Great thesis defense by Astrid van der Geest today on unveiling early pathologies in #ALS using #organoids. @umcutrecht.bsky.social

#NHDN25 was a great meeting with many excellent talks and posters!

Presentations at the annual meeting of our NWO Gravitation Consortium BRAINSCAPES with Nik Heijmink presenting our recent genetic sparse labeling approach in the dopamine midbrain and Pavol ZELINA sharing insights into HT screening for neurodegenerative disease using human in vitro models.

In our new study in BRAIN, we use a brain organoid model in which microglia innately develop to further dissect the mechanisms that cause changes in microglia in C9ORF72-ALS and show that PU.1 can help to reverse these pathogenic phenotypes. #GoALS academic.oup.com/brain/advanc...

The Amsterdam City Swim was again a very special event that raised 1.7 million Euro for research into ALS last Sunday. I had the privilege to join with both both my son and daughter, which made it even more special. Thanks to everyone for sponsoring us. Looking forward to ACS 2026!

Thanks to the @neurochemistry.org (ISN) for allowing me to organize a symposium on ‘Molecular mechanisms of motor neuron disease’ at the 2025 ISN-ASN meeting in NYC. Great talks by Christine Vande Velde, Stefania Corti and Sami Barmada.

Check out this paper by Werner Dykstra in which we study the effects of GFAP mutations on brain organoid development. doi.org/10.1002/glia...

OUT NOW!! We developed a brain organoid slice protocol to study and manipulate human microglia in a 3D brain-like environment. Great work by Marta Cañizares Luna, Mayte Mars and Channa Jakobs. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Extremely proud of Özge Düdükcü, who defended her thesis on GABAergic neuron diversity and development on May 1st in Utrecht!

This week we organized the 2nd edition of the DDSSCC (Development of the dopaminergic system - from stem cells to circuits) meeting in Crete! Great science and a fantastic atmosphere. Excellent talk by Eljo van Battum from the lab and a poster prize for Oxana Garritsen! See you all for DDSSCC 2028!

Out now: Our meeting report of the 2024 European Society of Toxicologic Pathology (ESTP) meeting session 'Neurodegenerative Diseases: Pathogenesis and Preclinical Models for Translational Drug Discovery'. doi.org/10.1177/0192...

Check out our review on the role of guidance proteins in neuron migration by Eljo van Battum and Marleen van den Munkhof. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Talking at the 1st edition of New Horizons in Neurodegeneration, a two-day conference in Leuven, Belgium: www.vibconferences.be/events/new-h.... This event will bring together leading experts to explore the complexities of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Had the pleasure of visiting the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London yesterday! Big thanks to Jemeen Sreedharan.

Op 25-4 presenteren we dit boek. In het Flevoparkbad in Amsterdam. Met Femke Heemskerk; @jeroenpasterkamp.bsky.social de zwemmende burgemeester van Heiloo @spinvis.bsky.social en anderen. Wees welkom!

Registration for the 10th edition of our Summerschool on 'Neural circuit development and plasticity' is open! July 7-11 in Utrecht for MSc and PhD students, and others who are interested. Spread the news! @umcutrecht.bsky.social @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social

Echt heel cool! Bij de limited edition van mijn nieuwe boek 📘: De mooiste 50 meter buitenbaden van Nederland 🇳🇱 sealen in oplage van 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ de Spinvis-singel Ik wil alleen maar zwemmen op vinyl bij. Alle info via buitenbaden.com kan je eventueel een exemplaar reserveren. @dolfjansen.bsky.social

Impressive documentary on ALS: www.linkedin.com/posts/als-ce...

Excellent thesis defense today by Xandor Spijkers on microfluidics systems to model the neuromuscular system in collaboration with Nienke Wevers and Paul Vulto at MIMETAS! @umcutrecht.bsky.social

Check out our newest collaborative work on the pleiotropy and penetrance of ATXN-2 CAG repeat expansions in ALS. @umcutrecht.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Looking forward to speaking at 'New Horizons in Neurodegeneration', October 9-10, Leuven, Belgium. www.vibconferences.be/events/new-h...

We are organising the AXON meeting in Rotterdam, September 17-19, 2025. Registration is open. See you on the ssRotterdam! axon2025.com

Ik kijk uit naar het mooie boek over buitenbaden!

We are again organising our annual Utrecht Summerschool on 'Neural circuit development & plasticity' for (inter)national senior MSc and PhD students, July 7-11 2025! Application is open and we hope to see you all in Utrecht this summer: utrechtsummerschool.nl/courses/life...

Check out our updated lab website: www.jeroenpasterkamplab.com. Great team studying developing and diseased neural circuits!

Interested in neuronal disease modelling? Consider joining our summer school in July. It will be fun👇

Come and join us! Research assistant position open at @mndoxford.bsky.social @ndcnoxford.bsky.social, working on collecting neuroimaging data in #ALS and #FTD. Previous research experience with humans is essential. This post would suit a #Psychology or #Neuroscience graduate. See link below for info

In a collaborative study with the group of Philip Van Damme just published in BRAIN we identify a role for primary cilia in the pathogenesis of ALS! Big thanks to Mathias De Decker, Pavol ZELINA and all other co-authors! doi.org/10.1093/brai...

We have several positions available for research technicians and postdocs in the area of human in vitro model development (organoids, microfluidics, genome editing etc) for neurodegenerative disease. Interested? Please DM or send me an email.

I had the honour of giving a plenary lecture during the 'In vitro models' session of the #ALSMND2024 meeting in Montreal on our work on different types of in vitro models for studying ALS. #brainorganoids.

Biomarkers are essential in the area of neurodegenerative disease. In a new review article, we discuss cargo changes (protein, RNA) in extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the context of three major neurodegenerative disorders (AD, ALS, PD). @umcutrecht.bsky.social rdcu.be/d2kBw

Excellent thesis defense by now Dr. Ilia Timpanaro last Tuesday: “A trail of crumbs and pebbles: epigenetic discovery of regulatory variants in neurodegenerative diseases”. @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social @umcutrecht.bsky.social

GABAergic neurons flanking dopamine neurons serve important physiological functions but their development remains largely uncharacterized. In a new study, we use single cell RNAseq to identify GABAergic neuron subtypes and study their development using novel approaches. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

It is still possible to sign up for the 2025 DDSSCC meeting in beautiful Crete 🇬🇷. All you want to know about #dopamine neuron development, circuitry, function, disease & therapy! Registration closes December 15! conferience.com/eventPage/dd...

Looking forward to AXON2025 - mark your calendars

It is still possible to sign up for the 2025 DDSSCC meeting in beautiful Crete 🇬🇷. All you want to know about dopamine neuron development, circuitry, function, disease & therapy! Registration closes December 15! conferience.com/eventPage/dd...