Alexis Ceasrine

Yesterday, I got an email from @DukeU with the eye-catching subject line: "Are you making an expensive mistake?". I opened the email, and it got worse.

Me still waiting on an institutional response to the NIH reminding universities they can treat NRSA fellows like full employees.

We are thrilled to announce our new postdoc salary policy, effective 9/1. This increase will be phased in over the course of two years, with min salaries for postdocs with no prior experience reaching $65k by 6/1/24.

Academic job advertisements: “Unsuccessful candidates for the position will be notified via the successful candidate posting it on Twitter”

A reminder that grants go to institutions. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/n… And no, NIH does not tell your institution it can’t treat NRSA recipients as employees and give them access to all of the benefits that normal employees receive.

@acara333 😂😂😂😂😂

We are recruiting postdocs to work in our lab and the @ThakurelaLab @MassGeneralNews @harvardmed to lead projects related to epigenetic characterization of neurodevelopment using mouse models & cell culture systems. Plz RT! bordtlab.com thakurelalab.com

Highly recommend working with such an amazing scientist and caring mentor!

🥇 Best of #NatMetab2022 | ALTMETRICS #20 @staci_bilbo et al. (@DukeU) show that a maternal HFD leads to impaired serotonin availability in the male fetal brain by disrupting the placenta-brain axis, causing long-lasting behavioral changes in offspring. nature.com/articles/s4225…

A mother’s high-fat diet may rewire male and female babies brains differently, research suggests bit.ly/3XLdPo3 lead by @aceasrine in the lab of @DukePsychNeuro prof. @staci_bilbo @DukeBrain

@kristina_sakers Thank you 🤗

Dietary fat in pregnant mice leads to more depressed ♂️ (but not ♀️) pups by triggering immune cells to overeat serotonin in the brain. It may happen in humans too according to a new study lead by @aceasrine in the lab of @DukePsychNeuro prof. @staci_bilbo today.duke.edu/2022/11/mom%E2…

@rkuruvi1 @staci_bilbo Thanks :)

It's finally out! So very proud of this project and grateful for the awesome team that made it all possible, led by the fearless @staci_bilbo!

We are paying $3400 for infant daycare at Harvard. In 2017 as a first year postdoc, this is higher than my post tax salary. It does not make sense financially to work as a postdoc and to raise a kid. You wonder why some women quit science at this point??

@MHendr1cks Cringe 😬 I haven't heard of this before but yikes

Yesterday, I got an email from @DukeU with the eye-catching subject line: "Are you making an expensive mistake?". I opened the email, and it got worse.

@drsusanna1 @TamaraGenes @labonnelab @kathleen_beeson @harvardmed Universities are taking advantage of this by claiming NIH says you can't be employees, when in reality you can be, NIH just doesn't require it

@TamaraGenes @labonnelab @kathleen_beeson @harvardmed Also anyone on this thread interested in this topic I've been doing a lot of digging (most of the digging actually by @aceasrine) and would love to connect. I think changing national policy and collective action across multiple institutions will be important!

Accepting a fellowship should not punish the trainee! Yet @harvardmed changes the status of postdocs, from “salary” to “stipend” when a postdoc becomes a fellow, resulting in a net loss of ~$3k/yr in compensation due to:

@drsusanna1 @TamaraGenes @labonnelab @kathleen_beeson @harvardmed From what I've been able to find there actually is NO non-employment requirement by NIH. I have been told NIH CAN'T say one way or the other, so the policy simply says that getting an F32 doesn't guarantee you employee status because NIH isn't able to say it does or doesn't.

@mnitabach @vineettiruvadi @drugmonkeyblog @mariahhoye @KyleCottrell Looks like you're at Yale, didn't they just introduce one of the new high paying postdoc programs? Would love to hear how the arithmetic is being done!

Washington State PIs will have a $10,644 gap to fill for first year postdocs on NRSA scale. It can't come from other federal sources, such as a research grant. Any of the Washington tweeples know how your University or research institute is planning to cover the difference?

@drugmonkeyblog @mnitabach @mariahhoye @KyleCottrell K but approved expenditures is a lot to type in a few characters 🤷‍♀️ and when I see a single quad re-landscaped 3 times in one year I gotta think someone isn't managing the money well, but it is there! Didn't a recent audit at Hopkins prove this?taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2…

@aceasrine @mnitabach @mariahhoye @KyleCottrell that is not what indirect costs are for, no. it is not "income". It is for approved expenditures necessary to support the research. what is delusional is this consistent belief on the part of academics that there are these massive pools of leprechaun gold kept away by evul admins