Joy A. Franco, PhD
@engineering_joy
Sensory neuroscience & bioengineering | Neurobio postdoc | #DSPANScholar #ChicanaInSTEM #Antiracism advocate | Bike racer | @engineeringjoy on BlSky, 🧵, & IG
I went back to community college at 26 knowing I wanted to pursue a PhD because I refused to accept that I was too old to pursue my dreams. I started my MS at 30 and my PhD at 32. Je ne regrette rien.
Weekly reminder that you can still engage in science related social media without supporting a fascist who's hellbent on destroying the American democracy. Find me over there at bsky.app/profile/engine…
Being on this social media platform feels beyond ick these days, so I'm migrating away. Hope to see my science, academia, and bike friends a le papillion. Never wanted to sci-Twitter "die," but gotta try to hit this fascist wherever we can. bsky.app/profile/engine…
They know that this isn't about a purported waste of taxpayer dollars. It's about blocking socioeconomic mobility for people who weren't born into privilege. This authoritarian regime benefits from an uneducated workforce. It's about control.
It's very difficult for people who have benefited from nepotism their entire lives to accept that what they see as their superior merit is in fact just a byproduct of privilege.
Stop telling young researchers that their technical contributions don't count as intellectual ones. The vast majority of modern techniques used in bioscience labs require skills & careful thought to execute. The people doing this work use their intellect to get it done.
Hey PIs, do your trainees need to learn light microscopy and image analysis? Send them to us! Financial aid is available. meetings.cshl.edu/coursesintento…
You know it’s January in Boston when it’s 39 deg F & you find yourself saying, “Wow it’s such a nice day for a bike ride.”
Our paper with @Priyag2023 @MarcGer14997968 @JulienCicero and Cara Schiavon is now out in its final form!
Updated version of this manuscript is up now! We have new @zeiss_micro lattice-SIM data from our brilliant postdoc @JulienCicero showing how mito-associated actin bridges fusing mitochondria. We also have new data showing that mito-actin precedes MFN2 location to fusion sites 🤩
Harvard generally (waves hand) has a bad, cut throat rep. That might be true for some areas, but gotta share that in my experience people have been nothing but helpful. Special shoutout to those kind souls who help make the science science.
The recent rise of tech bio arm chair pseudo-“scientists” has made me think about this a lot & the parts I would emphasize/add are: (1) designing, executing, interpreting your own experiments AND (2) presenting or defending that work in some type of scientific review process.
Things that are not required to be a scientist: -Having a PhD -Publishing peer-reviewed papers -Getting paid to do research Things that do make you a scientist: -Using the scientific method to study stuff That's it, that's the whole list.
Was looking for a post about ER & stumbled upon my own from earlier this year. Not a bad #FluorescenceFriday find. Love that ER-targeted GCaMP - CMXRos combo in DRG cultures.
Love a solid #MicroscopyMonday ~8 hrs combined on multiple scopes today: Fixed cells. Live cells. Cells in microfluidics. Uncaging. Pharmacology. ER GCaMP. Cytosolic GCaMp. Mitochondria staining. I’ll never get over feeling grateful that this is how I get to spend my time.
Reminds me of one of the most brilliant things a prof has said to me, “But do you want to be studying the thing that you’re measuring?” #ResearchLife 🥴
It me
Bike resources in urban spaces are wasteful because people only commute by bike when the weather is nice.
I turn 41 today & let me tell you: You do not have to breakdown from age on the road from 21->41. You have the power to to stay active mentally & physically, live a healthy lifestyle, & keep that child like curiosity & open heart alive. 21 is far from as good as it can get.
Shout out to @ChelseyLeblang for showing some of the most beautiful micrographs of induced sensory neurons I’ve ever seen in lab meeting today. She is def someone to follow as they get closer to publication.
My latest social media pet peeve are pop-sci-tech-bros who believe humans peak mentally at 25 because they think being able to pass a math exam is the ultimate measure of human intelligence.