Nivedita Sarveswaran

Three people, two women and a man, smile and converse outside a modern building. Text reads: Oxford Biology Mentorship Programme. To support strong senior independent research fellowship applications. Apply by 25 March.

Applications for our Fellowship Mentorship Programme are open!

The programme supports promising early career researchers to submit fellowship applications and move towards research independence. Find out more ⬇️
https://bit.ly/BioIRF

Index of Inspiring Black Scientists | Wiley The Inspiring Black Scientists Index is a curated database celebrating diverse contributions to science. Join us in promoting education and collaboration.

Happy Black History Month! I am sharing a permanent and continuously updated list of inspiring Black scientists! Check it out! Huge thank you to the folks who gathered this info. Thank you to @drstarbird.bsky.social and the rest of the Index Committee! www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...

Opinion | The Finance Industry Is a Grift. Let’s Start Treating It That Way.

A conservative economist writing about capitalism today. Fascinating perspective.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...

Annette Dolphin (1951–2026): Former BNA President and Champion of the Neuroscience Community

Professor Annette Dolphin (1951–2026), former BNA President and renowned neuroscientist, leaves a lasting legacy through her research, leadership, and support of the neuroscience community.

www.bna.org.uk/resource/ann...

#Neuroscience #InMemoriam #neuropharmacology

How did the labs of Drs. Angelika Lampert and Shreejoy Tripathy finally identify the long-studied sleeping nociceptors (Published in Cell 2026 Feb 4) and why are these cells so important? Checkout PRF Pain Clips at painresearchforum.org to learn more! @iasp.bsky.social #pain #ionchannels

Annette Dolphin (1951 - 2026) The Society is deeply saddened to share the news that Annette Dolphin, our former President, died early on the morning of 26 January 2026.

#neuroskyence #neurosci #PainResearch 🧪💊

By @physoc.bsky.social

A brilliant scientist and leader has left us. I taught about Dr. Dolphin's work on calcium channels and gabapentin in our pharmacology curriculum.

Remembering Annette Dolphin (1951 – 2026)

Re the current MRC grant funding pauses and cuts to the last round. As if academia wasn’t precarious enough, let alone in this era of unprecedented times. A gesture like this would go a long way to show commitment to retaining this cohort of postdocs…and mighty helpful for morale 🙏

Pride in Nature tours poster

Penguin

Giraffe skeleton

It’s LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚧️ History Month, so let’s celebrate diversity in nature. Our penguin 🐧 and giraffe 🦒 both represent animal groups famous for their same-sex relationships and behaviour. If you want to learn more about non-binary nature, come on one of our tours @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

Molecular architecture of human dermal sleeping nociceptors Human dermal sleeping nociceptors display ongoing activity in neuropathic pain, affecting 10% of the population. Despite advances in rodents, a molecu…

Congratulations to so many #PainResearch folks on this very cool study!!! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Another opportunity at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology in London! Seeking grade 6 Research Technician to work with Prof Houlden and his wonderful team to grow knowledge of global causes of inherited neuromuscular diseases - closes 17 Feb! www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Fantastically thoughtful and reflective analysis of UKRI direction of travel from Kirsty...

Are health influencers making us sick? Social media can help to raise awareness of health conditions — but the wealth of dubious information online might do more harm than good.

It was a pleasure to review Deborah Cohen's excellent book 'Bad Influence' for @nature.com. She lays bare how influencers, algorithms, wellness apps (and hidden commercial interests) are transforming our health for better or, often, for worse. Essential reading!
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

So sorry Yvonne, I think many of us are bracing for the same. Wishing you stable ground soon.

The pause of response mode funding will have a huge impact on ECRs who are not yet fellowship ready.When researchers leave academia they rarely return. Clarity on when RM will reopen is urgently needed & transitions to the new model need to avoid investment gaps that disproportionally affect ECRs

Here is a preview of that data, including physiological characterization of lamina II human neurons (yes, some of them have a hump in their AP) and what I am pretty sure is the first evidence of plasticity in human spinal cord neurons downstream of GPCR activation (group 1 mGlu).

It's been 25 years since the publishing of the human genome project.

I'd like to commission a review article for CSH Protocols on how the sequencing methods have evolved and where we might be headed. If you're interested, let me know!

Wild that there was an open lane called "what if we just explain things clearly to people?" and he's the first one to ever fill it

Our Best Models Working Group can offer advice on the use of a range of model systems.

The next in our series highlighting our diverse expertise features Dr Andrew Wood, whose lab uses genome editing and targeted protein degradation to study genetic disease using cell lines, organoids, and mice.

Useful thread - disheartening situation

I'm hiring!

I am seeking a research assistant to support my fellowship research on arthritis pain. You'll join me in the fun, friendly and collaborative @wolfsonsparc.bsky.social

👉More details here: www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/137085-...

⏰Closing date is 22nd February.
#painresearch #pain

AI will not cure cancer, story #587:

I have a client who is studying a potential therapeutic target. All the literature suggests that co-targeting their original target and another molecule should be synergistic because they participate in parallel pathways.

‘Grave’ concerns over applicant-led funds at UK research councils - Research Professional News Figures suggest reductions at MRC and BBSRC, with questions hanging over pending MRC grant applications

Full story by @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social and me in today's Research Fortnight

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

I am completely baffled by the total lack of any action or any evidence of speaking out from our scientific ‘leaders’. We’re in a void of information and the consequences are potentially catastrophic- especially as it looks like BBSRC are following suit.

📣 Don't miss it! March 6th @kingshealth.bsky.social Rare Disease Network PPIE event, bringing patients, researchers, clinicians, students and industry partners together: demystifying the connection between patients and researchers. Poster submissions are welcome!
www.tickettailor.com/events/khpra...

Graphic using Rare Disease Day branding. Title CamRARE, living rare. Photos of speakers along the bottom edge of the image, including two young adults.

Join #CamRARE in Cambridge (27 Feb) for #RareDiseaseDay
Through powerful lived-experience stories & a multidisciplinary panel, we’ll explore what it means to live with a rare condition & how systems can better respond throughout a lifetime.
Tickets: camrarerarediseaseday2026.eventbrite.co.uk

Vibrant color portrait of Jane S. Richardson, the visionary biophysicist and artist who revolutionized structural biology with her invention of ribbon diagrams. She gazes warmly at the camera with a bright, knowing smile that radiates quiet brilliance and decades of curiosity. Her silver-blonde hair woven with gentle waves. Large, elegant dangling earrings catch the light, and she wears a richly patterned brown blouse embroidered with intricate turquoise paisley motifs and delicate beadwork that echoes the molecular elegance she has spent her life depicting. Behind her floats a luminous, dreamlike backdrop of glowing molecular structures--interlocking hexagonal and ribbon-like forms in electric blues, teals, and greens--blending science and art in a single, living canvas.

Hand-drawn and hand-colored (by Jane Richardson) scientific artwork known as a Richardson ribbon diagram (or “ribbon model”), one of the iconic visual inventions of Jane Richardson that transformed the way we see and understand protein structures. A graceful, three-dimensional tangle of protein backbone ribbons twists and spirals through space, rendered in soft pencil lines and luminous watercolor hues. Smooth golden-brown coils represent α-helices that curl like elegant ribbons, while broad teal-green arrows trace the flat, pleated strands of β-sheets slicing through the molecule with directional purpose. Thin, looping golden threads connect the secondary structures, creating a delicate, almost dance-like choreography of biology’s hidden architecture. The entire form is framed by a simple olive-green mat and dark border, giving the drawing the quiet dignity of both fine art and precise scientific illustration—a timeless bridge between molecular reality and human imagination.

Jane Richardson was born #OTD in 1941

+ Developed the Richardson (ribbon) diagram to represent proteins' 3D structure (becoming a standard representation for protein structures)
+ MacArthur Fellow, 1985
+ Elected, Nat'l Academy of Sciences, 1991
+ President, Biophysical Society, 2012

#WomenInSTEM

Algorithm for the diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and related neuropathies.

Diagnosis and classification of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is based on clinical presentation, electrophysiological characterization and genetic evaluation. http://dlvr.it/TQYnL7

Three major research universities opt out of new Elsevier deal Complaints over ‘price increases’ and open access models spur UK institutions to walk away from offer from publishing giant, despite nationally negotiated agreement

And so it begins... 3 UK universities (Essex, Sussex & Kent) have just gone public about walking away from their Elsevier Read & Publish deals, despite Jisc's recently announced agreement. Expect to see more of these over the coming months. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/three-m... #OpenAccess

Please spread the word! Great opportunity for bioinformatician to join us at the world-leading UCL Institute of Neurology in London, UK, to research genomics of inherited neuromuscular diseases. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

Shaping the Action Potential in Dorsal Root and Trigeminal Ganglia Neurons: Relevance to Pain Mechanisms Sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and trigeminal ganglia (TG) are critical for transmitting somatosensory information, including pain, to the central nervous system. In these neurons, a...

First pub of 2026! Enjoy www.jneurosci.org/content/46/3...