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Natasha O'Brown

@natashaobrown.bsky.social
3.3K followers 2.1K following 181 posts

Forever developmental biologist at ❤️ studying the blood-brain barrier #BBB in the best model system #zebrafish to understand how different molecular and cellular interactions affect BBB function. www.obrownlab.com

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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Sonya Neal @neal-lab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Come be my colleague!! 🎉 We’re hiring an Assistant Professor in Developmental Biology at UCSD! If you’re doing exciting work in development or regeneration, come join us!! Please spread the word and apply! apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04591
apol-recruit.ucsd.edu
Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology
University of California, San Diego is hiring. Apply now!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I both love and hate that feeling of resubmitting a paper. It's a mix of sweet relief to focus on other thinga and anxiety waiting for a response.🤞 the reviewers think we addressed their concerns @tcpotts.bsky.social
static.klipy.com
Spongebob Waiting Sadly in the Rain
ALT: Spongebob Waiting Sadly in the Rain
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My people! @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social @laurafontenas.bsky.social
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
CG Partridge @partridgecg.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Don't forget to comment! Docket is here: www.regulations.gov/search?searc... Docket number: NSF-2026-OTR-0001
regulations.gov
Regulations.gov
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Thank you so much to @theresazeisner.bsky.social for sharing her amazing art with me so I could add it to my office decor and brighten up my parking lot view. It makes me SO happy!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Still absolutely in love with my #ezm2026 klimt fish shirt. I absolutely love when art and science meet and has me planning for the next fish meeting in Mexico in January!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
You can take the girl out of Austria but you can't remove the spritz. Made it back back to jersey and immediately wanted an aperol spritz
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I just used this and filed my formal complaint. As @barrlab.bsky.social said, it was super easy. Just note it needs to be under 5000 characters - boy could I go longer... please if you haven't already, please submit a comment!📝
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Love seeing Megason lab alumni and their trainees at meetings
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Had a great time giving a talk at #ezm2026. I think this is the biggest screen I've ever presented on. Also relieved to be done and now just relax and take in the cool science
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Off to Vienna for the European zebrafish meeting. Haven't been back since study abroad in 2008. Bis später!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
So proud of @tcpotts.bsky.social for getting a poster prize at the Barriers GRC meeting!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Brain barriers GRC is off to a great start with Scott Canfield.
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
'We primarily do comparative analysis using human stem cells/organoids and genetically modified mouse models, with some minor use of frog models. We use this approach because, for developmental anomalies, it is impossible to assess true function without in vivo models' @karenjliu.bsky.social
journals.biologists.com
Why in vivo models of disease remain indispensable
Summary: The call to arms for alternatives to model organisms of disease will fail without ongoing integration with – and validation against – complex animal models and support from the animal modelli...
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
For anyone who is a scientist or has benefitted from basic research on model organisms (that's EVERYONE), please take the time to leave a comment about priority 1 here: rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6998c3a23e... by the deadline May 28! I know I wouldn't be here today without modern medicine
rfi.grants.nih.gov
Request For Information
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
What fun could be had!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I had such a good time visiting #UVA this week. Good views, good wine, good food, and great people. Thanks @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social for hosting me and letting me crash lab meeting!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
And look at this amazing cake that my postdoc Jackie baked for my birthday!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It's been a pretty good week for the obrownlab.com. We had a nice lab lunch to celebrate the end of the semester. InWord received the prestigious Henry Rutgers Scholar award for her honors thesis research in the lab, and it's my birthday!
Lab lunch at Destination Dogs to celebrate end of the year. Various hot dogs and drinks on the tableLab photo with InWord in the middle after she successfully defended her honors thesisMe in my office wearing my pink crown for my birthday
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Had a great time visiting WashU today and reconnecting with some old friends! Tony gave me the sweetest introduction that only 16 years of knowing me could achieve.
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Had such a fun night with these ladies after an amazing day at #asn2026 @megancphd.bsky.social @laurafontenas.bsky.social @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social and Sarah and Claudia with no bluesky. On to the last day and a bunch of our talks today.
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Starting #asn2026 right with @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social and Sarah Ackerman (not pictured but driving us lushes around town)
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Jean Laurens @jeanlaurens.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I created this collection of common brain models in neuroscience, all to scale Across species, brains share fundamental principles and many homologous regions But as size increases, complexity and connectivity change. We need the full spectrum, from flies to rodents, non-human primates, and humans
A scaled collection of brains from common neuroscience model organisms arranged side by side. From left to right: a large human brain and a smaller macaque brain on the top row; below them progressively smaller brains from a marmoset, rat, mouse, zebrafish, and a tiny Drosophila (fruit fly). A coin provides size reference. An inset shows a small, irregularly shaped brain organoid.
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Another #obrownlab undergraduate honors thesis is in the books! Congratulations InWord!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
@tcpotts.bsky.social paper is live. Happy to share #FishNAP, a new, non-invasive way to measure #BBB permeability in 96-well format with #zebrafish www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
So pretty!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Celebrating the submission of the 2nd paper from the O'Brown lab by @tcpotts.bsky.social and other milestones as a lab today. Should be coming to biorxiv soon!
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Colm Atkins, PhD @atkinscolm.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
@tcpotts.bsky.social from the @natashaobrown.bsky.social lab presenting work in progress
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
@tcpotts.bsky.social gave a phenomenal talk today at RADD so we all wore the Tom uniform in solidarity
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Who wears it better?
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
“Here we developed an experimental-computational platform, WARP, for whole-brain imaging of neuronal activity during behavior, expansion-assisted spatial transcriptomics, and cellular-level registration of these two modalities.” New work from @mishaahrens.bsky.social et al. 🐟 🧠
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
eLife @elife.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
An animal model for cerebral small vessel disease Zebrafish can be used to study the cellular mechanisms responsible for cerebral small vessel disease, which is a leading cause of stroke and dementia. 🔗 buff.ly/wchKmpT
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
So proud of my grad student @tcpotts.bsky.social for presenting at our first @hhmi-science.bsky.social meeting and absolutely blown away by the amazing science being done and the people doing it!
Standing at Tom's digital poster for the February hhmi meeting. There's a pink glow coming from it
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Loving my new identity as part of a gang of wine moms.
media.tenor.com
a woman is holding two boxes of belina juice and says i brought juice boxes .
ALT: a woman is holding two boxes of belina juice and says i brought juice boxes .
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 23/01/2026
Yup! Join our fight to #SaveNCAR at tr.ee/save-ncar !
tr.ee
Stand up for Science
Stand up for Science
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Nate Pentz @natepentz.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
What we are experiencing is 25x of the Midway Blitz.
Per capita, the ICE operation in the Twin Cities is the equivalent of 25 Operation Midway Blitzes happening simultaneously. As a Chicagoan, I can’t imagine what that would feel like. The scale is unthinkable.

My math is below in case you want to adjust anything:

Twin Cities metro:
~3,000 agents ÷ ~3.7 million residents ≈ 0.8 agents per 1,000 residents

Chicago metro (Midway Blitz):
~300 agents ÷ ~9.4 million residents ≈ 0.03 agents per 1,000 residents

0.8 ÷ 0.03 ≈ 25× more intense per capita
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Reposted by Natasha O'Brown
Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Explain to Congress how important it is to keep multiyear funding of NIH grants in the funding bill. This protects against Russell Vought's trick, which is to make this year's NIH budget cover multiple years of research in advance. Tell your Congresscritter. US Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
For those of us who have resources and who want to help support the fight in Minneapolis. I know I've felt helpless recently but here are some really ways to help those that are actively going through it
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
This is absolutely atrocious and unconstitutional. Call your representatives. We need to stand together to fight for the rights of every us citizen
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I'm going to be in Boston on March 23rd if anyone wants to invite me for a talk. I'm a cheap date (no hotel or dinner necessary).
media.tenor.com
a man sitting in a chair with the word invite me written on the bottom
ALT: a man sitting in a chair with the word invite me written on the bottom
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Really wish I could just curl up and relax like this unaware of the shitshow that is America. Happy #caturday
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Finished up the semester with a great #obrownlab lunch to celebrate how far we've come!
Picture of the O'Brown lab at lunch celebrating the end of the semester - we survived!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Nothing quite says academic mom like sitting on the floor of your son's swim meet with your laptop and coffee looking at grad school apps
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Here are some cameos during the talk yesterday and afterwards to celebrate in 👑 style. Who thinks I should wear the cape to my first student's defense?
Me talking about reduced transcytosis in endothelial cellsMe after the talk in my hot pink jump suit with a bespoke pink cape and a crown under our neon lab O'Brown lab sign
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Got my whole family to wear pink today for my reappiintment talk. Feeling all the love!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Oh how I've missed this game?
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
What a wonderful day talking science at Vanderbilt Cell and Developmental Biology topped off with a rooftop night cap with these great people @monica-santisteban.bsky.social @krishnamudumbi.bsky.social and Neil who has yet to get on bluesky but was a great host!
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Very happy to be in Nashville today for #zebrafishzunday before my talk @vanderbilt.edu tomorrow, so here's a sneak preview of differential clearance of monomeric (turquoise) vs. oligomeric (red) amyloid beta from the zebrafish brain
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Natasha O'Brown @natashaobrown.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Look who's the @navbo.bsky.social lab of the month! So honored. And also if you want to read my story and some unsolicited advice on the academic career path, you can also find it here in NAVBO's Lessons Learned: www.navbo.org/lessons-lear...
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