Kepecs Lab @ WashU
@kepecslab.bsky.social
Pinned
Kepecs Lab @ WashU
@kepecslab.bsky.social
· Apr 11
A neuroimmune circuit mediates cancer cachexia-associated apathy
Cachexia, a severe wasting syndrome associated with inflammatory conditions, often leads to multiorgan failure and death. Patients with cachexia experience extreme fatigue, apathy, and clinical depres...
doi.org
1/ Why do patients with late-stage cancer lose motivation & sink into apathy?
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
Important topic, high potency THC is a different game.
The #cannabis landscape has changed. High THC concentrations in today's products have profound effects on the brain 🧠
I spoke with Doug Bopst on The Adversity Advantage about the risks of cannabis consumption. #Neuroskyence
🎧 Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/bb/podcast/c...
I spoke with Doug Bopst on The Adversity Advantage about the risks of cannabis consumption. #Neuroskyence
🎧 Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/bb/podcast/c...
July 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Important topic, high potency THC is a different game.
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
We worked so well as a team for the #GRCPsychedelics @vyazovskiy.bsky.social @viditavaidya.bsky.social @melissaherman.bsky.social
and congrats to @theborislab.bsky.social and @mikaelpalner.bsky.social, who will be the future vice-chairs!
and congrats to @theborislab.bsky.social and @mikaelpalner.bsky.social, who will be the future vice-chairs!
July 17, 2025 at 1:09 PM
We worked so well as a team for the #GRCPsychedelics @vyazovskiy.bsky.social @viditavaidya.bsky.social @melissaherman.bsky.social
and congrats to @theborislab.bsky.social and @mikaelpalner.bsky.social, who will be the future vice-chairs!
and congrats to @theborislab.bsky.social and @mikaelpalner.bsky.social, who will be the future vice-chairs!
Meet Area Postrema!
Cancer muscle wasting-associated apathy is result of tumour-induced inflammation & brain circuitry interaction
📷 Xiaoyue Aelita Zhu & Sarah Starosta et al
@kepecslab.bsky.social Pignatelli lab, Janowitz lab
Washington Uni St L, in @science.org
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025... +
@rooph.bsky.social
📷 Xiaoyue Aelita Zhu & Sarah Starosta et al
@kepecslab.bsky.social Pignatelli lab, Janowitz lab
Washington Uni St L, in @science.org
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025... +
@rooph.bsky.social
May 12, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Meet Area Postrema!
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
I will fly to anywhere in the United States on my own dime to talk to people about basic science! I encourage all of you, particularly senior scientists to make this commitment. If you are looking for material ask @karalmarshall.bsky.social She has put together an amazing basic talk!
OK inspired by @karalmarshall.bsky.social I am reaching out to the public where ever I can. Traditionally Republicans have been incredibly supportive of science. We as scientists need to reach out to people across the spectrum to rally their support for basic science!
May 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I will fly to anywhere in the United States on my own dime to talk to people about basic science! I encourage all of you, particularly senior scientists to make this commitment. If you are looking for material ask @karalmarshall.bsky.social She has put together an amazing basic talk!
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
Given all that is going on consider this quote from Bertram Russell's 1930 book The conquest of Happiness:
“The man who can be interested in the structure of atoms or the way in which a beetle navigates, is likely to get a joy in life which no amount of success in the pursuit of power can give. ”
“The man who can be interested in the structure of atoms or the way in which a beetle navigates, is likely to get a joy in life which no amount of success in the pursuit of power can give. ”
May 3, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Given all that is going on consider this quote from Bertram Russell's 1930 book The conquest of Happiness:
“The man who can be interested in the structure of atoms or the way in which a beetle navigates, is likely to get a joy in life which no amount of success in the pursuit of power can give. ”
“The man who can be interested in the structure of atoms or the way in which a beetle navigates, is likely to get a joy in life which no amount of success in the pursuit of power can give. ”
1/ Why do patients with late-stage cancer lose motivation & sink into apathy?
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
A neuroimmune circuit mediates cancer cachexia-associated apathy
Cachexia, a severe wasting syndrome associated with inflammatory conditions, often leads to multiorgan failure and death. Patients with cachexia experience extreme fatigue, apathy, and clinical depres...
doi.org
April 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
1/ Why do patients with late-stage cancer lose motivation & sink into apathy?
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
I graduated high school in 1990. For this year's graduates, this music is to them what 60's music was to me when I was their age. Wild.
Happy b’day to R.E.M’s classic LP “Out of Time”, released 34 years ago today.
“The guys would give me pieces of music that were so ebullient and bubblegum,” Michael Stipe said, “that I’d be like, ‘OK, I accept your challenge and I raise you — we’re going to call THIS one ‘Shiny Happy People.’” 🙏🏼
“The guys would give me pieces of music that were so ebullient and bubblegum,” Michael Stipe said, “that I’d be like, ‘OK, I accept your challenge and I raise you — we’re going to call THIS one ‘Shiny Happy People.’” 🙏🏼
March 13, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I graduated high school in 1990. For this year's graduates, this music is to them what 60's music was to me when I was their age. Wild.
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
We’ve created a new field called “chronogenetics”: controlling gene expression with the cell’s internal clock! Lara Pferdehirt & Anna Damato made living implants that sync to the body & automatically deliver biological drugs on a 24 hr cycle. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
March 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
We’ve created a new field called “chronogenetics”: controlling gene expression with the cell’s internal clock! Lara Pferdehirt & Anna Damato made living implants that sync to the body & automatically deliver biological drugs on a 24 hr cycle. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Important work by my colleagues @robgereau.bsky.social & team! A new non-opioid chronic pain treatment, a peripherally restricted CB1 agonist without psychoactivity or tolerance.
Excited to present the result of a fantastic collaborative effort - funded by the National Institutes of Health, including the NIH HEAL Initiative, to develop safer analgesic drugs. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A cryptic pocket in CB1 drives peripheral and functional selectivity - Nature
A peripherally restricted CB1 agonist (VIP36) targeting a cryptic receptor pocket was developed, showing high efficacy in mouse pain models with minimal side effects and tolerance, potentially revolut...
www.nature.com
March 6, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Important work by my colleagues @robgereau.bsky.social & team! A new non-opioid chronic pain treatment, a peripherally restricted CB1 agonist without psychoactivity or tolerance.
Congrats to @michellemonje.bsky.social and F Winkler on the Brain Prize! Well deserved recognition for groundbreaking work in cancer neuroscience! Such a cool field, exciting, with important implications for disease and just getting started!
Congratulations to winners of The Brain Prize 2025!
Professors @michellemonje.bsky.social, @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social and @hhmi.org Investigator, and Frank Winkler, Heidelberg University Hospital, have pioneered the field of Cancer Neuroscience.
Learn more: brainprize.org/winners/canc...
Professors @michellemonje.bsky.social, @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social and @hhmi.org Investigator, and Frank Winkler, Heidelberg University Hospital, have pioneered the field of Cancer Neuroscience.
Learn more: brainprize.org/winners/canc...
March 6, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Congrats to @michellemonje.bsky.social and F Winkler on the Brain Prize! Well deserved recognition for groundbreaking work in cancer neuroscience! Such a cool field, exciting, with important implications for disease and just getting started!
Congratulations to Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton on the well-deserved Turing Award! Their groundbreaking work in reinforcement learning has had an enormous impact across AI, neuroscience, robotics, and beyond. The ripple effects are still unfolding!
The 2024 Turing Prize winners announced this morning: Barto & Sutton for "developing the conceptual and algorithmic foundations of reinforcement learning". Well deserved. Built on 1959 Donald Michie's idea; matchboxes and colored beads learning tic-tac-toe. awards.acm.org/about/2024-t...
Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton are the recipients of the 2024 ACM A.M. Turing Award for developing the conceptual and algorithmic foundations of reinforcement learning.
Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton as the recipients of the 2024 ACM A.M. Turing Award for developing the conceptual and algorithmic foundations of reinforcement learning. In a series of papers beginning...
awards.acm.org
March 6, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Congratulations to Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton on the well-deserved Turing Award! Their groundbreaking work in reinforcement learning has had an enormous impact across AI, neuroscience, robotics, and beyond. The ripple effects are still unfolding!
Reposted by Kepecs Lab @ WashU
Having funded teams/contracts that required six figure+ funds a few times now, these numbers SOUND really huge in isolation to normal folks but they're not! Don't make floating numbers! I like to say things like this: "A cancer lab is basically a small business, with many jobs created by each grant"
Earth & Life Sciences Academics communicating the new EO about indirect rates, imma need you to improve yer messaging- maybe don't say "If I get a million dollar grant, my uni gets another $700k to keep the lights on & water running" bc isn't going to get the traction you think it is-
a woman in a floral dress is sitting in front of a sign that says chuckles in rich .
ALT: a woman in a floral dress is sitting in front of a sign that says chuckles in rich .
media.tenor.com
February 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Having funded teams/contracts that required six figure+ funds a few times now, these numbers SOUND really huge in isolation to normal folks but they're not! Don't make floating numbers! I like to say things like this: "A cancer lab is basically a small business, with many jobs created by each grant"
Project 2025:
🔹 Break NIH’s monopoly on research direction
🔹 Shift NIH grant funding to states via block grants
🔹 Keep NIH funding, but at a reduced, “modest” level
Buckle up!!
🔹 Break NIH’s monopoly on research direction
🔹 Shift NIH grant funding to states via block grants
🔹 Keep NIH funding, but at a reduced, “modest” level
Buckle up!!
Doing some light bedtime reading on Project 2025 for what’s ahead: "The NIH monopoly on directing research should be broken. Congress should consider block granting NIH’s grants budget to states to fund their own scientific research.... doesn't preclude more modest federal funding through NIH."
February 8, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Project 2025:
🔹 Break NIH’s monopoly on research direction
🔹 Shift NIH grant funding to states via block grants
🔹 Keep NIH funding, but at a reduced, “modest” level
Buckle up!!
🔹 Break NIH’s monopoly on research direction
🔹 Shift NIH grant funding to states via block grants
🔹 Keep NIH funding, but at a reduced, “modest” level
Buckle up!!
Doing some light bedtime reading on Project 2025 for what’s ahead: "The NIH monopoly on directing research should be broken. Congress should consider block granting NIH’s grants budget to states to fund their own scientific research.... doesn't preclude more modest federal funding through NIH."
February 8, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Doing some light bedtime reading on Project 2025 for what’s ahead: "The NIH monopoly on directing research should be broken. Congress should consider block granting NIH’s grants budget to states to fund their own scientific research.... doesn't preclude more modest federal funding through NIH."