News Splash Issue 21 Winter 2026
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Letter from the President
Already in 2026, the IZFS has news to report: the success of the Strategic Conference for Zebrafish Investigators (SCZI) which was held on the campus of the National University of Singapore, in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. Nine years ago, IZFS made the commitment to rotate its two major conferences among each of the three global regions—Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific—every three years. The goal in doing so was to broaden access to the conferences to all of our international members. In spite of best laid plans, the pandemic and other challenges prevented the SCZI from being held in the Asia-Pacific region until this year. However, the goal was realized: 57% of the attendees at the Singapore SCZI were from the Asia-Pacific region compared to only 7% at the last SCZI held in Asilomar, California in 2024. I encourage you to read about some of the highlights of the meeting in this issue of the News Splash. - continue reading - 11th SCZI Meeting Report:The 11th Strategic Conference of Zebrafish Investigators (SCZI) took place from the 14-17th January 2026 at the National University of Singapore (NUS). This was the first SCZI meeting to take place outside of Asilomar (USA) and attendees were spoilt by the wonders of the tropical and cosmopolitan City-State of Singapore. In the spirit of Asilomar meetings, participants enjoyed reconnecting, meeting anew, sharing, learning and discussing all things zebrafish (and more!). This was greatly assisted by an engaging social program, in addition to the scientific program, and included a welcome reception, transport to Gardens by the Bay, where attendees could explore and wander at their leisure, and was capped off by the conference banquet at Penguin Cove Restaurant, followed by a night safari with evening bird show. All of this was made possible by the generous support of IZFS, NUS and many fabulous sponsors. The conference ran smoothly thanks to the efforts of the local organising committee, especially Ajay Mathuru, Sudipto Roy and Caroline Wee. On behalf of all participants, thanks to all involved for bringing about such a successful meeting. - continue reading - Science SpotlightIn each issue of the News Splash we invite two early-career members of the zebrafish community to write an article in the newsletter covering recent high-impact zebrafish publications of their choice. If you are interested in participating in this mentored science writing opportunity by writing an article for a future issue, contact Science Spotlight editors Cecilia Moens (cmoens@fredhutch.org) and/or Karuna Sampath (K.Sampath@warwick.ac.uk). Tooth be told, location matters Imagine waking up one morning, realizing that you know how to grow fingers out of your head with complete volition. Sure, this may not be advantageous unless you’re living in a world where evolution has taken a very strange turn. However, being able to know when and where a transplant organ should be introduced in order to ensure optimal success can be incredibly valuable. In a recent study, Chen and colleagues explore and compare spatial and temporal competency for tooth formation in the zebrafish and stickleback (Chen et al., 2025). - continue reading - Connecting the neurons: how PISCES connects morphology, function, and gene expression The ability to label and track specific cells in vivo using cell-type restricted transgenes and photoconvertible proteins has been broadly used in zebrafish research. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has increased the molecular expression data we have per cell, and spatial transcriptomics have added spatial context to this data, however there is still no good technique for integrating morphology, function, and molecular identity within a single, arbitrarily selected cell. Researchers in the lab of Jiu-Lin Du at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, China address this limitation by developing a labeling technique called ‘PISCES' (Photo-inducible Single-Cell Labeling; Tao et al., 2025. - continue reading - Meet the PI
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Featuring: Riu Oliveira, PhD - The Best Way Is Always Through
Zebrafish in Translation|
Postdoctoral Research Associate - Washington University School of Medicine - St. Louis |
Oregon Health & Science University - Postdoctoral Fellow |
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Postdoctoral Research Associate - ZIRC |
Wayne State University - Assistant Professor |
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Collins Lab - University of Saskatchewan |
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Have an idea for the newsletter or would like to contribute? Contact us at info@izfs.org! We'd love to hear from you!
| IZFS Newsletter Committee | Contributors | ||
| Cecilia Moens | Karuna Sampath | Mizuki Tojo | Octavia Santis Larrain |
| Kelly Smith | Han Wang | ||
| Brant Weinstein | Yevgenya Grinblat | ||
| Kathleen Whitlock | Maria Blumenkrantz | ||
| Megan Leask | Kevin Thiessen | ||