Molly Schumer
@mollyschumer.bsky.social
Genetics & Evolution, Faculty at Stanford & Freeman Hrabowski Scholar at HHMI. My views do not reflect those of my employer.
schumerlab.com
schumerlab.com
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI
The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Less than two weeks left to submit your nominations for the Dobzhansky Prize! This award recognizes the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding early-career evolutionary biologist. Submit your nomination by Dec. 1! shorturl.at/p70wY
November 18, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Less than two weeks left to submit your nominations for the Dobzhansky Prize! This award recognizes the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding early-career evolutionary biologist. Submit your nomination by Dec. 1! shorturl.at/p70wY
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Folks, it is finally out! Our paper on T2T assemblies of the zebrafish genome is on BioRxiv:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
November 17, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Folks, it is finally out! Our paper on T2T assemblies of the zebrafish genome is on BioRxiv:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Integrative Biology at UT is hiring an Evolutionary Biologist! Happy to answer any questions about the position/dept/UT. Come join us!
integrativebio.utexas.edu
cns.utexas.edu
apply.interfolio.com/177547
integrativebio.utexas.edu
cns.utexas.edu
apply.interfolio.com/177547
Decoding Nature’s Networks
The Department of Integrative Biology at The University of Texas at Austin
integrativebio.utexas.edu
November 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Integrative Biology at UT is hiring an Evolutionary Biologist! Happy to answer any questions about the position/dept/UT. Come join us!
integrativebio.utexas.edu
cns.utexas.edu
apply.interfolio.com/177547
integrativebio.utexas.edu
cns.utexas.edu
apply.interfolio.com/177547
Reposted by Molly Schumer
The second Trump administration’s deep federal spending cuts, including at the NIH, have halted at least 383 clinical trials, affecting more than 74,000 patients, according to a new analysis.
www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nih...
www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nih...
NIH grant cuts have disrupted hundreds of clinical trials, study finds
The second Trump administration has been defined by widespread cuts to federal spending, including at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). | The second Trump administration has been defined by wid...
www.fiercebiotech.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:47 PM
The second Trump administration’s deep federal spending cuts, including at the NIH, have halted at least 383 clinical trials, affecting more than 74,000 patients, according to a new analysis.
www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nih...
www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nih...
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Come do a joint postdoc with me and @tinakim-neuro.bsky.social, splitting your time between Princeton and Columbia. Come design new activity-dependent labeling enzymes and transcriptional reporters optimized for application in the peripheral nervous system.
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Postdoctoral Scientist- Kim and Abdus-Saboor Lab
Primary Work Address: Dept of Molecular Biology, Princeton, NJ, 08544 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. The Kim Lab at Princeton University and Abdus-Saboor Lab at ...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Come do a joint postdoc with me and @tinakim-neuro.bsky.social, splitting your time between Princeton and Columbia. Come design new activity-dependent labeling enzymes and transcriptional reporters optimized for application in the peripheral nervous system.
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Reposted by Molly Schumer
While the government was shut down, 379 NIH study section meetings (containing 24,380 grant applications) were postponed. NIH is committed to getting these reviewed, but please be patient and understanding with staff, as this is a complex and heavy lift.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
While the government was shut down, 379 NIH study section meetings (containing 24,380 grant applications) were postponed. NIH is committed to getting these reviewed, but please be patient and understanding with staff, as this is a complex and heavy lift.
Reposted by Molly Schumer
It's been a busy few months for our group so wanted to highlight a few other recent preprints we’ve posted that I haven’t had the chance to share yet... (1/n)
Excited to share some new work led by grad student Sophie Walton (w/ @petrovadmitri.bsky.social). We used in vitro gut communities to study how natural selection acts on strains of the same species as they compete within larger communities. Check out Sophie's thread below for details!
Super excited that the bulk of my PhD work is now preprinted! Here we used whole-community competition, or coalescence, experiments to quantify selection acting on genetically diverged strains within larger communities. (1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
It's been a busy few months for our group so wanted to highlight a few other recent preprints we’ve posted that I haven’t had the chance to share yet... (1/n)
Reposted by Molly Schumer
🚨New paper! 🚨
@jasminealqassar.bsky.social led this work on the silk glands of the pantry moth.
These two long tubes inside the caterpillar continuously make a ton of silk
How does this special organ work?
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cp-iscience.bsky.social
🧵THREAD🧵
@jasminealqassar.bsky.social led this work on the silk glands of the pantry moth.
These two long tubes inside the caterpillar continuously make a ton of silk
How does this special organ work?
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cp-iscience.bsky.social
🧵THREAD🧵
November 16, 2025 at 2:06 AM
🚨New paper! 🚨
@jasminealqassar.bsky.social led this work on the silk glands of the pantry moth.
These two long tubes inside the caterpillar continuously make a ton of silk
How does this special organ work?
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cp-iscience.bsky.social
🧵THREAD🧵
@jasminealqassar.bsky.social led this work on the silk glands of the pantry moth.
These two long tubes inside the caterpillar continuously make a ton of silk
How does this special organ work?
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cp-iscience.bsky.social
🧵THREAD🧵
Reposted by Molly Schumer
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 5:05 PM
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.
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Prohibited activities include advising Chinese graduate students. For reference, a recent Georgetown report estimated 16% of STEM graduate students in the US are Chinese nationals.
This would take out entire fields at the knees, which is perhaps the point.
This would take out entire fields at the knees, which is perhaps the point.
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Prohibited activities include advising Chinese graduate students. For reference, a recent Georgetown report estimated 16% of STEM graduate students in the US are Chinese nationals.
This would take out entire fields at the knees, which is perhaps the point.
This would take out entire fields at the knees, which is perhaps the point.
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.
TikTok video by Jenna
www.tiktok.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Trump’s HHS put me on “non-disciplinary” admin leave today. This was retaliation for speaking up. Moves like this are designed to silence us. Let’s not let.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Dteoop/
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Excited to recruit a new PhD student for Fall 2026 in my lab at Cornell! Looking for someone interested in evolutionary genomics + fisheries/conservation applications. Quick timeline this year—reach out soon. More details: www.therkildsenlab.org/join-us.html
Join Us
The lab of Nina Overgaard Therkildsen in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University invites applications for a PhD position starting in Fall 2026. Our group works...
www.therkildsenlab.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Excited to recruit a new PhD student for Fall 2026 in my lab at Cornell! Looking for someone interested in evolutionary genomics + fisheries/conservation applications. Quick timeline this year—reach out soon. More details: www.therkildsenlab.org/join-us.html
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say.
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
November 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Absolutely top notch preprint which has it all - a large effect mutation causing iridescence polymorphism, active TE as the basis of the mutation, AND ecological context for the phenotype. Cant wait for more on this!!!!
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 13, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Absolutely top notch preprint which has it all - a large effect mutation causing iridescence polymorphism, active TE as the basis of the mutation, AND ecological context for the phenotype. Cant wait for more on this!!!!
Reposted by Molly Schumer
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Beyond excited to share my PhD work thus far, now up as a preprint! We found that a transposable element insertion is responsible for the recent evolution of an novel color trait. Feeling thankful to everyone who has helped in this project and thrilled to continue learning about "sparkle"!
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Beyond excited to share my PhD work thus far, now up as a preprint! We found that a transposable element insertion is responsible for the recent evolution of an novel color trait. Feeling thankful to everyone who has helped in this project and thrilled to continue learning about "sparkle"!
Reposted by Molly Schumer
i remember this great talk from Biology of Genomes - the sparkle phenotype!
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 8:52 PM
i remember this great talk from Biology of Genomes - the sparkle phenotype!
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
Faculty Position in Computational Biology
Applications are invited for an Assistant/ Associate Professorship in Computational Biology to commence on 1 April 2026 or shortly thereafter. This is a joint post between the Department of Applied
www.cam.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
Reposted by Molly Schumer
🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
November 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.
Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Reposted by Molly Schumer
The Undergraduate Community at Evolution program provides travel funding, mentoring, and a presentation opportunity at #Evol2026. Please share with undergrads in your lab! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/educ...
@asn-amnat.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
@asn-amnat.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 2:29 AM
The Undergraduate Community at Evolution program provides travel funding, mentoring, and a presentation opportunity at #Evol2026. Please share with undergrads in your lab! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/educ...
@asn-amnat.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
@asn-amnat.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
Reposted by Molly Schumer
BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Now accepting proposals for the Small Grants for Local and Regional Outreach, which provide up to $1000 USD for a variety of evolution education & outreach projects, workshops, and events. Submit your proposal by March 2, 2026! shorturl.at/I8HqO
November 6, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Now accepting proposals for the Small Grants for Local and Regional Outreach, which provide up to $1000 USD for a variety of evolution education & outreach projects, workshops, and events. Submit your proposal by March 2, 2026! shorturl.at/I8HqO
Reposted by Molly Schumer
Thrilled to start my Group Leader adventure with these and other great scientists!
We are excited to welcome @fueyoraquel.bsky.social, @sedonamurphy.bsky.social, and @jmstein.bsky.social as new group leaders at our institute!
Read more about their work:
--> www.molgen.mpg.de/2025-10-31-n...
All three are recruiting in the IMPRS PhD Call!
--> www.molgen.mpg.de/IMPRSPhDproj...
Read more about their work:
--> www.molgen.mpg.de/2025-10-31-n...
All three are recruiting in the IMPRS PhD Call!
--> www.molgen.mpg.de/IMPRSPhDproj...
Three new research groups joining the MPIMG
www.molgen.mpg.de
November 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Thrilled to start my Group Leader adventure with these and other great scientists!