Jibran Khokhar
banner
drjkhokhar.bsky.social
Jibran Khokhar
@drjkhokhar.bsky.social
Associate Professor, CRC in Translational Neuropsychopharmacology Western University Open-Source Behavioural Tools
Committed to knowing better and doing better!
Pinned
Happy to share my talk for the @hbhlmcgill.bsky.social Brain Canada The Amazing Brain 2024 event titled: Cannabis and the Developing Brain: Vaping, Edibles and Genetics www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgxb...
Cannabis and the Developing Brain: Vaping, Edibles and Genetics | Jibran Khokhar
YouTube video by Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Did you know girls are twice as likely to develop certain mental illnesses as of puberty? This drives the research of Nafissa Ismail, a professor at @uottawa.ca and advocate for women's health, who studies how stress during adolescence may increase vulnerability. Learn more: bit.ly/3OtmcEs#IDWGS
February 12, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Congrats to @pact-lab.bsky.social postdoc @ryanntansey.bsky.social on her recent paper looking at the impact of elevated anandamide via FAAH inhibition on brain function in patients with PTSD

What does it do?

Well....not much 😬

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Functional neuroimaging of fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibition in posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized clinical trial - Translational Psychiatry
Translational Psychiatry - Functional neuroimaging of fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibition in posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized clinical trial
www.nature.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Brainhack Western is coming! This fun event March 27-29 includes talks, collaboration, workshops and more. For more details or to register visit: brainhackwestern.github.io
February 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Code. Create. Collaborate. 🧠💡 #TRIDENT is proud to support Brainhack Western 2026, an incredible open science, community-driven neuroscience event! Registration link below🔗👇. #Brainhack #OpenScience #Neuroscience #NFRF brainhackwestern.github.io @westernu.ca @schulichmeddent.bsky.social
Brainhack Western is coming! This fun event March 27-29 includes talks, collaboration, workshops and more. For more details or to register visit: brainhackwestern.github.io
February 12, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Really nice work from the Holmes lab looking at amygdala astrocytes in fear memory and extinction!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Astrocytes enable amygdala neural representations supporting memory - Nature
Astrocytes in the basolateral amygdala dynamically track fear state and support fear memory retrieval and extinction.
www.nature.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Excited to share our study in Neuron led by
@travisgoode.bsky.social, a K99 PDF (interviewing for Faculty) and Sahay lab team with collaborators at BROAD, Hopkins, and UW Seattle, defining a neural circuit that links prior experience with feeding behavior. Open Access: sahaylab.com/publications
February 12, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Every time I upload a paper to #bioRxiv, I wonder why it can't be this easy at every journal 🧪
February 11, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
China’s science ministry will crack down on universities that fail to investigate or sanction researchers who are involved in serious research misconduct

go.nature.com/4cpW5ID
China to punish universities that fail to sanction research misconduct
Policy follows establishment of a national database of papers retracted for serious misconduct.
go.nature.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
When AI was added to a tool for sinus surgery: “Cerebrospinal fluid leaked from one patient’s nose. In another… a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients suffered strokes after a major artery was accidentally injured”

www.reuters.com/investigatio...
As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts
Medical device makers have been rushing to add AI to their products. While proponents say the new technology will revolutionize medicine, regulators are receiving a rising number of claims of patient ...
www.reuters.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Gotta love Nature's opinion pieces

"Science funding needs fixing - but not like that"

"Academic publishing is broken - but publishing less is not the solution"

"AI will kill science - how can researchers use it to be more efficient?"
February 12, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Our super exciting group of PI speakers features Tuan Trang as our keynote, along with Bénédicte Amilhon @arrudacarvalho.bsky.social @caromenard666.bsky.social @zachtpennington.bsky.social Anna Phan @rrrozeske.bsky.social and Stuart Trenholm. Registration details to follow in the coming weeks!
January 26, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
And more reporting on a historic program that is increasingly unsettled, with late-breaking changes to criteria, fewer awards, applications returned without review, and more:

via @jonathanwosen.bsky.social for @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...
February 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Students applying for NSF funding are having their applications “returned without review” for being “ineligible,” despite their proposed research falling squarely within the application guidelines. eos.org/research-and...
Graduate Students’ NSF Fellowship Applications Are Being “Returned Without Review” - Eos
Graduate students applying for NSF funding have had their applications returned without review—even though their proposed research appears to fall squarely within the fields of study outlined in the p...
eos.org
February 6, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
"The academic structure … makes planning for a family feel like an impossible luxury."

In this #ScienceWorkingLife, two postdocs share how, as women in academia, having children can feel impossible—and how talking about it makes them feel less alone. https://scim.ag/46uBWgD #WomenInScienceDay
February 11, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
You just described every government program in history here. Especially when it comes to economic development.
February 11, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
They could not care less what happens after that. If there is ever any attempt to assess the success of a program, it's buried in an expert panel's report they will dutifully ignore while announcing the next meaningless ribbon cutting. Total disconnect between goals, allocation, and outcome.
February 11, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
One thing I've slowly learned about Cdn science policy is that, from the government perspective, the announcement is the only point of the exercise. They allocate $, announce it with great fanfare and chest thumping (no matter the scale), then it's forgotten.
February 11, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
I'm kind of depressed to see countries like Canada frame this as an opportunity. No one benefits from the collapse of US science. And you certainly don't benefit anyone by poaching a few big names while doing no other meaningful increased investment in your own research ecosystem.
February 10, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Data, data everywhere but nothing to connect it to health care. Canada spends billions on computer systems but sharing info is marred by a stunning lack of interoperability, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/0fc7a92... via @theglobeandmail.com
Data, data everywhere but nothing to connect it to health care
Proposed new legislation aims to improve interoperability and patient access to data
www.theglobeandmail.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Study of 8M biomed & life science articles finds those led by women spent 7 to 15 days longer in review than those led by men. Over a career, women's papers could spend 350 to 750 additional days in review. Delays could slow promotion, esp to full professor. www.the-scientist.com/women-s-rese...
Peer Review Timelines Show Gender Gap, Large Study Reports
A study of millions of life science papers revealed that manuscripts with women in key authorship roles spent longer between submission and acceptance.
www.the-scientist.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Teach neuroscience to undergraduates? Check out our "Implementing Open Neuroscience Teaching Tools" workshop!

Join us on July 19 at North Central College to get hands-on practice with inquiry-based activities using real #OpenScience resources.

🔗 https://bit.ly/46A5j15

🧠📈 #iteachbio
February 12, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Taking the NIH-mandated “research security training”, and I’m wondering if current HHS/FDA/NIH leadership has taken this training? Because I’m sure seeing a lot of contradictions between what the training says and their actions.
February 12, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Well done @cdelawalla.bsky.social

Navigating journal submission platforms by itself can be a cause for celebration! 🎉
It’s been an insane day, but I submitted a first author paper this afternoon to Addiction (a top journal for addiction science). It’s part one of my dissertation. Data for part 2 is collected. Now it’s time to WRAP THIS PARTY UP!

Happy women in science day!
February 12, 2026 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Jibran Khokhar
Save the date for the annual "Neural Circuits and Behaviour" satellite conference at the Canadian Association for Neuroscience annual meeting, cohosted by @franklandlab.bsky.social and myself on May 18, 2026. We have a great speaker lineup and will be selecting 4 trainees talks from our registrants!
January 26, 2026 at 6:15 PM