Dear EMBRIOphytes:

In addition to the opportunities and reminders shared Monday (see further down below), a few new announcements today including a recent preprint "Biochemical Principles of SMAD Signaling Across the Animal Kingdom.", an upcoming mentoring seminar hosted by Purdue Biological Sciences “The Dark Side of Development: When mentoring is problematic and what to do about it.”,  this afternoon a cross-BII Early Career Researchers meet up at 2:30pm ET, and if you missed the excellent talk Monday by Dr. Ondrej Maxian, “Learning cytoskeletal self-organization through modeling and simulation: two stories of actin filaments.”,  you can access the recording and summary notes on our shared Box account: https://app.box.com/s/r41lxtcplecgoi2ik3rukbjdt6mqq4hd

~Brent

Biological Sciences Department Seminar on Mentoring - 11:30 - 12:30, February 16

Please join us for the Department of Biological Sciences Seminar presented by Dr. Erin Dolan, a Professor of Innovative Science Education at the University of Georgia. The seminar is titled, “The Dark Side of Development: When mentoring is problematic and what to do about it.”

In person: LILY 1-117
If you cannot join us in person, please join virtually: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/94572350614?pwd=P1QqfoLu5lYsUVoLiML5DTssLw1TbM.1

Meeting ID: 945 7235 0614

Passcode: 247406

Eric Randolph is organizing an informal BII ECR meetup this afternoon. Topic: ECR meetup Time: Jan 28, 2026 01:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada) https://uab.zoom.us/j/4793923356?omn=82456074090 (sorry, I don't have more info, this was passed along a chain of people to me. Those who were involved in previous Biology Integration Institutes ERC trainings may be interested in reconnecting).

🌟 New EMBRIO Institute Collaborative Preprint! 🌟

Thrilled to share a new research preprint authored by a team of Institute collaborators!

📄 Biochemical Principles of SMAD Signaling Across the Animal Kingdom
🔗 Read the preprint: https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202601.0062

This work brings together experts from multiple EMBRIO-affiliated institutions to explore how BMP/TGF‑β SMAD signaling is conserved, regulated, and quantitatively measured across diverse biological systems—including Drosophila, zebrafish, and human pluripotent stem cells.

The preprint highlights:
🔬 Canonical TGF‑β/BMP signaling architectures
🧬 Cross-species comparisons of signaling gradients
⚙️ Mechanisms shaping pathway dynamics, including diffusion, extracellular modulation, and feedback
📊 Quantitative imaging and computational modeling of SMAD activity

This project exemplifies EMBRIO Institute’s collaborative mission, integrating developmental biology, computational modeling, and engineering across multiple universities and labs:

Citation:

Shaikh,  R.; Frank,  C.; Larson,  N. J.; Chen,  H.-Y.; Pradhan,  A. G.; Mendiola,  K.; Hanjaya-Putra,  D.; Umulis,  D. M.; Zartman,  J.; Reeves,  G.; Li,  L. Biochemical Principles of SMAD Signaling Across the Animal Kingdom. Preprints 2026, 2026010062. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202601.0062.v1

  

Institute Scholarly Products

You can access our Google Scholar page and full list of EMBRIO associated products via our website here

Dear EMBRIO Community,

 

Join us today at 3PM ET for our Research Update meeting  with guest speaker Dr. Ondrej Maxian, presenting a talk on “Learning cytoskeletal self-organization through modeling and simulation: two stories of actin filaments.” Ondrej is Asst. Prof., Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, Notre Dame. His research is about developing new mathematical tools to understand the mechanical structure of cells. Zoom Meeting Link

Opportunities and reminders (see further below for details on each): 

• Catalyzing Small Teams for Grant Proposal Development: Everyone please share specific topics and proposal opportunities you are interested in collaborating with a small team through this three-question survey. (Trainees and Research Staff are encouraged to participate). Results will be complied and shared back out to the community as soon as possible. Thanks to those who have already done this.
• At the start of our all-hands session on Monday, we will have a quick poll on dates and location about planning for our Y5 summer school and a joint symposium "Advancing Morphogenetic Biosciences and Bioengineering”. However, we welcome your further input using this brief online survey to capture your availability, plans and preferences, as well as input for training topics.
• EMBRIO faculty at Purdue wishing to host a SURF student this summer, please post your research project(s) asap - and notify Brent (laddb@purdue.edu), as applicants window is open through early February. Submit project postings here 
• Data management training materials developed by Scott Bolton for uploading PURR pages, OMERO image data, and raw data to Data Depot are available on the Institute website. You can also contact Beatriz Borrelly ( bborrell@purdue.edu ) for assistance with data management. 
• Chicago Cytoskeleton Meeting Spring Meeting will be Friday, May 1^st, 2026. Trainees have an opportunity to present a lightning talk, along with a poster session.
• NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan: Responses are due no later than Jan. 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

 

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Catalyzing Small Teams for Grant Proposal Development

 

• Let us know the specific topics and proposal opportunities you are interested in collaborating with a small team through this three-question survey. (Trainees and Research Staff are encouraged to participate). Results will be complied and shared back out to the community.
• Review and update your entries for interest in the current available proposal opportunities that align with EMBRIO collaborative teams [Proposals master spreadsheet]

 

Feel free to reach out to Brent (laddb@purdue.edu) with additional comments and ideas. Our next scheduled Working Proposal Teams session is February 9th. 

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We Need Your Input: Dates, Plans, Topics for EMBRIO 2026 Summer School & Joint Symposium

Use this brief online poll to capture your availability, plans and preferences, as well as input for training topics: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bkIw8bHUboD9Qwu

 

A joint EMBRIO BII NSF - Notre Dame (RECODE NSF) one day symposium and poster session has been proposed focused on "Advancing Morphogenetic Biosciences and Bioengineering”, coupled with a multi-day training at the intersection of AI-levered computational modeling, quantitative biology, and bioengineering (e.g. https://sai.nd.edu/). The Symposium will feature EMBRIO speakers, along with speakers from Notre Dame, and invited Key Notes. Proposed to be hosted at our partners at University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, EMBRIO will organize and help provide transportation and lodging for Purdue members to attend, as well as reimburse travel for EMBRIO trainees from our partner institutions to participate. 

 

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Spring Semester EMBRIO All-Hands Schedule: Mondays 3-4pm Biweekly

We will continue with Mondays bi-weekly 3-4pm ET (calendar invites will be sent out soon. The intention this spring semester is to have one session a month dedicated to research thrust updates and one session a month dedicated to working proposal team(s)  collaborating on new funding proposals that leverage EMBRIO (trainees are welcome to attend/participate in these sessions). 

 

• Dates for Research Thrust Updates will be 3PM ET on Jan 26, Feb 23, Mar 23, April 20, May18. 
• Zoom link for the research updates: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/92296822713?pwd=m8tGuX9zXUL2MnYguV8KlCa9w0Tj4j.1&from=addon
• Schedule for the semester research talks:

 

Jan 26	Feb 23	Mar 23	Apr 20	May 18
Guest Speaker: Ondrej Maxian	1.      Staiger Lab 2.      Iyer-Pascuzzi Lab	1.      Mullins Lab 2.      Deng Lab	1.      Zartman Lab 2.      Magana Lab	1.      Gardner Lab 2.      Kinzer-Ursem + Evans Labs

 

• Dates for Working Proposal Teams will be 3-4PM ET on  Jan 12, Feb 9, Mar 9, April 6, May 4. 
• Working teams will receive additional notifications and materials. 
• Zoom link for the meeting: Join Zoom Meeting
  https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/98340860035?pwd=QMR1WQF521J2G67ga7wcfoN9oSIbzY.1&from=addon 
• Please use the Proposals Master spreadsheet for coordinating interest and activity around a number of funding opportunities associated with EMBRIO. The spreadsheet and additional materials and notes will be posted on the EMBRIO Google Drive under EMBRIO Integrative Proposals folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ybkWSUnKPZhEvY7fQ-ixM0bBoY2wcQg0?usp=sharing
• Proposal teams will need to schedule additional meeting times, though these dedicated times in the spring schedule can help foster coordination and ties between collaborative proposals and activity in this space that is leveraging EMBRIO research.

 

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Purdue EMBRIO Faculty: SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (SURF)- Accepting project postings!

Purdue’s SURF program invites faculty to mentor outstanding undergraduates in an 11-week paid summer research experience at the West Lafayette or Indianapolis campuses. 

By mentoring a SURF student, faculty help shape future researchers while contributing to student growth and professional development.

EMBRIO covers the PI amount of the internship cost and a housing stipend for non-Purdue students (your department and college, depending on the agreement, kick in the other 2/3 of the cost) 

Please let Brent know if you submit an EMBRIO project and indicate under the Centers/Institutes checkboxes that the project is an EMBRIO project. Submit project postings here 

 

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EMBRIO Data Management

 

Data management training materials developed by Scott Bolton for uploading PURR pages, OMERO image data, and raw data to Data Depot are available on the Institute website. You can also contact Beatriz Borrelly ( bborrell@purdue.edu ), who is serving part-time with EMBRIO as Data Management Specialist, for assistance with your EMBRIO projects data management. 

 

 

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Chicago Cytoskeleton Meeting Friday May 1^st, 2026 Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus

 

The Spring edition of the Chicago Cytoskeleton Meeting will take place on Friday May 1^st, 2026 at Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. The meeting will run from approximately 1 PM to 7 PM Central Time.  This meeting will include a Keynote Lecture by Dr. Dyche Mullins (UCSF), Trainee talks (see below), and a Poster session. A registration portal will be provided in the coming months with the option to present a poster. Trainee talks will be selected by the Steering Committee from a Lightning Talk Competition. Details can be found on the website and submissions are due Monday, March 2^nd.   

 

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NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan: Responses are due no later than Jan. 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.