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Cathy Abbott

@cathyabbott.bsky.social
4.6K followers 2K following 875 posts

Professor, eEF1A2/neurological disorders. Mostly talks about research, EDI (tries hard to be a good ally) but sometimes veers off into crafts and photos of Scotland. She/her, views own.

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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Great reporting from @robinbisson.bsky.social on an absolutely dire funding situation…
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Francesco Gobbo @franzgbb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
After a long journey it's finally out! My work on navigation strategy-dependent hippocampal representations during plnning with Richard Morris is out on @natcomms.nature.com ! rdcu.be/iS72dYSzBxya
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Rob Klose @robklose.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I really enjoyed chatting with Stefan at the recent EMBO transcription and chromatin meeting about some of my thoughts on CpG island biology!
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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
You know what's also interactive? Reading the paper. Talk to your colleagues about the paper you just read. Tell them why you loved it. Tell them why you hated it. And even better: invite the authors to talk about their paper 🧪
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I vote we expel it first.
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Spot on. The whole point of the cover letter, as opposed to the formulaic CV, is to convey more about who you are as a person, and why you would be a good fit. It is SO obvious when people use AI- I would never ignore a genuine approach but I'm not responding to people who have made no effort.
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Luke Sjulson @lukesjulson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
With the beginning of the new academic year, I'm reposting the info for our free online neuroscience methods course. If you're starting a PhD in neuroscience, or just want a refresher, this is for you!
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Really thoughtful and helpful reflections on the issues the sector is facing with peer review and demand management. And not the first time I have wished that @kirstygrainger.bsky.social was in charge of UKRI... ☺️
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I remember when I was a student I went to the science museum in Paris and they had punnet squares which essentially consisted of taxidermied (is that a word?) different coloured guinea pigs nailed to the wall 😱
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Tim Behrens @behrenstimb.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This made a social media buzz earlier this year, including an eLife paper. I am now pointing to the eLife correction. The authors used the correct antibody,but referred to the wrong one in the paper. They supplied the original receipts during the correction. elifesciences.org/articles/112...
elifesciences.org
Correction: p16 deficiency attenuates intervertebral disc degeneration by adjusting oxidative stress and nucleus pulposus cell cycle
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 06/09/2026
It’s actually ok to be a person who does not enjoy doing research but then you should not be doing research for pay
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I know it’s just a scarf but honestly I think this is one of the nicest things I’ve ever made (forgive the brag!)
A brightly coloured fairisle knitted scarf with rainbow style stripes but more subtle than that sounds
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Johan Duchêne @johanduchene.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Wow! Only Good Antibodies has developed a new tool that lets you see, directly in a paper, which antibodies were tested and validated. A tool that comes at the right time, given all the issues surrounding antibody validation. Definitively a tool to get onlygoodantibodies.co.uk/extension/
onlygoodantibodies.co.uk
Browser Extension — Only Good Antibodies
A free browser extension that marks antibodies cited in a paper with their knockout-controlled validation status, for the application they were used in.
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Re-upping this for the morning crowd. Already almost as many signatures as the other letter, in just half a day
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
What's so mind boggling is the thought of the training of newly arrived staff. Are they just pointed to the library of background patterns, told to chose one and paste a band on it at the expected size? Imagine the disillusion if you'd come from a research background...
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Actually, this was *exactly* how I approached molecular biology. If there were two reagents that were thought to encourage tricky PCRs, why use only one, I say 😀
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I love this: "the (well really his) brain" 😀
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Masud Husain @masudhusain.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Lots of stimulating - and challenging - questions from Devi Sridhar and the highly engaged audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival which hosted some extraordinary discussions across a wide range of topics: fiction, politics, history and science.
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Becker Group at CRTD @beckergroup.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Great article about the work of Dave Lyons, Anna Williams and others in Edinburgh and how Brexit makes their research more difficult. We left for Germany...
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Epilepsy Research Institute @epilepsyinst.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Our ECR Observer Opportunity gives early career researchers a unique chance to observe our Scientific Advisory Committee as it reviews epilepsy research proposals and makes funding recommendations. Find out more and apply: epilepsy-institute.org.uk/eri/resea…
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Hello, human geneticist here. There is no scientific basis for attempts to define people in terms of “good” or “bad” genes - these are discredited views in service of racist ideologies. For consensus & concerns of experts in our field, see e.g. this 2020 statement from @geneticssociety.bsky.social:
Statement from the American Society of Human Genetics in 2020, countering the myth of "good genes". It reads as follows:
"Genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories or races, and any efforts to claim the superiority of humans based on any genetic ancestry have no scientific evidence. Moreover, it is inaccurate to claim genetics as the determinative factor in human strengths or outcomes when education, environment, wealth, and health care access are often more potent factors. There is no factual basis for attempts to define communities or regions of people with "good" or "bad" genes and a century of science has debunked such claims, which can feed discredited views and racist ideologies. Unchecked, unethical application of false genetic "theories" have resulted in past atrocities from forced sterilizations to the Holocaust and can still fuel unethical social policies worldwide today. Over the decades, our field also has reflected on its own role in such now-condemned ideas, and we speak out vocally as a community and as individuals to combat their resurgence.
We must protect and advance the ethical use of genetics and genomics knowledge for the profound good it can realize, including better, more precise healthcare that leverages what we are discovering about human genetic commonality and diversity. The human genetics community dedicates itself to this goal each day, and today we are improving and saving hundreds of thousands of lives. As the ASHG community focuses on realizing the benefits of human genetics and genomics research for people everywhere, we also urge societal attention to address profound educational, economic and health inequalities that fuel differences in human experience and well-being. By pursuing all of these activities, humans can celebrate our common heritage as one people, embrace and fully tap our valued diversity, and help achieve optimal life outcomes for all."
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Hardeep Matharu @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
"We must rage against its cruelty, against the casual conversion of humiliation into entertainment, against the idea that because each blow can be defended in isolation no one bears responsibility for the beating" Poignant reflections by my colleague @iainoverton.bsky.social on Jason Arday's death:
bylinetimes.com
Jason Arday: We Must Rage – Rage Against the Journalism of Cruelty
The death of the academic shows the casual conversion of humiliation into entertainment by a media running on monetised hate and cruelty
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Sue Fletcher-Watson @suereviews.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This survey on what it's like to hide parts of your identity is still open - particularly keen to hear from trans people who are not autistic please! But also open to: trans + autistic people cis + autistic people Link for full info and the survey itself is tinyurl.com/3jrfkate
This image is a recruitment advertisement for a survey study about gender identity and masking. It contains images of two people holding the trans pride flag and a QR code. The text on the advertisement states ‘participate in our survey and tell us about your experience of hiding your identity. To access the survey or learn more about the study please use the QR code below or follow this link. The link is https://tinyurl.com/3jrfkate. The main researcher for this project is Mark Somerville, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh.
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Prof Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The agenda behind the obsessive coverage on Jason Arday was not only to distract but also to intimidate those who speak up and act as agents of change in a system that is far from fair. It was not just about silencing antiracism, but also anything else that threatens the status quo.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
'I understand why the cost and speed of grant making are important but neither are a proxy for quality, and lessons from the 2007 RCUK Shared Service Centre experiment seem long forgotten.' Important read with great grasp of the longer history and thus the wider context. 1/4
wonkhe.com
Cost and speed are not measures of quality grant making
Kirsty Grainger asks whether UKRI's commitment to faster grant making will improve the quality, fairness and effectiveness of research funding
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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Dearest all: I am looking for a queer-owned store that would sell rolls of stickers (or something as in tens of them) with pronouns for handing them out upon registration at the German Fish Meeting. Any pointer/s and RT appreciated! 🧪🐟
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Very unprofessional and personal post but my lovely daughter is performing at the Edinburgh Fringe. Saw the play yesterday and it’s just so, so good. Do give it a try if you’re around- Hame Teeth Club www.edfringe.com/tickets/what...
Young woman with poster featuring her face in the background
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The Murray Lab @themurraylab.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Excited to share our latest paper, published in Experimental Neurology. Congratulations to @ingapartlova.bsky.social on her first first-author publication! 🔗 You can read the paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ex...
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Alex Donovan @apadonovan.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Interesting finding that rats have a disproportionate expansion of deep cortical layers when compared to other mammalian species - an output of extended duration in deep-layer neurogenesis, mediated by prolonged canonical WNT activity - link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Interspecific diversity in the neuronal composition of the mammalian cortex arises from heterochrony in neurogenesis - The EMBO Journal
Mammals share a laminar cerebral cortex, with excitatory neuron subtypes organized in distinct layers. Although this framework is conserved, subtype balance varies markedly between species due to larg...
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Lisa Hansen @lisanhansen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
So excited to share my first preprint of grad school! Check out this thread to learn more about a cool new technique we are using to learn more about hidden layers of RNA regulation! Thank you so much to my coauthors, mentors, and lab for helping us get this story up!
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The terrible, stupid waste of UK universities policy continues. Your cash down the drain. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bri...
timeshighereducation.com
New British Academy fellows at risk in Exeter jobs cull
Being at the ‘top of your game’ no guarantee of job security, warns decorated historian now facing the chop
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Helen Barron @helencbarron.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
***New preprint from the lab*** showing “Generative replay across hippocampal-neocortical circuits”. In sleep we show spiking sequences in V1 (sensory neocortex!) that represent information that has not been directly experienced www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @bndu.ox.ac.uk @ndcnoxford.bsky.social
biorxiv.org
Generative replay across hippocampal-neocortical circuits
To make flexible decisions, the brain needs to make inferences between events that were not directly experienced together. In sharp-wave ripple (SWR) events, during periods of rest and sleep, spiking ...
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
This is sad but so lovely ❤️
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Daryl O’Connor @daryloconnor.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Fancy joining a vibrant, dynamic & collegiate School of Psychology? We've got three lectureships available, and it be great to see applications from health psychology colleagues. Deadline 5th August www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSE550/l...
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Psychology (Three Posts) at University of Leeds
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Psychology (Three Posts) on jobs.ac.uk!
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Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain (SIDB) @sidb-edinburgh.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Yesterday was World Fragile X Day. At SIDB, exciting research is helping us further understanding of Fragile X Syndrome and how it affects the brain. 🔬 Learn more about our work by following the link in our bio! #WorldFragileXDay @edinunineuro.bsky.social @patrickwildcentre.bsky.social
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Raphaël Pantier @r-pantier.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Our laboratory is looking for a PhD student in Functional Genomics (fully funded position). Expected starting date: Oct 2026 More info here: www.igbmc.fr/en/igbmc/lif... Please share 📨
igbmc.fr
IGBMC: PhD position available in Raphaël Pantier's lab
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
My stats (supervision/examination) are ~the same as the author's, but my views could not be more different. Conflating all science disciplines like this is nonsensical but also, the whole piece is just misguided self-promotion masquerading as an authoritative opinion. (why yes, I am in a bad mood)
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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
UKRI says the reforms "will encourage universities, as autonomous institutions, to specialise and collaborate in ways that build the critical R&I capabilities the nation needs" QR gives universities freedom to use research funding how they see fit, so this sounds like strings are being attached
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
"Somewhere in a university shared drive, there is probably an Athena Swan action plan that took months to produce, drew on years of data, involved hours of unpaid or under-recognised labour, and identified inequalities that everyone agreed mattered." This really hit home.
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
It's a strong public health system and preventative care and considering health impacts across all policies. UK should be proud of our world-class biomedical research but it's not a failure of translation of that research that is behind our ill-health. 4/4
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eLife @elife.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Looking for a home for your neuroscience paper? We welcome research in all areas of neuroscience, including brain function, neuronal circuits, synapses, sensory processing, and motor pattern generation. Take a look at what we publish ⬇️ buff.ly/lKml0cv
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Delighted that all this hard work by Cavan and Manuela is finally out in the public domain. We find that epilepsy/ID-causing mutations in EEF1A2 affect expression of specific genes but don't actually cause measurable differences in global protein synthesis rates in cells (unlike previous studies).
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
And meanwhile, in Scotland, I am looking forward to attending graduation this afternoon because it will give me an extra layer of clothing... 😬
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Do give us a follow at @edinunineuro.bsky.social - swanky new video in which I appear to be utterly miserable throughout (I was just concentrating hard on the autocue, honest 😀)
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
It’s been a real privilege to be able to collaborate with Andrew Jackson and colleagues, in a very minor way, on a model of progeria syndrome www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Taking apart the DNA-methylation clock with an epigenetic progeria syndrome
Nature Genetics - With advancing age, clock-like DNA-methylation changes occur across the genome. Whether these changes are passenger events or drive pathology remains to be determined. Here we...
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
A lot of work from an excellent team to make this happen but what a fabulous day. And the tribute to Richard Morris was something I wll never forget ❤️
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Gav Maclean @gavmaclean.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Academia is basically working on a boat that's holed beneath the waterline, we're going down slowly with less than enough lifeboats and the captain is currently asking us to throw people overboard to make us lighter in the hope we'll float.
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Mark Baxter 🏳️‍🌈🧂 @markgbaxter.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
The editorial that the ADA was so afraid to have handed out at their annual meeting is really fantastic diabetesjournals.org/care/article...
diabetesjournals.org
Misguided Brushes of a Pen Continue to Dismantle and Destroy Biomedical Research in the United States: We Can No Longer Afford Complacency and Fear. We Must All Act Now!
The opinions expressed in this editorial are the personal views of the authors (S.E. Kahn, C.A.M. Anderson, J.B. Buse, and E. Selvin) and do not represent
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Cathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Really good well balanced piece about the place of interviewing in grants (well, my remarks are not particularly well balanced, but the piece is!). Featuring @kirstygrainger.bsky.social too 🙂 www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...
researchprofessionalnews.com
Can ‘high-stress’ interviews for grants save a system under pressure? - Research Professional News
Funders are using interviews to manage demand, but some worry about the consequences for applicants
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Kirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
For accuracy, I was Director of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships programme; describing me simply as an “ex-UKRI director” is misleading. Similarly, I led strategy within both the Research Culture and Talent portfolios, rather than holding a generic “Head of Strategy at UKRI” role. BUT....
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