Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
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ertrunnell.bsky.social
Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
@ertrunnell.bsky.social
neuroscientist 🧠 | Director @ https://www.scienceadvancement.org/ | Moving U.S. biomedical research toward humans & away from other animals | she/her/hers
Incredibly insightful article on #xenotransplantation from the @hastingscenter.bsky.social.

Bioethicists @jasminegunkel.bsky.social & Franklin G. Miller take a deep dive into xenotransplantation & explore its potential consequences for both patient & animal welfare.

Key points below 👇
November 11, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
Human-based research methods like organ-on-a-chip can improve both the quality and availability of research in underserved communities.

Learn more: www.pcrm.org/news/innovat...
November 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
🧠🗺️🤯 @uclengineering.bsky.social & @csail.mit.edu researchers have created the most detailed atlas of the human brain... ever.

NextBrain was built using AI-powered alignment of 10,000 human post-mortem brain slices, creating a precise 3D map of 333 distinct brain regions.

🧪 #neuroskyence
November 10, 2025 at 4:53 PM
‘Holy Grail’ TB vaccine target found by @thebrysonlab.bsky.social, thanks to human cell work + #massspec.

Past efforts relied on mice; but this @mit.edu team mapped proteins on TB-infected human cells to guide #mRNA vaccine design.

Read more 👉 www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nee...

#TBsky 🧪
'Needle in a haystack' experiments reveal targets for new tuberculosis vaccines
Painstaking experiments have revealed the cellular signatures that signify a tuberculosis infection, providing a series of targets | Painstaking experiments have revealed the cellular signatures that ...
www.fiercebiotech.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:30 PM
"Culture of disregard."

When Kathy Strickland went from her private veterinary practice to caring for monkeys at Alpha Genesis, she was shocked by staff’s negligence and rough handling.

Lab vets admit their job feels like keeping animals "in the game,” not healing them.

#bioethics
Last November, 43 rhesus macaques escaped from Alpha Genesis, one of the country’s biggest breeders of primates used in scientific experiments. Ava Kofman writes about the fraught circumstances and politics surrounding the monkey jailbreak.
The Runaway Monkeys Upending the Animal-Rights Movement
A troop of macaques escaped one of the largest primate-breeding facilities in America. Now a strange coalition of uncompromising activists and MAGA loyalists is demanding that all lab animals be set f...
www.newyorker.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
To replace animal experiments, scientists need donated human tissue.

That's why we're urging those who oppose animal testing to find their local biobank and register to donate organs and tissue after death.

Learn more:
https://humaneresearch.org.uk/organ-and-tissue-donation/
November 7, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Advocacy groups: Let's partner to center human-relevance in COPD research. Email info@scienceadvancement.org to join the movement.

@atscommunity.bsky.social
@accpchest.bsky.social
@resphealth.bsky.social
@europeanrespsoc.bsky.social
@respfutures.bsky.social

#GOLDCOPD2025 #COPDAwareness 🫁
#COPD is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide.

Treatments barely slow progression or ease chronic inflammation.

Animal models have stalled progress; but human-based science can change that.

This #COPDAwarenessMonth, let’s clear the air & push for research that truly helps patients.

Long🧵
November 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
#COPD is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide.

Treatments barely slow progression or ease chronic inflammation.

Animal models have stalled progress; but human-based science can change that.

This #COPDAwarenessMonth, let’s clear the air & push for research that truly helps patients.

Long🧵
November 6, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Researchers at @niaidnews.bsky.social used human cerebral #organoids in a maximum containment setting to study Nipah virus replication & characterize infection-associated tissue damage.

by Gabriella Worwa et al., including @guspalpog.bsky.social

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

#virology 🧪
November 6, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Reposted by Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
💡 In this Expert Insights article from Centre for Human Specific Research, Dr. Dania Movia of @maynoothuniversity.ie talks about what it took for her to establish an animal-free respiratory research lab.

humanspecificresearch.org/the-path-to-...

@muresearch.bsky.social 🧪 #NAMs
The Path to Founding a Human-Focused Research Lab: Expert Insights from Dr Dania Movia | Centre For Human Specific Research
Leading the way in animal-free technologies:  The Centre for Human Specific Research holds its first organ-on-chip training masterclass.
humanspecificresearch.org
November 5, 2025 at 6:51 PM
In this review, @gsilvani.bsky.social, Martina Stenzel, & @kriskilian.bsky.social of @nanomed-unsw.bsky.social discuss how advances in #organoids & perfusable MPS are transforming nanoparticle design & accelerating nanodrug development by enabling more predictive assessments of efficacy.
November 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
New supporting evidence for the use of frozen human placentas in microsurgery #MedEd!

In a double-blind study, neurosurgeons were randomly assigned to train on either a defrosted (previously frozen) or fresh refrigerated human placenta to determine whether they provide comparable training value.
November 4, 2025 at 8:29 PM
This new miBrain model from MIT has it all:

🧠 Neurons, microglia, oligodendroglia, astrocytes, pericytes, & brain microvascular endothelial cells
⚙️ Key features & functions of the human brain
👩‍👦 Specificity to individual donors
🧬 Customizability via gene editing
📈 Scalability for large projects
November 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Just out in NAM Journal 🧠 🧪

@fda.gov scientists demonstrated that human-based, in vitro models can effectively replicate key neural responses to opioids and their reversal.

#NAMs #opioidepidemic #publichealth
November 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
🧛‍♂️ Happy Halloween! What’s scarier than a bad review?

🍬 Reviewers handing out ‘add animal experiments’ comments like candy—even when your human-based study is solid.

👻 Don’t let #AnimalMethodsBias haunt your next paper.

Learn how to protect your work: www.animalmethodsbias.org
October 31, 2025 at 12:43 PM
🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃

Dipping into #MedHums to bring you this timely gem.

Georgia Walton & @dominicokey.bsky.social juxtapose the reality of animal experiments done in the name of human reproductive science with the fiction of two recent horror films: Birth/Rebirth (2023) & Lamb (2021).
October 31, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Funders & advocacy groups can push science toward models that reflect the human experience they’re meant to help.

CC:
@namicommunicate.bsky.social
@bbrfoundation.bsky.social
@mhanational.org
@adaaanxiety.bsky.social
@apapsychiatric.bsky.social
@nndc.bsky.social
Depression affects 280M+ people worldwide. 🧠

Despite decades of experiments on animals, depression treatments have barely evolved, & many fall short for patients.

As #DepressionAwarenessMonth comes to an end, let’s explore human-based research that’s changing the game. 🧬🖥️🧓

🧪 #SciPol
October 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Depression affects 280M+ people worldwide. 🧠

Despite decades of experiments on animals, depression treatments have barely evolved, & many fall short for patients.

As #DepressionAwarenessMonth comes to an end, let’s explore human-based research that’s changing the game. 🧬🖥️🧓

🧪 #SciPol
October 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
To explore the use of CRISPR-Cas13 for developing influenza therapeutics, @wyssinstitute.bsky.social & @harvardmed.bsky.social scientists used a human lung chip infected with influenza A virus to evaluate the on-target and off-target effects of antiviral crRNA therapeutics. 🧪
October 29, 2025 at 11:41 PM
A stroke happens when blood flow to the brain is blocked either by a clot (ischemic stroke) or a burst blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke), cutting off oxygen & killing brain cells.

#Stroke is the 5th leading cause of death in the U.S. & a leading cause of long-term disability.

#WorldStrokeDay 🧪
October 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
We are hiring for a PhD-level Staff Scientist to join our teams in the Translational Neuroscience Division @lieberinstitute.bsky.social. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of human 🧠 neuroanatomy and molecular neuroscience

recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/j...
Lieber Institute For Brain Development - Staff Scientist I, Translational Neuroscience
A little about us:The Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) was established in 2010 to plot a new course in biomedical research that would change the lives of individuals affected with develop...
recruiting.paylocity.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
This new study validates a 3D-printed bowel anastomosis simulator using synthetic bowel & leak testing for trainee skill assessment.

By Gillis et al. of @westvirginiau.bsky.social & @uoflmedicine.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#MedSky #SurgSky #MedEd #SurgEd #3Dprinting
October 29, 2025 at 12:02 AM
An oral presentation at #AAGL25 detailed a 3D-printed model for teaching a complex gynecologic surgical approach in a fellows’ bootcamp, plus the rollout and evaluation of a structured simulation curriculum.

#MedSky #MedEd #SurgEd #3Dprinting
October 28, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.
The time may come when we look back and realise that animal experiments have been a huge and costly distraction, a path we might have done better to completely avoid.
#betterscience
#humanrelevant safermedicines.org/blog_post/mi...
Misplacement, replacement, displacement - Safer Medicines
When considering the use of animals in research intended to have relevance for human health, the time may come when we look back and realise that animal experiments have been a huge and costly distrac...
safermedicines.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:58 AM