Tyler J Wenzel
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tylerjwenzel.com
Tyler J Wenzel
@tylerjwenzel.com
Professor, licensed teacher and health equity advocate. My research studies glia; informs medical policies and guidelines; and develops cell therapies to treat pediatric and adult brain diseases.
Humbled for our stem cell team at @usask.ca to be ranked as the top biomedical research program in Saskatchewan 2 years in a row.

Big thanks to our patient partners and the folks at Jim Pattison Children's Hospital. Looking forward to improving the health of youths!

@usaskcomfacdev.bsky.social
July 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Amped to share this masterclass of a paper spearheaded by @waisenberg.bsky.social, out today in Immunity. Will et al. provide a deeply detailed look into microglia dysfunction in Krabbe disease & show that microglia replacement therapeutically improves disease outcomes!

www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
Direct microglia replacement reveals pathologic and therapeutic contributions of brain macrophages to a monogenic neurological disease
Hematopoietic stem cell transplant is the gold standard for treatment of globoid cell leukodystrophy, also called Krabbe disease. Aisenberg et al. define the molecular signature of disease-associated ...
www.cell.com
April 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Really looking forward to this today! Grateful to Erin Mulvihill and @roblab.bsky.social for the opportunity to share a little about how biological sex affects islets!
Excited for experts @ejrideout.bsky.social and Jeeyeon Cha to join us later today in the 🇨🇦 #Islet and #Diabetes grad course @uoft.bsky.social to discuss sex differences in #diabetes and the implications for health care
April 30, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Remyelination getting way more complex- and interesting…
Microglia & monocyte-derived cells were long assumed to have similar functions during remyelination. Our new paper @plosbiology.org shows non-redundant roles, with monocytes ultimately inhibiting remyelination. Team effort by Bianca Hill,Rebecca Holloway, Lindsey Forbes,Claire Davies
plos.io/3RryCLF
Monocyte-secreted Wnt reduces the efficiency of central nervous system remyelination
Remyelination in the central nervous system (CNS) is influenced by myeloid cells, which includes resident microglia and infiltrating monocytes that are difficult to distinguish. This study shows that ...
plos.io
April 24, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Changes to MSc, PhD and postdoc funding programs from 🇨🇦 tri councils. Harmonization across councils, more awards, and new eligibility for international PhD and postdoc applicants!
NSERC - Latest News - Launch of the new Harmonized Tri-agency Scholarship and Fellowship programs
As announced in Budget 2024, the scholarship and fellowship programs administered by the three federal research funding agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) – have been streamlined into a new harmonized talent program called the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS) that will open for applications in summer 2025.
www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca
March 14, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
And some buddies who do amazing work at Cape Breton don't crack the list.

If American, look at where you might want to live. Cost of living in Vancouver and Toronto is nuts. Lower outside of them, and lowest in the prairies (USask and Regina!). Each province and city is a different place.
March 13, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Share with US students who had their offers of admission withdrawn for PhD programs:

Apply to Canada. Check out Canadian professors, and contact us. Our system works differently here, and we are all still, technically, able to accept students for Fall 2025.
March 13, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Today is Rare Disease Day, and a great reminder of the importance of NIH and science funding in driving hope 🧬⬇️

www.rarediseaseday.org
Rare Disease Day 2025 – Raising awareness for people living with rare diseases and their families worldwide.
www.rarediseaseday.org
March 1, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Zimmerman’s trailblazing work in #stemcell #cardiomyocyte transplantation in Homo sapiens failing hearts and rhesus macaques 😀👏🏻
Looking forward to reading this in detail #HF #cardiac #regeneration
The feasibility of patching a severely damaged heart with stem cells as a bridge to transplant, actualized in a 46-year-old woman @nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
January 30, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Provocative start to 2025.

Journal Club 💭:
1) How do we reconcile that other microglia-deficient (eg, CSFR1-/-) models draw different conclusions? Could the remaining immune cells be compensating?

2) Why do these brains have synchronous neuron firing, but brain organoids lacking microglia do not?
Typical development of synaptic and neuronal properties can proceed without microglia in the cortex and thalamus - Nature Neuroscience
Microglia are proposed to have a role in brain development through synaptic engulfment and paracrine signaling. O’Keeffe et al. show that certain neurodevelopmental processes attributed to microglia c...
www.nature.com
January 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
3 reviews on planning, execution, & validation of transcriptomic experiments in neuroscience published in @natureportfolio.bsky.social #NatureNeuroscience.
A MUST READ if you're doing transcriptomics.
3 reviews, an amazing editorial, a beautiful cover – this is the issue of the year!
(mini thread)
December 11, 2024 at 5:04 PM
@samanthamrae.bsky.social @stemcellnetwork.bsky.social Welcome to the Sky! Glad to see you arrive :)
December 4, 2024 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
And of course don’t forget our amazing biennial meetings… the next one? NYC August 2025, with the American Society for Neurochemistry!
How much do I appreciate @jneurochem.bsky.social? I present to you my office mug.

Thanks for giving back to the community. PhD candidate or postdoc? Look at their Fundamental Review program (and their schools at neurochemistry.org) to see how you could make lifelong friends & travel awards!
November 28, 2024 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
As I've been seeing a lot of job postings here, I've set up a NeuroJobs feed. Add #NeuroJobs to your post if you're recruiting or looking for a PhD, Postdoc, or faculty position in Neuro or an adjacent field.

bsky.app/profile/did:...
November 27, 2024 at 5:59 PM
@blairkgage.bsky.social Welcome to the blue side Blair!
November 24, 2024 at 3:04 AM
@isn-society.bsky.social 😱You have finally arrived! Welcome!
November 21, 2024 at 5:27 PM
What is the #1 quality that you look for in a student OR investigator?

I got asked this by a potential graduate student. I thought about it and answered “kindness”.

Saying no is OK. Making mistakes are OK. Asking for help is OK. There is no need for being mean; it only hinders science advancement.
November 18, 2024 at 4:56 PM
How much do I appreciate @jneurochem.bsky.social? I present to you my office mug.

Thanks for giving back to the community. PhD candidate or postdoc? Look at their Fundamental Review program (and their schools at neurochemistry.org) to see how you could make lifelong friends & travel awards!
November 16, 2024 at 4:42 PM
There is not a day that goes by where I am not thankful of the life science gives me.

A break from the laboratory to learn about the science behind mental health disorders in Naxos, Greece. Thanks to ISN and their Flagship School. :D
October 21, 2024 at 12:48 PM
🚨Our latest #research is live!
👉https://wnzl.ca/wenzel-fncel2024
Any kind shares?

⭐Highlights:
1️⃣1st documentation of #microglia, #oligodendrocytes, #neurons and #astrocytes cells in human #brain #organoids simultaneously
2️⃣Brain organoids process proteins in a manner specific to human brain 🧵(1/9)
May 10, 2024 at 3:54 PM
The privilege of being a scientist will never be lost on me - what a cool job.

Some photos from giving a keynote speech to the Minister of Advanced Education Hon. Gordon Wyant, University President Dr. Stoicheff, and the rest of the #USask research community about our #regenmed and #organoid work.
October 13, 2023 at 3:54 PM
#HiSciSky I am a Postdoc at the University of Saskatchewan (in a 🇨🇦 city holding the world-record for largest snowball fight). In the lab, I work with stem cells to improve diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Outside, I try to improve health care equity. #Academicsky #neuroskyence
October 1, 2023 at 10:50 PM