Krishna Mudumbi
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krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Krishna Mudumbi
@krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
3.5K followers 880 following 280 posts
• Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt and the Ingram Cancer Center
• Studying membrane protein signaling using single-molecule microscopy
• Mentorship and science advocacy in all its forms

https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/mudumbi-lab/
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krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flatter, but what does it mean that my lab is imitating me for Halloween, historically a time where you're supposed to be dressed up as someone scary? 🤔
5 people dressed the same way - khaki pants, dress shoes, brown belt, and tucked in button up shirt posing in a "thinker" look 5 people dressed the same way - khaki pants, dress shoes, brown belt, and tucked in button up shirt
October 27, 2025 at 7:29 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Late post, but the lab has a new grad student, Isabella!

Not sure if we can sustain the tradition of new students peeling off the protective plastic on new lab equipment though!
A woman in a whire shirt and dark pants in a lab setting holding up a clear piece of plastic infant of her.
September 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
The Department of Biochemistry @vanderbilt.edu is hiring for an Assistant Professor position! Apply and come be my colleague!

apply.interfolio.com/171767
Application information for an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University
August 13, 2025 at 5:11 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Could they be any more pathetically transparent that this is about revenge?
Budget proposal for the NIH in FY 2026
July 10, 2025 at 5:39 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Come what may, they've brought back some version of salted carmel mocha fraps at Starbucks, I can die happy again!
Picture of salted carmel frap from starbucks
July 8, 2025 at 7:48 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Late with the update, but we recently welcomed our first grad student, Brandon Goldstein! He got to celebrate by peeling off the plastic on the -80 display!
New graduate student pulling off the plastic protective film on a display for a -80 freezer.
June 2, 2025 at 10:52 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
The scope is finally fully set up!

Time to image everything! Very excited #NewPI over here!
A brown door with a white board and a sign from Lord of the Rings which reads "One does not simply walk into the microscope room without knocking." There is a white light with red letters above the door that reads In Use. An optical table with a microscope with two cameras on the right side and one spinning disk confocal on the left side. To the left of the optical table is a black screen monitor An optical table with a microscope with two cameras on the right side and one spinning disk confocal on the left side
May 15, 2025 at 1:02 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
First retreat in the books!
Four people on wooden stairs with brick walls.
April 26, 2025 at 12:33 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
A little over 4 months in and we have....single-molecules! Huzzah!
April 25, 2025 at 1:04 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
I promise we're actually doing stuff and not posing for a photo-op!

Tomorrow begins the great mini-prep!

#NewPI
Four scientists at two lab benches focused on doing bench work.
April 17, 2025 at 1:12 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
I've made it y'all...I'm a REGULAR member now! 🎉
A picture showing the membership levels for the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB). Five tiers of membership are shown: Regular is highlighted in blue, Postdoc, Graduate, Undergrad, and Educator (show in black).
April 8, 2025 at 3:16 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
From Assistant TO the Professor to Assistant Professor! My office had a glow up today!
A single white top table with wooden legs and a leather rolling chair. Wood topped L shaped desk with a curved monitor and leather rolling chair in the back left of the picture. Circle table to the left with a wood top with 2 white backed chairs with blue cushions. To the right is a whiteboard, wood topped filing cabinet, and behind it is a wooden bookcase.
March 31, 2025 at 10:03 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
I may have thrown out my back, but we got our CO2 incubators stacked!

Let tissue culturing begin soon!
Four people standing around two white rectangularly shaped CO2 incubators that are stacked on top of each other.
March 22, 2025 at 11:42 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Is this the same guy? What happened to Mr. Free Speech?
March 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
We have lab stickers! I will absolutely abuse them

Thanks to @cterminiphd.bsky.social for the details of where to get them made!

#NewPI
(left) A stack or white square stickers with a black circle with a pink membrane protein in a gold lipid bilayer reading "The Mudumbi Lab," (middle) a stack of black rectangular stickers with a pink membrane protein in a gold lipid bilayer reading "The Mudumbi Lab," (right) a stack of white square stickers with a white circle with a pink membrane protein in a gold lipid bilayer reading "The Mudumbi Lab." White centrifuge from ThermoScientific with a black rectangular stick on the right side of the machine with a pink membrane protein in a gold lipid bilayer reading "The Mudumbi Lab."
March 10, 2025 at 9:33 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Naw, see you there
A Tweet from Trump trying to declare normal protests as illegal.
March 4, 2025 at 11:44 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Perhaps I'm being too optimistic or naive, but comments like this showing that @vanderbilt.edu will honor the commitments made to me in my startup package regardless of the political climate are heartening! #silverlinings #NewPI
Text from an email saying that startup funds for a purchase will be honored because they are part of the faculty startup package
February 22, 2025 at 12:24 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
First piece of equipment has arrived! We can now clone...so long as we can also mouth pipette 1-20 microliter volumes. Wish us luck!
Two white thermal cyclers. The one on the right is older and mostly out of frame. The one in the center is new, has a black bordered touchscreen reading Bio-Rad. It's a PTC Temp 48/49
February 21, 2025 at 8:10 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Ah yes, when all else fails, just bribe everyone to look the other way. Definitely not page one of Criminals 101, nothing to see here
Twitter post from James Fishback asking that Elon and Trump give Americans a "DOGE Dividend" tax refund. Elon responds in the next post saying he'll ask the president.
February 19, 2025 at 11:17 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
I'm going to savor every part of starting a lab in spite of (to spite?) this administration!

Behold, the Mudumbi lab's first full-time member opening our very first box - both arrived today!

Please rest assured that Adriana did not also arrive in a box
Woman in dark gray hoodie using box cutters to open up a medium sized brown box on a white tiled floor
February 12, 2025 at 12:13 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Am I TN or still in CT?!
January 10, 2025 at 9:22 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Of course, the most thoughtful person I know gave me the most thoughtful going away gift - the Mudumbi Lab mug!
A black mug with a gold lipid bilayer and purple transmembrane protein with ligand and adaptor proteins bound. The ligand has the word "the" in white, the recptor has the word "Mudumbi" in white, and the adaptor protein has the word "lab" in white.
December 19, 2024 at 8:10 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Last lab trip as a postdoc to an excellent "EGFR after 40 years" meeting at the Royal Society. Couldn't think of a better way to wrap up!
Members of the Lemmon and Ferguson labs at a stage in the Royal Society with a picture of EGFR in the background.
December 10, 2024 at 4:35 PM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
I'm a novice, but working on improving!
3D blender animation of a teal wavy lipid bilateral with several EGFR proteins in pink with red and yellow fluorescent tags on the N-terminus
November 24, 2024 at 3:04 AM
krishnamudumbi.bsky.social
Looks like the microscope room is coming along! Some more painting and some deeper shelves if possible, and I think we're good to go! Well...the scopes too of course
A rectangular room mostly painted black, with a few patches of white left to paint black. There's a wooden door at the back and a black curtain in the middle that's mostly open
November 23, 2024 at 1:13 PM