Anita Devineni @BrainsExplained Twitter profile

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Anita Devineni

11 months

Periodic reminder that my lab @EmoryUniversity is looking for people! We're seeking postdocs (hi @neurophd_emory grads!) and will be hiring a new technician next year. We use cutting-edge tools to study neural circuits and behavior in flies 🧠🪰🔬🧬

Join Us! — Devineni Lab

We are looking for motivated and curious scientists to join our team! We believe that diversity is critical to science, and we strive to create a lab that includes people of diverse backgrounds and...

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

I'm 35 years old, I have a PhD and 15 years of experience working in my field... and I'm still considered a "trainee". Academia is fucking insane.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Since the moment I became a PI I've been inundated with requests (eg paper & grant reviews, guest lectures, outreach). Not complaining, but I was equally qualified to do this for the last 5 yrs as a PD and would have appreciated the opportunity more. Consider postdocs for things!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

I’m so excited to say that I’ll be joining the Department of Biology @EmoryUniversity as an Assistant Professor, starting in January!! My lab will use the Drosophila taste system as a model to study how neural circuits transform sensory input into flexible behavior. 🪰🧠

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

Some thoughts on my first year as a PI 👇🏾 I wrote this before Christmas and have been waffling about posting it in case it seems too whiny or privileged, but it's something I'd be interested in reading if I were still a postdoc or trainee

Thoughts After One Year as an Assistant Professor

Somehow it’s been a year since I started as an Assistant Professor at Emory, where I teach and run a research lab. It has been a whirlwind! As a postdoc I had no idea about what the transition to f…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

By popular demand (i.e. one person commenting on Twitter), I made an SFN bingo card for those of you heading to #SfN19 this week

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

I’m looking for a faculty job in neuroscience/biology! I have a sweet research plan using Drosophila taste to examine how circuits drive flexible behavior (pun intended 😉) and a strong record of mentoring, teaching, service & DEI work. Please lmk if you know of any openings!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

The recent Sabatini news and outpouring of support from some scientists (+ a swarm of internet misogynists) is upsetting to most ppl, but it's straight-up triggering for those who have experienced sexual harassment. Hearing others defend and minimize certain behaviors. I see you.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Just did my last experiment as a postdoc, and my last time ever imaging on the trusty two-photon scope that I've grown to love/hate over nearly a decade. Goodbye, old friend.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 months

Me packing for a conference: My only clean PJs are my Christmas PJs but who cares no one will see them. Me on the first morning of the conference: Hanging outside in my Christmas PJs after a fire alarm with a crowd of PIs from around the world😂

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Since everyone's getting excited for #SfN22 , here's the bingo card I made for the last in-person SFN. I think everything still applies!

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

By popular demand (i.e. one person commenting on Twitter), I made an SFN bingo card for those of you heading to #SfN19 this week

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

Hey science PhD students! I wrote a blog post on how to obtain and choose a postdoc position: Just another attempt to share my experience/knowledge and hopefully make the dark world of academia less scary and confusing for others :)

How to Apply for Postdoctoral Positions and Choose the Right One

Recently I was on a panel for PhD students about “How to get a postdoc”. It made me realize that many grad students don’t know much about the process of obtaining and choosing a postdoctoral positi…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

To celebrate my 7th anniversary of being a postdoc, I wrote this post to help other postdocs: "10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Postdoc"

10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Postdoc (Part 1)

As I’ve somehow become a “senior postdoc” (a moniker that I’ve attempted to elude for years with diminishing credibility), I’ve been reflecting on all the things I wish I knew when I started. Mista…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

This. Also, do NOT choose a lab based purely on the science! The mentor and environment of the lab are FAR more important for your success and happiness than the exact topic you're researching.

Sarah Knutie

@SarahKnutie

6 years

'Tis the season. I've seen many recommendations for prospective #PhD labs by #ScienceTwitter . PLEASE, take these recs w/ a grain of salt. Talk to former grad students from the lab; even current students may not be able to give you the full picture out of fear of retaliation.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

11 months

I'm hearing from postdocs gearing up to apply for faculty jobs this year, so figured it's a good time to reshare my old blog post with tips for the academic job search! It includes advice on applications, interviews, and the two-body problem

10 Tips for the Faculty Job Search

Going on the faculty job market last year was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. In the end, I was very fortunate to land a job as an Assistant Professor at Emory University, which I…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

The Devineni Lab website is up! Check it out to learn how we’ll be using fruit flies to study neural circuits and behavior @EmoryUniversity . We open in January and are actively recruiting at all levels. Especially looking for a tech and PhD students!

Devineni Lab

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 months

Since last year's post seemed to resonate with people, I wrote a sequel: Thoughts after 2 years of being a PI

Thoughts After Two Years as an Assistant Professor

This is a sequel to the post I wrote a year ago, “Thoughts After One Year as an Assistant Professor”. Again, I’m writing this for people who are wondering what the early stages of a faculty positio…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

My lab has people in it now! And also a small amount of functioning equipment!

First lab members and data! — Devineni Lab

The lab is growing! We’d like to welcome several new lab members.

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 months

This week our first NIH grant begins! 🎉 Thank you NIDCD for funding our first R01 on sensory processing in the Drosophila brain 🙏🏾 We're still recruiting people to help us do the work, especially postdocs. Learn more here:

Join Us! — Devineni Lab

We are looking for motivated and curious scientists to join our team! We believe that diversity is critical to science, and we strive to create a lab that includes people of diverse backgrounds and...

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

2 days in the Penske, 9 states, and 900 miles later, we (and my 600 fly stocks) now officially live in Atlanta!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

Since this tweet resonated, let me clarify. The problem isn't just the word, it's: 1) the pretense that postdocs' primary role is to get more training as opposed to providing cheap labor / being a prereq for a TT job 2) "trainee" status is used to justify low pay / no benefits

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

I'm 35 years old, I have a PhD and 15 years of experience working in my field... and I'm still considered a "trainee". Academia is fucking insane.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 months

My lab at Emory is seeking a new research technician to start this spring! We use cutting-edge tools to study neural circuits and behavior 🧠🔬🪰 Open to recent grads seeking more experience before grad school or someone looking for a long-term position.

Join Us! — Devineni Lab

We are looking for motivated and curious scientists to join our team! We believe that diversity is critical to science, and we strive to create a lab that includes people of diverse backgrounds and...

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Excited to share another major piece of my postdoc work on bioRxiv! In this study I discovered novel features of the timing and dynamics of fly taste responses and showed how they influence neural circuit function. 🪰😝🧠 Thread below 👇

Individual bitter-sensing neurons in Drosophila exhibit both ON and OFF responses that influence...

The brain creates internal representations that translate sensory stimuli into appropriate behavior. Most studies of sensory processing focus on which subsets of neurons are activated by a stimulus,...

www.biorxiv.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

My new lab () is seeking a research technician to start in early 2022! Great opportunity to study the brain, learn neuroscience techniques, and build cool things. Apply below, and please email me as well (anita.devineni @emory .edu)

Devineni Lab

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

My postdoctoral work on OFF responses in the fly taste system is now published in @CurrentBiology ! See the quoted thread for main takeaways. The updated version has new imaging experiments 🔬and computational modeling of a potential receptor mechanism 🖥️

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Excited to share another major piece of my postdoc work on bioRxiv! In this study I discovered novel features of the timing and dynamics of fly taste responses and showed how they influence neural circuit function. 🪰😝🧠 Thread below 👇

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

The Devineni lab now physically exists! And on my second official day of work, just after moving everything in, there was a huge flood in the building 😲😲 Thankfully my lab wasn't affected, but feeling bad for everyone who got hit.

We’ve moved in! — Devineni Lab

The Devineni lab now exists in physical space!

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

If you're a PI whose lab members are actually enjoying the quarantine because they can be away from you and the lab, you should probably rethink how you run your lab 🙃 Of course, if you're one of those PIs you probably don't know or care how your lab members are doing...

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

@MaringerLab That's very interesting. I don't have an intrinsic problem with the word "trainee" if someone's main role is to receive training, which may be true for students. But in places I've been, postdocs are mainly there to provide cheap labor / get pubs, and get hardly any real training

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

I'm definitely not sad that this is my last Postdoc Appreciation Week as a postdoc! But like last year, I'll use it as opportunity to share some advice for postdocs. First up: 10 things I wish I knew when I started my postdoc

10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Postdoc (Part 1)

As I’ve somehow become a “senior postdoc” (a moniker that I’ve attempted to elude for years with diminishing credibility), I’ve been reflecting on all the things I wish I knew when I started. Mista…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

@pollyp1 (and providing cheap labor that drives academic research, of course)

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

7 years

I am so fucking sick of “no paper w/in 1st 3 yrs of postdoc =unproductive”. Ppl really don’t get that lots of science doesn’t work that way?

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

Excited to share the first paper from my postdoc on @biorxivpreprint : "Acetic acid activates distinct taste pathways in Drosophila to elicit opposing, state-dependent feeding responses" Main takeways below:

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

The lab has hit several milestones in our first 3 months, including 1st lab members, 1st fly cross, 1st data, 1st lab meeting, 1st grant submission, but there's nothing like today's: 1st piece of equipment broken (quite spectacularly I might add) 😬 (fortunately not expensive!)

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

My first year as a PI has felt very slow and full of setbacks and rejections, but I'm proud of what we've done and grateful to be working with awesome people. Here are some highlights from our first year:

Highlights from our first year — Devineni Lab

It’s hard to believe, but by the end of the month the lab will have existed for a whole year!

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Excited to share a brand new preprint! We investigated how inputs from different types of taste neurons are integrated in the fly brain to guide behavior. Thread 👇🏾

Selective integration of diverse taste inputs within a single taste modality

Each sensory system contains a diverse repertoire of sensory cells. In the gustatory system, individual taste modalities contain sensory cells that reside in different locations or express different...

www.biorxiv.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

Since it's public now... I know everyone on twitter wants to either gossip or trash talk, but remember that there are ~20 grad students, postdocs, and staff whose jobs/research/careers are being upended right now.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

@pollyp1 Do we need a word other than "postdoc" or "scientist"? Seems like ppl mainly use it to lump students and postdocs together, but not like we can't just say 3 words instead of 1....

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 months

My lab's first two undergraduate honors students (who are also two of my very first lab members) defended their theses this week!!! So proud of them ☺️

Undergraduate honors defenses — Devineni Lab

Two of our undergraduate students defended their theses this week!

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

After a year and a half, I almost forgot what vacation feels like. Slowly returning from off the grid.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

Based on my experience on a speaker selection committee, I wrote a post about gender bias in choosing speakers: Main takeaways: - men submitted 71% of the speaker nominations - 73% of nominees were men - women were twice as likely to nominate women

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

We have a new preprint up! We examined how taste cues elicit prolonged modulation of behavior. A brief taste of sugar makes flies want to eat stuff they aren’t normally excited about, and vice versa for the taste of bitter. 1/

Taste cues elicit prolonged modulation of feeding behavior in Drosophila

Taste cues regulate immediate feeding behavior, but their ability to modulate future behavior has been less well-studied. Pairing one taste with another can modulate subsequent feeding responses...

www.biorxiv.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

@Neuro_musings Yeah, that's kind of my point. In fact I spend significant amounts of time training other people.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

Me last week: I've just set up my last fly cross as a postdoc! Me last Monday: Ok, now I've set up my last cross as a postdoc! Me yesterday: This is really my last cross as a postdoc! Me today: I think I should set up some more crosses....

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Today is 6 months of having a lab! I'm proud of what we've done, but if this is what the next 5/10/20 yrs are like I don't think I'll survive 😬 Can't even remember what "free time" or "weekends" were like... (PS not a humblebrag! I'll brag if I ever figure out work-life balance)

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

Huge props to @EmoryUniversity for supporting our dual careers! The Rodgers lab is going to be 🔥🔥

Chris Rodgers

@chrisXrodgers

3 years

In January 2022, I will begin a new position as Asst Professor in the Dept of Neurosurgery at Emory! My lab will study how sensory and motor brain regions work together to enable 🐭 to explore, learn, and build resilience to disorder. Lots more coming soon! @EmoryNeurosurg

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

Since I've (mostly) refrained from ranting about the comically lengthy and emotionally draining process of publishing my first postdoc paper-- a process which started 3.5 years ago-- I think I've earned the right to share the good news: it's out today!

Acetic acid activates distinct taste pathways in Drosophila to elicit opposing, state-dependent...

A single taste input, acetic acid, elicits opposing behavioral outputs depending on a fly's hunger state.

elifesciences.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

Back home from a great time at @CircuitBehavGRC - the science was as amazing as the mountains! (but I'm only allowed to tweet about the latter) I think I've done practically every hike from Les Diablerets if anyone going there wants tips ☺️

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

The salary outrage is warranted, but let’s not forget how this started as a convo about inclusion. SFN is supposed to be a meeting for everyone, but presenting requires paying for membership, registration, & abstract handling. >$500 for grad students, >$900 for non-students/PDs

Tony Zador

@TonyZador

1 year

why does the executive director of SFN need to make $751K/yr??

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Doing this awesome run/hike in the Santa Monica mountains was totally worth only having 15 min to shower and change before my first ever invited talk as a PI, yesterday at the Molec Cell Neuro @GordonConf . Another 15 min and I would've been speaking in my running clothes 😅

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

My lab at @EmoryUniversity is still looking for a research technician! Great opportunity to: *study neural circuits & behavior 🧠 *learn cutting-edge neuroscience techniques 🔬 *build your CV for grad/med school 👩🏾‍🎓 *live in an awesome city 🏙️ Info here:

Join Us! — Devineni Lab

We are looking for motivated and curious scientists to join our team! We believe that diversity is critical to science, and we strive to create a lab that includes people of diverse backgrounds and...

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 months

Spending all weekend grading student projects isn't fun... except when it's presentations on underrepresented neuroscientists and I get to hear about how inspired they are by awesome tweeps like @bjmarlin @IshmailSaboor @okaysteve @doctheagrif @kss_phd 🤩 My students chose well!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

8 months

Just in time for #cshldros23 , we have a new preprint on how sweet taste elicits different behavioral responses. Are different behaviors coordinately regulated? At what point does the sweet-sensing circuit diverge into different behavioral pathways?

Overlap and divergence of neural circuits mediating distinct behavioral responses to sugar

A single sensory cue can elicit diverse behavioral responses. For example, the taste of sugar robustly promotes feeding[1][1], [2][2] but also influences other behaviors, such as altering locomotor...

www.biorxiv.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Another depressing article about postdocs showing what most of us already know: a majority of postdocs have considered leaving science because of mental health issues related to work & a quarter have experienced harassment/discrimination (usually from PI).

Postdocs under pressure: ‘Can I even do this any more?’

Nature - Long hours and a lack of job security, combined with workplace bullying and discrimination, are forcing many to consider leaving science, finds Nature’s inaugural survey of postdoctoral...

www.nature.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

Sci-twitter ladies, you inspire me to do things like this: After the 1000th time being told to "go consult with ___" [usually a guy] to verify something I already know, I said: "You're implying I don't know what I'm talking about. Actually, people come to ME to consult on this."

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

@pollyp1 tbh I'm not objecting to the word itself so much as the pretense that a postdoc is for getting more training as opposed to garnering publications to get a job

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 months

See this thread: BRAIN initiative funding was cut by 40%, seemingly by mistake, and NIH staff is prohibited from lobbying so it's up to us! I just wrote to my representative and senators - took 2 min. Sharing my comment here, which draws from those by @kendmil and @doristsao 🙏🏾

TK Kozai (BIONICLab.org)

@BIONIC_Lab

2 months

As some of you are well aware, the BRAIN Initiative funding was cut by 40% (). “This is truly awful, This large cut to the BRAIN Initiative is, simply put, going to kill jobs and hurt patients over the next 10-20 years.” – Kip Ludwig, PhD

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

The more I review things (e.g. papers, grants, PhD apps), the more I think reviews say way more about the reviewer than the reviewee. Some people hate everything; some people try to find the best in everything. Systems without some kind of reviewer normalization make no sense.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

898 days later... my manuscript is finally, finally, FINALLY submitted. Hoping that was the hardest part, but somehow I doubt it...

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

In the fly brain (data from @stephenplaza et al), I was surprised that any 2 totally random neurons are only separated by ~3 connecting interneurons. Challenges the view that the brain is a bunch of separate modules or distinct pathways.

Liam Drew

@liamjdrew

4 years

Neuroscientists, what's the most important/surprising insight to emerge from connectomics?

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

Pandemic downside: not getting to spend my birthday with anyone other than my cohabitator Pandemic upside: the two of us get to eat this 8-layer birthday cake ourselves 😂

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Our lab is shut down other than keeping animals alive, but there are some PIs @ZuckermanBrain allowing trainees to go in to do regular, run-of-the-mill experiments. Invariably the PIs say "I'm not forcing anyone to go in!" That's not the point. You need to stop it. Be a leader.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Is it normal to go back and forth many times a day between my data is crap and my project is meaningless 😭😭😭 and my stuff is freaking awesome WHY DOES NO ONE APPRECIATE ME 😭😭😭

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Super excited to talk "at" UW today, and looks like my talk is being publicly advertised for anyone to attend! 12pm PT/ 3pm ET

aoLab

@aolab_neuro

4 years

First student-selected speaker tomorrow at noon -- Anita Devineni @BrainsExplained kicking off the quarter! Join early for career development Q&A

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

Sad to end an amazing week of hiking through Switzerland, but excited for the start of @CircuitBehavGRC today! I'll be giving a talk on Tuesday and doing a poster Mon/Tues, come find me!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

8 months

It's here! Neurobiology of Drosophila @cshlmeetings , the best meeting with the best peeps ever, starts today! I made this bingo card pre-pandemic and haven't been to CSHL in 4 years - let's see how much of this still applies 😅

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

Has anyone heard what @SfN_Events plans to do about the 100s of poster presenters who couldn't present yesterday? If they're going to reschedule they better tell ppl ASAP! Doing nothing is unacceptable when this is ppl's main reason for going & charging $145 per abstract #SfN21

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

For anyone going to the Neurobiology of Drosophila conference at @cshlmeetings this week (or any CSHL meeting in the future): play CSHL meeting bingo with me! #cshldros

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

This time he doubted my ability to analyze my own data; after much discussion he finally admitted "maybe" I wasn't doing it wrong but said "we need to get a math guy to do [fancier analysis]" I scoffed, "We don't need a math guy. I'll do it" Him: "You can do that??"

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

Sci-twitter ladies, you inspire me to do things like this: After the 1000th time being told to "go consult with ___" [usually a guy] to verify something I already know, I said: "You're implying I don't know what I'm talking about. Actually, people come to ME to consult on this."

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Me, constantly for the last month: *feeling incredibly horrible and guilty for asking busy ppl for reference letters* Me, today: *writing a letter for a student and genuinely feeling so happy about being able to support them in their dreams* There might be a lesson here...

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

1 year

The revised version of this paper is now published in eLife! See the original thread below for the main takeaways, but we've added lots of new data - from new behavioral experiments to connectomic analyses of taste pathways in the higher brain.

Selective integration of diverse taste inputs within a single taste modality

Bitter-sensing cells across different organs of the fruit fly activate overlapping neural pathways in the brain to regulate a common set of aversive behaviors.

elifesciences.org

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Excited to share a brand new preprint! We investigated how inputs from different types of taste neurons are integrated in the fly brain to guide behavior. Thread 👇🏾

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

TBH I was dreading going to a conference again because 1) Covid and 2) time away from my new lab, but this week at @OptoGRC has been the most scientifically stimulating week since I started this job ☺️ So many new ideas! Plus good covid protocols and beautiful hikes #OptoGRC2022

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

Soon I’ll be looking for a technician, grad students, and postdocs to join me in building an inclusive, collaborative environment to do exciting and creative work. Stay tuned for more info – but please get in touch anytime if you might be interested!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Hey science journalists, this is not ok! All the experiments you so lovingly describe are usually performed by students, postdocs, & research assistants, NOT faculty members. It's a huge insult to attribute research to "[PI] & collaborators" without even naming the 1st author!!!

Krishna Melnattur

@melnattur

4 years

Nice to see our flight sleep work featured in a print magazine. Would be nicer to get more than just photo credit (*eyeroll*)

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 months

Wrap-up of the lab's second year. We're in peak toddler phase now!

Highlights from our second year — Devineni Lab

Our lab is turning 2 years old!

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

Neurobiology of Drosophila at @cshlmeetings starts in 1 week! Here's my blog post about the last one to get y'all excited: #cshldros

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

I'm on the committee organizing internal postdoc seminars. Speakers can be nominated by themselves or others. We got 73% male nominees 😒 Strikingly, we got self-nominations from 12 men but only 1 woman (=me). *Women, nominate yourselves for opportunities to share your work!!*

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

This study is published now!! We examined how brief exposure to a taste cue modulates future behavior (see quoted thread for summary). Congrats to Julia Deere (former tech at Columbia, now grad student at Rockefeller) on her 1st first-author paper! 🎉

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

We have a new preprint up! We examined how taste cues elicit prolonged modulation of behavior. A brief taste of sugar makes flies want to eat stuff they aren’t normally excited about, and vice versa for the taste of bitter. 1/

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

11 months

@jarildy You don't need a story to make a poster! Put up whatever you have, even if it's bits of prelim data or hypotheses/models about what you expect to see. Posters can just be for chatting with people interested in similar things and getting new ideas about how to move forward!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Please spread the word - my lab is seeking a research technician! They’d get to do super cool experiments like testing fly behavior, optogenetic manipulations of neuronal activity, immunostaining fly brains, and in vivo calcium imaging. See here for more:

Join Us! — Devineni Lab

We are looking for motivated and curious scientists to join our team! We believe that diversity is critical to science, and we strive to create a lab that includes people of diverse backgrounds and...

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Finally home after 2 awesome @GordonConf meetings, @OptoGRC and #NeuroGRC2022 . So great to hear about new work, get ppl's feedback, catch up with friends, and make new connections ☺️ To the trainees I met: feel free to reach out if I can help with career navigation / advice etc!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

ughhh the problem with writing cover letters... 1) they get me way too excited about the job 2) they make me think I might actually get the job

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

Congrats @Samuel_J_Sober !!! Being a good mentor should be valued just as much as being a good scientist. I'm so excited to come into a department that gets this.

Emory College

@emorycollege

3 years

Congratulations to @Samuel_J_Sober for winning the 2021 Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship from @NINDSnews ! Nominations are from Sober's former/current trainees who work on his research into how the brain controls muscle movement could :

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

@neubadah My new lab at Emory is hiring at all levels! We study neural circuits and behavior in Drosophila using optogenetics, calcium imaging, modeling, & more. Most urgently looking for a research technician, also accepting postdoc applications. Info here:

Join Us! — Devineni Lab

We are looking for motivated and curious scientists to join our team! We believe that diversity is critical to science, and we strive to create a lab that includes people of diverse backgrounds and...

devinenilab.org

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

I hate pictures of myself, but Matteo & Devin at @ZuckermanBrain did a lovely job illustrating our transition to PIs at Emory. The last panel is the most important: We want to use our privilege to help others, & I’m always open to hearing from trainees about how to best do that.

Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute

@ZuckermanBrain

2 years

Becoming a professor is an especially powerful moment in the life of a scientist, one that comes with new opportunities and new challenges. In this installment of #scilife , meet two married postdocs who moved across the country to become faculty members:

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

This came out weeks ago, but I just want to say how awesome this is. An amazing effort to demystify the SEZ and generate tools for the whole community. I ordered some of the lines last week; @HHMIJanelia shipped them the next business day and they arrived 1 day after that!!!

Gabriella Sterne, Ph.D.

@GabriellaSterne

3 years

1/ #ICYMI A thread about our Subesophageal Zone (SEZ) split-GAL4 Collection, out in @eLife ! It provides precise genetic access to ~30% of neurons in the adult Drosophila SEZ and will dramatically accelerate study of SEZ circuits.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

It's great PIs are saying they involve their trainees in reviewing etc and recommend postdocs for opportunities. But this shouldn't depend on having a good PI. The broader system (editors, funders, meeting organizers) should value ppl for their expertise and not just their title.

Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Since the moment I became a PI I've been inundated with requests (eg paper & grant reviews, guest lectures, outreach). Not complaining, but I was equally qualified to do this for the last 5 yrs as a PD and would have appreciated the opportunity more. Consider postdocs for things!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

I finally got around to posting this essay about my postdoctoral research! My work uses the humble fruit fly to examine basic principles underlying our sense of taste - how taste is represented in the brain and transformed into behavior.

Accounting For Taste: Flexibility and Complexity in Taste Coding

Note: I wrote this essay on my postdoctoral work for a competition (I didn’t win). I wanted to share because I think it’s a nice summary of the work I’ve done over the last severa…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

I can’t wait to join the amazing scientific community at Emory, including @acorbe2 , @gordonberman , @Samuel_J_Sober , @muruganmalu , @LiuLabEmory , @INemenman , and many others who have already made me feel so welcome 😊

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

6 years

in my department the advisors are usually the primary cause of their grad students' poor mental health... soooo I'm gonna guess no

Dr. Katie Wedemeyer-Strombel, PhD

@krwedemeyer

6 years

Advisors - do you know what kind of mental health services are available to your graduate students? If not, now is a good time to find out and share that information with them. If services are lacking, find out why & what can change that.

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Thanks @storiesofWIN for the fun interview & writeup! Still feels weird being profiled alongside some legit superstars 😬 We talked about how I became a neuroscientist despite hating biology class, why fruit flies are the best, and addressing systemic problems in academia 🪰🧠🔬

storiesofWiN

@storiesofwin

4 years

New profile! This week Dr. Anita Devineni ( @BrainsExplained ) at @ZuckermanBrain shares her story of how a beach read led to a career studying neural circuits & behavior! 🏖📚🧠 Listen to the podcast episode & check out the profile below👇 #WomenInNeuro

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

I ran 100 km through rocks and roots and boulders and streams, starting and ending in pitch darkness, and all I got was this adorable German weather house

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

Holy crap! Congratulations Vanessa!!! (and I'm also considering it a win for fly behavior and sensory processing 😉)

MacArthur Foundation

@macfound

5 years

#MacFellow Vanessa Ruta is investigating how the brain processes sensory information and generates behavioral responses. 🧠

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

My year-end blog post is up! Read about some awesome studies from 2019 including why we sleep, how we taste sour, how glia help make decisions, and more! Featuring work from @emily_liman @MishaAhrens @muyuuyum @OdedRechavi @ctmurphy1 @svoboda314 & more

Brain Bits: Best of 2019*

Welcome to a special year-end Brain Bits! Today I’ll discuss some of my favorite papers of the year. *As always, “best of” = random papers I found interesting. Apologies to the authors of all the o…

www.brains-explained.com

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Mentors have some responsibility for this. I have been in and know of labs where PIs explicitly say “just do good science and everything will work out” when trainees express uncertainty. Either they think their labs are special or haven’t acknowledged that times have changed.

Jason Rasgon

@vectorgen

2 years

Is academia the only field where people spend more >decade training and sometimes >$100Ks without any idea what the job market or expected salary are at the end? This info is not difficult find. Why are people surprised that getting a job is difficult or that the pay may suck?

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

3 years

aaaand in the end I just ended up redrawing my own fly 😂 I should probably try a little harder, but I'm not too displeased with this one

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

Totally agree. My classmates who went to med school, law school, or took other paths have often had stable careers for a decade while I’m still a “trainee” with no financial/geographic/career stability, likely to get forced out of my career in my late 30s

Walter Fischler-Ruiz

@LabeledLines

4 years

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. We keep encouraging young people to go become neuroscientists!! Yay!! There are very few faculty jobs for them. Lets not pretend that research science provides upward mobility. Other careers are much better for that #AcademicChatter

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

4 years

I’m tired of PIs saying that postdocs are so lucky because we have no other responsibilities other than research. During my postdoc, in addition to my own research/grant-writing/etc I’ve taught or TAed 5 classes, done dozens of outreach events, mentored students, ... (continued)

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Made it BOS -> LAX, so I'm ready for my 2nd back to back @GordonConf ! Who's going to Molecular & Cellular Neurobiology? (No twitter handle or hashtag? it's like the anti- @OptoGRC 😂) I'm speaking tomorrow at the GRS and presenting a poster on Monday - hope to see folks there!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

5 years

Yes! It took me like 10 years to learn these things, esp. #3 & 4. Students who are shy & feel bad about asking/reminding are the most likely to get screwed. Yes, recommenders often wait till the last day, but DO NOT just assume they're on top of their shit & will get it done!

Megan Carey

@meganinlisbon

5 years

Need a letter of recommendation? Pro tips: 1. ALWAYS include a current CV with your request, even if we know you well 2. PLEASE give us 2 wks to write it, especially if it’s a new letter 3. It’s OK, even helpful, to suggest things to emphasize 4. DON’T BE SHY TO SEND REMINDERS!

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Anita Devineni

@BrainsExplained

2 years

Major props to Emory grad students for their advocacy and the grad programs / administration for making change. An 8% stipend increase is a pretty big win, but I hope students keep pushing for what they need and faculty like me will keep trying to make sure you're heard.

Emory DSAC

@emoryDSAC

2 years

Emory GDBBS students will receive an 8% stipend increase alongside other @laneygradschool programs, starting September 1, 2022, resulting in an annual stipend of $35,175. 🎉 DSAC will keep advocating for improved financial support for graduate students

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