If you are passionate about #skulls and #craniosynostosis then join us for 4th Advanced in Craniosynostosis on 28th Aug 2026 @uclengineering.bsky.social Please reserve your ticket at: tiny.cc/AdCR4 @uclengineering.bsky.social @ucl-c4ia.bsky.social @karenjliu.bsky.social @Steve Twigg @Headlines

Looking forward to an exciting programme this Monday on Developmental Origins of Paediatric Cancers, sponsored by CCLG at the Crick. @tsakiridis.bsky.social www.cclg.org.uk/information-...

Developmental origins of paediatric cancer symposium

A one-day event showcasing the latest cutting-edge research on the modelling, biology and treatment of paediatric cancers in the context of their developmental origins.

cclg.org.uk

'Here, we describe a novel bioengineered pipeline to derive human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neuroepithelial organoids, “neurocrestoids” featuring physiologically-relevant tissue architecture.' #Preprint, Carmen Moreno-Gonzalez @karenjliu.bsky.social et al

With new regulations taking effect, the question of which models best capture human disease is becoming increasingly urgent. In our April Editorial, we discuss why in vivo disease models remain essential, and our editors outline what in vitro systems can and cannot achieve. doi.org/10.1242/dmm....

'We primarily do comparative analysis using human stem cells/organoids and genetically modified mouse models, with some minor use of frog models. We use this approach because, for developmental anomalies, it is impossible to assess true function without in vivo models' @karenjliu.bsky.social

Why in vivo models of disease remain indispensable

Summary: The call to arms for alternatives to model organisms of disease will fail without ongoing integration with – and validation against – complex animal models and support from the animal modelli...

journals.biologists.com

I’m beyond happy to share that the preprint summarising my PhD research is now online on bioRxiv! 🚀 I am very grateful to my supervisors, Karen J Liu and Andrea Serio, all the coauthors and members of both teams who have made this work possible.

Karen J Liu@karenjliu.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New pre-print on human neural crest organoids for studying developmental changes in diseases such as neuroblastoma. Heroic work from @carmenmorenogon.bsky.social bridging Liu/Serio labs @andreaserio.bsky.social with protocols from @tsakiridis.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New pre-print on human neural crest organoids for studying developmental changes in diseases such as neuroblastoma. Heroic work from @carmenmorenogon.bsky.social bridging Liu/Serio labs @andreaserio.bsky.social with protocols from @tsakiridis.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Fully funded PhD post, UK/Home student, starting 01/06/26. Interested in working at the interface of dev bio, biophysics and cell biology? Great collaboration with Amy Beedle and @leonerossetti.bsky.social Informal enquiries welcome. Deadline 15/03 #neuralcrest www.kcl.ac.uk/study-legacy...

Multiscale Models for Life (MM4L) Centre for Doctoral Training Funded Studentship: How ECM changes shape cellular decision making

Embryo, neural crest, developmental biology, cell biology, cell migration, biophysics, mechanobiology, bioengineering.

kcl.ac.uk

Abstract deadline looming! Coming join us in June for a great meeting on developmental origins of paediatric cancers, including neuroblastoma organised by @tsakiridis.bsky.social and friends @childrenwithcancer.bsky.social #neuralcrest www.crick.ac.uk/whats-on/dev...

Last couple spots remaining for the Craniofacial GRC in sunny CA! Looks to be a full house, with a great set of up-and-coming #craniofacial biologists spanning evo/devo, genetics, multiomics all the way to stem cells, engineering and repair. @brugmannlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/craniofacial...

Think about craniofacial biology in sunny California😎! Don't forget to submit an abstract for the 2026 GRC Craniofacial. Many talk slots available from abstract selections. Deadline for talk abstracts 14 Dec, coming soon.... ☠️🐭🐟🐸🧬 #craniofacial #genetics #neuralcrest www.grc.org/craniofacial...

SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT

Exciting new findings on mechanisms of Wnt signalosomes --from Sheng-yuan Wu's PhD project in @matthias-krause.bsky.social lab! Great collaborators, great story. #xenopus 🐸

Matthias Krause@matthias-krause.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Sequestration of Ena/VASP proteins impedes in vivo Wnt activation driving Xenopus embryonic development. Our results suggest Mena as a crucial mediator of Wnt signalosome endocytosis thus promoting canonical Wnt signalling. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Endocytosis of Wnt-receptors is required for signalling, yet uptake mechanisms remain poorly understood. We resolve a longstanding controversy by showing that Wnt3a triggers rapid Clathrin-Mediated and Fast Endophilin-Mediated LRP6 endocytosis at low concentrations sufficient for Wnt activation.

Just heading home from our @mrcmousenetwork.bsky.social MRC NMGN Science Meeting 2025 in York where our Congenital Anomalies Cluster shared updates on our clinical VUS & phenotyping pipelines at the podium! Great discussions! #FunctionalGenomics #RareDisease #CongenitalAnomalies

It's Halloween in CCRB! Today we held our traditional Pumpkin Carving Competition, and it was a very competitive one! Congratulations to @karenjliu.bsky.social 's lab for the win! Can you guess which was the winner?

Neuroblastoma-associated ALK variants have distinct cellular and biochemical activities https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.25.677354v1

Embryology! Neural crest! Looking for a postdoc? Job closes 25 Aug. Informal enquiries welcome, and anyone hanging out at the Xenopus meeting come say hi. #mouse #human #development #neuralcrest #chromatin @the-node.bsky.social @marcotrizzino.bsky.social

Karen J Liu@karenjliu.bsky.social · last yr.

Dev biologists! 3-yr postdoc position at King's, collaboration with Trizzino lab @marcotrizzino.bsky.social modelling CHD3 neural crest. We are looking for postdocs with mad embryology skills @the-node.bsky.social #developmental @ccrb27.bsky.social thenode.biologists.com/jobs/postdoc...

Wow, International Xenopus Meeting (IXC25) -- Matt Guille and EXRC opens the meeting with old friends new science @xenbase.bsky.social xenopusresource.org/20th-interna... #science #devbio #xenopus #frogs

Dev biologists! 3-yr postdoc position at King's, collaboration with Trizzino lab @marcotrizzino.bsky.social modelling CHD3 neural crest. We are looking for postdocs with mad embryology skills @the-node.bsky.social #developmental @ccrb27.bsky.social thenode.biologists.com/jobs/postdoc...

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Modelling Neural Crest Anomalies (mouse/human) - the Node

The Liu lab is looking for a postdoc with a love of embryos and developmental biology! This post is part of an MRC-funded collaboration between Karen Liu’s lab at King’s College London and Marco Trizz...

thenode.biologists.com

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

‘No Way to Please Everyone’ Says Only University Where Students Are Regularly Kidnapped

‘No Way’ to Please Everyone: Columbia’s President Confronts Trump’s Ultimatum

With Trump intent on making an example of Columbia, Armstrong is at the center of a fight over the future of higher education.

wsj.com

Congrats to our very own Pleasantine Mill! Well deserved. 🐭 @mrcmousenetwork.bsky.social go NMGN Congenital Anomalies Cluster

British Society for Developmental Biology@bsdb.bsky.social · last yr.

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2025 Wolpert medal is Pleasantine Mill! bsdb.org/2025/03/05/2...

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2025 Wolpert medal is Pleasantine Mill! bsdb.org/2025/03/05/2...

We are looking forward to meeting everyone in Liverpool next week for our special 100-year anniversary conference. We have a busy, fun-filled programme. You can follow all the action from Biologists @ 100 at #biologists100. 100yearsconference.biologists.com

Very excited to be working with @marcotrizzino.bsky.social on unravelling CHD3 function in craniofacial neural crest! Parallel human and mouse experiments & disease modelling 🐭🔬 with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social

Marco Trizzino@marcotrizzino.bsky.social · last yr.

Thank you to @ukri.org MRC for awarding our grant on the role of CHD3 in neural crest/craniofacial development (and associated syndromes), together with the brilliant @karenjliu.bsky.social! And in collaboration with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social Exciting times!

Thank you to @ukri.org MRC for awarding our grant on the role of CHD3 in neural crest/craniofacial development (and associated syndromes), together with the brilliant @karenjliu.bsky.social! And in collaboration with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social Exciting times!

'NIH suggests that indirect and direct costs are substitutes when in reality they are complements: (...) If NIH puts more money into direct project funding, that funding generates additional indirect costs for more labs, more safety & compliance officers, and more buildings & their utility costs.'

Is flat 15% fair?

An NIH funding policy is misguided and damaging

science.org

Science under siege: protecting scientific progress in turbulent times journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Science under siege: protecting scientific progress in turbulent times

As Editors-in-Chief of The Company of Biologists' journals, we have been watching with growing concern the policy changes in the United States of America (USA) and the challenges that these are creati...

journals.biologists.com

To celebrate International Women's Day we recorded a special podcast series, interviewing 6 different women with different roles in our department. Check it out on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7GoTzSh...