In this episode, Geoff Marsh speaks to Dr. Stephanie Ford about our Collection on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Access the full collection here: https://www.nature.com/collections/fccidiefbi

In this episode, Geoff Marsh speaks to Dr. Stephanie Ford about our Collection on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Access the full collection here: https://www.nature.com/collections/fccidiefbi

In this episode, Geoff Marsh speaks to Dr. Stephanie Ford about our Collection on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Access the full collection here: https://www.nature.com/collections/fccidiefbi

In this episode, Geoff Marsh speaks to Dr. Stephanie Ford about our Collection on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Read the collection here: https://www.nature.com/collections/fccidiefbi

Even non-academics hear a lot these days about the peer review process, but how does this work behind the scenes? In this episode we meet another new associate editor, Sebastian Ramos Onsins. We also find out what editors do at the journal from Co-editor-in-chief Sara Goodacre and editorial assistant Sandra Huettenbuegel.

This episode features a conversation with Senior Investigator Tina Cheng, who has held several leadership positions over her career, including her current roles as Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, and Director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation. Her clinical work and research work have had a long and lasting impact on child health disparities and health equity.

The use of genetic simulations is gaining popularity. In this episode we learn about SLiM (https://messerlab.org/slim/), one of the most popular software packages, from one of its creators - Ben Haller.

Researchers are interested in understanding the biology of why some people are more likely to overconsume substances. Some substances are difficult to study—people might not admit to illegal substance abuse or to how much alcohol they drink. But Americans are more likely to accurately recall and share how much coffee they drink—which is related to how much caffeine they consume. And so a team of researchers paired up with the company 23 and Me to try to understand genetic differences among a large set of people, to try to tease out any genetic similarities that could be correlated with coffee consumption. Sandra Sanchez-Roige is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego, and she’s one of the study’s authors. Abraham Palmer is a professor and vice chair of basic research in the department of psychiatry at UC San Diego, and he’s another of the study’s authors.

Read their full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01870-x

Listen to July's Pediapod episode: What's hot in stem cells and regenerative biology? with Atul Malhotra.

Down in the engine room of a scientific journal are its associate editors, they arbitrate the peer-review process and make the whole system run. Heredity's newest editor is Diala Abu Awad, in this episode we find out a bit about her and her work.