Ewan St. John Smith
@psalmotoxin.bsky.social
👨🏻🔬& 👨🏻🏫🏳️🌈Neuroscientist in Cambridge UK interested in the neurobiology of pain and everything to do with naked mole-rats. 🏃🏻♂️, 📖 & 🤘
Great to have this out - amazing to have completed this within an MPhil timeframe: congratulations Fangze!
Janet Kumita@jrkumita.bsky.social · 16h agoDelighted to share our paper in @febsj.bsky.social establishing a live-cell platform for resolving autophagy dynamics in naked mole-rat cells. This work was led by our amazing MPhil student, Fangze Tong! @psalmotoxin.bsky.social @phar.cam.ac.uk doi.org/10.1111/febs...
Hopefully the last early morning hot run in 🇬🇧 for a while…Friday short 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Hot, jet lag & no long run in 3-weeks, but August half marathon 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅ = 🥵
Was a real privilege to give the keynote at the Musculoskeletal GRS, talking about our group's joint pain work & taking part in a panel discussion on science communication, although Yaochen stole the show with his naked mole-rat talk/poster!
Walked up Mountain Kearsarge yesterday, saw it again this morning from Bradley Lake…have been giving my MSK system a good workout, as well as my brain, at the MSK GRCS/GRC! 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
The Pain Beat- New Episode---- Channelopathies -a critical contributor to our understanding of pain. Angelika Lampert, PhD, Candice Paulsen, Ph.D, See Wan Tham, MD, John Del Rosario, PhD bit.ly/48eaaWG @usasp.bsky.social @iasp.bsky.social #pain #painresearch #channelopathies #paintreatment
Followed this morning’s hill run with a less exhausting afternoon hill walk in the opposite direction - lots of 🍄/ 🍄🟫 to be seen!
Ewan St. John Smith@psalmotoxin.bsky.social · last wk.Ran up the hill to Bradley Lake this morning: awesome 😃, 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Ran up the hill to Bradley Lake this morning: awesome 😃, 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
96% humidity was a bit of a killer & so took it easy on the Northern Rail Trail: 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Flew into Boston late last night for the musculoskeletal GRS/GRC - hopefully, this short little run will get my musculoskeletal system (& brain!) going keep any jet lag at bay: 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Biostatistician Penny Reynolds and NC3Rs Programme Manager @drejpearl.bsky.social discuss transparent reporting of animal research in the 60th anniversary edition of the Laboratory Animals Journal, exploring the link between the 3Rs, scientific quality and animal welfare: doi.org/10.1177/0023...
Reporting and transparency in laboratory animal science: Past achievements, present concerns and future directions - Penny S. Reynolds, Esther J. Pearl, 2026
Transparent reporting of animal research is both a scientific and ethical imperative and is linked to both research quality and the principles of Replacement, R...
doi.org
Bit cooler today & even saw some puddles after last night’s rain! Friday short 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Still playing catch-up on sleep & rather warm out, but 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Been a good #PainResearch day for our lab in @phar.cam.ac.uk with 2 papers out in Journal of Neuroscience: 1. Led by @mayadannawi.bsky.social focuses on the impact of Prdm12 overexpression in adult sensory neurons www.jneurosci.org/content/earl..., walkthrough 👉 bsky.app/profile/psal...
AAV-mediated overexpression of Prdm12 in knee-innervating afferents reduces inflammatory joint pain and neuronal hyperexcitability in female mice
Inflammatory joint pain features in numerous musculoskeletal disorders that affect millions globally. The Prdm12 gene encodes a conserved zinc finger transcriptional regulator expressed selectively in...
jneurosci.org
Ewan St. John Smith@psalmotoxin.bsky.social · 10mo agoNew pre-print from @phar.cam.ac.uk & Bellefroid lab at ULB! Led by @mayadannawi.bsky.social w support from @interlukein.bsky.social & more! We investigate impact of overexpressing the zinc finger transcriptional regulator Prdm12 on sensory neuron function / joint pain. #neuroskyence #PainResearch
Excited to see our paper now out in J Neurosci @sfnjournals.bsky.social examining how MSC-EVs regulate sensory neuron activity. More info. 👇- congratulations all! www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
Mesenchymal stem cell-extracellular vesicles deliver microRNAs that prevent nerve growth factor-induced sensory neuron sensitization
Osteoarthritis (OA) affects 600 million individuals globally, pain being a hallmark symptom. Emerging clinical evidence supports the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their extracellular vesicl...
jneurosci.org
Ewan St. John Smith@psalmotoxin.bsky.social · 7mo ago🚨New pre-print🚨 We found before that mesenchymal stem cell extracellular vesicles (MSC-EV) ⬇️ pain/neuronal sensitisation in 🐭 osteoarthritis (OA) See: x.com/psalmotoxin/... & acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Now we've an idea how MSC-EVs work! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Now out in J Neurosci @sfnjournals.bsky.social - read more 👇 about the impact of overexpressing Prdm12 in adult 🐁 - congratulations all! www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
AAV-mediated overexpression of Prdm12 in knee-innervating afferents reduces inflammatory joint pain and neuronal hyperexcitability in female mice
Inflammatory joint pain features in numerous musculoskeletal disorders that affect millions globally. The Prdm12 gene encodes a conserved zinc finger transcriptional regulator expressed selectively in...
jneurosci.org
Ewan St. John Smith@psalmotoxin.bsky.social · 10mo agoNew pre-print from @phar.cam.ac.uk & Bellefroid lab at ULB! Led by @mayadannawi.bsky.social w support from @interlukein.bsky.social & more! We investigate impact of overexpressing the zinc finger transcriptional regulator Prdm12 on sensory neuron function / joint pain. #neuroskyence #PainResearch
Another epic week in 🇨🇳 has finished: interesting meeting & knowledge exchange of all things animal research welfare related coupled with wonderful hospitality & sightseeing extravaganza…hopefully, this short 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅ on limited sleep will keep the jet lag at bay!
Ewan St. John Smith@psalmotoxin.bsky.social · 3w agoGreat to be back in China for the CALAS International Symposium on the Welfare & Ethics of Laboratory Animals, myself & Cathy Wilson representing @phar.cam.ac.uk, talking about naked mole-rats & cardiac regeneration, respectively.
Warm & sunny start to the day in Hohhot: 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Great to be back in China for the CALAS International Symposium on the Welfare & Ethics of Laboratory Animals, myself & Cathy Wilson representing @phar.cam.ac.uk, talking about naked mole-rats & cardiac regeneration, respectively.
Arrived in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, late last night for 11th International Symposium on the Welfare and Ethics of Laboratory Animals - always great to be back in China, morning sleep-deprived river run should hopefully see of the jet lag: 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Greyer & cooler start to the day today: Friday short 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
Such a cool piece of work, great seeing it finally out, well done Mohammed, Gary and team! Great to learn ever more about naked mole-rats!
Mohammed Khallaf@khallaf.bsky.social · last mo.Our new paper is out in @nature.com! We uncovered how a naked mole-rat queen 👑 controls an entire colony: a natural contraceptive scent that suppresses reproduction in other females! A remarkable mammalian parallel to bees and ants! 🐝🐜 @garyrlewin.bsky.social youtu.be/enfv3zJrWKM?...
Video up now on the @painresforum.bsky.social You Tube channel in case you weren't able to attend live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalu...
PRF Webinar: Osteoarthritis Pain Research on July 10, 2026
YouTube video by Pain Research Forum
youtube.com
Ewan St. John Smith@psalmotoxin.bsky.social · 2mo agoExcited to be moderating this @painresforum.bsky.social webinar on all things osteoarthritis & pain on July 10th, registration 👉 painresearchforum.org/register-for... #PainResearch #neuroskyence #immunosky
Pleasant breeze, but still rather warm: 🏃🏻♂️ = ✅
