Rachel Roberts-Galbraith

A Student's Discovery and Commitment to Advancing Human Health - UGA Graduate School In labs filled with microscopes and in classrooms filled with curiosity, Dr. Taylor Medlock-Lanier has built a graduate career defined by discovery and perseverance. A doctoral graduate of the cellula...

Congratulations, @taylormlanier.bsky.social! So proud of you!

grad.uga.edu/a-students-d...

cover of a zine that looks like a corkboard, with various gynaecological organ pictures connected by red string, some pills pinned to it, a callendar, a page saying gyn app the title is Pelvic Matters A collaborative zine on gynaecological health

last page of the corkboard zine, with the various sponsors, a qr code for the zine website, a DO NOT SCRAPE anti AI sticker, the 5 artists involved, the 6 writers involved and the two reviewers involved the artists Antonio Garcia (Scientific illustrator and designer, Founder of Bio-Graphics. Explore his work at www.bio-graphics.es) Petra Korlević (Staff scientist at the Wellcome Sanger Insitute. Find more of her silly doodles at petrathepostdoc.bsky.social, and SciArt and crafts at theintrovertebrates.etsy.com) Megan Gozzard (Post-Doctoral Researcher in Human Genetics at Wellcome Sanger Insitute. Explore her portfolio at www.megangozzard.co.uk) Lia Bote (PhD student at the Wellcome Sanger Insitute, Parasites and Microbes Programme. See more of her art and science at @liabote.bsky.social!) Isabelle Zane (PhD student, Sanger Institute. Find scientific cartoons and live sketches of conferences @isabellease on X, @isabellease.bsky.social or isabellezane.bio) The writers Valentina Lorenzi Charlotte Cassie Marie Moullet Ana Paredes Garcia Christina Kim Rina Sakata The reviewers Dr Gioia Canciani Dr Aziza Sesay

cartoony page from the zine I drew, the colors are dark blue, light blue, yellow, orange, light pink and dark pink. the text is When the uterus tissues go WILD! - ENDOMETRIOSIS- endometrial-like tissue growing outside of the uterus unclear origin (cells escaping fallopian tube at menstruation, immune dysfunction, local estrogen production, circulation, surgery, genetics) Dr. Platypus fact: endometriotic lesions were even found in the brain, which caused neurological and psychiatric symptoms! ~8 years to get diagnosed 1/10 people bleeding outside and inside infertility pelvic PAIN! during intercourse, bowel movement, urination, or for no good reason nausea the middle drawing is of an uterus, guts, kidneys ovaries and bladder covered in pink endometriotic lesions, none of the organs are happy about it, one ovary has a massive pink chocolate cyst on it (a cyst full of endometrial tissue and blood)

photo of seven of the eleven zine authors under a giant oak tree without any leaves (it is winter) each holding one zine.

the culmination of one year of collaborative work on a #SciArt zine discussing gynecological issues, finally in print form!

from a lovely team from the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social with special thanks to Dr @talkswithdrsesay.bsky.social and Dr Gioia Canciani for reviewing the contents! 🥼🩸

There are a few others I didn’t name bc they didn’t meet the “loved” criterion, then hilariously only 2 men authors by whom I’ve read at least five books: Steven King and David Sedaris.

Five(+) women authors by whom I’ve read (and loved) at least five books:
Margaret Atwood
Octavia Butler
NK Jemisin
Barbara Kingsolver
Nnedi Okorafor
Martha Wells
Zadie Smith

(That was fun to look up and illustrates my reading preferences pretty well!)

cognitive reframing ahead of quals:

❌ I will be stuck in a room with a firing squad of friends and allies whose eyes will go red like robots in the movies for 2 hours to grill me

✅ THEY will be stuck in there with ME while I talk a 2 hour blue streak about my very favorite stuff in the world 😌

“Because it’s always been done that way” should never stand in the way of imagining and building a new system that aligns better with our core values.

Sometimes the hard and even the nearly impossible possible is worth it to create the future we envision.

Political action is now crucial for US scientists Nature Human Behaviour - Political action is now crucial for US scientists

We wrote this piece as a call to action before what has been happening in MN. The myth of neutrality is a luxury scientists can no longer afford— we all have a role to play. Please repost w/ links to local orgs to help connect scientists to existing collectives they can join.

rdcu.be/e1Tvv

I also proposed a course so that students can do internships and stay enrolled while they do that (over a summer for example). I think this may (should?) become more common as students may need to pivot their career plans.

Some that I’m hearing about most frequently: medical science liaison, clinical trials research, industry (science or business side), consulting, patent law (doesn’t require a JD for scientists), university admin, teaching faculty, public policy. Informational interviews can be a good way to explore.

What was your fav?

We also enjoyed a fall full of great community and science at @universityofga.bsky.social. Lots of great seminars, symposia, and informal gatherings. We also love all the great things we have done across campus this year (@georgiamuseum.bsky.social & State Botanical Garden of Georgia). 4/4

On a sillier note, Jazmine dressed up as me for Halloween. I was very honored, but apparently my keys are very loud. Ha! 3/4

Skylar and Christina were celebrated as ARCS scholars; so proud of them and their hard work! The ARCS foundation has been supportive of several of our students and we are so grateful for their encouragement and material support of outstanding scholars. 2/4

A few other highlights: We were joined by three awesome undergrads this semester - Kathleen, Zoe, and Ella. They have contributed to the lab intellectually, scientifically, and socially - such a great team. Here they are at their end-of-term presentations. 1/4

@taylormlanier.bsky.social has been such an amazing, inspiring, and impactful member of our research group. She is a leader, a scientist, a TikTok star, and more. It is bittersweet to send her to her postdoc in the Mokalled and Johnson labs at WashU. So proud of you and we'll also miss you TML! 5/5

The celebration continued as @taylormlanier.bsky.social at officially graduated just a couple of weeks ago. It was a super fun day; graduations are my fav events at UGA! We also got to celebrate the graduations of some of our RBC, Dev Bio, Neuro, and CBIO colleagues, which was so fun! 4/5

We celebrated @taylormlanier.bsky.social with receptions at her church and in our lab building; it was so great to have her family and friends join us for such a special day! She is easy to celebrate both because of her amazing thesis but also because she is such a wonderful person! 3/5

First, @taylormlanier.bsky.social defended her thesis and earned her Ph.D. on Halloween! She did an amazing job presenting her research. We celebrated with her committee, who have been a source of encouragement and great science ideas throughout! (It was also a beautiful day!) 2/5

I got behind in posting updates this fall, but want to make sure I highlight some of the fun and amazing things that we (mostly my trainees) have been doing this fall and winter! Let's start off with our semester's high point - @taylormlanier.bsky.social's defense and graduation! 1/5

ASCB President Mary Munson awards Francis Collins the ASCB Public Service award, noting this is the first time it’s been awarded for defense of science #cellbio2025

When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)

Careers | Arcadia Science Evolve with Arcadia.

We have a bunch of new job ads out @arcadiascience.com. If you haven’t checked them out, take a look!

www.arcadiascience.com/careers

Picture of Perspective title and authors from article PDF

Speaking science in a fractured world: making truth land when facts alone cannot

A Perspective by @rebeccacalisi.bsky.social, @kaliceaphd.bsky.social, Jamy Peng, @spiraldoc.bsky.social & @rogerslabucd.bsky.social on how to combat scientific misinformation

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

A familial natural short sleep mutation in dec2 extends healthspan and lifespan in Drosophila Biological sciences; Genetics; Neuroscience

In our newest paper, we show that expression of a familial natural short sleep mutation in flies extends lifespan through enhanced mitochondrial physiology. First first-author paper for former graduate student Pritika Pandey! @pritika26.bsky.social
@lsuscience.bsky.social @lsu.bsky.social

So jealous that I'm not at #PRC10 (because I haven't yet figured out how to clone myself and be in two places at once) but the programme looks so brilliant. I really hope there's some discussion about how framing peer review as pedagogy may be a useful way forward too
wonkhe.com/blogs/peer-r...

🧪🪰We are hiring, please help us get the word out! The official ads will be up very soon & I'll link to them later.
My lab is looking to recruit/hire at all levels:
1. A technician/post-bacc researcher to start ~fall 2026
2. A postdoc to start sometime in 2026
3. At least one graduate student (RA)

📢Call for papers. Submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – The Extracellular Environment in Development, Regeneration and Stem Cells

Guest Editors: Alex Hughes and Rashmi Priya

📅 Deadline: 1 March 2026

journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/ex...

#DevBio

These innexins are critical for regeneration, as well as stem cell differentiation and maintenance. We conclude that abraçada cells are important contributors to stem cell function in planarians, serving as a bona fide niche. Such a fun discovery and lots to do next! 6/6

But are abraçada cells important? When preparing for her qualifying exam, Skylar came to me and showed me some EM data (from before she was born) that indicated that planarian stem cells form gap junctions with their neighbors. We found several innexins in the right place, and (drumroll)... 5/6

This neighbor, which we have called abraçada cells for the Catalan word for "hugging" (shout out to our planarian colleagues in Barcelona!), neighbors stem cells frequently in homeostasis and in regeneration, but neighbors stem cells less often upon their exit from the stem cell program. 4/6