Brian Camley
@diffusiveblob.bsky.social
Computational biophysics, cell motility, collective motion, soft matter, horses, cats. Associate Prof at Johns Hopkins Physics+Biophysics departments.
Recognizing bad mentors: "One problem student is a concern. Two problem students is a trend. Three problem students is an established pattern." But this is also why evaluating mentorship is hard. Faculty are tenured with small-n student count - and sometimes the victims won't show up in that count
You know those labs that keep harming students, again and again? Some reflections on why it's so hard to stop this from happening and where our responsibilities lie.
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
Bad mentors hurt people
What to do about bad mentors?
scienceforeveryone.science
November 25, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Recognizing bad mentors: "One problem student is a concern. Two problem students is a trend. Three problem students is an established pattern." But this is also why evaluating mentorship is hard. Faculty are tenured with small-n student count - and sometimes the victims won't show up in that count
Reposted by Brian Camley
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is your paper article #1 in a volume in Nature Communications? Then in some records you may be getting all the citations for all the other articles - because exported citations can default to "starting page" (always 1) instead of "article number"
Bug in Springer Nature metadata may be causing ‘significant, systemic’ citation inflation
Millions of researchers could be affected by a “dramatic distortion of citation counts” likely caused by flaws in how the academic publishing giant Springer Nature handles article metadata, accordi…
retractionwatch.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Is your paper article #1 in a volume in Nature Communications? Then in some records you may be getting all the citations for all the other articles - because exported citations can default to "starting page" (always 1) instead of "article number"
Reposted by Brian Camley
We’re hiring! 🚨
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
November 8, 2025 at 5:54 PM
We’re hiring! 🚨
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
Reposted by Brian Camley
"Why do you like membrane bending simulations so much?"
November 6, 2025 at 5:42 PM
"Why do you like membrane bending simulations so much?"
Reposted by Brian Camley
Ten years ago, I saw a paper with some data that has bothered me ever since: B cells in a 0-100 ng/mL gradient of CCL19 are attracted to CCL19, but B cells in 0-500 ng/mL are repelled (see movie, ignoring the big clusters for now!). Why? Here's our model! doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Ten years ago, I saw a paper with some data that has bothered me ever since: B cells in a 0-100 ng/mL gradient of CCL19 are attracted to CCL19, but B cells in 0-500 ng/mL are repelled (see movie, ignoring the big clusters for now!). Why? Here's our model! doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Brian Camley
Using endocytosis to switch between chemoattraction and chemorepulsion https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.28.685129v1
October 30, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Using endocytosis to switch between chemoattraction and chemorepulsion https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.28.685129v1
Ten years ago, I saw a paper with some data that has bothered me ever since: B cells in a 0-100 ng/mL gradient of CCL19 are attracted to CCL19, but B cells in 0-500 ng/mL are repelled (see movie, ignoring the big clusters for now!). Why? Here's our model! doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Ten years ago, I saw a paper with some data that has bothered me ever since: B cells in a 0-100 ng/mL gradient of CCL19 are attracted to CCL19, but B cells in 0-500 ng/mL are repelled (see movie, ignoring the big clusters for now!). Why? Here's our model! doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Brian Camley
I am teaching Intro to Math Bio (ugrad math about junior level) next semester and I wanted to ask around:
1. If you have taught a similar class, which book have you used and what did you like/dislike about it? (I have the one used previously from another prof and I have a few of my own and
1. If you have taught a similar class, which book have you used and what did you like/dislike about it? (I have the one used previously from another prof and I have a few of my own and
October 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I am teaching Intro to Math Bio (ugrad math about junior level) next semester and I wanted to ask around:
1. If you have taught a similar class, which book have you used and what did you like/dislike about it? (I have the one used previously from another prof and I have a few of my own and
1. If you have taught a similar class, which book have you used and what did you like/dislike about it? (I have the one used previously from another prof and I have a few of my own and
I have seen several offers (ours and others) to candidates at the Assistant level whose primary postdoc work was in preprint stage. These papers took ~2 years in review process. However, these were all trainees of _very_ well-known scientists.
Preprints don't get you jobs, grants or promotion. Sadly, that's just the reality.
October 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I have seen several offers (ours and others) to candidates at the Assistant level whose primary postdoc work was in preprint stage. These papers took ~2 years in review process. However, these were all trainees of _very_ well-known scientists.
This has now lodged into my head, preemptive apologies to the next few awesome associate professors who are celebrated for being mid
My undergrads think the Diener Mid-Career Award is hilarious because to them it sounds like it’s for having a “mid” career 🫠
October 13, 2025 at 2:25 PM
This has now lodged into my head, preemptive apologies to the next few awesome associate professors who are celebrated for being mid
I feel like I can't be the only one who heard "John Martinis Nobel" and went, "Sure, that makes sense" - only to find that it's not for his recent work with superconducting qubits but his 1985 work as a grad student.
Interesting bit of sociology: They are really studiously avoiding any mention of quantum computing. First and only mention came in the last few words of the presentation by Johansson.
October 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I feel like I can't be the only one who heard "John Martinis Nobel" and went, "Sure, that makes sense" - only to find that it's not for his recent work with superconducting qubits but his 1985 work as a grad student.
Reposted by Brian Camley
I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
September 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
Reposted by Brian Camley
Sarah Veatch to Receive 2026 Agnes Pockels Award in Lipids and Membrane Biophysics buff.ly/AdSMhCT
September 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Sarah Veatch to Receive 2026 Agnes Pockels Award in Lipids and Membrane Biophysics buff.ly/AdSMhCT
Reposted by Brian Camley
Jie Xiao to Receive 2026 Carolyn Cohen Innovation Award
www.biophysics.org/news-room/ji...
www.biophysics.org/news-room/ji...
September 24, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Jie Xiao to Receive 2026 Carolyn Cohen Innovation Award
www.biophysics.org/news-room/ji...
www.biophysics.org/news-room/ji...
Reposted by Brian Camley
For the 2026 APS March Meeting, please consider submitting your abstract to our new focus session on Cellular Sensing and Signaling (04.01.29), which aims to bridge theory and experiments to understand how cells sense and respond to environmental signals.
September 23, 2025 at 3:20 PM
For the 2026 APS March Meeting, please consider submitting your abstract to our new focus session on Cellular Sensing and Signaling (04.01.29), which aims to bridge theory and experiments to understand how cells sense and respond to environmental signals.
Reposted by Brian Camley
SCHEPHERD--the bioelectric cell herding platform built for YOU. Single cells, monolayers, organoids--this herds them all + new tricks. Plz try it-- we will *give* you parts! Teaser here of a steering a single cell. GS Yubin Lin's lifeblood with J. Yodh on piano; Celeste R. and Paul K. Thread 1/N
September 17, 2025 at 5:20 PM
SCHEPHERD--the bioelectric cell herding platform built for YOU. Single cells, monolayers, organoids--this herds them all + new tricks. Plz try it-- we will *give* you parts! Teaser here of a steering a single cell. GS Yubin Lin's lifeblood with J. Yodh on piano; Celeste R. and Paul K. Thread 1/N
Reposted by Brian Camley
I keep reading that it was important to the guy, but feels to me that 100000 Pascal wagers is really only about 1 bar bet
September 12, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I keep reading that it was important to the guy, but feels to me that 100000 Pascal wagers is really only about 1 bar bet
Reposted by Brian Camley
Being a professor is so weird. You are constantly having to act like you know things.
September 11, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Being a professor is so weird. You are constantly having to act like you know things.
Reposted by Brian Camley
Vishnu Srinivasan, Wei Wang, Brian A. Camley: Perfect adaptation in eukaryotic gradient sensing using cooperative allosteric binding https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.00219 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.00219 https://arxiv.org/html/2509.00219
September 3, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Vishnu Srinivasan, Wei Wang, Brian A. Camley: Perfect adaptation in eukaryotic gradient sensing using cooperative allosteric binding https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.00219 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.00219 https://arxiv.org/html/2509.00219
Fun membrane biophysics problem: how long will it take for continental diffusion to mix the continents? (Or for line tension to make their boundaries circular?)
Martini on top of the world ! TS2CG as a Membrane Builder | Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
September 3, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Fun membrane biophysics problem: how long will it take for continental diffusion to mix the continents? (Or for line tension to make their boundaries circular?)
Reposted by Brian Camley
1/n New preprint: how eukaryotic cells could potentially adjust to new environments with perfect adaptation of their receptors (but why they probably might not). doi.org/10.48550/arX...
September 3, 2025 at 1:43 PM
1/n New preprint: how eukaryotic cells could potentially adjust to new environments with perfect adaptation of their receptors (but why they probably might not). doi.org/10.48550/arX...
1/n New preprint: how eukaryotic cells could potentially adjust to new environments with perfect adaptation of their receptors (but why they probably might not). doi.org/10.48550/arX...
September 3, 2025 at 1:43 PM
1/n New preprint: how eukaryotic cells could potentially adjust to new environments with perfect adaptation of their receptors (but why they probably might not). doi.org/10.48550/arX...
Not quite sure why @aip-publishing.bsky.social has scummy advertising that pretends to be a download link. This isn't ideal for a scientific society. (Brought to you by Chrome no longer supporting adblockers!)
August 29, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Not quite sure why @aip-publishing.bsky.social has scummy advertising that pretends to be a download link. This isn't ideal for a scientific society. (Brought to you by Chrome no longer supporting adblockers!)
Reposted by Brian Camley
Automated optogenetic control of hundreds of cells in parallel. Each cell is individually steered, collectively acting as a "tissue printer". Preprint & code out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 21, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Automated optogenetic control of hundreds of cells in parallel. Each cell is individually steered, collectively acting as a "tissue printer". Preprint & code out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...