Joel W. Blanchard, PhD
@joelwblanchard.bsky.social
Associate Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | Engineering in vitro models of the human brain to explore Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and related diseases. 🔗 labs.neuroscience.mssm.edu/project/blanchard-lab/
Using a multicellular human brain model, our latest study, now published in @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social, identifies APOE4 astrocytes as key drivers of α-synuclein pathology, uncovering a new mechanism linking genetic risk to neurodegeneration. www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...
This week the Blanchard Lab turns 5! 🎉 Together, we've built increasingly sophisticated human brain models, uncovered new disease biology & even began the process of taking our #miBrains to space. I'm so grateful for this team & everyone who's been part of the journey so far.
A highlight of #ISSCR2026 @isscr.org was seeing lab member Louise Mesentier-Louro present some of her latest research! Thanks to Lee Rubin & Thomas Rando for a great session and @liganlab.bsky.social for sharing her lab's outstanding science. A privilege to present alongside such exciting work!
Congrats to PhD student Ashley Harlock for presenting her work modeling TDP-43 pathology in 3D models of human brain tissue at last month’s @keystonesymposia.bsky.social on Neurodegeneration in beautiful Whistler!
Our team had a blast kicking off pre-flight validation testing at Space Tango in Lexington, KY. We're excited to be one step closer to launching our miBrain mission aboard SpaceX-35. Stay tuned for updates as we prepare for launch!
Exciting week in D.C for the #MPSWorldSummit 🚀⚡️ Louise, Georgia & I spent the day at #NASA HQ for the pre-meeting before heading to the main summit, where Georgia did a great job giving her first talk on applying miBrains to explore Parkinson’s disease.
It's been a big week for the Blanchard Lab! So proud of Sundas (left) for successfully advancing to PhD candidacy and Julia (right) for defending her Master's thesis before heading to medical school this fall. Congratulations to you both on these major milestones!
Congrats to Blanchard Lab PhD student Anna Bright for presenting a poster at the #Myelin GRC in Italy this past week! Anna shared her work on APOE4 and oligodendrocyte development and represented our lab wonderfully at her first GRC. Well done, Anna!
Really enjoyed meeting new colleagues and sharing some of our latest work at #SBBq earlier this month! Big thanks to Elis Cristina Araujo Eleutherio for the invitation and for organizing such a thoughtful session with a fantastic lineup of speakers.
