Piali Sengupta
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senguptalab.bsky.social
Piali Sengupta
@senguptalab.bsky.social
Brandeis Bio/Neuro. We study multiple aspects of sensory biology. Mostly in worms. Lab appears to be powered by vast quantities of junk food. Opinions mine.
senguptalab.org
Pinned
Despite the mess, we are grateful to be funded, have exciting science happening, and have an opening for a postdoc!

If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.

Please RT 🙏
Anyone else obsessively checking to see if the NIGMS EI MIRA NOFO has been posted? Nah - just me? Expired in 2025 and the forecast said would be posted Nov 3rd. But ofc there was the shutdown in between.
a woman covering her mouth with her hands while wearing headphones
ALT: a woman covering her mouth with her hands while wearing headphones
media.tenor.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Thanks to @nature.com for featuring our work in this piece on genetically-encoded sensors.

The article does a great job highlighting their importance for both basic research and translational impact, such as in our lab's research on serotonin.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How genetically encoded sensors have lit up neuroscience
Tools that track specific molecules in neurons have enabled researchers to probe previously unexplored aspects of neurobiology — although important caveats remain.
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Fixed it for you, @nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Re-upping this - Neuropeeps! We have a TT Job in my wonderful department at Brandeis! First consideration to applications received by Dec 15 (but why wait?)

www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Assistant Professor in Biology and Neuroscience Program - Waltham, Massachusetts (US) job with Brandeis University | 12848464
The Department of Biology and the Program in Neuroscience at Brandeis University invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor positio...
www.nature.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Come do a joint postdoc with me and @tinakim-neuro.bsky.social, splitting your time between Princeton and Columbia. Come design new activity-dependent labeling enzymes and transcriptional reporters optimized for application in the peripheral nervous system.
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Postdoctoral Scientist- Kim and Abdus-Saboor Lab
Primary Work Address: Dept of Molecular Biology, Princeton, NJ, 08544 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. The Kim Lab at Princeton University and Abdus-Saboor Lab at ...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
All of you knowledgeable music-lovers on here - I need recommendations to rejuvenate my workout playlist (to keep my mind off my aching everything). Gravitate towards high energy sounds - punk, metal (thrash, power, prog mostly but not death), industrial, but will try out other genres. 🙏
November 16, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
If you’re at #sfn25 you definitely don’t want to miss this nanosymposium on cilia, tomorrow from 1-4pm! Come learn about neuronal cilia, they do some pretty cool stuff!
Synapses may get all the glory, but join us cilia-philes for our @sfn.org Nanosymposium to learn about the role of cilia in modulating brain activity, behavior, and development.

Sunday November 16th 1-4pm SDCC Room 25A. Thrilled to chair with @konjikusicmia.bsky.social - we'll see you there!
November 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Congratulations on your re-election, Mayor Wu - the best mayor in America. You proved once more that Boston can't be bought and won't be bullied.
November 5, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Our special issue on ‘Cilia and Flagella’ is now out! Huge thanks to all (authors + reviewers) who contributed, and to our wonderful Guest Editors (@cilialab.bsky.social + @lottepedersen.bsky.social) for pulling it together.
Happy reading!
#cilia #flagella

journals.biologists.com/jcs/issue/13...
Volume 138 Issue 20 | Journal of Cell Science | The Company of Biologists
Journal of Cell Science publishes cutting-edge science encompassing all aspects of cell biology. It is published by The Company of Biologists, a not-for-profit organisation.
journals.biologists.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
The United States was the leading destination for top scientists from all over the world.

That is ending. Politicians ended it. It will cripple our future competitiveness.

And it’s such a bitter tragedy. Almost no Americans, Conservative or Liberal, grasp what is now being stolen from them.
Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'
YouTube video by PBS NewsHour
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Dr. Steven Henikoff receives the 55th Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research.
www.brandeis.edu/rosenstiel/r...

(Personal note: I continue to be inspired and astonished by my postdoctoral mentor & current colleague)
Brandeis University honors Fred Hutch molecular biologist
Dr. Steven Henikoff, a molecular biologist at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, has won the prestigious Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research from Brandeis University recognizing h...
www.fredhutch.org
October 31, 2025 at 12:48 AM
What a loss. Instead of welcoming talent from around the world, we are kicking them out and embracing the cult of stupidity and ignorance.
As an immigrant myself - this really resonates. I am sorry Wei -we will miss you. I wish you the very best in your life and am sorry it couldn't be here.
After 13 years in the US, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave. Having packed up everything and rethought about priorities, rather painstakingly, while I’m sad to leave the life I’ve made here, I’m also relieved that I won’t have to plan my life around immigration policies anymore.
October 31, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Exciting new work from Mike's lab! #ProudExPI
I'm thrilled to share our new preprint, in which we've found that neurotransmitters can be chemically "marked" as a way to incorporate metabolic history - such as diet or life stage. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Led by Porhathai "Un" Malaiwong, Allen Schroeder and Tia Brown. (1/6) 🧵
Nuclear receptor-neurotransmitter coupling links behavior to metabolic state
Animals must flexibly respond to environmental stimuli to survive, and optimal responses critically depend on the organism's current needs. Many organisms have evolved both cell-intrinsic and intertis...
www.biorxiv.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience

Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E

@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...
rdcu.be
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Synapses may get all the glory, but join us cilia-philes for our @sfn.org Nanosymposium to learn about the role of cilia in modulating brain activity, behavior, and development.

Sunday November 16th 1-4pm SDCC Room 25A. Thrilled to chair with @konjikusicmia.bsky.social - we'll see you there!
October 24, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
TT faculty job opening in #Neuroscience!
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
Brandeis University, Biology Department
Job #AJO30961, Assistant Professor in Biology and Neuroscience Program, Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, US
academicjobsonline.org
October 22, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
😍 Boston, you are beautiful. #NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Neuroscientists say No Kings
October 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Good crowd here in Waltham
October 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
As a person here on a visa, there are clear signs that my rights won’t be honored (or don’t have rights for that matter), so if you are going to the protest tomorrow, be loud and clear on my behalf. It’s so important that citizens practice their rights and speak truth to power. 🙏
October 17, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Despite the mess, we are grateful to be funded, have exciting science happening, and have an opening for a postdoc!

If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.

Please RT 🙏
October 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
I'm looking to recruit a post-doc to help push forward our growing interests in insect ecotoxicology.
Apply here by Nov 30th!
(thanks for reposting)

career5.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job...
Career Opportunities: Posdoctoral researcher in toxin susceptibility and evolution of resistance in insects (22517)
career5.successfactors.eu
October 16, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Piali Sengupta
Excited 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
October 15, 2025 at 4:17 PM