Pavak Shah
@shahlab.bsky.social
🔬 🪱 🧠 Asst Prof @UCLA
www.connectiontofunction.org
www.connectiontofunction.org
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Majority of grants in my portfolio did not change titles... but they did have to edit their summaries and narratives. Mostly to remove any indication that their training grant would work to be inclusive and support a diverse cohort.
New story up on the non-existent banned words from NIH grants (based on my grant title, word cloud analysis)
www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
1/3
Scientists had to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding. Health disparities researchers fear what’s next
The titles of more than 700 multi-year NIH grants have been changed this year, according to an analysis by Jeremy Berg, a former agency official
www.statnews.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Majority of grants in my portfolio did not change titles... but they did have to edit their summaries and narratives. Mostly to remove any indication that their training grant would work to be inclusive and support a diverse cohort.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Most scientists have more potential research directions than they can pursue. They choose which paths to pursue. And part of this is deciding which paths are most likely to be fundable.
October 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Most scientists have more potential research directions than they can pursue. They choose which paths to pursue. And part of this is deciding which paths are most likely to be fundable.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Donate to Paul Maddox for Congress in NC 11
Paul is running for Congress because there’s a sickness in Washington, and no one is working to cure it.
secure.actblue.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Our group at the Allen Institute is recruiting a technician and postdoc to work on light microscopy-based connectomics. Please DM me or share with anyone you think may be interested in this NIH BRAIN CONNECTS funded project.
October 8, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Our group at the Allen Institute is recruiting a technician and postdoc to work on light microscopy-based connectomics. Please DM me or share with anyone you think may be interested in this NIH BRAIN CONNECTS funded project.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Life knows how to keep going - even if it’s freezing -15 degrees C 🥶 outside. AGU just covered our discovery of ultra resistant ice diatoms gliding into a world record! 🧪🔬Enjoy the story here:
eos.org/articles/ice...
eos.org/articles/ice...
Ice Diatoms Glide at Record-Low Temperatures - Eos
New observations reveal how microscopic organisms move through polar ice and illustrate how they may have evolved to thrive in extreme environments.
eos.org
October 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Life knows how to keep going - even if it’s freezing -15 degrees C 🥶 outside. AGU just covered our discovery of ultra resistant ice diatoms gliding into a world record! 🧪🔬Enjoy the story here:
eos.org/articles/ice...
eos.org/articles/ice...
The #EMBOCelegans course comes back for another iteration! A great opportunity for a deep intro to C. elegans methods. Apply by December 8th!
🪱 Ready to take your C. elegans skills to the next level? Join our #EMBOCelegans course!
🎯 Learn hands-on genome editing, AI-driven imaging, microfluidics & uncover development, physiology & evolutionary insights.
📍 EMBL Heidelberg
📅 23 – 29 Mar 2026
👉 Apply by 8 Dec: s.embl.org/cel26-01-bl
🎯 Learn hands-on genome editing, AI-driven imaging, microfluidics & uncover development, physiology & evolutionary insights.
📍 EMBL Heidelberg
📅 23 – 29 Mar 2026
👉 Apply by 8 Dec: s.embl.org/cel26-01-bl
October 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The #EMBOCelegans course comes back for another iteration! A great opportunity for a deep intro to C. elegans methods. Apply by December 8th!
Reposted by Pavak Shah
This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
What if NIH had been 40% smaller?
Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research
www.science.org
September 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
New preprint!
How are developmental cycles coordinated across cell types?
It turns out that, like Geppetto's cuckoo clocks in the GIF below, individual cell types are each performing their own little crazy routine, but all in sync with each other.
How are developmental cycles coordinated across cell types?
It turns out that, like Geppetto's cuckoo clocks in the GIF below, individual cell types are each performing their own little crazy routine, but all in sync with each other.
a bunch of clocks are hanging on a wall including one that says ' 3:00 ' on it
ALT: a bunch of clocks are hanging on a wall including one that says ' 3:00 ' on it
media.tenor.com
September 7, 2025 at 1:45 PM
New preprint!
How are developmental cycles coordinated across cell types?
It turns out that, like Geppetto's cuckoo clocks in the GIF below, individual cell types are each performing their own little crazy routine, but all in sync with each other.
How are developmental cycles coordinated across cell types?
It turns out that, like Geppetto's cuckoo clocks in the GIF below, individual cell types are each performing their own little crazy routine, but all in sync with each other.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Certain extramural investigators have received NOAs this week listing the indirects at 15%. What's happening at your institution?
August 22, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Certain extramural investigators have received NOAs this week listing the indirects at 15%. What's happening at your institution?
Reposted by Pavak Shah
In my humble opinion, the embryonic cell lineage paper's longest lasting legacy is the shared aesthetic we in the worm community aspire to achieve in our work: beautiful, elegant, complete, and deeply conceptual.
August 20, 2025 at 12:26 PM
In my humble opinion, the embryonic cell lineage paper's longest lasting legacy is the shared aesthetic we in the worm community aspire to achieve in our work: beautiful, elegant, complete, and deeply conceptual.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Post a non-religious photo you think of as holy.
August 20, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Post a non-religious photo you think of as holy.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
"The crowd’s anger grows, and I notice something that is becoming a trend. Trump’s troops retreat when citizens rise up. In a moment, the squad cars and SUVs pack up and leave, squealing tires, doing U-turns, and vanishing into the night.
Anger is an energy."
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Anger is an energy."
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Fake Armies of the Night: Trump Unleashes Show and Awe on Washington
Donald Trump’s D.C. takeover is the usual Trumpian blend of idiocy and cruelty — all optics, unless you are brown-skinned.
www.rollingstone.com
August 20, 2025 at 8:36 PM
"The crowd’s anger grows, and I notice something that is becoming a trend. Trump’s troops retreat when citizens rise up. In a moment, the squad cars and SUVs pack up and leave, squealing tires, doing U-turns, and vanishing into the night.
Anger is an energy."
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Anger is an energy."
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
🚨 150 University of California law professors (and counting) have now signed this open letter to the UC Regents and other officials, explaining the flagrant illegality of the Trump Administration’s UCLA funding cut offs, and urging the UC to fight back. sites.google.com/view/uclawfa...
August 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
🚨 150 University of California law professors (and counting) have now signed this open letter to the UC Regents and other officials, explaining the flagrant illegality of the Trump Administration’s UCLA funding cut offs, and urging the UC to fight back. sites.google.com/view/uclawfa...
Honored to have collaborated briefly with Jim during my postdoc. We only met a few times but I was struck each time by his incredibly thoughtful and careful approach to science.
We are deeply saddened to share that our friend and colleague Jim Hudspeth passed away on Saturday. We will remember and continue to be inspired by Jim’s integrity, his humility, and his unwavering commitment to discovery.
A. James Hudspeth, neuroscientist who unlocked secrets of hearing, has died - News
A. James Hudspeth, a Rockefeller neuroscientist who discovered how sound waves are converted into electrical signals in the ear's cochlea, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. A pioneering scientist and dedicated mentor, he was the university's F.M. ...
www.rockefeller.edu
August 19, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Honored to have collaborated briefly with Jim during my postdoc. We only met a few times but I was struck each time by his incredibly thoughtful and careful approach to science.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Pathway to Independence – an interview with Chee Kiang (Ethan) Ewe.
In this interview, @ethanewe.bsky.social talks about about what drives and excites him, and what he hopes to achieve in his own lab:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
In this interview, @ethanewe.bsky.social talks about about what drives and excites him, and what he hopes to achieve in his own lab:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
August 18, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Pathway to Independence – an interview with Chee Kiang (Ethan) Ewe.
In this interview, @ethanewe.bsky.social talks about about what drives and excites him, and what he hopes to achieve in his own lab:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
In this interview, @ethanewe.bsky.social talks about about what drives and excites him, and what he hopes to achieve in his own lab:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
As someone who ended up using non-model systems after doing his PhD with Drosophila, you don't realise just how amazing FlyBase or WormBase are until you try to genetics without them.
FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...
FlyBase:Contribute to FlyBase - FlyBase Wiki
wiki.flybase.org
August 15, 2025 at 3:13 PM
As someone who ended up using non-model systems after doing his PhD with Drosophila, you don't realise just how amazing FlyBase or WormBase are until you try to genetics without them.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
The president and his allies have reshaped the military for their own purposes, say Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson, former members of the National Security Council. “We no longer expect resistance from that institution,” they write.
The president and his allies have reshaped the military for their own purposes, say Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson, former members of the National Security Council. “We no longer expect resistance from that institution,” they write.
Opinion | How the Military Became Another Instrument of Trump’s Power
The president and his allies have reshaped the military for their own purposes.
nyti.ms
August 14, 2025 at 1:00 AM
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
The president and his allies have reshaped the military for their own purposes, say Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson, former members of the National Security Council. “We no longer expect resistance from that institution,” they write.
The president and his allies have reshaped the military for their own purposes, say Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson, former members of the National Security Council. “We no longer expect resistance from that institution,” they write.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
Kennedy's case against mRNA vaccines collapses under his own evidence
“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.
www.statnews.com
August 13, 2025 at 6:56 PM
“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
This EO, combined with the retirement of Noni Byrnes at CSR/NIH, makes me very concerned about peer review at the NIH
“This [executive] order further weakens our nation’s ability to conduct and support scientific research across various fields by replacing experts with ideologically driven political stooges who have no expertise and no business making decisions on academic research.”
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Trump Order Puts Politics Above Peer Review, Researchers Say
The executive order says senior appointees must review grants, and it demands awards be easier to terminate. Research groups say it undermines science.
www.insidehighered.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This EO, combined with the retirement of Noni Byrnes at CSR/NIH, makes me very concerned about peer review at the NIH
Reposted by Pavak Shah
The funds are approved! We're hiring a postdoc to build a CRISPRa toolkit to identify new aging mechanisms in C. elegans.
Email or DM me to find out more. Please share & repost!
Email or DM me to find out more. Please share & repost!
a man in a suit has a name tag on his jacket that says dennis
Alt: a man in a suit has a name tag on his jacket that says dennis
media.tenor.com
August 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
The funds are approved! We're hiring a postdoc to build a CRISPRa toolkit to identify new aging mechanisms in C. elegans.
Email or DM me to find out more. Please share & repost!
Email or DM me to find out more. Please share & repost!
Reposted by Pavak Shah
A senior administration official, as well as other officials, told Rolling Stone that it is a priority of Trump that these kinds of military deployments -- in times of relative calm -- become normalized in American political culture.
More: rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
More: rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
August 13, 2025 at 12:46 PM
A senior administration official, as well as other officials, told Rolling Stone that it is a priority of Trump that these kinds of military deployments -- in times of relative calm -- become normalized in American political culture.
More: rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
More: rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
Sales of fourth tier blue jeans shilled by Dear Leader’s leering endorsement of partially unclothed model his child’s ~age tank while Subway footlong sandwiches purchases rise on a tide of rebellion. What a country.
August 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Sales of fourth tier blue jeans shilled by Dear Leader’s leering endorsement of partially unclothed model his child’s ~age tank while Subway footlong sandwiches purchases rise on a tide of rebellion. What a country.
Reposted by Pavak Shah
😮 Just WOW!!
Spray GFP mRNAs on plant leaves and the leaves translate this and you get glowing leaves.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Spray GFP mRNAs on plant leaves and the leaves translate this and you get glowing leaves.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Foliar mRNA spray induces protein synthesis in monocot crop and dicot model plant species
In planta gene expression via exogenous mRNAs has a wide range of potential biotechnological applications from genome editing to plant protection and to circumventing tissue culture. Yet, regarding mR...
www.biorxiv.org
August 12, 2025 at 6:22 AM
😮 Just WOW!!
Spray GFP mRNAs on plant leaves and the leaves translate this and you get glowing leaves.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Spray GFP mRNAs on plant leaves and the leaves translate this and you get glowing leaves.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Pavak Shah
What an utter travesty
I just got the notice that all the FlyBase people at Harvard, including me, will be laid off on October 12. I'm devastated.
August 11, 2025 at 8:32 PM
What an utter travesty