Rafael Dai Pra
@rdaipra.bsky.social
📍Physiology PhD candidate @yale
🐿️ Interested in the extreme adaptations of animal physiology
🇧🇷 Empowering young brazilian scientists @iniproxima
🐿️ Interested in the extreme adaptations of animal physiology
🇧🇷 Empowering young brazilian scientists @iniproxima
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Seahorses have a unique sex role reversal with male pregnancy involving the brood pouch, an evolutionarily novel organ. A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution uses single-cell genomics and in-vivo experiments to reveal the mechanisms of pouch development in seahorses. 🧪
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of seahorse male pregnancy - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Seahorses have a unique sex role reversal with male pregnancy involving the brood pouch, an evolutionarily novel organ. This study uses single-cell genomics and in vivo experiments to reveal the cellular basis and molecular mechanism of pouch development and diversity in seahorses.
go.nature.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Seahorses have a unique sex role reversal with male pregnancy involving the brood pouch, an evolutionarily novel organ. A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution uses single-cell genomics and in-vivo experiments to reveal the mechanisms of pouch development in seahorses. 🧪
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Pablo Villar and team uncover molecules and receptors underlying octopus mating.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A specialized appendage responds to female sex hormones, allowing male octopuses to find their sex organs in the dark. https://scim.ag/4roFry3
‘Superarm’ helps male octopuses deliver sperm to females
Specialized appendage responds to female sex hormones, allowing males to find sex organs in the dark
scim.ag
November 26, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Pablo Villar and team uncover molecules and receptors underlying octopus mating.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
November 20, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
q.e.d Science
Critical Thinking AI for constructive criticism and science evaluation
qedscience.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
WTI Postdoctoral Fellowship applications are open! Unique opportunity for those pivoting fields or working across disciplines. I’d be happy to support candidates with a background in immunology and/or in vivo 2-photon imaging, including collaborations with other WTI labs wti.yale.edu/initiatives/...
Postdoctoral Fellowships | Wu Tsai Institute
wti.yale.edu
October 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
WTI Postdoctoral Fellowship applications are open! Unique opportunity for those pivoting fields or working across disciplines. I’d be happy to support candidates with a background in immunology and/or in vivo 2-photon imaging, including collaborations with other WTI labs wti.yale.edu/initiatives/...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Forget all the annoying stuff in the world for a few seconds and enjoy the natural beauty of Brazil’s Seven-coloured Tanager (Tangara fastuosa) Photo: Luiz Cavalcanti Damasceno
May 31, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Forget all the annoying stuff in the world for a few seconds and enjoy the natural beauty of Brazil’s Seven-coloured Tanager (Tangara fastuosa) Photo: Luiz Cavalcanti Damasceno
So glad to have had the chance to join this symposium. ✨ Amazing people and amazing science! Thank you for this opportunity!
Congratulations to the Rising Stars in Neuroscience – Class of 2025! This is one of my favorite events each year, and this year was no exception.
Keep an eye on this incredible group of scientists—they’re doing amazing things!
Keep an eye on this incredible group of scientists—they’re doing amazing things!
May 21, 2025 at 4:36 AM
So glad to have had the chance to join this symposium. ✨ Amazing people and amazing science! Thank you for this opportunity!
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Lab’s latest: (mouse) mums grow their guts during pregnancy and lactation: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
March 19, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Lab’s latest: (mouse) mums grow their guts during pregnancy and lactation: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Check out this @science.org video 📽️ featuring @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social's PI Elena Gracheva & grad student Maddy Junkins 👩🔬 as they explore the fascinating physiology of hibernation 💤 in 13-lined ground squirrels 🐿️ and the neurophysiology behind thirst suppression! 🥤🧪
How these hibernating squirrels conquer thirst
Neurophysiology of resting rodents could hold secrets to suspended animation
www.science.org
February 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Check out this @science.org video 📽️ featuring @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social's PI Elena Gracheva & grad student Maddy Junkins 👩🔬 as they explore the fascinating physiology of hibernation 💤 in 13-lined ground squirrels 🐿️ and the neurophysiology behind thirst suppression! 🥤🧪
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
Squirrel-sicles, space travel, brain surgery, and scenes from an in-person reporting trip (unheard of in this economy)!
www.popsci.com/science/hibe...
www.popsci.com/science/hibe...
Hibernation scientists studying squirrels could get humans to deep space
The biological phenomenon borders on sci-fi.
www.popsci.com
December 23, 2024 at 3:11 PM
Squirrel-sicles, space travel, brain surgery, and scenes from an in-person reporting trip (unheard of in this economy)!
www.popsci.com/science/hibe...
www.popsci.com/science/hibe...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
A paper that comes with a tagline
"Amorous adventures can lead us to pursue risky actions."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Amorous adventures can lead us to pursue risky actions."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mating proximity blinds threat perception - Nature
A state-dependent dopamine filter system in the male Drosophila brain balances threat perception against the drive to mate.
www.nature.com
December 15, 2024 at 9:18 PM
A paper that comes with a tagline
"Amorous adventures can lead us to pursue risky actions."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Amorous adventures can lead us to pursue risky actions."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
My inaugural post on Bluesky - quite fittingly, I'm thrilled to share our first study on heat acclimation, which identifies a neuronal mechanism that drives heat tolerance in mice. (www.nature.com/articles/s41... )
Here is the gist 🧵 (1/n):
Here is the gist 🧵 (1/n):
Thermally induced neuronal plasticity in the hypothalamus mediates heat tolerance - Nature Neuroscience
Ambroziak, Nencini, Pohle and colleagues identify a slowly emerging plasticity mechanism in a discrete set of hypothalamic preoptic neurons that is triggered by long-term heat exposure and that drives...
www.nature.com
December 10, 2024 at 9:59 PM
My inaugural post on Bluesky - quite fittingly, I'm thrilled to share our first study on heat acclimation, which identifies a neuronal mechanism that drives heat tolerance in mice. (www.nature.com/articles/s41... )
Here is the gist 🧵 (1/n):
Here is the gist 🧵 (1/n):
Beautiful study by Maddy from the Gracheva Lab describes a mechanism for long-term thirst suppression during hibernation in hibernating ground squirrels 🐿️💧
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Suppression of neurons in circumventricular organs enables months-long survival without water in thirteen-lined ground squirrels
Water deprivation is a life-threatening condition that engages a protective physiological response to couple osmolyte retention with potentiation of thirst. This response, typical for most mammals, sa...
www.science.org
November 28, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Beautiful study by Maddy from the Gracheva Lab describes a mechanism for long-term thirst suppression during hibernation in hibernating ground squirrels 🐿️💧
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
My lab studies both lab mice and naked mole rats. There is a belief amongst some that what we discover in mice will be universally true, and what we discover in naked mole rats will be a weird mole rat quirk. I believe this mouse-centric view of biological systems is very limiting.
November 26, 2024 at 2:18 PM
My lab studies both lab mice and naked mole rats. There is a belief amongst some that what we discover in mice will be universally true, and what we discover in naked mole rats will be a weird mole rat quirk. I believe this mouse-centric view of biological systems is very limiting.
Reposted by Rafael Dai Pra
This is us! We're an educational resource with a bsky account. Content will be all about open educational resources in neuro, including but not limited to this book. #neuroscience #neuroskyence #openneuroscience #openscience
Announcing a new open access textbook for entry level behavioral neuro. Funded by NSF. Written by a collection of 26 neuro experts. Method demonstration videos and author interviews too. Consider using it in your courses to reduce financial barriers to education.
openstax.org/details/book...
openstax.org/details/book...
November 18, 2024 at 7:10 PM
This is us! We're an educational resource with a bsky account. Content will be all about open educational resources in neuro, including but not limited to this book. #neuroscience #neuroskyence #openneuroscience #openscience