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Alex Keyes, PhD

@neuropharmnerd.bsky.social
1.9K followers 858 following 514 posts

neuro nerd. aspiring artist. UIowa PhD - Pharmacology. Interested in neuro-immune interactions in the spinal cord. my opinions are my own. they/them

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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
from the city that brought us Gritty, a new nightmare to behold:
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John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
two new preprints from Wangchu Xiang (@darbly.bsky.social, Ginty labs) about connectomic reconstruction from electron microscopy of somatosensory afferents and projection neurons in the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
as a statement, my own institution specifically warns about this: "The UI prohibits the use of AI tools with University/Internal, Restricted, and Critical data types. Once the data is placed into AI tools, the data becomes available to the public and open source. "
its.uiowa.edu
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools in Research
The University of Iowa recognizes the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential to advance knowledge, research, and scholarly work. AI tools can save researchers tim...
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
this sounds like both a miserable time (i feel so bad for that poor baby) and also exactly what i expect from BA at this point.
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Olivia Davis @oliviadavis.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our latest preprint continues our investigations into spinal mechanisms of human chronic pain! We find no evidence for a loss of neurons in the dorsal horn of donors with chronic lower limb pain, and the ratio of excitatory to inhibitory interneurons also remains consistent between pain states.
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
404media.co
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
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Takuya Sasatani @takuyasasatani.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Miniscope Zero, the first fully wireless Miniscope, is on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social! Wireless power + data enable neural recordings in enclosed mazes, 3D environments & from two animals at once! @miniscope.bsky.social Paper: doi.org/10.64898/202... Wiki: miniscope.org/wiki/Minisco...
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emily blight 🐦‍⬛ @threnody.northsky.social · 10/09/2026
you know, seems a way to handle musk spending tens of millions on anti trans shit is to make his money worth nothing by saying “medical care is between patients & doctors & people are sick of you talking about children’s genitals. let’s move on—here are 10 ways you freaks made american lives worse.”
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 08/09/2026
Oh, my H-Index? Well,
A sign that's been edited to read: I don't mean to brag, but my scientific papers are enjoyed by well over 4 people worldwide
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
if life is full of never-ending dishes, then life is also full of (hopefully) good meals
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Simon W Davis @woodforbrains.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Ho-LEE fuck democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-r...
democrats-appropriations.house.gov
Defense Officials Attempt to Raid NIH Funds to Cover Department of Defense Activities
House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) has learned that officials at the Department of Defense (DoD) are working to divert billions of dollars from the National Institute...
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just in time for the 2026-2027 vaccines, a new review shows that COVID19 vaccination significantly reduces the risk of severe illness and hospitalization across all age groups, including kids. Pregnant women were also protected, as were their babies. Don’t forget to schedule your vaccination!
jamanetwork.com
COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness and Safety for the 2026-2027 Respiratory Season
This Special Communication aims to identify and summarize the most recently published evidence evaluating the effectiveness and safety of US-licensed COVID-19 vaccines and report on the epidemiology o...
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jp flores (he/him) @jpflores.rbind.io · 01/09/2026
We aren’t abandoning academia. We're asking whether academia, as currently structured, deserves our trust. Lauren Chambers and I wrote about what it really means to “save” academia for @insidehighered.com 👇 www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care... @sciforgood.bsky.social @snapcoalition.org
insidehighered.com
Grad Students Wonder if Academia Is Worth Saving (opinion)
It’s not just the federal government that’s telling grad students their work doesn’t matter.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 02/09/2026
There are endless studies showing this and also the financial and societal benefits of universal basic income and or housing-first policies but the U.S. never goes for any of it because it would require allowing the poor to receive benefits that the rich consider “undeserved”
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
something tells me this won't end well, given:
krcrtv.com
Three Mount Shasta climbers rescued after relying on AI to plan climb
Three novice climbers were rescued from Mount Shasta on Sunday after becoming lost, running low on supplies and spending an unplanned night in Mud Creek Canyon,
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 02/09/2026
Everywhere he went, Ed Markey's biggest applause line was about protecting trans people. The Massholes yearn for trans liberation.
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Cheryl Lynn Eaton @cheryllynneaton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
You cannot say this and remain in office. He has to go. And Democrats have to make an enormous deal out of threats to exterminate an entire group of people.
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
"Often you not only are the product — yes, they will steal & sell your data — but you are also robbed of learning. When the hype inevitably dies down, as it has done many times before, through AI summers & winters …, you want to have skills. You want to have a degree that matters."— @olivia.science
olivia.science
Why does cheating matter?
A personal anecdote and an appeal to junior colleagues.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
i'm a trans person in iowa and i'm gettin' really tired of being asked to vote against my own self interests. why are you asking me to vote for someone who doesn't respect my humanity or my rights? how would i trust that he wouldn't throw others under the bus as soon as it's convenient?
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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 31/08/2026
This is an ongoing, fluid situation. I understand it's confusing, and that bad actors are in charge. I get it. At the same time, my advice for years now has been 'get two covid shots per 365 day period' — if you're not going to follow my longstanding guidance, please don't email me threats. ffs.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
this is where i sit on this: any thought process that leads to even attempting a synthesis that goes thru dimethyl mercury at some point suggests poor judgement. like, bad enough that maybe chemistry as a career is not for you, since you cannot be trusted with lab safety.
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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
If AI actually did what the evangelists claim it does that would be amazing?! It would be groundbreaking? And we’d be ALL ABOUT IT! We wouldn’t need all these constant attempts at convincing us to use it. Because it would be fucking incredible! But it’s not! It doesn’t do what you say it does!
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
i've had people insist to me that these are powerful but we've spent what, a trillion dollars or so? on computers that can't count to 100. for the money that's been put into these things, i would actually expect something that's better than this. but hey, i guess ELIZA got a nice makeover.
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Frankie Huang 黄碧赤 @ourobororoboruo.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Today’s Iowa is a "crop factory" and an "agricultural desert” but it was not always so. Found this lovely long read while strolling TikTok and had to share.
noemamag.com
Where The Prairie Still Remains | NOEMA
Are pioneer cemeteries key to the Iowa prairie’s revival, or its final resting place?
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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 23/08/2026
Watching so many people in the last 48 hours across the ideological spectrum insist that gutter racism is an intellectual position open to debate rather than a toxic belief has certainly been clarifying. People lose their lives & you continue to treat this as an intellectual exercise.
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Rhiannon Gidden's gorgeous rendition of Elizabeth Cotten's Freight Train, which is more than 120 years old. Gorgeous. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACn...
youtube.com
Rhiannon Giddens - Freight Train (Official Video)
YouTube video by Rhiannon Giddens
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bioRxiv Neuroscience @biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Fast calcium-dependent fluorescent labeling for recording of neuronal activation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
i really love playing hidden object games, and have a particular fondness for those involving cats. learned really quickly how much indie developers pay attention to their reviews because i'd commented about a few bugs and those bugs got fixed! i found a new set of bugs, they fixed it again. -
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Additional reporting on this plan, I emphasize *plan*, to align NIH K99 eligibility with other training mechs. I.e., citizens, green cards and Samoans only.
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The Journal of Pain @thejournalofpain.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Original: Drs. Adetayo ( @uofalabama.bsky.social), Burel, et al. highlight the impact of intersecting identities and the value of caregiver support and patient-centred care in children with painful disorders of gut-brain interaction facing stigma Full: www.jpain.org/article/S152...
jpain.org
Elevating the voices of Black youth with painful disorders of gut brain interaction: A qualitative study of stigma and resilience
Children with painful disorders of gut brain interaction (DGBIs) report stigmatization from medical providers, school personnel, family members, and peers. The consequences of pain-related stigma…
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
i'm a neuropharmacologist who researches chronic pain & i have been denied pain management & labeled a drug seeker for things like: going in after 3 straight days of a migraine. had actual brain surgery and got nothing more than 2 days' worth of pain management post.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
top one for me: "well don't you want to be sterilized, given <genetic disorder>?" honorable mention: "no, your migraines are caused by stress." (they were, in fact, caused by a tumor. this denial meant 5 years of constant migraines until i got surgery to remove the tumor.)
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Spencer LaVere Smith @spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Two-photon calcium imaging. What makes for good data? How can we optimize experiments to get good data? New post labrigger.com/blog/2026/07... and new free web apps from @filip-tomaska.bsky.social (1/8)
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Dr. Rebecca Barnes (she/her) @waterbarnes.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Wealth influences participation, persistence, and recognition in science, affecting not just who enters the pipeline but also who can afford to stay. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM
STEM is profoundly shaped by wealth, yet financial privilege is rarely acknowledged in discussions of diversity and inclusion. Wealth influences participation, persistence, and recognition in science,...
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Barbara Mellone 🇺🇦 @centromellone.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Manuscripts with women as corresponding authors are less frequently sent out for review at Science. The ones reviewed receive less favorable reviews by both male and female reviewers.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
i'm originally from Arizona so i never experienced the spring forward/fall back until i was an adult and frankly i've thought it was nonsense the whole time.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
as much as i enjoy a nice salad, i'm gonna be cooking all my veg for a good long while
spongebob time card title meme with the words "ten months later..." on it
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Tayler Sheahan @taylersheahan.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Very proud to share the first preprint from the Sheahan Lab, where we answer, ‘How does the kappa opioid system influence pain in the spinal cord?’ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Kappa opioid receptors in excitatory spinal neurons gate acute pain: evidence from mouse and human
The kappa opioid receptor (KOR) has emerged as a promising, nonaddictive analgesic target, yet the neural mechanisms underlying KOR inhibition of pain are not entirely understood. Here, we provide con...
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 30/06/2026
Here's why you should care about the trans athletes case today: Because if discrimination on the basis of gender identity doesn't violate equal protection, trans people can be segregated, outed, denied medical care, denied housing, denied jobs, and excluded by the government.
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Erica Picatinny ᛒᛉᛞᚹ 🖤🕊️ @picatinnyrailed.northsky.social · 30/06/2026
Adolescent trans girls deserve to fucking *belong*.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Trans rights are human rights always and forever.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
the trans agenda is for me and my friends to fucking survive.
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Big Dyke Energy @azurebitch.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Transness is eternal. There will be happy, fulfilled trans people that exist long after each and every one of these fuckers has long since passed. We will fight like hell for each and every one of our living and we will proceed in spiteful joy because unlike them we are building the future.
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
these are wet bulb temps that will heat stress most people in 30 minutes or less of direct sunshine. i treat this similarly to extreme cold - be careful about extended time outside, check in on vulnerable neighbors, etc.
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 30/06/2026
Kavanaugh, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Alito should be impeached www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
supremecourt.gov
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
i reiterate what i said ~3 months ago: bsky.app/profile/neur... this time, tho, it's at the end of pride
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Jeff Lewis @lewislab.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
"The biases do not disappear; they get encoded into the model and then laundered into outputs that feel objective because they are numerical. Replacing one prestige filter with another that is harder to see or challenge is not progress toward equity in science; it’s the opposite."
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Alex Keyes, PhD @neuropharmnerd.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
my guitar's from 1929(?) but i think i have a few books older than that. it's a parlor-sized nylon string guitar, has a beautiful sound to it. really strange head and neck to it, hard to pin it to any one make/model from the head and atypical fret markings on the neck.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
NEW — The sentencing of the Prairieland demonstrators shows the brutality of Trump's war on dissent, but it's not without precedent, @kimkelly.bsky.social writes. History shows us the government has always punished anti-fascism. But this time we can change the narrative in real time. Read here:
thehandbasket.co
From Haymarket to Prairieland: How dissent has unleashed the long arm of the law
The Prairieland sentencing has dark historical parallels, Kim Kelly writes. But we can change the end of the current story.
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
NYT investigates US car bloat: “About 200 to 400 pedestrians a year would not have died if vehicles had remained approximately the same size over the past quarter-century. That represents about 10 percent of the recent increase in pedestrian deaths.”
nytimes.com
The Deadly Rise of Giant Trucks and S.U.V.s
The vehicles on American roads have grown larger — and they are killing thousands more pedestrians, a Times investigation found.
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