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Rick Livesey

@ricklivesey.bsky.social
1.1K followers 532 following 33 posts

Cellular and molecular neuroscience, neurodegeneration & drug discovery. Founder and CEO of Talisman Therapeutics & Gen2 Neuroscience, honorary prof at UCL. Cambridge UK.

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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
New paper with @statsepi.bsky.social and @deevybee.bsky.social in which we show there's really no evidence for a link between the gut microbiome and autism www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
cell.com
Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism
Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential studies underpinning these...
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Daniel Durocher @durocher1.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
JOB ALERT 🚨 We are hiring TWO principal investigators in cell, molecular, systems, or chemical biology in Toronto, Canada at @sinaihealth.bsky.social. We provide a generous startup, fully funded salary and academic appointment at U of Toronto. www.nature.com/naturecareer... Please repost!
Image of Toronto
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
*new publication announcement* our first CRISPR screen paper is now out as Open Access in EMBO Journal. We find an unexpected role for LRRK2, an important gene/protein in Parkinson's disease, in controlling the uptake of both tau and synuclein by human neurons www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
embopress.org
Tau uptake by human neurons depends on receptor LRP1 and kinase LRRK2 | The EMBO Journal
imageimageNeuronal uptake of extracellular tau protein is thought to propagate intracellular protein aggregation between neurons, contributing to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegener...
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Unfortunately this has all the hallmarks of the tired old trope that there's no such thing as bad publicity (for a VC-backed company looking to raise on the best valuation possible). If nothing else, looks like Colossal have a v active PR/comms dept.
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Seth Blackshaw @sethblackshaw.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Now up, positively our lab's last word on Ptbp1. Developmental loss of function Ptbp1 turns out not to regulate neurogenesis or cell fate specification at all, but does alter splicing patterns and slightly accelerates expression of photoreceptor-specific genes./1 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Ptbp1 is not required for retinal neurogenesis and cell fate specification.
The RNA-binding protein Ptbp1 has been proposed as a master regulator of neuronal fate, repressing neurogenesis through its effects on alternative splicing and miRNA maturation. While prior studies us...
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
*New paper alert* - extracellular tau blocks synaptic plasticity in vivo via its microtubule-binding domain, which can be rescued by our Gen2 tau antibodies - all the product of a great collaboration with Michael Rowan and colleagues at @tcddublin.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Synaptotoxic effects of extracellular tau are mediated by its microtubule-binding region - Acta Neuropathologica
Immunotherapies targeting extracellular tau share the premise that interrupting cell-to-cell spread of tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will slow dementia pathogenesis. Whether these interven...
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Thank you @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social - full text here www.culturematters.org.uk/island-of-st...
https://www.culturematters.org.uk/island-of-strangers/
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
This is quite the cover from the Economist
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Paul Noth @paulnoth.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Mine in today’s @newyorker.com
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Latest paper from the team @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... great collab w/ Michael Rowan and Igor Klyubin @tcddublin.bsky.social and Dominic Walsh on how synaptotoxic effects of extracellular tau are mediated by its microtubule-binding region (MTBR)
biorxiv.org
Synaptotoxic effects of extracellular tau are mediated by its microtubule-binding region
Immunotherapies targeting extracellular tau share the premise that interrupting cell-to-cell spread of tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will slow dementia pathogenesis. How these intervention...
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Dr. Bethany Allen @bethanyjallen.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Today I have resigned from my position as a Data Editor at Proceedings B. I believe the journal does great work, but it feels wrong to voluntarily spend my time holding authors to account on behalf of the Royal Society, while the Society refuses to hold its own Fellows to account.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Important initiative from @scurry.bsky.social - please read and consider supporting by signing
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Stephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
An open letter to the President of the @royalsociety.org – time to stand up for your values. occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2025/...
occamstypewriter.org
An open letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your values | Reciprocal Space
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Matthew Freeman @mjafreeman.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Proudly supporting LGBT+ History Month @dunnschool.bsky.social
The rainbow flag flying on a sunny morning over the old Dunn School building. Whatever is happening elsewhere, we remain proud of our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Another filthy morning here, so it's certainly a day for The Best Cartoon:
A cartoon drawing of a moray eel, depicted here as whie with black spots on it against a red background. The eel has a speech bubble saying 'Death is Inevitable'. Below a caption reads 'Memento Moray'.  Artist: Gemma Correll, '15.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Very nicely put. Truly bizarre thing for FT to publish.
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
sambooker.bsky.social @sambooker.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
We just published a thing! In this study, we provide compelling evidence that a lack of microglia during early brain development does not lead to wholesale alterations of synaptic and cellular function. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
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...
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Still no formal response from the Royal Society, or the wider fellowship? If so, reflects badly on UK science establishment. Disappointing lack of leadership.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Best thing I've read in a while - yes it's funny and v well written, but raises some serious points.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Great respect for @deevybee.bsky.social for speaking out and taking action. I haven't seen any statements from @royalsociety.bsky.social so far - continued silence is not a good look, hopefully there is an active discussion within the wider fellowship. Anything less starts looking like complicity.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
*Preprint news* We've posted a substantial update to our study of an important aspect of Alzheimer's disease biology thought to contribute to disease spreading through the brain: how neurons take up extracellular tau. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
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IndiaWilloughby @indiawilloughby.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Today is International Trans Day of Remembrance. This is the toughest time in history to be trans and visible in the world, thanks to certain politicians, billionaires, trash media and Evangelicals. And it’s particularly tough for children and teens. Now, more than ever, we need our allies. Ty ❤️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Pride in STEM @prideinstem.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
November 18 is the International Day of LGBQTIA+ People in STEM! Today more than ever we want to stress the importance of communities, building connections, and raising each other up. Let's keep leaving our mark for the betterment of us all! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 #QueerinSTEM prideinstem.org/lgbtstemday/
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Simon Cook @drsimoncook.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Just finding my way on this platform and finding some friends old and new. Mainly preoccupied with protein kinase signalling pathways, how they work & what they do. Group Leader and Director of the Babraham Institute, which is home to my brilliant colleagues in Signalling, Epigenetics and Immunology
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Are there plans for @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social to link to #bsky from the article pages? Currently it only tracks the toxic bird site, which is rapidly becoming a waste of time (as well as tricky to defend, given that the owner is coming after universities). One for you @richardsever.bsky.social?
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
With the big science migration finally underway to bsky, I've finally deactivated my legacy account on the other site. Content and contacts here have improved greatly in recent weeks, no more need to sift through the toxic garbage over on the bird site to find thoughtful posts etc.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 23/10/2024
Our first preprint announcement on bluesky! Using human iPSC and Drosophila models of a frontotemporal dementia, we find that key pathologies can be corrected by targeting the NAT10 acetyltransferase #biosky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Targeting the acetyltransferase NAT10 corrects pathologies in human frontotemporal dementia neurons and extends lifespan in an in vivo Drosophila tauopathy model
Disruption of the neuronal nuclear membrane and perturbation of nucleocytoplasmic transport are features of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, that involve the microtubule-asso...
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 22/10/2024
Interesting arguments on how to go about target ID and validation to ensure higher rates of success in drug development. Broadly v much agree - although defining what constitutes causal human biology (and genetic evidence for targets) could do with further refinement, not least in neurology.
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 16/10/2024
Open letter from a group of sleuths re problems with editors/papers at Scientific Reports deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/10/an-o... They've published 23K papers in 2024 with APC of £2090, raising £48 million from this journal alone, so should be able to put resource into cleaning this up.
deevybee.blogspot.com
An open letter regarding Scientific Reports
16th October 2024  to: Mr Chris Graf Research Integrity Director, Springer Nature and Chair Elect of the World Conference...
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 23/08/2024
V nice neuronal cell biology study - congrats to all involved.
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 19/08/2024
Has anyone put together neurodegeneration/biotech/drug discovery starter packs??
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Reposted by Rick Livesey
Matthew Freeman @mjafreeman.bsky.social · 12/08/2024
Momentum growing. Can we get some MPs over here? www.theguardian.com/technology/a...
theguardian.com
Labour MPs begin quitting X over ‘hate and disinformation’
Exclusive: MPs leaving platform or scaling back use over its ‘deterioration’ under Elon Musk’s ownership
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Rick Livesey @ricklivesey.bsky.social · 16/10/2023
Good afternoon bsky, v happy to be here - looking for the great science migration from the bluebird, pls forward handles so I can get following
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