Justin Kumar
@flyeyelab.bsky.social
Developmental biologist | Professor at Indiana University Department of Biology | eye development, pattern formation, gene regulation
Check out my Perspective article “The Retina’s Rhythm” which accompanies an exciting paper by Claude Desplan in Science. I highlight his discovery that waves of calcium are required to finalize the honeycomb-like structure of the Drosophila retina.
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
The retina’s rhythm
Calcium waves facilitate the emergence of sight
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Check out my Perspective article “The Retina’s Rhythm” which accompanies an exciting paper by Claude Desplan in Science. I highlight his discovery that waves of calcium are required to finalize the honeycomb-like structure of the Drosophila retina.
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
Patience is a virtue! I have been a season ticket holder at my home institution, Indiana University, for 23 years. I have seen a lot of bad football games. My perseverance through the pain and suffering is finally paying off. We are ranked #3 in the country. Upwards and onwards!
October 13, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Patience is a virtue! I have been a season ticket holder at my home institution, Indiana University, for 23 years. I have seen a lot of bad football games. My perseverance through the pain and suffering is finally paying off. We are ranked #3 in the country. Upwards and onwards!
Reposted by Justin Kumar
The Lacefield Lab won second place in the great pumpkin derby! @dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @mcbdartmouth.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
The Lacefield Lab won second place in the great pumpkin derby! @dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @mcbdartmouth.bsky.social
Very proud of former Kumar lab PhD student, Alison Ordway, for receiving a K99 award from the National Eye Institute on her work describing photoreceptor patterning in Drosophila and mosquito compound eyes. Keep your eyes out for Alison when she goes out on the job market.
September 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Very proud of former Kumar lab PhD student, Alison Ordway, for receiving a K99 award from the National Eye Institute on her work describing photoreceptor patterning in Drosophila and mosquito compound eyes. Keep your eyes out for Alison when she goes out on the job market.
Reposted by Justin Kumar
Check out our new manuscript on biorxiv on the role of MOS in mammalian oocyte meiosis: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
With @schindlerlab.bsky.social @giselacairobaza.bsky.social @muhammad-haseeb.bsky.social
With @schindlerlab.bsky.social @giselacairobaza.bsky.social @muhammad-haseeb.bsky.social
A persistent intracellular bridge and cell cycle misregulation enable polar body cell divisions and tumor formation in Mos-deficient eggs
Mammalian female meiosis is uniquely regulated to produce a developmentally competent egg capable of supporting embryogenesis. During meiosis I, homologous chromosomes segregate, with half extruded in...
www.biorxiv.org
August 29, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Check out our new manuscript on biorxiv on the role of MOS in mammalian oocyte meiosis: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
With @schindlerlab.bsky.social @giselacairobaza.bsky.social @muhammad-haseeb.bsky.social
With @schindlerlab.bsky.social @giselacairobaza.bsky.social @muhammad-haseeb.bsky.social
Great department with fantastic colleagues!
My department at Dartmouth Medical School is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor. We are looking broadly for a biochemist or cell biologist. Please share this add! apply.interfolio.com/171438
@dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @futurepislack.bsky.social
@dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @futurepislack.bsky.social
Apply - Interfolio
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apply.interfolio.com
August 27, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Great department with fantastic colleagues!
The lab kicked off the start of the fall semester at Indiana University by having lunch at Lennie's Brewpub.
August 26, 2025 at 12:52 AM
The lab kicked off the start of the fall semester at Indiana University by having lunch at Lennie's Brewpub.
As my laboratory begins its 24th year at Indiana University I am grateful to all of the past and present PhD students, research associates, and postdoctoral fellows that have joined me in my quest to discover how the compound eye of Drosophila develops.
August 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
As my laboratory begins its 24th year at Indiana University I am grateful to all of the past and present PhD students, research associates, and postdoctoral fellows that have joined me in my quest to discover how the compound eye of Drosophila develops.
Reposted by Justin Kumar
Just finished teaching another year of CSHL Yeast Genetics and Genomics with a fantastic group of students as usual! @cshlcourses.bsky.social
August 15, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Just finished teaching another year of CSHL Yeast Genetics and Genomics with a fantastic group of students as usual! @cshlcourses.bsky.social
My lab's newest research paper on the Drosophila eye is published in Development today. Thanks to the editorial staff for writing a research highlight and interviewing us about our work.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
Differential regulation of eye specification in Drosophila by Polycomb Group epigenetic repressors
Highlighted Article: Distinct gene sets are differentially expressed in response to the knockdown of Polycomb Group (PcG) members, suggesting that multiple avenues may exist for the eye to be transfor...
journals.biologists.com
August 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
My lab's newest research paper on the Drosophila eye is published in Development today. Thanks to the editorial staff for writing a research highlight and interviewing us about our work.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
To all of my university faculty friends, as tenure and promotion season is just around the corner I thought I would share a little academic humor with you. Enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNih...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNih...
Associate Professor means "less than"
YouTube video by Marty Jencius
www.youtube.com
July 17, 2025 at 7:52 PM
To all of my university faculty friends, as tenure and promotion season is just around the corner I thought I would share a little academic humor with you. Enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNih...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNih...
Happy to have had high school students Robyn Pate and Joy Sweeny (front row) spend the week with us learning about my lab and Drosophila eye development. Thanks to graduate students Ren Wilson and Mie Kusupholnand for serving as their research mentors.
July 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Happy to have had high school students Robyn Pate and Joy Sweeny (front row) spend the week with us learning about my lab and Drosophila eye development. Thanks to graduate students Ren Wilson and Mie Kusupholnand for serving as their research mentors.
Happy 4th of July from the Kumar lab!
July 4, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Happy 4th of July from the Kumar lab!
A portion of my lab took a break from their experiments and joined me at our local Strawberry Shortcake Festival in Bloomington, Indiana.
June 12, 2025 at 8:57 PM
A portion of my lab took a break from their experiments and joined me at our local Strawberry Shortcake Festival in Bloomington, Indiana.
Reposted by Justin Kumar
Super excited to post our new publication on the role of MOS/MAPK signaling in maintaining the egg transcriptome. Great collaboration with Britt Goods lab! rep.bioscientifica.com/view/journal...
rep.bioscientifica.com
June 9, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Super excited to post our new publication on the role of MOS/MAPK signaling in maintaining the egg transcriptome. Great collaboration with Britt Goods lab! rep.bioscientifica.com/view/journal...
Very late in posting...many thanks to my friend and host Markus Friedrich for an awesome visit to the Departments of Biological Sciences and Ophthalmology at Wayne State University. Great catching up with an old friend, talking science, and presenting our newest story on Drosophila eye development.
June 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Very late in posting...many thanks to my friend and host Markus Friedrich for an awesome visit to the Departments of Biological Sciences and Ophthalmology at Wayne State University. Great catching up with an old friend, talking science, and presenting our newest story on Drosophila eye development.
Super excited that my superstar friend Soni Lacefield @lacefieldlab.bsky.social is a AAAS fellow! See how her creative research is making an impact on our understanding of meiosis and infertility.
geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/so...
geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/so...
Soni Lacefield Named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Soni Lacefield, PhD, a professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, has been named a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (…
geiselmed.dartmouth.edu
March 29, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Super excited that my superstar friend Soni Lacefield @lacefieldlab.bsky.social is a AAAS fellow! See how her creative research is making an impact on our understanding of meiosis and infertility.
geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/so...
geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/so...
Another awesome paper from the Lacefield lab @lacefieldlab.bsky.social
Check out our super cool paper on aneuploidy in cells lacking Bub3. Congratulations to fantastic student Pallavi Gadgil and alum Olivia Ballew. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
Aneuploidy of specific chromosomes is beneficial to cells lacking spindle checkpoint protein Bub3
Author summary Accurate chromosome segregation is crucial for the proper development of all living organisms. Errors in chromosome segregation can lead to aneuploidy, characterized by an abnormal numb...
journals.plos.org
February 21, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Another awesome paper from the Lacefield lab @lacefieldlab.bsky.social
Hope your lab had a great Valentine's Day!
February 15, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Hope your lab had a great Valentine's Day!
Great opportunity to work with an incredible mentor and scientist!
We’re hiring a new research fellow. Come join us in London to study glial cells in the ageing retina using killifish as a model. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
February 7, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Great opportunity to work with an incredible mentor and scientist!
Kumar lab - very lucky to be exploring the world of eye development with these amazing researchers!
February 5, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Kumar lab - very lucky to be exploring the world of eye development with these amazing researchers!
Reposted by Justin Kumar
Feeling very lost today with the news of the passing of my undergrad advisor Scott Hawley. He had a huge impact on the field and on me personally. He was the first person to see me as a scientist and gave me the confidence to apply to grad school. I am so grateful to be a part of his legacy.
January 31, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Feeling very lost today with the news of the passing of my undergrad advisor Scott Hawley. He had a huge impact on the field and on me personally. He was the first person to see me as a scientist and gave me the confidence to apply to grad school. I am so grateful to be a part of his legacy.
It was finally warm enough here in Bloomington to spend some time in the backyard taking pictures. Look who showed up!
January 26, 2025 at 8:10 PM
It was finally warm enough here in Bloomington to spend some time in the backyard taking pictures. Look who showed up!
NoA for my new NIH grant just arrived. Many thanks to the National Eye Institute for what will be 27 years of continuous and generous funding of my studies into the mechanisms underlying Drosophila eye specification and patterning. @michaelfchiang.bsky.social
January 22, 2025 at 12:27 AM
NoA for my new NIH grant just arrived. Many thanks to the National Eye Institute for what will be 27 years of continuous and generous funding of my studies into the mechanisms underlying Drosophila eye specification and patterning. @michaelfchiang.bsky.social
Wishing you and your labs a peaceful Christmas and New Year. Hope to see all of you in 2025!
December 24, 2024 at 7:27 PM
Wishing you and your labs a peaceful Christmas and New Year. Hope to see all of you in 2025!