Maria Paz Fernandez
Neurobiologist
Indiana University Bloomington, Department of Biology
@iubiology.bsky.social
https://fernandez.lab.indiana.edu
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez🧵Good news out of #NIH today. (1) NIH is extending #ESI and #K99/R00 eligibility to accommodate researchers whose eligibility would have ended during the previous shutdown. Take a look at NOT-OD-26-020. If your ESI status would have ended in 2025, you get an automatic extension through 2026/03/31.
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezWhat: The 2026 Indiana University Animal Behavior Conference When: March 27-28 Where: Monroe Convention Center, Bloomington, IN Conference registration is open. Abstract deadline is Feb. 13. Attendance only deadline is March 9, 2026. Learn more: go.iu.edu/8sMB
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezThe second paper from the lab is now available on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We discovered that cannibalistic behavior in fly larvae is social-context dependent. Larval groups avoid dead conspecifics; individuals show high attraction. They only do it when no one is watching 😉
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezCan't wait to serve again as co-director of the CSHL Drosophila Neurobiology course this year! 🧪🪰👀 Application Deadline: March 27 meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx... @cshlnews.bsky.social @cshlcourses.bsky.social
- Happy New Year! Hiking at Griffy Lake
- Merry Christmas! 🎄
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez#NSF BIO is hosting a Virtual Office Hour December 18 at 1:00 Eastern Time www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-b...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezDrosophila colleagues--Please submit nominations for the Larry Sandler Award. which recognizes excellent recent graduates who have completed a PhD in Drosophila research. Details are below and at this link: genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezOur python workshop is returning! Undergraduate educators, join us on July 27-30 for "Coding with Allen Institute Data." No prior coding experience needed. Travel, meals, & stipend included. Apply by Feb. 2 at: alleninstitute.org/events/educator-cod… #iTeachBio #EduSky
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezI will be co-teaching a summer course at Allen Institute on connectomics education please apply. Travel support, new connectomics data sets and learning directly from the scientists who built these datasets. Details here: alleninstitute.org/events/incor...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezSO HAPPY to share our new paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social! Using volumetric EM, we found daily shifts in synapses, vesicles, and mitochondria that accompany neuronal remodeling, linking structural plasticity to changes in how s-LNv neurons influence their targets www.cell.com/current-biol...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezIf you're at #SfN25 come check out this poster session on neurobiology in changing ecosystems #KavliNeuro
- Interested in how nervous systems adapt to environmental change? On Sun, 11/16, a poster session on "Environmental Stressors in Invertebrates” (PSTR131) - rows Y11-Z11, 1-5 pm. Researchers in the community will answer your questions. #SfN25 #KavliNeuro
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezThrilled to share our new work! In this study, we have expanded on the role of the circadian clock in integrating seasonal environmental cues through splicing. Thanks to @joanna-chiu.bsky.social for the continuous mentorship and to all co-authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezDo flies feel pain? Spooky new preprint from our lab on the cells and circuits that mediate nociceptive behaviors in adult Drosophila, led by graduate student (and newly minted PhD!) @jonesjes.bsky.social. 🪰⚡👻🎃 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezOn my last day at @flyneuro.bsky.social I am happy to share my latest paper about the DN1a clock neurons and their central role within the clock network. :) I am grateful for the nice time I had here in Würzburg and looking forward to new adventures in Okayama and Münster in the next years!
- A functional clock in only two dorsal clock neurons is sufficient to restore the basal circadian activity pattern of Drosophila melanogaster | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Applications are due Dec 1st. biology.indiana.edu/graduate/gen...
- Come join us! Applications to the GCDB Biology Doctoral program at IU are due December 1st. @iubiology.bsky.social @alizeemalnoe.bsky.social @rhcalderon.bsky.social @lesleynweaver.bsky.social @hoosierflyman.bsky.social @tennessenlab.bsky.social @flyeyelab.bsky.social @briancalvi.bsky.social
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez🔬✨Join us Nov. 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Science Fest 2025. Explore hands-on, interactive activities that spark curiosity and inspire learners of all ages. You might even spot Hoosier the Bison in his new lab coat! 🦬 🥼 🎉 Open to the public, free admission. 🔗sciencefest.indiana.edu/index.html
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez@senapati.bsky.social latest and greatest! Charly Treiber on board too. Over and out. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezExcited to announce our new pre-print (www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...)! This collaborative work (co-led by Adriane Otopalik and Gerry Rubin) examines how neuronal circuits regulate social behaviors, like courtship🫶 and aggression🥊, across sexes. #neuroscience #Drosophila #WomenInSTEM 🧪1/
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezExcited to share our new #biorxivpreprint: “Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezPumped to share our work on bird behavior and the 2024 Eclipse, in today's @science.org. 100k bird vocalizations + 10k continent-wide observations from the public = really fun collab led by Liz Aguilar, with @juncowren.bsky.social @mathcancer.bsky.social @imillercrews.bsky.social #NSF
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezExciting news for #drosophila #connectomics and #neuroscience enthusiasts: the Drosophila male central nervous system connectome is now live for exploration. Find out more at the landing page hosted by our Janelia FlyEM collaborators www.janelia.org/project-team....
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezWe're very proud to be releasing the complete male fly CNS connectome! It's the product of a huge team effort here at Janelia in partnership with the Cambridge Fly Connectomics group (@jefferis.bsky.social and colleagues), plus invaluable collaborators. More soon... www.janelia.org/project-team...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezNature has published an article on the crisis facing MODs Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures www.nature.com/articles/d41... @zfinmod.bsky.social @xenbase.bsky.social @yeastgenome.bsky.social @mousegenome.bsky.social @ratgenome.bsky.social @geneontology.bsky.social @nature.com
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezThere's an update on the state of FlyBase on the FlyBase.org front page. You can contribute to FlyBase at this link wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase... We express enormous gratitude to the people, labs, groups, and foundations who have already helped us. #FlyBase #Drosophila
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezWe have an uncorrected proof published for Bhagaban Mallik's study on Mitochondrial Complex I and how it regulates synapse function. You can find it in @plosbiology.org. I am so proud! H/T collaborators: Drs. Sajad Bhat and Xinnan Wang @xinnanwanglab.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezCheck out the new work from the Calvi lab ! #Drosophila #cellbio #polyploidy @iubiology.bsky.social @briancalvi.bsky.social
- New in #GENETICS: From a genetic screen, Yi-Ting Huang and Brian Calvi identified the Src42A-Shark-Slpr pathway as an upstream regulator of JNK in induced endocycling cells in #Drosophila wing disc. buff.ly/wJmn8lp
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez[This post could not be retrieved]
- Come join us! Applications to the GCDB Biology Doctoral program at IU are due December 1st. @iubiology.bsky.social @alizeemalnoe.bsky.social @rhcalderon.bsky.social @lesleynweaver.bsky.social @hoosierflyman.bsky.social @tennessenlab.bsky.social @flyeyelab.bsky.social @briancalvi.bsky.social
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezApplications are now open for our course on connectomics & brain simulation. Organizers: Sven Dorkenwald (MIT), Stefanie Hampel (UPR), Andrew Seeds (UPR), Sebastian Seung (Princeton), and Srini Turaga (Janelia). Interested? Apply here ➜ sjcabs.com
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezBoom, congratulations Joel
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezThe neuroscience community has lost a dear friend and mentor. Ed Kravitz passed away on Sunday, September 21, 2025. Here he is this past summer speaking with (and making margaritas for) the 2025 Grass Fellows, as he's done for more than two decades. Rest in peace.
- Ed Kravitz passed away yesterday. He was a remarkable scientist and mentor- brilliant, curious, creative, and kind. I am grateful to have learned from him. His legacy will endure through his science and through the many people he inspired. We will miss you, Ed.
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezI have gotten a bit behind at sharing the lab’s latest work - this paper is now published - check it out! www.cell.com/cell-reports... Long story short: insulin is the major determinant of female fat storage, with a relatively minor effect on males.
- So proud of this preprint! The main paper from Puja Biswas @pujabiswas.bsky.social PhD revealing a female-biased role for the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS) pathway in regulating body fat in fruit flies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezJoin us! The Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History is hiring a curatorial associate! For more information : careers.amnh.org/postings/4529
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezI'm looking for PhD students to join the lab starting August 2026. We study the evolution of insect chemical signals so if you're interested in evolutionary biology, chemical ecology, molecular biology, behavior, or genetics, this could be a good fit for you! More info here: tinyurl.com/mrxchwfm
- New publication from our lab, in Science Advances: Synaptic targets of circadian clock neurons influence core clock parameters www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- New publication from our lab: Sexually dimorphic and clock gene-specific effects of artificial light at night on Drosophila behavioral rhythms royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezConfused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
- It takes less than a minute to donate to FlyBase—let’s support this essential resource for the Drosophila community.
- 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...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezMy lab’s newest preprint is now available. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezJoin us (and @sfn.org) this Wednesday for a webinar that will explore how brains cope with changing environments. Hear from experts on recent advances in the field. Learn more: bit.ly/3HeL1kv #KavliNeuro #neurosky @rosvall-lab.bsky.social
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezThis short read is truly excellent - thank you, Martin Schwartz!
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezFlybase is free to use but not free to make. It takes large teams of people and millions of dollars a year to create the knowledgebas and tools for fly research. Please donate generously.
- 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...
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez#Drosophila community in the US and non- EU countries, please donate to help us support #Flybase. People behind the scenes have put in incredible effort over the past few months - as someone who has seen some of it first hand at #IUBloomington, they deserve all the praise. Please share and donate !
- 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...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezFlyBase 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...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezFlyBase, a Drosophila database, will lose a third of its team in early October because the Harvard grant that covered the employees’ salaries was canceled. Scientists warn that losing FlyBase could devastate fly research. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/community/ha...
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez📢 Fresh off the press! Our article on Arc is out in @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.cell.com/current-biol... 🧶 Full thread on our discoveries here: bsky.app/profile/thec...
- 1/ I cannot think of a better first post in the fresh blue sky to introduce the Caron lab than a thread about 👾Arc👾 and our newest preprint. So, buckle up science butterflies!🦋🧞♂️ #neuroscience #Drosophila #ArcGenes #WomenInSTEM
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezCalling all scientists with an interest in photography! The @royalsocietypublishing.org Photography Competition closes this coming Friday 15 August, with categories including Astronomy, Behaviour, Earth Science & Climatology, Ecology and more: #RSPphotocomp royalsociety.org/journals/pub...
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezHow is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome. Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025... 🧪#Neuroskyence
- Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord) We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezOur department at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada) is running two faculty searches. One is a joint hire with the Institute for Healthy Aging, one a cohire with the Math Dept cps.med.ubc.ca/careers-2/ Click on “Faculty Positions” on the page. Please help spread the word!
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezExtra kudos and thanks to all the staff at NIH and NSF and other federal funding agencies for working extra hard in very small windows of opportunity to get grants reviewed and funds released before the attention-addled federal policies change again (on an hourly basis).
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezWe are looking for 2 postdocs to join my lab at Sussex University in Brighton, UK (South of London, on the sea). One position is for a molecular/cell biologist, the other, for a neurobiologist/behavioural person. Drosophila experience desirable. Flyer w/more info below. Please repost. Thank you!
- Reposted by Maria Paz Fernandez#Circadian #Biology has grown into an incredibly broad field, one that you can now learn the fundamentals of through a clear, concise, and expertly written book. For free. Read it here and share it with your students and peers: doi.org/10.21827/686... [doi.org] #chronobiology #SciComm 🧪
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezHi folks — What federally-hosted data sets do you use for your research? Please reply below. I'm especially curious about more obscure .gov data sets that might be research critical for you. (And I'm interested to hear about data sets in any domain, not just life sciences!)
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezCheck out our work in @genetics-gsa.bsky.social #G3journal on new #Drosophila tools for studying D-2HG #oncometabolite in a context dependent manner during development and disease. #devbio #genetics #metabolism @tennessenlab.bsky.social @superflymr.bsky.social @iubiology.bsky.social
- Reposted by Maria Paz FernandezLocal reporting… www.alxnow.com/2025/06/24/r...
