catie profaci, phd
postdoc @ scripps research | phd @ UCSD NGP | fan of brains & blood vessels 🧠 | aspiring academic | co-founder @StoriesOfWiN 💜 | 2024 L’Oréal For Women in Science awardee | she/her
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdApplications are open for the 2026 Zara Weinberg cohort of Leading Edge, named in honor of the incredible, brilliant, fearless @weinberz.witchlab.org. The LE community has been truly transformative for my scientific journey and my happiness. Please apply!! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
- I have been blown away by the level of support (both practical and emotional support!) from the #LeadingEdge community. I feel so grateful to be a part of this group. Consider applying!! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdTomorrow is the last day to register for our in-person event! Join us, and our incredible lineup of speakers, on the UCSD campus Nov 15 from 9am-1pm. Registration is free! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdApplying for faculty jobs this cycle? Check out our latest special episode! @moeneuro.bsky.social and @drnancypadilla.bsky.social discuss when to apply, important considerations when preparing applications, and more! Listen below! www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202... #AcademicBluesky #NeuroJobs
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdCongratulations @karalmckinley.bsky.social & lab on their groundbreaking recent preprint establishing + characterizing a chemically inducible model of menstruation in mouse: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... My jaw dropped when I heard this presented earlier this year. Incredible.
- Coming to SD 🌴 for #SfN25 🧠?! Join @storiesofwin.bsky.social for our first in-person event 🤩. We’ll have a keynote, panels, & time for networking! Won’t be in SD? You can still register to receive a recording! Speaker/panelist announcements coming soon 👀 Register by Nov 1: forms.gle/CJPcKZNZY7uU...
- 🚨REGISTRATION IS OPEN!🚨 We're so excited to host our first-ever, in-person event! Join us for panel discussions, a keynote address, and the opportunity to meet many amazing women in Neuroscience💜 Please register to attend by November 1st: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... We can't wait!
- Rocío is an amazing scientist, mentor, and person in general!!! Please share this job opening with anyone who might be interested 🤩🤩
- We’re hiring! My new Gut–Brain Axis Lab at Northwestern is looking for a Research Technologist 2 to help build the lab and explore how the nervous system shapes gut health and disease. 🔬 Apply here: myhr.northwestern.edu/psp/hrnu/EMP...
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdNew preprint alert! The uterus expands ~500-fold in pregnancy, yet we know little about how pressures are sensed. Led by @yunxiao-dr.bsky.social, we show PIEZOs are required for contractions and birth in mice, with dual roles of PIEZO1 in muscle and PIEZO2 in neurons www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- My duck is on its way!
- 🚨ACTION OF THE DAY🚨 @standupforscience.bsky.social Day 21! QUACK-O-GRAM THURSDAY! For $3 we will hand deliver an "IMPEACH THE QUACK" rubber ducky to your House Representative! (By one of our team members in a duck suit!) DO IT (AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS) act.standupforscience.net/fundraising/...
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- Hard to choose from >150 profiles! One that always sticks out is Huda Akil (ep 19)- www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202.... & some of my fave interview convos I’ve had are w @osmanaya.bsky.social (ep 58)- www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202... & Sally Temple (ep 73)- www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202...
- Thank you so much to @nicolecrust.bsky.social for taking the time to highlight our team and project on Bluesky!! We are so honored ☺️
- Thrilled to share this amazing work from Marie Blanchette & team in the Daneman Lab!!! We found that differences in the BBB across brain regions help regulate local brain function 🧠 Honored to have contributed to the study & to have had Marie as a mentor during my PhD💕 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Interested in a neuroscience PhD or postdoc position in Germany? Check out the Brain Algorithms and Circuits Group opening at MPI this Fall!! And many congrats to my friend Gregor Schuhknecht on opening his lab 🥳 #Neuroscience #Zebrafish #NeuroJobs brain.mpg.de/schuhknecht
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- We at @storiesofwin.bsky.social have dreamt of hosting an in-person event for years… and it’s finally happening!!!! 🧠💕 Fill out the interest form even if you won’t be in SD for SfN—we’re gauging interest in a virtual option too!
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- Reposted by catie profaci, phdBREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
- Reposted by catie profaci, phd⚖️ HUGE day today in the NIH terminations cases There's a trial (of sorts) at 10a ET in Boston today for arguments that NIH unlawfully terminated 100s of grants. It's a 3 hour hearing and I'll post periodic updates. Of note: this is the 1st lawsuit filed against the Trump Admin to go to trial.
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdSen. Alex Padilla was just removed from Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles (video: Bill Melugin/Fox News)
- Happening today!!!
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- Very excited to be among the newest cohort of Leading Edge Fellows!! It’s an incredibly supportive community of scientists, and I can’t wait to get to know all of them better ☺️
- We are thrilled to announce the 2025 Leading Edge Fellows! 40 outstanding postdoctoral fellows doing pioneering research in a wide range of biological and biomedical disciplines. Learn more about these exceptional scientists: www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows
- I truly do not understand this @hhmi.org decision. Why go to all the trouble to make big changes to several awards to keep them “legal” (open to everyone) only to then terminate them??? And at a time when ECRs are the most desperate??? I think a public explanation is much needed
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- Reposted by catie profaci, phdCheck out our latest profile! Dr. Eve Marder studies the stability and flexibility of neural circuit function. Follow the link below to learn more! www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202... #StoriesofWiN #WomenInNeuroscience #WomenInNeuro
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdThe plan for NIH is in, source with full 64 page proposal for all of HHS is linked. Reported in WaPo. This is catastrophic. Reduction to 8 centers. 40% cut in budget. 15% IDC cap. This will decimate science across America open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
- Please read and share! Thank you for speaking up @ardemp.bskyverified.social
- Published an op-ed for @cnn.com: “Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger.” A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world. www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdThe New York Times is the first to put out comprehensive estimates on the cost of a year without U.S.A.I.D. and they’re higher than I thought: - 1.65 million deaths from AIDS - 500,000 from lack of vaccines - 550,000 from lack of food aid - 290,000 from malaria - 310,000 from TB
- Killing children is by design, I'm afraid. "Pro-natalists" like Musk claim they aren't racist, but their pressure to have children is solely focused on white women, while they back policies that literally kill of non-white children. He's a eugenicist. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
- It was an honor to write Dr. McCane’s (@drbediya.bsky.social) profile for @storiesofwin.bsky.social! I really enjoyed listening to her interview—I recommend checking it out on our podcast! 🎙️🧠💜
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdSO MANY STAND UP FOR SCIENCE EVENTS TO CHOOSE FROM—153 and COUNTING! To get more information on our local events and to register your own, head to www.standupforscience2025.org/local-event-information/ ☀️⬇️🌎
- Hey San Diego!! Come Stand Up for Science on Friday!!! UCSD @ noon and then downtown @ 2!! 🧬🔬🧪✊🏼
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdOur next profile is here! Dr. Monique Smith (@moeneuro.bsky.social) studies the neural mechanisms of empathy. Follow the link below to learn more! www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202... #StoriesOfWiN #WomenInNeuroscience
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- Reposted by catie profaci, phdATTENTION (PLEASE SHARE) If anyone has or knows of any positions that might be appropriate for the NIH staff members who were terminated, please post the information in this thread. There are lots of talented and accomplished people who may be looking for new opportunities.
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- Reposted by catie profaci, phdIn California NIH FUNDING: $5.31 B JOBS SUPPORTED: 55,949 ECONOMIC ACTIVITY SUPPORTED: $13.55 B KEEP IT GOING
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- Was honored to write this profile of Dr. Malú Tansey for @storiesofwin.bsky.social !
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- Reposted by catie profaci, phd🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdThe entire archive of CDC datasets can be found here. HUGE shoutout to data archivists- this work is important 👏🙌🏻 archive.org/details/2025...
- Just taking a moment to remember how happy and hopeful I was (despite being absolutely freezing!!) on Inauguration Day 2009. We arrived before sunrise to get a spot on the mall! The crowd and the vibes were 💯
- 2024 book roundup! Consumed 28 books this year (my dad tells me I can’t say “read” since they’re audio books 🙄). Always looking for recs so please let me know your faves! I tend to read mostly fiction and memoirs, but some non-fiction too
- Love this advice!
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- An important perspective 👇
- My “research grandfather”! Ever grateful that some of the fundamental ways in which Ben approached science & mentorship were passed down to me through my PhD advisor (who had been Ben’s PhD student)
- Post a picture of yourself from a different era ✨ Jumping on this trend. Here’s me on the first day of school (I think pre-k4). Little did I know, I’d be a student for >25 more years 😂💀
- Reposted by catie profaci, phdI'm loving the starter packs! But didn't see one for all CNS injury researchers (stroke, TBI, SCI, etc). Can you help me build it? go.bsky.app/PPPHzU2at://did:plc:de7zshuhgvzdnuiwfz5hghdo/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lc26nhbvvz2y
- I was trying to figure out if I had been added to any starter packs I didn’t know about. This site will tell you! It will also tell you who has blocked you 👀 (no one interesting in my case) clearsky.app
- Achievement of the day. Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁
- I also believe that the writing & editing experience I gained from NeuWrite SD were invaluable. Congrats & welcome back, NeuWrite Philly!!
- Reposted by catie profaci, phd🚨 If you haven’t seen it yet… 📢 The NIH BioArt Source provides a library of FREE professionally designed illustrations and icons, available for anyone to use. They can be Downloaded in High Definition. Check it out at bioart.niaid.nih.gov
- Reposted by catie profaci, phd🧠 barriers & neurovasculature starter pack - please reply here if you are not on it yet & would like to be added 😊 go.bsky.app/RB6RXKyat://did:plc:ghkjazitflwyaczzoo6mwmld/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3laxghuwpqj2o
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- Yu is brilliant! I was lucky enough to overlap with her when I started my postdoc. Check out the preprint! 👇
- Preprint dropped! Excited about this study by Yu Wang, a PhD student from Li Ye's lab and mine, now a postdoc in @deisseroth.bsky.social lab. It unveils an unexpected role for PIEZO2/mechanosensation in sensory neurons that innervate fat! What is it sensing in fat? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Fun part of the L’Oréal award ceremony was meeting the emcee, astronaut/super mom/scicommer Kellie Gerardi. She’s returning to space in 2026 & you can now propose experiments for her team to do in space! Proposals due in Jan 👇 astronauticsinstitute.org/wp-content/u...
- Love seeing a big science migration to 🦋!! To all #StoriesOfWiN interviewees, please let us know if we missed you when we made the starter pack or if you just joined the blue skies. We’ll add you! 🧠💕 And to those just discovering WiN, we’re a podcast/website highlighting women in academic neuro!
- Looking for inspirational women in neuroscience to follow? We made a starter pack of Stories of WiN interviewees and our team members! 💜 #WomenInNeuro #StoriesOfWiN go.bsky.app/PCteLM8at://did:plc:7allcc25klueq45ha45elgoq/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lasdvqp6ad2f
- Reposted by catie profaci, phd#BlackInNeuro Starter Pack v1! Let us know if we missed you. #BlackInSTEM #Neuroscience 🧪 go.bsky.app/F8PpdPeat://did:plc:vcxh6n4wf255576clqdp6bf6/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lawzscv2lk2g
- What motivates me is the human connections beyond the science! Some of the benefits of conferences, but from my couch in my sweatpants :)
- Thanks Ardem 😊 And since “everyone” is asking hahah, here are some pics. L’Oréal went above and beyond! (They prob could have spent more on research funding and less on the gala, but it was a fabulous time!)
