellow organiser Stephen Jones taking YSF attendee entertainment to the next level.