Anna Kalisvaart
@akalisva.bsky.social
Instructor in Neuroscience @BurkeNeuroSci & @WeillCornell Translational stroke researcher (Intracerebral Hemorrhage) | PhD @UAlberta 🇨🇦 | Microscopy, cycling, & linocut geek. Views are my own.
Absolutely essential reading for anyone considering those "unicorn" hiring positions in Canada. Observations from researchers who are already there: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
The problem with Canada’s plan to buy scientific prestige
The government’s plans to poach 100 US researchers might make good economic sense. But what about the existing community?
nature.com
For #InternationalWomensDay I’m sharing my ongoing series of women in science through history. I’m now at 79. Here’s to the day a scientist’s sex is no longer remarkable in any field. Since last year I have added these 12 #linocut prints. 🧪🐡👩🔬🧮🔭🎢🔬
Ele Willoughby@minouette.bsky.social · 2y agoFor #InternationalWomensDay a thread of my ongoing series of portraits of women in science through history. If you look for them, they’re there. I’m up to 67 now! Here’s to the day when a scientist’s sex is no longer remarkable in any field! #IWD #IWD2025 #histsci #linocut #printmaking 🧵🧪👩🔬
🧪Mitochondria control brain aging by ensuring proper protein degradation Build up of excess proteins, such as amyloid and tau, can lead to Alzheimer's disease. This study shows that loss of mitochondria in axons causes build up of dysfunctional, damaging proteins. doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Axonal distribution of mitochondria maintains neuronal autophagy during aging via eIF2β
Upregulation of the β subunit of translation initiation factor eIF2 underlies autophagy suppression and premature aging caused by disruption of axonal transport of mitochondria.
doi.org
Skype-a-scientist does small grants ($300-$1000) for creative #SciComm projects in your local community! You don't have to be a scientist to apply. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 🧪 #BlueSci
SCIENCE IRL: SciComm mini-grant 2026
Skype a Scientist is offering $300-$1,000 mini-grants to support boots-on-the-ground science communication. The Science IRL mini-grants will support projects that put either 1) important science mess...
docs.google.com
“they should be careful not to deprioritize the kind of curiosity-driven, investigator-led research that has a strong track record in advancing humanity’s knowledge, producing the types of innovation that prosperity and well-being depend on.” 🧪 #Research www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research
Around the world, governments are demanding that research funding follow broader political priorities. They should be careful what they wish for.
nature.com
My @bmj.com article about my stroke recovery and the importance of communication by health care professionals, especially around time frames: www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Pleased to share this review by our talented trainee, Geena! Check it out for the latest on #ferroptosis as a treatment target following #stroke 🧠
Pedro Pimentel-Coelho@ppimentel-coelho.bsky.social · 8mo agoIroning out mechanisms of ferroptotic death to tailor new stroke therapies Geena FM Capps et al. 🧪 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Scientists across the career spectrum are burnt out, & people are leaving STEM in startling numbers, particularly those from under-represented groups. A lab handbook can foster a more positive research culture. By @scattercushion.bsky.social @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Lab morale got you down? Try a handbook
Documents that lay out a research group’s ethos and practical guidelines are becoming increasingly popular in the academic community.
nature.com
So excited to announce my most recent project is now in press! Our meta-analysis looks at the effects of exogenous #estrogen, #progesterone, and #testosterone in pre-clinical models for 3 subtypes of #stroke: AIS, ICH, and SAH. Catch it at Biology of Sex Differences here: doi.org/10.1186/s132...
A comprehensive meta-analysis of exogenous estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in animal models of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke - Biology of Sex Differences
Background Exogenous sex hormones have been extensively studied for their influence on stroke risk and outcome. This meta-analysis served to update the pre-clinical acute ischemic stroke (AIS) literat...
doi.org
Nice work from Shawn Liu's lab @columbiauniversity.bsky.social ! In vivo DNA methylation editing www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Editing DNA methylation in vivo - Nature Communications
Precise editing of DNA methylation has emerged as a promising tool in disease biology but most applications are limited to in vitro systems. Here, we develop two transgenic mouse lines harboring an in...
nature.com
Our first Psych Seminar of Winter 2026 will take place 30th January 3-4pm MST BS P226. Dr Fred Colbourne will present on 'Translational stroke research: Lessons for all of us.'
Extremely excited & proud to share our new preprint - we provide for the first time a single cell map of the mouse brain across sex, the estrous cycle, and peripartum! Data are 🔥 👇 "Single-cell map of the female brain across reproductive transitions" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
These drugs were not stumbled upon or borrowed from traditional remedies. They were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab, writes @alexkwan.bsky.social. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs
A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.
thetransmitter.org
A metabolic atlas of mouse aging: Cell Metabolism www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
A metabolic atlas of mouse aging
Pilley et al. describe how metabolite levels change in 12 organs from male and female mice across five ages, spanning adolescence to old age. They reveal that organs show distinct age- and sex-specifi...
cell.com
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging
Efficient DNA repair might make possible the longevity of naked mole-rats. However, whether they have distinctive mechanisms to optimize functions of DNA repair suppressors is unclear. We find that na...
science.org
'Game-changer': University of Calgary study leads to new worldwide drug guidelines for treating strokes https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/university-calgary-study-new-worldwide-drug-guidelines-treating-strokes-tenecteplase 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter
Spinal motor neurons in dazzling detail. ✨ Each green dot is a spinal motor neuron - crucial but rare cells making up just 1% of neurons in the spinal cord. In diseases like ALS, they are selectively damaged, making them of special interest to neuroscientists. #neuroskyence #FluorescenceFriday
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 🎤 If you’ve read this far and still need convincing, please check out our preprint arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 and this infographic: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... 10/10
As I worked on this #sciart piece this weekend, it got me curious about the origin of the mouse strains we use in biomedical research today: so welcome to my rabbit hole! A 🧵
This October I’m drawing 1 molecule a day inspired by proteins in pdb @rcsbpdb.bsky.social Day 19/31 Prompt ARCTIC Pdb: 3UYU Meet ice-binding protein (LeIBP) from Arctic yeast that acts like antifreeze! Next: RIVALS Suggestions?
Thrilled to share this work from my postdoc with Tom Carmichael, available online @ Neuron! Long story short: we find even more evidence that all reactive astrocytes are not equal, and we can take advantage of those differences to improve repair after stroke. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Regionally mapped astrocytic responses to cortical and white matter stroke show differential roles in astrocyte-induced vascular remodeling
Stroke is a major cause of disability. Astrocytes respond to stroke in a gradated manner, but details of that response and its consequences for tissue…
sciencedirect.com
PREACH! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reaffirming the value of model organisms in training scientific minds - Nature Cell Biology
As biomedical research prioritizes human models and translational promise, classic model organisms are increasingly dismissed. Here we argue that they have a lasting value, both in enabling discovery and in cultivating scientific thinking, by training researchers in systems reasoning, integrative thinking and independent inquiry.
nature.com
Paper Alert!! Our collaborative work with Giger Lab at UMich is out now in #ScienceTranslationMedicine Deletion of murine Sarm1 results in a microenvironment that delays peripheral nerve regeneration after injury | Science Translational Medicine @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Deletion of murine Sarm1 results in a microenvironment that delays peripheral nerve regeneration after injury
In Sarm1-deficient mice, peripheral nervous system regeneration is delayed after injury.
science.org
🧪🥤Researchers find Canada’s first sugary drink tax lowered odds of consumption nearly 25% New report highlights the potential of the tax to improve public health @avisfavaro.bsky.social www.heartandstroke.ca/what-we-do/m...
Pouring over the data: researchers find Canada’s first sugary drink tax lowered odds of consumption nearly 25%
heartandstroke.ca
Very sorry to hear of Jane Goodall’s passing. Her scientific contributions and her work as a conservationist are extraordinary. #goodall #chimpanzee #conservation #primatology 🧪 Gift article
Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91
nytimes.com
Occasional PSA: Intracellular molecular processing, especially in neurons, is not about differential RNA expression or even protein abundance for that matter. Not about quantity. It’s about qualitative, functional states. The sooner we get there as a community the faster the science advances
