I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

I watched much of Ian Chapman's (Head of @ukri.org) appearance this morning at @ukparliament.parliament.uk Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.. A few points and new information that bioscientists may find interesting... A 🧵

Both MRC and BBSRC responsive modes now withdrawn until further notice. Existing applications unlikely to succeed (late 2025 round expecting 1-5% success rate). Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating. Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky

Startling that this is being broadcast in the absence of any public communications by @ukri.org The academic community has a right to expect to be told first hand what is happening with response mode funding and what the immediate future looks like www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

COVID saw a shift in the status quo of publishing – it’s time to embrace it. In our piece in @timeshighered.bsky.social, Damian Pattinson explores the barriers and new approaches, like the eLife Model, that can help move science in the right direction. buff.ly/9PmrV9O

She was absolutely right. And she would have been an amazing President.

Why should we read Henri Bergson's "Creative Evolution" today? There is more than just one reason, see my extended book review, just published in Mind: academic.oup.com/mind/advance... #Bergson #philosophy #philbio #ProcessPhilosophy #biology #science #HenriBergson

And the Oscar goes to…

In the strain on scientific publishing, we showed that total publications have grown out of control. A huge part of that was guest edited special issues by groups like #MDPI and #Frontiers. This ongoing practice is the largest delegation of editorial power academia has ever seen. 2/n

🧠⚡️💊New @nature.com publication ! Mimicking opioid analgesia in cortical pain circuits We built a brain-behavior framework to decode spontaneous chronic pain in mice—and to biologically mimic morphine with a synthetic opioid gene therapy nature.com/articles/s41... @pennmedicine.bsky.social

Not being in a cage makes mice less stressed, feels like one of those things that shouldn't take a massive experiment to verify, but here we are. I suspect this may lead, down the line, to requiring new lab standards to certin experiment with these animal models. 🧪 Link: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Kent

.... when injected at large doses in pregnant mice.

Lab Christmas party enhanced by some disguised Morgenthaler Magic: tequila-sherry egg nog. If you have a crowd, this will please

That’s the Christmas tree sorted

That's me in the corner...

From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.

"Come join us!!!" —member of academic search committee that will receive 200 applications for one role and may in fact hire zero people for it

Big new paper from us published yesterday: The synaptic ectokinase VLK triggers the EphB2–NMDAR interaction to drive injury-induced pain www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Led by @hajisciencebaji.bsky.social in my lab and a wonderful collaboration with Matthew Dalva's lab at Tulane

Very glad to share our newest paper published in Molecular Psychiatry: Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention www.nature.com/articles/s41... fun collab w/ @jordanmarrocco.bsky.social. Please enjoy! #OpenAccess #MaternalHealth

A huge thanks to the fabulous Prof Deirdre Logan who has so expertly steered the helm of the Pediatric Pain Letter for the last 11 years. We are so thankful for your expert editorial work Deirdre. You can read Deirdre's outgoing Editorial letter here -

When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)

Too much admin and students not engaged? Its nothing new!

Found a bar in London for game 6. It’s a Phillies bar, got to be a good omen.

Time to dust off this old thing #BlueJays

Prof Selina Wray will join us as our careers keynote, sharing her journey from a working class background and part time work through to a professorship, and Dr Carole Torsney, our research keynote, will tell us about her preclinical research on sex & gender disparities in pain.

Somatotopic organization of brainstem analgesic circuitry | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Once you’ve done that, there is also a link in the thread to contact the lawyers who are filing the lawsuit with your details and details of your work.

First party to prioritize getting rid of Teams and SharePoint over screwing with immigrants will coast to landslide victories in national and EU elections

Hi all, I’m going to be writing an article that looks at when in their careers scientists feel they do their most satisfying work… I’m sure it’ll vary hugely but if you’d like to help provide a starting point please fill in this survey - and please share! survey.alchemer.com/s3/8407348/C...

Our paper showing decreased KCC2 expression in the human spinal cord in people who died with a history of neuropathic pain is now published in PAIN: journals.lww.com/pain/abstrac... Great work from @oliviadavis.bsky.social and the teams of the De Koninck and Hildebrand labs. ❤️ 🇨🇦 collabs!

Happy birthday Brenda Milner! 🧠🎉 Today is her 107th birthday, she's a legend, a superhero.

And the office of Pain Policy and Planning was eliminated. That office has coordinated pain research across NIH for ages and played a key role in many important initiatives.

Sometimes the answer is an absinthe fountain. Saturday night at The Parlour with @skochlab.bsky.social working out what the question is.

Yes it’s three penguin kites on a beach in Le Touquet, what of it?

The world is your oyster, quite literally here in Le Touquet in Normandy. I do enjoy a challenge…

A much needed escape to the bucolic Kent countryside for some vintage motorcycle racing. The roar of ancient machines and the perfume of Castrol R in the air. Delicious!

Just thinking about how much time I spend applying for grants and how this dumb shit is gonna spend 20 million or something on this dumb nonsense and will publish it in cureus next to Vinay Prasads latest paper “why Arnold ventures should be allowed to buy people and execute them for sport”

🧠🐭📊🔬🧬BIG PREPRINT UPDATES: Mimicking opioid analgesia in cortical pain circuits We built a brain-behavior framework to decode spontaneous chronic pain in mice—and to biologically mimic morphine with our synthetic opioid gene therapy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/15

Fascinating new article from the Basbaum Lab! Elora Midavaine et al. show that regulatory T cells can curb pain via endogenous opioid signaling - but only in female mice. #PainResearch #Neuroimmunology #Tregs #SexDifferences #Enkephalin www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up.

How is the input of the different kinds of primary sensory neurons responding to heat and mechanical stimuli summarized in the spinal cord? Check out our recent study. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Michael Gold, founding president of USASP, explains why industry can’t fill the gap in funding from cuts to NIH in letter to the editor of local paper (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

It’s that time of the day

Happy St Patrick's Day! I shall be bathing in Guinness later, hopefully.

Halle-bloody-lujah!

An opportunty to jump at!

The Bordeaux Summer on pain circuits. Five days of talks and hands-on workshops of cutting edge techniques. A few places still available, deadline is the 31st of March. Its an amazing opportunity not to be missed! bss-neuropain.u-bordeaux.fr/en/