Alaina Jaster, PhD
@jasteralaina.bsky.social
PhD in PharmTox. Head of Communications at Xylo Bio. Drug policy + harm reduction 🤘Education & Consulting via https://www.psychedelicbrainscience.com Opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
Descent passed from mother to daughter rather than from father to son, a study of more than 500 Iron Age individuals from north-east England suggests
DNA reveals a society organised around women in pre-Roman Britain | New Scientist
Descent passed from mother to daughter rather than from father to son, a study of more than 500 Iron Age individuals from north-east England suggests
newscientist.com
First human trials of designer protein therapies stun US neuroscientists cen.acs.org/biological-c...
First human trials of designer protein therapies stun US neuroscientists
Chinese researchers are testing DREADDs, a gene therapy to turn down neuronal activity, in the clinic
cen.acs.org
NEW: The NIH is quietly restricting funding for research that evaluates how public policy impacts human health. According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder. My latest for @nature.com:
NIH limits funding for research on the health effects of public policy
US biomedical agency no longer considers policymakers as ‘mission relevant’, leaving dozens of grants in limbo.
nature.com
Season 6 is coming soon!! Lineup announcements next week + psychedelicbrainscience.com has been updated so you can see where Dr. Jaster will be speaking next. Follow along here or subscribe to us wherever you get podcasts!
Need to make some major website updates soon!! The next year ahead is looking like lots of fun 🤩
The neuroscience of pain is extremely fascinating. From sensation to processing to perception - the pathways in our brain are doing some amazing things. Learn more about pain, recent publications in neuropsych + what Xylo has been up to the last month! www.xylo.bio/blog-posts/a...
August 2026 Newsletter
xylo.bio
The fact that VP JD Vance and Richard Grenell went to Romania—on behalf of the Trump Administration— to advocate for Andrew and Tristan Tate, who by all accounts, were rapists running a coercive sex ring, then permitted them to come to Florida, should be a crazy, crazy scandal.
"Not one of the people that is demonstrating looks like a normal person. Not one looks normal. They’re all deformed in some way – in their appearance, in their dress, in their mannerism... This so much deeper than issues about taxation and regulation... It’s about normal, healthy, ordered living."
Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · last mo.Good morning. This is fascism. This is the US Govt creating thought crimes. It’s not about who they are arresting today, it’s about how this vague and threatening pursuit will be used against dissenters. ✨EVERY✨ fascist govt to date, has taken this step. www.state.gov/releases/off...
Have you experienced harms to your research and scientific career at the hands of onerous, ambiguous or ridiculous government regulations? Has drug scheduling hurt your research? Use our new tool to share (option to be anon) your story to make real change at the federal policy level!
🧠 I think a lot of people are surprised when I say that I hate high impact publishing. I encountered a particularly poignant example today while reviewing a paper of why this style of publishing sucks: 🧵
I'm extremely excited to share this policy memo that my colleagues and I have worked extremely hard on, now published in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG)!! We talk about scheduling drugs, HALT Fentanyl Act + more! www.sciencepolicyjournal.org/article_1038...
Reducing Research Harms: Analysis and Recommendations for Researching Schedule I Substances Under the HALT Fentanyl Act
Read “Reducing Research Harms: Analysis and Recommendations for Researching Schedule I Substances Under the HALT Fentanyl Act,” an article from Volume 28, Issue 01 of the Journal of Science Policy & G...
sciencepolicyjournal.org
I had a professor that used to say “There’s two things that won’t lie to you… your butt and your gut.” Learn more about the gut-brain axis in this months edition of Xylo Bio’s Neuroscience Newsletter: www.xylo.bio/blog-posts/j...
July 2026 Newsletter
xylo.bio
"Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them." - Margaret Atwood
Women in the Army Are More Likely to Be Killed by Fellow Soldiers Than Enemy Combatants
A first-of-its-kind investigation by The Intercept found that the greatest threats to women serving in the Army come at the hands of male soldiers.
theintercept.com
Leaving academia was a little scary, but I’ve been able to keep the supportive community and good parts. Conferences and writing is something I’ve always loved and I’m just very grateful to be able to continue without the added stress academic life brings. Cant wait for what’s on the horizon!!
This summer is already off to a great start concert wise!! This month alone I saw Les claypool, Wilco and Paul Simon 🤩
Just got proofs for our policy recommendations on drug scheduling and I’m literally so excited to share the publication in a few weeks 🤩🤩🤩
It's not every day your FIRST academic publication lands a @forbes.com FEATURE! Absolutely WILD. 🤯 Thank you to Dr. Gassam Asare for interviewing @emmarackstraw.bsky.social and I about our new study where we show why Black supervisors matter in the workplace and beyond. #blacksky #econsky #news
A New Harvard Study Makes A Powerful Case For Black Supervisors
New research reveals that when a Black supervisor is watching, it can shift workplace bias and change how Black workers are seen at work.
forbes.com
I helped write this response from SSDP to the Dear Colleague letters by SAMHSA last month. People who use drugs deserve more. Every pause in care carries risk and every barrier to harm reduction/treatment could be the difference of life or death. Give it a read here: ssdp.org/blog/samhsa-...
SAMHSA “Dear Colleague” Letters: Policy Shift Threatens Evidence-Based Drug Policy - SSDP
This blog post is a collaborative effort written by members of SSDP’s Science Policy and Harm Reduction Committees. For years, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) ha...
ssdp.org
I'm almost sure if the new rules are enacted, Vought will blanket terminate all grants issued pre-2025. The new rules stated all grants must align with presidential priorities, and they can terminate grants any time. You can see it from a mile away. Submit a comment against it!
Chenxin Li, PhD@chenxinli2.bsky.social · 2mo agowww.regulations.gov/document/OMB... Everyday I go and check if they are posting more comments. 4.6k comments posted now.
My next essay will be titled “your AI figures look like shit”
Do you like weird structures in the extracellular matrix? Do you like plasticity? Check out the latest Xylo Bio newsletter on perineuronal nets ⬇️ xylo.bio/blog-posts/j...
June 2026 Newsletter
xylo.bio
In April 2025 I was fired from my postdoc position. This was a surprise. This led to a crumbling of my personal identity related to me being a scientist, financial instability and a court case. I finally feel ready to share my reflections with my community. Read here: medium.com/@jasteralain...
ICYMI: I was fired from my postdoc
But don’t worry I’m thriving now.
medium.com
The gov will let someone get a GLP1 pill unrestricted to change their physical body but won’t let someone do recreational drugs to change their mind Interesting
Think I might start up my personal medium account again I’ve got too many long form thoughts and no where to put them lol
"This new slush fund ... could take all the ethical disasters of the pardon market and multiply it by, well, 1.8 billion. Just think what people might be willing to do to get this money, and what Mr. Trump might get in return." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/o...
Opinion | Trump Just Took Us Somewhere the Country Has Never Been Before
nytimes.com
“Vaping executives told Trump that Makary was blocking approval of their products, including new flavored e-cigarettes seen as crucial to the industry's survival.”
PBS News@pbsnews.org · 3mo agoThe head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, is resigning after a rocky tenure that drew months of complaints from health industry executives, anti-abortion activists and other allies of President Donald Trump. https://to.pbs.org/4nxuZTC
This is truly the most ass backwards policy. If you use drugs the US gov does not care if you die. Thats it.
The Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR)@cduhr.bsky.social · 4mo agoTrump administration warns against using federal dollars on fentanyl test strips "warned its grantees against using federal funds to buy harm reduction supplies including sterile syringes and pipes, or to distribute test strips" www.statnews.com/2026/04/27/t...
The use of AI to make simple graphics, flyers and posters in the scientific community is wild We can all tell and it looks aesthetically bad
