Rejji Kuruvilla
@rkuruvi1
Followers
4,497
Following
2,349
Media
205
Statuses
8,178
Neurobiologist, Professor, fond of cats, nordic thrillers, and food.
Baltimore, MD
Joined February 2018
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
jungkook
• 1243458 Tweets
برشلونة
• 227882 Tweets
Barca
• 189191 Tweets
Rice
• 183052 Tweets
Flick
• 148544 Tweets
#WWEBash
• 148273 Tweets
Georgia
• 141512 Tweets
Haaland
• 138797 Tweets
Raphinha
• 127272 Tweets
Lamine
• 100321 Tweets
Everton
• 84145 Tweets
Fatman Scoop
• 75131 Tweets
#الاتحاد_الاحق_بالدعم1
• 69116 Tweets
Adana
• 57702 Tweets
Clemson
• 47687 Tweets
Warren
• 36153 Tweets
Iowa
• 31724 Tweets
#ADSvGS
• 30571 Tweets
Rhea
• 28155 Tweets
Xavi
• 25569 Tweets
Greenwood
• 23897 Tweets
Leverkusen
• 23579 Tweets
CM Punk
• 22890 Tweets
Bianca
• 21537 Tweets
Penn State
• 21301 Tweets
Mañalich
• 14792 Tweets
Gunther
• 13076 Tweets
Dabo
• 11471 Tweets
Vandy
• 11135 Tweets
As a PI, my true legacy is in the success of the ppl I’ve mentored. No one will remember my papers or scores on my funded grants yrs from now. Being generous to ppl we train, especially the freedom to postdocs to take their ideas with them and fly in their own labs is a joy.
29
268
3K
It’s hard to appreciate the experience of being a F1 student in this country unless you’ve been one. And no matter how far you’ve come in life, you cannot forget the anxiety, the years separated from family and everything familiar, not being present at weddings, deaths, births...
17
505
2K
I’m sorry, but WHY are descriptive studies a problem in grant or ms review? If you don’t provide the 1st description or visualization of a biological process, how do you provide the basis for hypothesis or mechanism-driven science?
56
214
2K
I’d be so confused as a trainee on Twitter right now. Everyone is a “toxic” PI, academia is “bad”,work is 16 hr days, and all is doom and gloom. To trainees; you are scientists in the making, make your own judgment calls, be objective, not everything on here is universal truth.
80
138
2K
I joined Twitter reluctantly a few months ago. Since then, I follow science Twitter, women in STEM, thoughtful political voices, rants, and voices that teach me to be a better mentor. It sometimes feels like 100 people talking to me before my morning coffee, but it's been a blast
23
86
2K
How is it possible to mourn someone you never met?
@DrNadiaChaudhri
personality came blazing through on this site, her authenticity, ❤️ for family, food, nature, experience as an immigrant scientist, empathy/humor, and grace in facing mortality were as real as if I’d met her irl.
17
44
2K
Excited to join the ranks of 24% full professors at Hopkins who are women. May our numbers increase! I’ve had the fortune to work with some incredible trainees, past and present. Colleagues and friends who always had doors open and lent a shoulder of support. Thank you all!
37
50
1K
Being "invisible" as an asian woman in academia. Sitting to next to WM at dinner at a conference
Him: what do you work on?
Me: Interactions between nerves and endocrine cells
Him: Did you attend the beautiful talk this morning on nerves and..
Me: Ummm, that was me. Thanks??
22
84
1K
Find your people in academia, the ones that have your backs, go out to a meal to encourage and commiserate, the ones that reach out to read your proposals, the ones that tell you the hard truths, the ones that tell you to stick up for yourself and advocate without fanfare for you
10
147
835
Dear F31/32 reviewers: knocking an applicant for their grades in undergrad/grad school is the worst and laziest form of reviewing. Critique the science and the applicant’s training potential. Their grades have little bearing on research aptitude, as does their GRE score.
33
82
809
A story about motivation. These last 2 yrs have been hard on the lab, and on my resolve. In comes a new undergrad student. She is SO happy to be in the lab. She is SO excited about every tiny result. She comes uber-prepared for every mtg. And it’s been so refreshing and inspiring
12
23
753
Honestly upsetting to see F31 applicants apologize/explain poor undergrad grades to preemptively counter reviewer comments. Grades should not be a part of evaluating F31 applications-undergrad grades say little about your ability to succeed in grad school.
15
64
745
Dear senior PIs. It behooves you to be more generous to post-docs when they leave your lab. You can afford to have one less manuscript. But let them be sole and corresponding authors on work the bulk of which is completed in their labs. It matters for tenure.
20
100
523
Thank you to the head-nodders of the world-whether it be students at a lecture, audience members at a seminar, or senior faculty who want to make you welcome when you are the newbie at a meeting. Your simple act of affirmation goes a long way.
9
57
509
Talking to a student whose visa will expire soon and is staying put in the US for fear that if they leave, they will be denied re-entry. Which means they will not see their family for yrs, go to intl conferences, or travel outside the US.
26
54
481
Did not expect Katalin Kariko to be the science Twitter villain of the week. For being candid about networking to get ahead in science. She focused on her research the way that best fit her and she paid a price. Twisting that to make her sound privileged in some way is…🤷♀️
17
44
412
Some amazing whole organ images of sympathetic nerves innervating the neonatal mouse heart and kidney from Raniki Kumari
@Ranikisbt
and Kwaku Quansah
@KwakuKQuansah
in the lab!
15
51
412
Faculty tweeting about “maximum productivity” or zooming in daily while working remotely-give it a rest! Give people time and space to manage this uncertain and stressful period on their own terms.
6
33
396
Dear faculty, if you agree to write a recommendation letter, please don’t ask the student/postdoc to ghostwrite it for you. It’s insulting, demoralizing, and unethical.
14
23
388
Because you cannot afford to travel or because you fear cannot come back in. The desperate need to fit in, yet maintain your connections. The friends you make, often immigrants like yourself, telling your family you are ok many times when you are not
1
15
382
“During her lifetime, Vogt did not receive a single major prize or recognition. Despite an advanced degree and prestigious publication record, Vogt did not become a professor or get her own lab at Salk until after Dulbecco left.”
h/t
@polybiotique
4
124
382
I sincerely hope that there are wise ppl in charge of NIH funding decisions who recognize that increasing paylines at existing institutes and increasing modular R01 budgets makes more sense than creating new institutes or new mega-initiatives that only benefit a few rich PIs
8
36
384
Truly did not fully grasp the concept of American individualism until 2021. To have access to a vaccine that’d save your life and protect the community, and to take a stand saying “my body, my rights”. The sheer privilege and cluelessness takes your breath away.
20
19
374
My ❤️goes out to all those worried sick about their families in India, especially students and post-docs who have not seen their families for more than a yr. It’s painful and horrifying to feel this helpless.
3
37
373
Among the things that make my day; a student/postdoc walking into my office saying “want to see some cool results?” Reminds me every time that this is why I love this job.
7
15
363
It never ceases to amaze me the vision of universities that poaching academic “rockstars” from other institutions is a better investment than focusing on growing, rewarding, and retaining talented folks from within.
19
29
355
Published 3 papers on islet innervation in 7 yrs. Yet reviewers tank a student’s fellowship grant because we didn’t have an “islet expert” on board. How many papers are enough for women mentors to be considered as “experts” in a field?
9
24
347
An a F1 student, I thought if I worked really really hard, I’d make my dreams come true. And I did. It is sad that we’re at a time when that is not a given. When students who are vulnerable are being picked on for no apparent reason than pure malice and cruelty.
2
26
336
Is there a fancy German word for individuals who dominate the conversation in every meeting, do not listen, and then look at their watch when you pipe up to make your one point?
32
21
320
The joys of every hard-won success. The humiliation by an immigration officer at the airport, the constant looking over your shoulder that you cannot even get a traffic ticket for fear of being deported.
3
13
312
Traveling home to India in almost 2.5 yrs, excited to see family and have food that I’ve missed, relieved to not be thinking of work for 2 weeks, apprehensive about travel, and feeling the void that my mother will not be there this time.
27
2
307
Finding an authentic Kerala restaurant finally brings so much joy and nostalgia! In Queens NY.
11
1
296
My mother passed 2 wks ago-she was a fierce, stubborn, and independent woman who worked outside the home at a time when it was not common for Indian women to do so. She raised her 2 daughters to be strong willed and to stand for themselves. Thank you, mom.
44
2
291
One of my biggest regrets in advancing in my career is not having the time to read papers simply for pleasure/curiosity. I mostly read these days to write grants/papers in the midst of lurching from deadline to deadline for writing rec letters, service, admin tasks, reviewing….
6
17
271
Take-home messages for retaining faculty
1. Colleagues matter more than salary
2. Expecting faculty to get offers before counter-offering ends up pushing them out of the door
3. Pay attention to 2-body hires and retentions
5
117
266
A research area flourishes when the leaders are welcoming of new perspectives and newcomers. It closes on itself when a few people set the norms for everyone else.
2
28
261
Dear academia-great to see supportive msgs on social media. How can we really make a difference? Pivot away from the systemic view of what success looks like next time you sit on those committees for grad admissions, faculty hires, conference speakers, nominees for natl awards.
7
60
255
My lab at Johns Hopkins Biology is looking for a research technician. Minimum requirements are a B.S. in Biology, curiosity and willingness to learn and work with a team of 10 people. Please apply here at JHU Jobs or email me
4
198
238
Do we HAVE to come up with a convoluted HYPOTHESIS every time? Can we not observe? Describe? Visualize? Why is this being punished by study sections and ms reviewers?
5
5
233
Having elderly parents who are 10k miles away is worrying about their health, freaking out over phone calls in the middle of the night, and feeling guilty about not being there in person all the time.
17
3
236
The 1st paper of 2022 from the lab is now online-We show the remarkable molecular diversity of satellite glial cells in the peripheral nervous system. Huge congrats to Aurelia
@neuro_mapps
and Michael
@TweetingThomsen
for a fruitful collaboration!
21
39
232
Walked in to the lab 2d ago and chatted briefly with an undergrad looking at slides under a microscope. I asked him how he was doing, meaning to walk on. His face lit up saying "I'm having a blast, do you want to hear what I found?" Makes my day every single time. Never gets old.
2
3
219
Situation for international students/post-docs has become unsustainable. They are stuck here, unable to go home to visit family or travel outside the US for conferences or vacations. International offices at many universities have gone online and don’t respond to email requests.
1/9 Indians in the US on a work visa can't go home. There’s NO appointments.
The now ~200k H-1B Telegram group is growing by 13,000 per month.
Even with ~$40m in fees, the 5 VACs process ~10,000 a month. The next availability is ~2024!
Here’s 6 stories from hurting families:
163
1K
5K
4
46
219
Tiffany Cross giving a shoutout to Joy Reid for earning her show as a black woman on prime time media, following in the footsteps of the amazing Gwen Ifill, is just 🥰
3
20
201
All the pledges from academic twitter to be an ally, could we re-affirm when you sit on that study section, faculty hire/promotion committee, nominations for awards/honors, looking to poach that “superstar” mid-career/sr PI, looking for dept chair, dean, provost, univ president?
7
38
211
My lab has seen me struggle for funding this year when we’ve been at our most productive (5 papers in last 3 yr). Of my 6 students, 5 are women, and 3 belong to under-represented groups. I’m having a really tough time convincing them that this is a meritocratic system. End rant.
11
18
210
No matter how many R01s I’ve had that were triaged, it hurts me to the core to be the cheerleader for a trainee who poured their heart and soul into a fellowship application and see the words “ND” on era commons. Takes the joy out of doing this job, tbh.
12
9
210
2 days ago, I tweeted about the relentless negativity on Twitter and got a lot of pushback (and empathy). As a brown woman in academia, I’m well aware of the inequities. I’ve navigated and advocated in ways that are feasible and not the “burn everything to the ground” approach.
8
5
208
When Reviewers find a study too “descriptive”, I think of Eve Marder’s words; “Descriptive’ is also commonly used as a pejorative, despite the fact that seeing a new phenomenon for the first time can be revelatory, and much important science is discovery through visualization”
5
55
211
What wonderful news to wake up to! A win for decades of painstaking and curiosity-driven research where the short-term benefits were not immediately obvious. A story of persistence, especially for Kariko in the face of funding and tenure challenges!
BREAKING NEWS
The 2023
#NobelPrize
in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
4K
28K
80K
1
36
203
Many PIs I know will be spending this week submitting letters for grad student/faculty applications/promotions, reviewing, writing promotion letters, or grading. We do this not because we are masochists or don’t respect work-life boundaries.But simply because it’s part of the job
4
13
206
Received reviews on a manuscript this week, and had senior co-authors (men), comment that they’d never seen uberly skeptical, snarky, or condescending reviews. “Welcome to our world” say corresponding authors who are women 😬
6
20
208
It’s interesting (and disheartening) to note that your academic pedigree is still one of the biggest contributors to success and how far you go up the ladder in academia.
7
16
196
I often hear academic colleagues say “I never use twitter for politics”. Well then, my best wishes to you for being so privileged.
3
16
195
I learn a lot about colleagues from how they interact with administrative staff🤔
10
20
184
You cannot underestimate the effect that a good mentor has on your life at EVERY career stage-the ones that offer blunt advice,the ones that help you pick your battles, the ones that help you navigate the coded language often used in academia, the ones that help you persevere.
1
35
185
This 🧵captures my conflicted views about participating in “women in science” issues. Male colleagues are often spared from this service. It’s frustrating to see an audience that’s primarily women at these events, with almost 0 attendance from leadership that’s predominantly male
🧵I finally watched
#PictureAScientist
. I was reluctant because I knew it would surface all of my own stuff. And it (painfully) did
But as an academic I have a responsibility to do watch it -to bear witness, to be consciously aware to fuel the anger for the change that necessary
2
28
140
8
34
176
The downside of academia-there is no guarantee of long-term funding (except for a privileged few). The upside-keep doing good science,keep publishing, keep mentoring, and the lights will stay on. Received NOA today after a stressful 2018!
14
4
175
Really bothers me when people with high follower counts on twitter follow 10-100-fold less, will tweet continuously but never engage with courteous followers especially those who are women and BIPOC. If you are on here, this is not a soap box but a medium to interact and learn.
14
16
174
“Several in the obesity and diabetes field—including those being celebrated for GLP-1—express unease with her near-total absence from the narrative. But few have come forward to advocate for her place in that story.”
3
60
171
Its been 3 yrs, this month, this week. Grief blunts, but is a constant. My mother was the most dominant influence in my life. She taught me and my sister to always be fiercely independent, to always question, and to be curious about the world. We are who we are because of her.
5
2
169
“‘Descriptive' is also commonly used as a pejorative, despite the fact that seeing a new phenomenon for the first time can be revelatory, and much important science is discovery through visualization and description.” —Eve Marder
3
21
167
I wish that the energy and swift responses on Twitter to misogyny are balanced by actionable items in our lives:
1. Nominate and promote women
2. Speak up when you see inequitable treatment, condescension, harassment, and bullying in real life
3. Don’t be a perfomative ally.
1
23
168
Bitter-sweet farewell to India for the time being. Miss my family, hate to say goodbye, especially to parents who are aging. When I return to 🇮🇳 it’s as if I never left. But looking forward to the life/career I know rn. I only wish that what I love is not separated by 10k miles.
8
1
163
Aaah, the delicious irony of being required to show a neg. pcr test to ENTER the US, while <10% of people were masked in flights/airports during my domestic air travel WITHIN the US (before I left for India). Make it make sense! 🤨
8
5
164
My 2 cents for post-docs deciding on faculty offers;
1. Look to the health of jr faculty in the dept. How well are they doing with grants, pubs, personnel, mentoring? That’s where you’ll be in a few yrs
2. Look for depts with a strong grad program
3. How diverse are the faculty?
2
32
162
😂😂everytime I tweet about politics or inequities in academia, I lose an average of 2 followers. New followers, take note, I tweet about science, inequities in academia, politics, cats, wine, Nordic thrillers, and food!
6
4
160
In the middle of a disheartening and absolutely gob-smacking week of shenanigans in academia, it’s hard to not feel uplifted by a gorgeous east coast spring day complete with blue skies, plentiful sun, and blooming azaleas.
4
0
160
I see instances of established PIs butting heads with postdocs when they leave. Are you so devoid of ideas, creativity, vision, that you have to butt heads with a trainee leaving your lab over an idea???
2
18
160
Invited to a “faculty” candidate interview, only to be told after a long day of interviews that they had only ONE position. For my spouse (who interviewed earlier)!! And if I’d consider being his lab manager 😂😂😂
It’s a tie…being brought late to my public seminar by the faculty host, everyone was there & waiting (I was embarrassed & gave a crappy talk) & being told by a dept chair in our meeting ‘I am not sure why we’re interviewing you, your research doesn’t fit here.’ Brutal!
8
0
53
23
4
157
Wow! Thanks to
@eLife
for the speediest acceptance on a revised manuscript! Within week and 1/2 of submission.
Many congrats to
@neuro_mapps
for leading this work, and co-authors
@um_erca
,
@CorinneBeier
@keenanw27
,
@TweetingThomsen
@ETampakak
@SamerHattar
and Haiqing Zhao!
8
7
158
Not surprised, but never fail to be gutted every single time at the deep vein of racism and acceptance of violence that runs through this country.
1
19
156
Any general way to let millennials and Gen Z folks know that it’s not cool to refer to only member who is a woman on your committee by 1st name, while referring to everyone else as Dr. X or Dr. Y? I’m OK to being called 1st name as long as you extend the honor to everyone else
7
10
154
Our paper is online at Dev. Cell. We show that lipidation (prenylation) of locally synthesized proteins in axon terminals is essential for developmental axon growth and innervation of peripheral organs/tissues
7
30
153
Do we pay enough attention to the international trainees in our programs, our labs? Do we ask how they are faring ? Do institutions do enough to advocate for them?
8
15
147
What an awesome morning!!! Student’s F31 gets a kick-ass score-so so proud of you, Joselyn Yamamoto! And paper is out for review! I could stay stuck in this mode for a while 🥰🥰
4
3
149
When I started out as jr faculty, I spoke up at faculty mtgs cuz (a) I didn’t get the memo to do otherwise, and (b) I felt protected by other strong voices
@SamerHattar
. I encourage jr. faculty to speak your convictions. You are the voice of change and you will have support.
8
10
150
I promised my mother I’d come home for Christmas. Sadly, she didn’t make it. As my sister and I prepared the traditional brunch of appam (rice pancakes) and chicken stew, we kept looking over our shoulders for her voice “add a dash of salt, a pinch of chili, move quick, child”😥
13
2
148
@ShahLabUCLA
💯 agree! A PhD is for training-interviews are to evaluate potential, not to hire “fully formed” scientists who come in armed with papers, technical skills, and ability to recognize critical gaps in a field. What are our jobs then as mentors if the latter is the expectation?
2
2
144
A traumatic event this week and feeling completely burnt out is the moment to question my priorities in life. Time for that dosa stand in Washington square in NYC, retire in leafy Vermont, seek a bucolic life in New Zealand, or soldier on?
#Kidding
, maybe not.
27
4
141
Very happy to present our magnum opus on the sympathetic nervous system in development and disease at
@NatRevNeurosci
😃 Big shout-out to co-authors, Emily Scott-Solomon, and Erica Boehm
@um_erca
who put this comprehensive and timely review together!
12
26
143
Tbh, I get some of the formulaic basis we have now for NIH grant applications, as a reviewer and applicant. But don’t understand how we’ve completely lost our appetite for explorative science as reviewers.
4
7
141
One month ago-stressing about two cancelled conferences, a grant, several manuscripts, work-load etc. Now, a sharp focus on everything that is important-the health and survival of everyone I care about, and myself. Everything else can wait.
4
11
140
@choo_ek
The report on
@amyklobuchar
had me thinking of my own experiences. I regret not being more empathetic (especially as a junior faculty) but i have no doubt that criticism from women bosses are perceived differently from men.
3
6
131
If I see one more tweet from a PI about “productivity” from home rn😡
7
9
139
I’ve always attended smaller meetings and encouraged lab members to do so. Better science/unpublished findings, less expensive, struck up wonderful collaborations and made long term friends, feel less isolated and that you are not part of the “in” crowd invited to glam parties
6
5
131
I’m always reminded that progress is built on the intense discomfort of confronting one’s ignorance. Every time I start a new venture, I’m reminded as to how little I know. And it’s frustrating. But the discomfort has always fueled a steep learning curve. And that’s what matters.
7
14
131
Every time I read an interview of Katalin Kariko, I’m amazed at her grace, empathy, and common sense. There is no bitterness or resentment about the long years she spent working on a problem that few funding agencies or other scientists seem to care about.
2
23
129
Thinking of our expectations for women leaders a lot lately. It’s hard to not feel jolted by reading the WaPo hit piece on Kamala Harris “berating” her staff or that 3/4 Max Planck directors being investigated for “bullying” are women, although they make up <17% of all directors
4
23
127
Seeing the threads about PhD rejections/acceptances and appreciative that a single university (University of Houston) decided to take a chance on two naive international students with barely a research exp. It was very fortuitous for both
@SamerHattar
and me for several reasons.
4
7
126
Some amazing women reporters (Tova O’ Brien here from New Zealand, Leigh Sales, who recently interviewed Sarah Huckabee Sanders for an Australian channel) providing journalism lessons on how to dispassionately eviscerate extreme political views.
One of the most amazingly savage interviews you'll ever watch. She has no chill whatsoever. It's like watching someone's anxiety dream
2K
7K
47K
13
35
119