Mari Sepp's Avatar

Mari Sepp

@marisepp.bsky.social

Evo-Devo neurobiologist | Associate Prof. at Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu | SFARI Fellow | EMBO Installation Grantee | Cerebellum development: how it evolved and how it goes wrong

291 Followers  |  338 Following  |  23 Posts  |  Joined: 18.11.2024  |  2.4431

Latest posts by marisepp.bsky.social on Bluesky

Congrats to @urmovosa.bsky.social and the international research team behind this achievement, including colleagues at @estbiobank.bsky.social!

08.02.2026 13:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you!

29.01.2026 20:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image

I've started my own lab ๐ŸŽ‰
PhD/postdoc positions available - reach out if curious about cerebellum evo-devo and autism spectrum disorders.

Weโ€™re based at Uni Tartu, Institute of Genomics (home to Estonian Biobank), and funded by @simonsfoundation.org @embo.org, and the Estonian Research Council.

29.01.2026 20:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 25    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

This paper marks the end of a long but rewarding project - and the start of something new (more below๐Ÿ‘‡).

Massive thanks to @kaessmannlab.bsky.social, @ioansarr.bsky.social, @tyamadat.bsky.social, our amazing collaborators @steinaerts.bsky.social, Stefan Pfister, Rรผdiger Behr and the entire team! ๐Ÿ’™

29.01.2026 20:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 21    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Big congrats to @kmatlik.bsky.social and all the EMBO Installation Grantees 2026! ๐Ÿ‘๐ŸŽ‰

20.01.2026 15:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

TF-MINDI is out! A new method to learn cis-regulatory codes through rich embeddings of TF binding sites. TF-MINDI decomposes motif neighbourhoods, and works downstream of any sequence-to-function deep learning model. We deeply study the enhancer code in human neural development, check out the thread

15.01.2026 12:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 59    ๐Ÿ” 38    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Postdocs at Center for Gene Expression in Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine - Copenhagen, Hovedstaden (DK) job with University of Copenhagen | 12849488 We are looking for 2 or more highly motivated postdocs interested in ribosome biology, 3D chromatin organisation, or regulation of protein turnove...

We are looking for a Postdoc at the Center for Gene Expression in Copenhagen. Deadline for applications is the 11th of January. If you are interested in 3D chromatin, SMC complexes, and super-resolution microscopy, join us. www.nature.com/naturecareer...

02.01.2026 08:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 22    ๐Ÿ” 25    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Really happy to join NeuroPSI at Paris Saclay to lead a research group funded by an ERC Consolidator grant #ERCCoG . We'll study the origins of the vertebrate brain using shark embryos. ๐Ÿฆˆ ๐Ÿง  Reach out if you are interested in joining the team ๐Ÿค

22.12.2025 07:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 71    ๐Ÿ” 12    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 12    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Join us at SMBE26! We are in a golden period for understanding the evolution of gene regulation.

17.12.2025 10:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 18    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Cerebellar Purkinje cell stripe patterns reveal a differential vulnerability and resistance to cell loss during normal aging in mice Purkinje cell subpopulations have varying vulnerability to age-related neurodegeneration, creating a striped pattern of cell loss that reflects the developmental, anatomical, and functionalโ€ฆ

Aged mice and human samples show patterned loss of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum, revealing a spatial signature of ageing that may help explain why motor coordination and behaviour decline over time.

11.12.2025 23:28 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Fellows-to-Faculty Alum Tomasz Nowakowski Studies Human Cortical Development Simons Foundation Fellows-to-Faculty alumnus Tomasz Nowakowski spoke with the foundation about his experiences with the program.

In 2018, Tomasz Nowakowski received our Fellows-to-Faculty Award to jumpstart his new lab. We spoke with him about his research and the Fellows-to-Faculty program, which is open for apps: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/fellows-to-faculty-alum-tomasz-nowakowski-studies-human-cortical-development/

11.12.2025 13:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

#ERCCogG granted!!! Immensely grateful for this opportunity. Thanks @erc.europa.eu . Many news coming soon. New lab opening and will be posting positions. ๐Ÿฆˆ๐Ÿง ๐Ÿค Go sharkies!

09.12.2025 17:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 55    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 17    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
Post image

We tend to think of neurons as either excitatory or inhibitory, but some neurons chemically inhibit their downstream targets while electrically exciting their neighbors. What is gained by having an inhibitory neuron excite its neighbor?

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

08.12.2025 18:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 80    ๐Ÿ” 24    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
JASPAR: An open-access database of transcription factor binding profiles JASPAR is the largest open-access database of curated and non-redundant transcription factor (TF) binding profiles from six different taxonomic groups.

JASPAR 2026 is out ๐ŸŽ‰

The new release massively expands the TF motif collections and adds a dedicated DeepLearning collection of motifs learned from deep learning models.

Database: jaspar.elixir.no
Paper (NAR): doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

๐Ÿงต1/2

03.12.2025 14:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 61    ๐Ÿ” 28    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Claudia Feng's Ph.D work is now out, co-led with @brittavelten.bsky.social and @steglelab.bsky.social . Large-scale CRISPRi perturbations in genetically heterogenous iPSC lines, with single cell readout - enjoy :)

03.12.2025 11:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Deadline approaching for participating in the international Stanford Course on Neural Assembloids in spring 2026!

This is an immersive, hands-on course on generating, probing and manipulating stem cell-derived neural #assembloids and #organoids for disease and development modeling.

02.12.2025 01:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Brain-wide mapping of developmental trajectories of cerebellar efferent projections | PNAS Long-range cerebellar outputs are critical for shaping brain-wide functional architecture, influencing motor, cognitive, and affective domains. Pro...

Nice cerebellum development paper ๐Ÿ‘€

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

26.11.2025 01:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 34    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Yes, this is where you would work (the round building, not the boat)

Yes, this is where you would work (the round building, not the boat)

We are looking for a postdoc to join our team! If you're interested in translating a cutting edge genomics technology (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) to real-life applications in hematology, this is for you. We offer a unique working environment ON THE BEACH: recruitment.crg.eu/content/jobs...

20.11.2025 09:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 17    ๐Ÿ” 16    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
Post image

NEW pub in @science.org ๐Ÿฅณ

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

๐Ÿ”—: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

13.11.2025 20:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 284    ๐Ÿ” 130    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 14    ๐Ÿ“Œ 30
Preview
Fellows-to-Faculty Award The Fellows-to-Faculty Award is a new iteration of the previously offered Simons Foundation Independence Awards.

Interested in applying for our Fellows-to-Faculty Award? Watch the recording of our informational webinar for more details on the program: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/fellows-to-faculty-award/#:~:text=Brain%20(SCPAB).-,Informational%20Webinar,-An%20informational%20webinar #science

11.11.2025 19:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image

Our intelligence and cognitive abilities are perhaps due to an expansion of our cerebral cortex. But surprisingly, compared to highly intelligent birds, primates have many more neurons in their cerebellum as compared to the cerebral cortex.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

09.11.2025 16:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 41    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Share this funding opportunity! We offer the Fellows-to-Faculty program to nurture new talent in the basic sciences and to broaden the community of scientists contributing to Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) and Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB).

03.11.2025 19:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

Stoked to share our latest work entitled: โ€œLarge-scale discovery of neural enhancers for cis-regulation therapiesโ€

shorturl.at/H3Qww

This is an enormous team effort that I had the honour of spearheading with Nick Page and Florence Chardon.

Bluetorial below.

05.11.2025 15:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 34    ๐Ÿ” 14    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

๐Ÿš€ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ ๐—ข๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด
Weโ€™re recruiting an ERC-funded Postdoctoral Researcher to explore how 3D gene regulatory networks evolved during human and primate brain development, using cutting-edge single-cell multiomics, organoid models, and CRISPR screens.
๐Ÿ‘‰ Apply by Nov 30 | www.bonevlab.com/join

05.11.2025 14:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Check out the explainer thread here: bsky.app/profile/kaes...

17.10.2025 07:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Happy to have contributed to this work on how transposable elements shape the regulatory landscape of cerebellar cells - together with @tyamadat.bsky.social , @ioansarr.bsky.social and @kaessmannlab.bsky.social. Tetsuya's scientific journey is just taking off - definitely one to watch!

17.10.2025 07:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Congrats! Exciting to see the โ€œbest projectโ€ out ๐Ÿฅณ

15.10.2025 18:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Excited to share the preprint from my main postdoc project! Itโ€™s been a long journeyโ€”huge thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially @leticiarm1618.bsky.social for being the best collaborator one could ask for, and the amazing @kaessmannlab.bsky.social lab for the invaluable support!

15.10.2025 13:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

We are thrilled to share our new preprint entitled โ€œThe origin and molecular evolution of the mammalian liver cell architectureโ€ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

15.10.2025 12:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 54    ๐Ÿ” 19    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
Post image

Vertebrate Genome Evolution. Annual Symposium of the @louisjeantetfdn.bsky.social Foundation in Geneva. Free access on site and on line. Great speakers for a super interesting topic. #SvantePaabo #HenrikKaessmann organisers ๐Ÿ™ See you there! @biology-unige.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social

03.10.2025 07:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 27    ๐Ÿ” 17    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

@marisepp is following 20 prominent accounts