Alex Keyes, PhD
@neuropharmnerd.bsky.social
neuro nerd. aspiring artist. UIowa PhD - Pharmacology. Interested in neuro-immune interactions in the spinal cord. my opinions are my own. they/them
Pinned
feels like there's a whole lot of people who are more committed to never doing anything wrong than actually doing something right
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
"Mexico strongly condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally ... by armed forces of the United States of America against targets in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in clear violation of Article 2 of the [UN] Charter"
www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/m...
www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/m...
January 3, 2026 at 12:41 PM
"Mexico strongly condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally ... by armed forces of the United States of America against targets in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in clear violation of Article 2 of the [UN] Charter"
www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/m...
www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/m...
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
what the fuck did I just wake up to
January 3, 2026 at 1:03 PM
what the fuck did I just wake up to
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Three million people live in Caracas, five million in the metro area. It's one of the densest cities in South America. Remember this in the morning when they try to spin this as anything other than a cold-blooded attack on a major civilian center.
January 3, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Three million people live in Caracas, five million in the metro area. It's one of the densest cities in South America. Remember this in the morning when they try to spin this as anything other than a cold-blooded attack on a major civilian center.
made a phenomenal giant cinnamon roll using a cardamom brioche base
December 25, 2025 at 7:54 PM
made a phenomenal giant cinnamon roll using a cardamom brioche base
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
A new story at The Transmitter about the PRECISION Human Pain Network's new DRG cell atlas: www.thetransmitter.org/peripheral-n... So rewarding to hear about colleagues who are already using our datasets in their own work.
‘Unprecedented’ dorsal root ganglion atlas captures 22 types of human sensory neurons
The atlas also offers up molecular and cellular targets for new pain therapies.
www.thetransmitter.org
December 23, 2025 at 4:16 PM
A new story at The Transmitter about the PRECISION Human Pain Network's new DRG cell atlas: www.thetransmitter.org/peripheral-n... So rewarding to hear about colleagues who are already using our datasets in their own work.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
As winter solstice approaches, resharing a small poem of longing from a poet of the Chinese diaspora who spent the latter half of his life in Taiwan. He died there in December seven years ago, in 2017.
Yu Guangzhong, "Nostalgia"
- in his handwriting, alongside my translation
#everynightapoem #余光中
Yu Guangzhong, "Nostalgia"
- in his handwriting, alongside my translation
#everynightapoem #余光中
December 20, 2024 at 7:33 PM
As winter solstice approaches, resharing a small poem of longing from a poet of the Chinese diaspora who spent the latter half of his life in Taiwan. He died there in December seven years ago, in 2017.
Yu Guangzhong, "Nostalgia"
- in his handwriting, alongside my translation
#everynightapoem #余光中
Yu Guangzhong, "Nostalgia"
- in his handwriting, alongside my translation
#everynightapoem #余光中
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
- Raymond Carver, "Late Fragment"
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
- Raymond Carver, "Late Fragment"
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 18, 2025 at 9:10 PM
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
- Raymond Carver, "Late Fragment"
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
- Raymond Carver, "Late Fragment"
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
A billion dollars is the socio-economic equivalent of a loose nuke, and we should work to prevent the acquisition of the former with the same urgency and ruthlessness we use to prevent the acquisition of the latter.
This is obscene. Why can't other politicians say that?
The 25 richest families are collectively $358.7 billion richer than a year ago, with a combined fortune totaling $2.9 trillion.
The 25 richest families are collectively $358.7 billion richer than a year ago, with a combined fortune totaling $2.9 trillion.
December 18, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A billion dollars is the socio-economic equivalent of a loose nuke, and we should work to prevent the acquisition of the former with the same urgency and ruthlessness we use to prevent the acquisition of the latter.
how is this not just outright data fabrication?
genuinely if you came up to me and said "well i couldn't get any human participants so i had ai guess the human response and now i want to generalize my data to humans", i would call that data fabrication with extra steps.
genuinely if you came up to me and said "well i couldn't get any human participants so i had ai guess the human response and now i want to generalize my data to humans", i would call that data fabrication with extra steps.
Did you know that from tomorrow, Qualtrics is offering synthetic panels (AI-generated participants)?
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
December 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
how is this not just outright data fabrication?
genuinely if you came up to me and said "well i couldn't get any human participants so i had ai guess the human response and now i want to generalize my data to humans", i would call that data fabrication with extra steps.
genuinely if you came up to me and said "well i couldn't get any human participants so i had ai guess the human response and now i want to generalize my data to humans", i would call that data fabrication with extra steps.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
An American fascist, according to Wallace, is a man “whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.”
'The American people must have more than a choice between evils': Iowan Henry A. Wallace, FDR's vice president, was an ag innovator and fierce antifascist - Little Village
“The Cornfield Prophet” Henry A . Wallace, known for his pioneering work in agriculture, was a progressive statesman who championed the “Century of the Common Man.” A heartbeat away from […]
littlevillagemag.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:14 PM
An American fascist, according to Wallace, is a man “whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.”
having lost 4 people dear to me this year, i understand the appeal, i really do.
i also think that doing this would destroy my real memories with them for a pale imitation.
i also think that doing this would destroy my real memories with them for a pale imitation.
IN DEPTH | If you could speak to your dead grandmother forever, would you?
If you could speak to your dead grandmother forever, would you?
www.independent.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 12:36 AM
having lost 4 people dear to me this year, i understand the appeal, i really do.
i also think that doing this would destroy my real memories with them for a pale imitation.
i also think that doing this would destroy my real memories with them for a pale imitation.
the top non-science classes i took in my undergrad that impacted my career as a scientist:
women writing war
upper-level communications
scientific illustration
the first made me a better writer, the second a better presenter, and the third trained my eye for detail like none other.
women writing war
upper-level communications
scientific illustration
the first made me a better writer, the second a better presenter, and the third trained my eye for detail like none other.
This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
December 9, 2025 at 8:05 PM
the top non-science classes i took in my undergrad that impacted my career as a scientist:
women writing war
upper-level communications
scientific illustration
the first made me a better writer, the second a better presenter, and the third trained my eye for detail like none other.
women writing war
upper-level communications
scientific illustration
the first made me a better writer, the second a better presenter, and the third trained my eye for detail like none other.
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Moose
Humpback whales
Giraffes
African Elephants
West African or Nile monitor lizard
Moose
Humpback whales
Giraffes
African Elephants
West African or Nile monitor lizard
November 28, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Hoiho/Yellow-Eyed Penguin
Beaver
Javelina
Bobcat
Stellar sea lion
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Ok one more video. the most beautiful fluke I've seen. edited for EXTRA BEAUTY!!!
November 24, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Ok one more video. the most beautiful fluke I've seen. edited for EXTRA BEAUTY!!!
i'd love to know what constellation Matteo Rizzo makes in his Interstellar free skate program's step sequence
November 22, 2025 at 5:14 PM
i'd love to know what constellation Matteo Rizzo makes in his Interstellar free skate program's step sequence
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
im so fucking lucky i was able to get through the times in my life i thought i'd never come out as trans and never survive the closet
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
November 20, 2025 at 11:02 PM
im so fucking lucky i was able to get through the times in my life i thought i'd never come out as trans and never survive the closet
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
and i know so many people didn't get there and fell or were pushed off a road made steep and stony by the cruel & fearful
and i'm thinking of them today #tdor
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
It’s often surprising to people, but Midwestern college towns like Iowa City and Madison are highly progressive. Council meetings are all about housing costs and community resources
We love our free busses in Iowa City. Stress free too www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:11 PM
It’s often surprising to people, but Midwestern college towns like Iowa City and Madison are highly progressive. Council meetings are all about housing costs and community resources
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
So when the aurora borealis is faint enough, you can capture its glow with the Milky Way 😍
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
So when the aurora borealis is faint enough, you can capture its glow with the Milky Way 😍
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
Berthoud Pass, CO last night
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
Here is my argument that the pundits are wrong. You absolutely can run a socialist in middle America and win. www.patreon.com/posts/143343...
You can run a Mamdani in Iowa and win | Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz
Get more from Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Here is my argument that the pundits are wrong. You absolutely can run a socialist in middle America and win. www.patreon.com/posts/143343...
1. of books assigned to me in school: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 AM
1. of books assigned to me in school: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
2. of books given to me by friends: Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House.
3. of books given to me by family: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.
4. of books i chose for myself: Deborah Blum's The Poison Squad
Reposted by Alex Keyes, PhD
The latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social led by Katherin Gabriel and @oliviadavis.bsky.social with a huge contribution from @allanhpool.bsky.social's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A molecular map of the human spinal dorsal and ventral horn defines arrangement of neuronal types and glial sex differences
The spinal cord is the gateway for sensory information from the body as it ascends to the brain, as well as a major motor output center of the nervous system. It is also a key location for sensory-mot...
www.biorxiv.org
November 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
The latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social led by Katherin Gabriel and @oliviadavis.bsky.social with a huge contribution from @allanhpool.bsky.social's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
hey that's the paper i'm co-first on! it was a fun project to work on and there's nice example videos in the supplemental
This study by Yaroslav E. Andrianov et al. finds that activation of TRPA1 and TRPM3 triggers Ca2+ waves in central terminals of sensory #neurons and facilitates #synaptic activity in the spinal dorsal horn ⚙️ 🧠
📜 Read the #Research: physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/...
📜 Read the #Research: physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/...
November 1, 2025 at 12:19 PM
hey that's the paper i'm co-first on! it was a fun project to work on and there's nice example videos in the supplemental