Ivan Alcantara

After doing mouse surgeries for 6+ years and wondering if I could use Vetbond on myself, I’ve finally tried it to close a cut on my thumb. Happy to announce that I’m still alive.

NYU's Center for Neural Science is seeking a faculty candidate that would be jointly appointed with our Tandon School of Engineering. We are looking for post-doc applicants with neuroengineering or computational backgrounds.

apply.interfolio.com/182074

Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom - Nature Ecology & Evolution Using phylogenetic comparative methods across 237 species from disparate phyla, the authors show that species with fast-paced ecologies have higher temporal resolution of perception.

Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom www.nature.com/articles/s41... - new paper with Clinton Haarlem, Cliodhna Hynes and colleagues

Different species see the world as fast as they need to...

Even if you didn’t intend to hurt people, even if you didn’t have control over it, why not feel sorry that people were hurt? I think I am fundamentally confused by this allergy to empathizing enough to want to apologize and say I’m sorry you were hurt

Right?!

Sometimes I think about what I want to accomplish during my postdoc and it all seems so daunting. Then I look back on my PhD and think that if I was able to do it before, I’m able to do it again.

Not on my 2026 BINGO card: checking authors' names in the Epstein files before I cite their work in scientific papers.

I am so proud to share @forrestdrogers.bsky.social’s postdoctoral magnum opus, now out in @nature.com! Forrest discovered a novel role for Agouti in the MPOA of the hypothalamus to integrate socio-environmental information to flexibly tune paternal behavior
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thread! 👇🏻

Agouti integrates environmental cues to regulate paternal behaviour - Nature Expression of agouti signalling protein in neurons in the medial preoptic area is increased by group housing and negatively associated with care, and overexpression of Agouti reduces care and enhances...

Why are some males caring toward infants while others are neglectful or abusive? I'm so pleased to share work that my colleagues and I @princeton.edu have just published @nature.com (an explanatory thread to follow!) (1/8)

In case you missed the moment.

Art is powerful

These scientists on the Epstein files should not be in positions of power

@sebastianseung.bsky.social Did you follow through on your plan to visit Epstein island?

Hey @eboyden3.bsky.social care to explain?

University Professor and Nobel laureate Richard Axel, CC ’67, was invited to close friend of 11 years Jeffrey Epstein’s island in 2011 <i>Updated Feb. 4 at 11:37 a.m.</i>

Richard Axel was mentioned >900 times in the Epstein Files, accepted invitations to go to Epstein’s island along with his wife Cori Bargmann, and continued to plan meetings with Epstein for years 🤮

www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/02...

Just noticed at the end of my paper that since the research was conducted at the NIH (i.e. it's government work), it is not under copyright protection in the US. So why is Nature still charging for the article? Anyway here's a Google drive link of the PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1bGCy...

I was supposed to write 2 pages yesterday but ended up cleaning things in my house that I had never cleaned before.

The tragic death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year old mother fatally shot by ICE, shows that ICE can’t be reformed and must be abolished.

I’ll be introducing the Abolish ICE Act as a step toward justice, accountability, and humanity in our immigration policy.

Time to melt ICE.

Less than two weeks left to apply for the Cephalopod Neuroscience Gordon Conference! An exciting lineup of speakers and posters, and financial aid is available upon request. 🐙🦑
www.grc.org/cephalopod-n...

I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of Rising Stars Symposium this year and it was amazing! Great science, great people and a great place!!

It was one of my highlights of this year!

If you are a neuro grad student, I highly encourage you to apply! ✨

Omg you too 😭

Last night I watched the latest episode of Heated Rivalry twice back to back and now I need to look for a therapist

Want to track the dynamics of estrogen in the brain across long periods of time? New paper as part of very fun collab with team UCLA Ed Van Veen and Steph Correa! We use a specialized optical reporter and show that this is possible and actually very easy! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Statement on the Brown University shooting.

Wu, M. V. & Tollkuhn, J. (2023). Sex-specific gene regulation in the brain: implications for behavior and disease. Trends in Neurosciences, 46(3), 187-200.

a grad student at another institution emailed me about their interest in my lab. they attached their thesis proposal, which contained several inaccuracies regarding my work. and also a reference that doesn't exist.

$15k stipend to support 9 weeks of full time summer research!

For rising juniors/seniors who are able to travel to and obtain housing at the location of the lab they are placed in!

I did an HHMI summer experience in 2013 and it changed everything for me! Apply…or tell someone to apply!

🧪🧠

Agree. I was naturalized during my sophomore year of college. Walked in the snow wearing a suit and non-winter leather shoes to attend my ceremony, and that ceremony was filled with pride, joy, relief.

Thank you! A lot of the inspiration came from your past work.

Finally got my paper in print! Also, what a zeitgeist of a cover.

Ohhhh 👀

Baked this for my lab yesterday. Is there any way one can bake one’s way to a tenure-track faculty position? Asking for a friend.