I’m thrilled to announce that I will start as a presidential assistant professor in Neuroscience at the City U of Hong Kong in Jan 2026! I have RA, PhD, and postdoc positions available! Come work with me on neural network models/experiments on human memory! RT appreciated! (1/5)

My pre-PhD work is out Current Biology! We studied Alston’s singing mice, neotropical rodent that produces loud, human-audible 'songs' and engages in vocal turn-taking. Using thermal imaging in semi-natural arena, we probed song use across social contexts. cell.com/current-biolog…

When should adaptation arise from a polygenic response versus few large effect changes? biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_evobio

We are pleased to congratulate Yuki Haba of Columbia University on joining the 2025 cohort of #LeonLevyScholars in partnership with the Leon Levy Foundation. 👏 Learn more about Yuki & meet each of the Scholars in our latest press release. Read more: bit.nyas.org/3Yoa6Pf

Honored and grateful for this generous, long-term support by NYAS and Leon Levy foundation. Very excited also to be a part of the vibrant community of neuroscientists in NYC - many inspiring talks and discussions at the annual symposium a few weeks ago!

New paper from the lab: Our teeth arose as sensory organs on the outside of the body of ancient jawless fish.!! Congrats to Yara Haridy and the team! Open Access Paper: nature.com/articles/s4158… News and Views: nature.com/articles/d4158… Background and video: phys.org/news/2025-05-t…

アズキの起源が日本である、という論文を出しました。Scienceじゃい！ science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Excited to start a new lab at Florida State University this summer! FSU Department of Psychology FSU Neuroscience We’ll study how the brain enables generalization to support decision-making in novel situations. KiraLab.org We’re recruiting—please RT or share with anyone interested!

This was such a fun chat with Melissa Franch about my science journey so far! Thanks to storiesofWiN for featuring my story.

Just published - Researchers have discovered that five large chromosomal inversions contributed to Lake Malawi cichlid diversity, akin to finding Mother Nature's cookbook for a "Quick Colourful Fish Salad!" 🔒 science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… Sci-comm post - myscience.org/en/news/2025/h…

It was fun writing this short piece on the omnigenic model. Sharing it here, though it's a painful time as my family, along with millions of others, is at risk in Iran and the region.

Microbiomes shape our biology from gut-brain, skin, immunology, and more. Here, Rebecka Sepela et al explores octopus “taste by touch” sensation to ask how environmental microbiomes drive animal behavior. Cell Press, MCB_Harvard, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) cell.com/cell/fulltext/…

Excited to share our latest manuscript in Cell. Here we discovered neuropeptides that specify and reprogram the division of labor in leafcutter ants! penntoday.upenn.edu/news/what-can-…

I'm excited to share that I will soon join UCLA's Bioengineering department as an Assistant Professor. I am incredibly fortunate to have landed my dream job in this current atmosphere, and I would like to thank my mentors, colleagues, and friends for their support.

Corey Allard et al asks how “solar-powered” slugs maintain stolen chloroplasts from their diet for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. Cell Press, MCB_Harvard, Harvard Medical School cell.com/cell/fulltext/…

New preprint on bioRxiv! Read our story on how diurnal mosquitoes “stay up late” to search for an egg-laying site! Huge thanks to Laura B Duvall for letting me do quirky science and Elisabeth Bradford for doing quirky science (and crosswords) with me! doi.org/10.1101/2025.0…

I am happy to share that I’ve been awarded tenure here at Columbia University. Alhamdulillah. I thank my wife, parents, mentors, colleagues, friends, & family. I thank my lab members, present and past, for entrusting their careers in my hands and making this a thrilling journey.

New paper is out Nature Communications !! We show that diverse but conforming fly groups perform better against predators, demonstrating a powerful synergy in collective behavior. nature.com/articles/s4146…

The NAS Council has approved the nomination of Neil H. Shubin to be the next president of the National Academy of Sciences. An evolutionary biologist & science communicator, Shubin would succeed Marcia McNutt when her term ends on June 30, 2026. Read more: nasonline.org/news/neil-h-sh…

To identify fundamental neuroscientific principles that generalize across species, systems and circuits, neuroscientists must embrace an evolutionary perspective, argue Karl Farrow and Katja Reinhard. thetransmitter.org/systems-neuros…