Sergiu P. Pasca

It is a privilege to join the Board of this organization committed to accelerating discoveries that accelerate our understanding and treatment of human disease by supporting fundamental research.

The latest @nature.com paper from Drs. @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Daniel Geschwind's labs uses cortical #organoids to model #AutismSpectrumDisorder, and identifies how genetic risk can impact neurodevelopment.

🖇️ https://go.nature.com/4qZUzkS
🗨️ https://bit.ly/4thHuVG

I am happy to share our paper uncovering developmental convergence and divergence in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using human stem cell models. This work was made possible through a wonderful collaboration with Sergiu Pasca’ lab @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Daniel Geschwind’s lab.

Developmental convergence and divergence in human stem cell models of autism - Nature Risk associated with genetically defined forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can propagate by means of transcriptional regulation to affect convergently dysregulated pathways, providing insight in...

article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This work was spearheaded by the heroic efforts of Aaron Gordon and Se-Jin Yoon, together with Lucy Bicks!

Still, this initial study illustrates how risk associated with genetically defined forms of ASD can propagate through transcriptional regulation, leading to convergent and divergent signaling defects.

This is just the beginning: we will need larger cohorts and more advanced cultures that capture cell diversity and interactions, such as #assembloids.

Interestingly, early time points harbored the largest mutation-specific changes, but distinct mutations converged on shared transcriptional changes as development progressed.

In this collaborative study with Dan Geschwind's lab, spanning almost a decade, we derived 96 hiPS cell lines representing 8 genetic ASD forms, idiopathic patients, and 20 controls, and after quality control differentiated 70 lines in > 150 experiments into human cortical #organoids for 100 days.

This week, we report in
@nature.com our effort to identify molecular convergence and divergence in #autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using human stem cell models.

Risk associated with genetically defined forms of ASD can propagate by means of transcriptional regulation to affect convergently dysregulated pathways @nature.com @sergiuppasca.bsky.social @stanforduniversity.bsky.social @dgsomucla.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Experts met to discuss the ethics of using organoids in research Organoids are bits of neural tissue that model human brain development. Their use in science makes some uneasy, in part because the brain is so closely tied to our sense of self.

www.npr.org/2025/12/25/n...

A recent @npr.org piece by highlights the recent Asilomar meeting we organized on ethical considerations surrounding human stem cell models (#organoids & #assembloids and their transplantation), focusing on emergent questions and the potential to uncover new biology and therapeutics.

Audio below 👇

CRISPR screens in human neural organoids and assembloids - Nature Protocols This protocol combines pooled CRISPR–Cas9 screening with neural organoid and assembloid models and illustrates how it can be applied to map hundreds of disease genes onto cellular pathways and specifi...

Article here www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Work led by Meng XiangLing (now running her own lab at Baylor) with Noah Reis!

This is the 4th article in our series of detailed protocols describing the generation of regionalized neural organoids and of assembloids, and their transplantation, and it serves as a foundation for our hands-on course in our Stanford Brain Organogenesis Center

In our most recent publication in Nature Protocols, we outline detailed methods for performing CRISPR screens in neural #organoids and #assembloids.
The integration of these approaches is becoming increasingly powerful for uncovering human biology and gaining mechanistic insights into disease.

Applications closing at 6pm PT today!

Applications are pouring in for our international course on neural #assembloids taking place next spring on our beautiful Stanford campus

This is the LAST day to apply! No deadline extensions.

Please share 👇

Equally important, our meeting’s simple rule is holding throughout the sessions, with graduate students and postdoctoral scholars reliably asking the first 2 questions after each presentation.

A privilege to organize this with Sally Temple and Christine Mummery!

Next edition in December 2027!

Remarkable energy at the inaugural @cshlnews.bsky.social conference on Assembloids and complex cell–cell interactions across tissues and systems
A wonderful series of talks so far highlighting advances & discoveries being made with these self-organizing systems and a few common themes are emerging

Great meeting!!! Amazing talks and posters today also.

The inaugural conference on #assembloids and complex cell-cell interactions starting tonight at @cshlnews.bsky.social ! Amazing energy and inspiring opening keynote by Ruslan Medzhitov.

Human Assembloid Model of Emergent Neurotropic Enteroviruses Enteroviruses (EVs) are the leading cause of viral meningitis in children. Recent outbreaks of non-polio EVs, most notably EV-A71 and EV-D68, have been associated with a polio-like paralysis known as ...

More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Work led by Christine Peters Jimena Andersen and Min-Yin Li

In a recent with Jan Carette’s lab, we introduce an #assembloid model for studying neuro-infection with enteroviruses including poliovirus.

The videos below capture the loss of human muscle contraction, which is under the control of spinal cord neurons, after a week of infection.

With support from @stanfordbrain.bsky.social Bio-X NIH and @brainorganogenesis.bsky.social

Organized by the remarkable @rebeccalevymdphd.bsky.social @merveavar.bsky.social and Sabina Kanton

No tuition; housing provided.

Please share with colleagues or trainees who may be interested.

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.

We are moving neuroscience forward with the support of our outstanding SAB. @marinlab.bsky.social @mbartos.bsky.social @sergiuppasca.bsky.social Luthi, Heneka, Sanchez-Vives & Moro