Why should developmental scientists care about genetics? Genes and environments are intertwined. Accounting for genetic influences helps us estimate environmental effects more accurately and identify better intervention targets Alexandra Starr about our new work at #SSSR2026 osf.io/preprints/ps...

I spoke about how family-based and genetically-informed designs can help us think more clearly about reading development, genes, environments, and causality. Extra special: my parents, husband, and our children were there. Child review: “Mama, it was sooooo boring.” Grounded again.

Grateful and happy to have given the Mid-Career Award Lecture at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading #SSSR2026: “Why reading difficulties run in families.” Such an honour to present in the plenary slot of the society that has been my scientific home since my PhD.

How do nature, nurture, and their interplay drive inequality? 🧬🧠💰 New PhD position in social science genetics at @amsterdamumc.bsky.social and @vuamsterdam.bsky.social. Your supervisors will be: Titus Galama, Aysu Okbay, and me. Apply by 21 July: workingat.vu.nl/vacancies/ph... Please share!

Looking forward to #SSSR2026! Alexandra Starr, @madeliefkuijper.bsky.social, @josefina-bernardo.bsky.social, Britt Min and I present work on literacy/numeracy genetics, ADHD–reading links, intergenerational transmission, and online assessment. I’ll also give the Mid-Career Award plenary on Friday.

headed to SSSR 2026 ?! curious as to the role of the corticospinal tract in reading ?! love brain pictures and raincloud plots ?! do i have the poster for you !! 🤓🤓 come hang - poster #32 on SATURDAY !! #SSSR2026 🤓🧠📚

Why do educational outcomes run in families—and what does that mean for social inequality in education? Thursday #ORD2026: adoption, extended-family & population-genetics studies, with Marjolijn Das, me, @dr-appie.bsky.social, Louise Elffers & Hans Luyten 🕝14:30 |📍0.055 #OnderwijsResearchDagen

Tomorrow morning at the @behaviorgenetic.bsky.social conference: Intergenerational Transmission of Education and ADHD 🕥 Wednesday 24 June, 10:45–12:00 📍 Erasmus 1 Looking forward to bringing the findings and methods together! #BGA2026 #DevelopmentalScience #BehaviourGenetics #WomenInScience

📢 We’re hiring 2 part-time student assistants to join my lab at VU Amsterdam, working with Bruno Sauce & me The roles combine research in primary schools with new experimental research on AI and learning in uni students. Dutch + English required. Apply by 3 July werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/st...

Lovely to catch up with Maggie Snowling and @deevybee.bsky.social Dorothy Bishop at @stjohnsox.bsky.social Oxford. Two scientists who have shaped so much of our field, and who remain wonderfully generous colleagues. ✨ Lucky me. #DevLangDis #Dyslexia #OpenScience #DevelopmentalScience

📢 We’re hiring 2 part-time student assistants to join my lab at VU Amsterdam, working with Bruno Sauce & me The roles combine research in primary schools with new experimental research on AI and learning in uni students. Dutch + English required. Apply by 3 July werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/st...

Back in one of my academic homes for a few days. Always special to return to Oriel College, where I was a postdoc and Junior Research Fellow. Oriel was founded in 1326 (!). Oxford has cutting-edge science in an ancient place.

Last slot before the conference dinner at #LHRS2026 — wish us luck :) We'll talk about parenting, genes, and child outcomes: how family background shapes behaviour, personality, and school achievement, and how we can disentangle genetic and environmental pathways 16:45–18:15, GS Auditorium 1, Oslo

🤧🧬 “When you sneeze, tiny bits of your DNA fly out.” True or false? Today I talked and experimented with Grade 6 pupils about genes, environment, practice, and experiences, and why children differ from one another. Great questions, lots of curiosity. #MeetTheProfessor vu.nl/en/news/2026...

Excited to be affiliated with Karolinska Institutet (ki.se), Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (MEB)! Looking forward to collaborations on genetic epidemiology, neurodevelopmental conditions, & intergenerational research, using incredible Swedish twin and population data ki.se/en/people/el...

Wonderful discussions at the LEAD Retreat in Tübingen after my keynote on genes, environments, learning, & ADHD. Interdisciplinary audiences always ask the best questions: about causality, stats, and what heritability means for intervention. And: 😀Keynote by day, acrobatics instructor by night 🤸‍♀️🧬

Wonderful discussions at the LEAD Retreat in Tübingen after my keynote on genes, environments, learning, & ADHD. Interdisciplinary audiences always ask the best questions: about causality, stats, and what heritability means for intervention. And: 😀Keynote by day, acrobatics instructor by night 🤸‍♀️🧬

📄 Preprint: osf.io/dt647 🧮 Great collaboration led by Lotta Sieppi and @mtorppa.bsky.social, together with Daria Khanolainen, Eija Räikkönen, Jenni Salminen, Tuire Koponen, and myself. @uniofjyvaskyla.bsky.social @ntrbiopsy.bsky.social @mcls-official.bsky.social @mclstrainee.bsky.social 2/2

🎲 More informal home math activities (e.g. games) are linked to stronger arithmetic development. 🧬But parents also pass on genes related to math skills. After accounting for parental maths (Familial Control Method), associations attenuated. 🧠 #Dyscalculia runs in families. 📄 osf.io/dt647 1/2

I think it's important for neuroscientists to reinforce this too. It's the first thing I teach in my cog neuro class. A thing isn't more real just because it's found in the brain. Every psychological thing must be in the brain at some level

🎲 More informal home math activities (e.g. games) are linked to stronger arithmetic development. 🧬But parents also pass on genes related to math skills. After accounting for parental maths (Familial Control Method), associations attenuated. 🧠 #Dyscalculia runs in families. 📄 osf.io/dt647 1/2

🌿 EdGen lab retreat Walking meetings, flash talks, writing sessions, discussing Paige Harden’s Original Sin, yoga/runs, and arts & crafts. A good reminder that science is also about creating space to think, collaborate, and enjoy science together. 🙏 to @jacobsfoundation.bsky.social & my lab

This week we're pleased to share this highly commended entry from our 2025-26 Art Competition. This entry comes from Ottilie, age 13. The competition explored the meaning of 'personalised medicine', with entrants showing us what it means to them 💊🎨🖌️🧬

Next week at the LEAD Retreat (Tübingen): 🎤 keynote on genetics × environment in learning & ADHD 🤸 partner acrobatics workshop Not a combination I often bring together! But both are about collaboration and balance 📷 Today at my home campus @vuamsterdam.bsky.social #AcademicLife #NeverGrowOld 1/2

Next week at the LEAD Retreat (Tübingen): 🎤 keynote on genetics × environment in learning & ADHD 🤸 partner acrobatics workshop Not a combination I often bring together! But both are about collaboration and balance 📷 Today at my home campus @vuamsterdam.bsky.social #AcademicLife #NeverGrowOld 1/2

We schreven voor Medisch Contact een artikel over polygene embryoselectie 🧬👶🏽 Hierin leggen we uit wat deze technologie wel en niet kan, waarom de voorspellende waarde beperkt is, welke onbedoelde neveneffecten er kunnen zijn, en welke ethische en maatschappelijke vragen dit oproept.

Job ad: Postdoc to work with me & @rogierk.bsky.social at the Donders on lifespan development questions from Sept onward! Profile: independent, good quant skills, interested in theory-driven work Please share widely www.careersatradboudumc.com/vacancies/po... #Postdoc #AcademicJobs

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher cognitive development

careersatradboudumc.com

🧩Learning to talk & read isn’t just about effort or teaching—it’s shaped by biology, experience & context 🧠Our new review links genetics, neuroscience, psychology & education to show why some children find language or reading easier. 📖 doi.org/10.31234/osf... 🖼️genes→brain→cognition→behaviour 🧵👇

Me & @aysuo.bsky.social are hiring a postdoc to study gene–environment interplay in health & social inequalities 🧬 You'll analyze genomic data as part of a collaboration with Uppsala & Oslo at @amsterdamumc.bsky.social (NL) werkenbij.amsterdamumc.org/en/vacatures... Please RT for karma points ♥️

Hey friends, my new paper was just published in JAMA Psychiatry. I draw on biological species classification to sketch a new framework for psychiatric nosology. Brief summary follows below. Full text link: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... 🧪 #PsychSciSky #MentalHealth

Mental Disorders as Homeostatic Property Clusters

This narrative review explores the idea of understanding mental disorders according to homeostatic property clusters rather than through typical classification systems.

jamanetwork.com