David Ashbrook

Save the Date Genes, Brain & Behavior May 24-27, 2027 Botanical Gardens of Valencia Valencia, Spain Call for Symposium Proposals Open: www.ibangs.org/gbb27

For #WorldAlzheimersMonth, we’re highlighting a breakthrough 2026 study that shows the power of tissue clearing and SmartSPIM light sheet microscopy to improve preclinical models: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @davidashbrook.bsky.social

Besides, I'm looking for grad students to join my group! If anyone is interested in admixture related questions in popgen (humans, drosophila and beyond) and spend a few years in beautiful Ann Arbor, I'm happy to chat whenever during SMBE!

"Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that that would produce a high-quality product." Holy cow, Ford bought the AI hype, believing they could go "hey computer, make me a good car" and it would.

UK-based cell biologist? Interested in membrane trafficking? Want to find a conference? Looking for a job (PI, postdoc...)? Do link to www.ukmembranetraffic.com, where @jezcarlton.bsky.social and Chris Stefan (not here?) do sterling work

Always important. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Delighted to share that I’ve been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for #InfantNeuroAI The project will investigate how human infants learn to understand the visual world, by combining awake infant neuroimaging (fMRI and OPM-MEG) with computational models from AI.

I'm at #BGA2026 #BGA26(?) this week. Out of practice with this skeeting thing, so we'll see how we go...! Introductory remarks from the local hosts here in sunny Amsterdam, to be followed by a plenary from the excellent Wouter Peyrot @behaviorgenetic.bsky.social

"Help! Our 'record-breaking' rocket is lost in the North Sea" bbc.com/news/article...

Reading and writing and thinking hard are like going to the gym for your brain. Of course if we offload this work to GenAI we will lose cognitive skills in the same way it hurts me to run or lift weights without training

Our Faculty is #hiring multiple academics posts! Includes a fantastic opportunity to join us and start your own group in @ccmnlondon.bsky.social as Lecturer in Cardiovascular or Metabolic Neuroscience (broadly defined). Contact me with any queries, and pls share! 🧠📈 www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

I'm tracking down #SciFi stories where genetic manipulation is used to modify species, for obvious reasons, and found Proteus Island; this remarkable novella from 1936 explores how artificial manipulation of chromosome number and X-rays can create new species by a mad scientist in 1918 🧪 1/n

What matters most for childhood brain organization? We analyzed 649 variables. The answer: Socioeconomics (SES); with brain patterns pointing at sleep & stress as drivers. Even brain-IQ associations were better explained by SES. In Science today: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🔭 Catch Jodrell Bank later this evening on Kevin McCloud’s Listed Britain, where he uncovers the fascinating heritage of the Grade I listed Lovell Telescope! 🗓️ Watch at 9.00pm on More4 #ListedBritain #JodrellBank #LovellTelescope

🧬 Genetic discovery is transforming our understanding of bipolar disorder. Now, it’s about translating that knowledge into better care. On The Genetics Podcast, Cara Altimus & Benjamin Neale discuss how genetics + longitudinal data can drive more precise diagnosis & treatment. 🎧 bit.ly/3SiTBnj

How do brains plan actions towards goals? To get at this question we studied mice navigating complex mazes as goals changed on every trial 🧵 Work with @thomasakam.bsky.social @behrenstimb.bsky.social @kristorpjensen.bsky.social now on BioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Another day, another amazing neuroscience conference! 🧠 We're at the @edinunineuro.bsky.social Day 2026 today - if you're here too, why not say hello to Issy who's at our exhibition stand with product info & free gifts! 👩‍🔬 #neuroscience #neuroscientists #universityofedinburgh

We are recruiting! We are looking for a Lecturer (Teaching) in Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry to join our diverse team in the School of Pharmacy at UCL. Please share and happy to discuss the role with potential applicants. @ucllifesciences.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Such an excellent explanation

From 500 views in the first two months to over 100,000 views in the last few days. The ADA opinion piece that was too scary to be distributed at the ADA meeting has gone full Streisand. Y'all are doing the Lord's work.

I'm presenting at #neuroscienceday2026 later this morning. Please come back after the break to listen!

It’s Neuroscience Day 2026!! Over 20 talks, almost 70 posters, a great spread of exhibitions, keynote speaker Klaus Nave and a send off for the legendary Richard Morris of water maze fame 🧠🎉🧠

@edinunineuro.bsky.social EDI Advisory Panel is at #NeuroscienceDay2026 today! We're offering 15-minute 1:1 consultations to provide advice and ideas on how to integrate #diversity and #inclusion in your research, teaching, supervision, or grant applications. Come chat with us!

I love being too dangerous for an AI to even talk to

I’m thrilled to share more about my PhD Research at The Manchester Metropolitan University: KennelNet: A Machine Learning Approach to Postural Estimation and Behavioural Monitoring in Kennelled Dogs, in partnership with @dogstrust.bsky.social 🐕 #AnimalWelfare #AI #MachineLearning #PhD #Dogs

11. Addendum: here are the words characteristic of LLMs. Notice anything? It reads like an email from our upper administration.

Exciting opportunity: Professor/Associate Professor post, part of Mental Health Research Group. Come to work with us in the beautiful South West of the UK! Please circulate to anyone who might be interested. hrservices.plymouth.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...

We are looking for a new colleague to join us in Galway. The position is in Biochemistry and if research focus lines up we hope the successful person will join us in the Centre for Chromosome biology (chromosome.ie). Reach out if you are interested in applying! tinyurl.com/2jy4rj3r

Check out this report on what happens when a journal pays reviewers for their work. Fast turnaround times and streamlined experience for authors. @biologyopen.bsky.social published by @biologists.bsky.social has now gone beyond the trial and show the results from a year of implementing Fast & Fair.

I will be live-posting the dissertation defense of @standupforscience.net founder @cdelawalla.bsky.social this afternoon. While she has been building an organization and leading national efforts, she has been completing her PhD work. Of Mice & (hu)Mans: C. Delawalla Dissertation Defense 1/n

Just a shout-out to the folks over at @pathoplexus.org and, importantly, all the scientists sharing genomic data with such amazing speed. It's great to see the field having moved to a new platform, with non-transparent platforms being a thing of the past. Fantastic.

🚨🧪🧵URGENT INPUT NEEDED: NIH asks input for next strategic plan-including emphasis on non-animal models (NAMs) to replace animals. Per NIH insider, anti-animal responses now outnumber scientists 200-700x. Please please provide input. Deadline: May 26, 11:59 PM ET. grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

Not to get involved with the 'you must check all the references' business, but I have spent today trying to get to the bottom of a mystery from the 1750s. In 1752, as is well known, Maupertuis described a family with polydactyly and calculated the likelihood of the pattern occurring by chance. 1/n

Excited to see this new #OpenAccess perspective on the future of preclinical research published in #DMM. How animal models, #organoids, #AI and other methodologies can improve translation and #biomedical discovery @mrcmousenetwork.bsky.social doi.org/10.1242/dmm....

We developed a simple mouse glucose tolerance test protocol for diabetes research with voluntary oral glucose dosing instead of gavage. More physiological/aligned to the human test & better for animal welfare 👇🏻 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Please DM for detailed info or to arrange a chat

Here are my four GWAS lectures of ~20 minutes each for the International Statistical Genetics Workshop 2026. They're part of the broader workshop curriculum but also work as standalone lectures covering the basics of GWAS from the ground up. Videos are below 👇🏽

new blog post incoming

A bit of a different publication just out in Animal Models and Experimental Medicine - a look at animal research in the UK & new approach methodologies onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

"many NAMs can only examine specific questions. Computational molecular modeling being able to assess how a compound may interact with receptors, but what the physiological effects are of such interactions, in different tissues that interact with each other, currently requires in vivo examination"

Excited to share our newly published editorial article in @dmmjournal.bsky.social As discussions on animal research and alternative methods evolve we wanted to contribute a balanced, evidence-led perspective on the future of preclinical research. journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...

Great interview with my chair Danny Smith, "Is there a link between diet and mental health?" on the The Lancet Pulse @thelancet.com Main topics are #Ketogenic diet and #bipolar disorder www.thelancet.com/audio-do/the...

Interesting! doi.org/10.1242/dmm.... "Debates about animal research & alternatives are often framed as a contest between old and new approaches. This framing is both misleading and counterproductive. In practice, modern biomedical research is increasingly characterised by methodological pluralism"

1/ New preprint! 🧪With @talmo.bsky.social and team, we used deep learning on archival NASA video of mice on the ISS. Turns out mice in microgravity become tiny acrobats: huddling to sleep, doing backflips, even briefly generating their own ~1g. #SpaceBiology #OpenScience #NASA #SLEAP

One of the biggest datasets in longevity just published. Very nice work out of Rob Williams' lab. Arends et al. tracked lifespan in 6,438 genetically heterogeneous mice across three sites close to a decade.