New PhD student popping a bottle of champagne

Sang Ho (thesis defender) with thesis advisors (Kristen Maynard and Keri Martinowich)

Huge congratulations to newest PhD from our group @shkwon-bcmbneuro.bsky.social after thesis defense, "Spatial gene expression landscape of the human cortex in health and disease". Really grateful for the hard work, dedication and commitment to many, many projects, and the team science spirit.

Dominant clones leverage developmental epigenomic states to drive ependymoma - Nature Single-nucleus chromatin and RNA sequencing identifies epigenetic chromatin domains that confer vulnerability to paediatric brain tumours such as ependymomas, providing insight into the development of...

My main PhD work was just published in Nature! We studied the developmental risk factors for a pediatric brain tumor called ependymoma. The subtype we study is driven by the ZFTA-RELA fusion oncoprotein, a potent but ependymoma-specific cancer driver.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

FIRST post here on Bluesky - we’re excited to share that our large spatial transcriptomics study of the human dlPFC in schizophrenia is now available on bioRxiv📄: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/9)

New postdoctoral opportunity @lieberinstitute.bsky.social working w/ @tsawada1.bsky.social and our Molecular Neurogenetics team using human induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate molecular, cellular and neuroendocrine mechanisms by which impaired placental function impacts brain development

Spatially resolved molecular sex differences at single-cell resolution in the adult human ventromedial and arcuate hypothalamus The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and arcuate (ARC) nuclei of the hypothalamus play critical roles in regulating metabolism and behavior. Here, Mulvey et al. create a focused spatial transcriptomic ...

Now online! @lieberinstitute.bsky.social & @jhubiostat.bsky.social collaboration generating important resource (Visium & Xenium) on molecular organization of human hypothalamus w/ cool findings associating sex differential expression to neuropsychiatric disorders 🧠🔬🧪
www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Keri Martinowich, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer | The Lieber Institute for Brain Development | Research & Discovery Lieber Institute for Brain Development Appoints Keri Martinowich, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer Baltimore, MD (January 6, 2025) — The Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) announced the a...

Honored to be appointed Chief Scientific Officer @lieberinstitute.bsky.social. LIBD is a uniquely collaborative place with extraordinary biological resources and a commitment to translation 🧠🔬🧪. Grateful to my colleagues and excited to help guide our next chapter!
www.libd.org/keri-martino...

Excited to be headed to my first @acnporg.bsky.social meeting! Stop by my talk to hear about D1-islands in the human NAc or my poster to hear about our efforts to use spatial transcriptomics to profile lateral septum neurons in the human brain.

Congrats Keri! So well deserved and looking forward to this next chapter at LIBD. 🎉

Top-down control of sustained attention by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)- locus coeruleus (LC) circuit during the rodent continuous performance task (rCPT) The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a pivotal role in attention by exerting top-down control to allocate cognitive resources toward behaviorally relevant stimuli based on learned context and exp...

Finally on Bluesky and I’m really excited to share this latest preprint with @jorge-miranda.bsky.social in which we functionally examined the role of a medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)- Locus Coeruleus (LC) circuit in regulating sustained attention.

1/7

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

This dataset is paired with a spatial transcriptomic analysis of the locus coeruleus from the same donors. This work led by @berniejmulvey.bsky.social is also now in pre-print!
bsky.app/profile/berniejmulvey.bsky.social/post/3m4isvuqabm2v
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Experimental design for LIBD LFF Spatial ERC project

Excited to share our latest preprint from @lieberinstitute.bsky.social spatial + single-cell RNA-seq map the ERC & explore how AD risk shapes gene expression doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Our major finding: “APOE E4 Alzheimer’s Risk Converges on an Oligodendrocyte Subtype in the Human Entorhinal Cortex”

Excited to share that our article on accurate sample deconvolution of pooled snRNA-seq data using sex-dependent gene expression patterns is live on NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics! 🎉

Check it out here: doi.org/10.1093/narg...

#NARGenomicsandBioinformatics #snRNAseq #Genomics #Bioinformatics

Congratulations to Michael Gandal, M.D., Ph.D. on being awarded the 2025 Eva King Killam Research Award! 👏 #ACNP2026

Please click here ➡️ tinyurl.com/52447muh to watch the acceptance video by Michael Gandal, M.D., Ph.D.

Congratulations to Ian Maze, Ph.D. and Erin Calipari, Ph.D. for being awarded the Daniel H. Efron Research Award. 🎉#ACNP2026

Many people hours, calls and messages later: OSTA is now “in (pre)print”, though the real thing lives at bioconductor.org/books/OSTA.

Check it out, get in touch. We welcome any feedback, suggestions, wishes (& contributions).

It’s been a joy working with you @estellayixingdong.bsky.social!

Clustering of spatial gene expression from a profiled tissue section of human brain in the basal forebrain

Our lateral septum (LS) team is representing for #SfN25! We have two posters on Wed afternoon from RA Madeline Abramson (PSTR463.16) and undergraduate Yufeng Du (PSTR463.17) showcasing newest molecular profiling results across mouse, non-human primate and human 🧠

I'm there too - get in touch!

Transcriptomic Analysis of the Human Habenula in Schizophrenia | American Journal of Psychiatry Objective: The objective of this study was to define the molecular neuroanatomy of the human habenula (Hb) and identify transcriptomic differences between brains of individuals with schizophrenia and ...

Proud to announce our paper ‘Transcriptomic Analysis of the Human Habenula in Schizophrenia’ from @lieberinstitute.bsky.social is the cover article for the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry! 🧠 #HabenulaLIBD #snRNAseq #Habenula doi.org/10.1176/appi...

Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test - Translational Psychiatry Translational Psychiatry - Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test

Our paper using endoscopic in vivo calcium imaging to uncover how neuronal population dynamics in the prelimbic cortex track attention and task engagement during the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT) is now online

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test - Translational Psychiatry Translational Psychiatry - Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test

Happy to share that our paper characterizing PrL dynamics during sustained attention is finally out. This work was a collaboration between the @martinowk.bsky.social and Greg Carr groups at @lieberinstitute.bsky.social . www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#Calicumimaging #miniscopes #rCPT #PrL

Congratulations to our habenula team! We've learned a lot about working in this tiny brain region. Here we characterize the molecular signatures of human habenula cell types and transcriptomic changes associated with schizophrenia. Stay tuned 👀 for more exciting habenula findings in the near future.

Lieber Institute For Brain Development - Staff Scientist I, Translational Neuroscience A little about us:The Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) was established in 2010 to plot a new course in biomedical research that would change the lives of individuals affected with develop...

We are hiring for a PhD-level Staff Scientist to join our teams in the Translational Neuroscience Division @lieberinstitute.bsky.social. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of human 🧠 neuroanatomy and molecular neuroscience

recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/j...

Role of molecularly defined lateral septum cell types and circuits in social behaviors - Neuropsychopharmacology Neuropsychopharmacology - Role of molecularly defined lateral septum cell types and circuits in social behaviors

New Hot Topics piece from @rphillips3.bsky.social and Stephanie Page in @npp-journal.bsky.social describing emerging insights on roles of molecularly-defined cell types in the lateral septum, which serves as a hub for coordinating diverse social behaviors.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here’s my Fluorescence Friday highlight: just got this beautiful shot from the locus coeruleus in our latest tissue section! You can see astrocytes (in green) glowing and wrapping around tiny blood vessels (in red), with pTau staining (in magenta) lighting up the scene. It’s wild how much is going on in just one microscopic field—so cool to see these markers all together and think about what they mean for brain health and Alzheimer’s research. Loving the chance to peek into these cellular hangouts each week! #FluorescenceFriday #PhDLife #Neuroscience

For #FluorescenceFriday✨ Exploring the beauty of the locus Coeruleus using IF staining: neurons🔵 surrounded by glowing astrocytes🟢 embracing delicate blood vessels🔴, alongside striking pTau signals💗. A vivid reminder of the cellular complexity shaping brain health and disease. #LC #Neuroscience

Excited to share this new work from the lab, in collaboration with @jtuscher.bsky.social & Rob Sorge! Here, we used single cell transcriptional profiling to define molecular adaptations induced by chronic pain and opioid experience, which often occur in conjunction.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Transcriptomic diversity of amygdalar subdivisions across humans and nonhuman primates Specialized cell types and links to psychiatric disorders are revealed by genetic mapping of primate amygdala neurons.

A spatially resolved transcriptomic atlas of the primate amygdala (human, macaque, and baboon) now out in Science Advances (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...). The amygdala contains 32 types of neurons with many neuron types specific to particular subdivisions.

Lots of updates from the preprint!

Excited to be co-chairing this @acnporg.bsky.social panel with chair @kr-maynard.bsky.social on opioid-responsive subpopulations in brain reward circuits. Special thanks to @rphillips3.bsky.social for helping to assemble the panel!

Super excited to share this work & accompanying data resources in collab with @martinowk.bsky.social @stephaniehicks.bsky.social @alexisbattle.bsky.social! Congrats to all coauthors and big shout out to @svitlana-bach.bsky.social @prashanthi-ravi.bsky.social for leading this NIDA-funded project.

For #FluorescenceFriday - image from Research Associate Kelsey Montgomery in @kr-maynard.bsky.social lab @lieberinstitute.bsky.social - RNAscope at 3 levels of the habenula in human 🧠. 🟢 is MBP, 🟣 is GPR151 (lateral habenula), 🔴 is POU4F1 (general habenula), and 🟡 is TAC3 (medial habenula) 🔬🧪👩‍🔬

These understudied neuronal populations will be the topic of a panel at the upcoming @acnporg.bsky.social meeting, which I am co-chairing with @kr-maynard.bsky.social!

We are thrilled to announce that OneNeuro Co-Director Patricia Janak, Ph.D., has been elected as the 2026-2027 President of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN). @janaklab.bsky.social

View the official announcement: www.sfn.org/publications...