iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Tim Mosca (he/him) @drosophilosophy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

What an absolute and utter JOY it was to kick off our seminar series with @eisch.bsky.social! An absolutely amazing scientist, delightful human, and enthusiastic supporter of all things. If she's not on your seminar list, you need to put here there! Thanks for making the journey over the river. :)

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

TogetherForSharon® @togetherforsharon.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Q & A with Sharon's son, George. Episode 294 Special Guest: Richard Jay Smeyne, Ph.D: The Role of Viruses In Parkinson’s Disease Research. youtu.be/wKx8tjy0Ezg TogetherForSharon® In memory of my mother, Sharon to voice awareness & hope for a Parkinson's Disease cure.

youtu.be

Q & A with Sharon's son, George. Episode 294 Special Guest: Richard Jay Smeyne, Ph.D

YouTube video by TogetherForSharon®

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Our review article on discussing the neuroprotective role of exercise in Parkinson’s disease is now published. This was an article supporting the Smeyne lab’s recent Plenary Session at the World Parkinson’s Conference. journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Tim Mosca (he/him) @drosophilosophy.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Adam Marc, the latest minted PhD from Jefferson Neuroscience! He did lovely work in the Hahn and Borgmann-Winter labs on proteomics and schizophrenia and marvelously defended his thesis today!

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

A podcast I did previewing my Plenary talk at this years World Parkinsons Congress was just released. The podcast is called Hear! Here! Parkinson’s and originated in Norway. It us co hosted by Eli Pollard and Edgar Valdmanis. It can be heard at www.podbean.com/ew/pb-sdvz8-....

podbean.com

Episode 32: Richard Smeyne, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Thomas Jefferson University

On this episode of the Hear, Here Parkinson’s Podcast, we’re joined by Richard Smeyne, PhD — Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Smeyne dives into...

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

All ready for 3 days of exciting talks and discussions with our colleagues from Rome and Tel Aviv on topics ranging from Parkinson’s disease, ALS, stroke, epilepsy and immunology.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

I just had the great honor of speaking with George Ackerman whose advocacy for Parkinson's disease has been tremendous. Our conversation about the role of viruses and PD on his TogetherFor Sharon podcast is available on Spotify. open.spotify.com/episode/4ZSJ...

open.spotify.com

Q & A with Sharon's son, George. Episode 294 Special Guest: Richard Jay Smeyne, Ph.D: The Role of Viruses In Parkinson’s Disease Research.

Spotify video

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

@raskin.house.gov giving a great and inspirational speech at Philadelphia’s No Kings rally. People from Independence Hall to the Constitution Center.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Appropriate place to end the Philadelphia No Kings march

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Our paper discussing templating of alpha-synuclein and how over expression of monomeric (normal) forms of this protein can induce misfolding and induce SNpc DA neuron death was just published in Scientific Reports. nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

A naturally neurotropic virus that kills dopamine neurons. But not to worry, because If we don’t know about it then it’s not real.

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Danielle Beckman @daniellebeckman.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Very honored to have given this Rising Star interview, where I could talk a bit about myself, my research, my passion for microscopy, and my dream to help find a cure for #LongCovid one day 💔 Link for the full interview: short-link.me/123uR Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

eurekalert.org

Brazilian neuroscientist reveals how viral infections transform the brain through microscopic detective work

Dr. Danielle Beckman's innovative research at the California National Primate Research Center demonstrates how viral infections disrupt brain homeostasis, leading to neuroinflammation and cognitiv...

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

On this Flag day, let’s remember that this country, founded by immigrants, is made great by the rainbow of people and opinions that strive for a more perfect union. Patriotism is not owned by one group and despite efforts at this small blip in time never will be.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

The NIH has continued to refine its policies and guidelines to address the "effect of sex" in research, even extending these requirements to preclinical and animal studies in 2016.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993, signed into law on June 10, 1993, directed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish guidelines requiring the inclusion of women and minorities in clinical research.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Slightly exaggerated but not long ago almost all preclinical/clinical studies used only males assuming that results would be the same in females. We now know (amazing, huh) that our biochemistries are different and why the NIH mandated that all studies used equal numbers of male and females.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Not a problem. We can just start studying the effects of loss is estrogen leading to menopause in males. Just like the good old days when all studies were done in males (he says dripping with sarcasm)

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Congratulations to 4 of our @ParkinsonDotOrg Center of Excellence movement disorder physicians, Drs Tsao-Wei Liang, Daniel Kremens and Jeffrey Ratliff (neurology) and Ashwini Sharon (neurosurgery) on being named 2025 top docs by Philadelphia magazine.

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Tim Mosca (he/him) @drosophilosophy.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Congratulations Jefferson JCLS Class of 2025! Proud of all our Neuroscience graduates and their accomplishments on the road to their PHD, MD, and MS degrees! What a wonderful group of new scholars!! Mazel Tov!

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Tim Mosca, PhD (Associate Professor). Not pictured: Joesph Buchler III MS, Benjamin Helpin, MS, Darsaan Khanna, MS).

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Victoria Baccini PhD (Class of 2025, Dalva lab), Oghenerukevwe Akpoghiran, PhD (Class of 2025, Koh lab), Kyunghee Koh, PhD (Professor), Gabriella Spagnuolo, PhD (Class of 2025, Iacovitti Lab),, Lorraine Iacovitti, PhD (Professor), Jesse Humenik, MS (Class of 2025, Mosca lab),

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Congratulations to the 2025 Department of Neuroscience graduating class. From L to R: Richard Smeyne, PhD, Professor and Chair, Hanni Jafri, MD, PhD (class of 2025, Dalva lab), Matthew Dalva, PhD (currently, Professor, Tulane University),

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Science Magazine @science.org · 25/04/2025

Jeffery Taubenberger, who gained fame for unearthing samples of the 1918 flu virus, and ultimately sequencing its entire genome, has been named acting director of the NIAID, Science has learned. scim.ag/3EzzUBo

scim.ag

Researcher of 1918 flu virus takes over NIAID

Jeffery Taubenberger becomes acting director of NIH’s second largest institute

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

On the positive side, WT animals vaccinated against the COVID-19 infection, using either mRNA or protein-based vaccines were protected from this increased sensitivity to oxidative stress. G2019S LRRK2 animals, however, were only protected by the protein vaccine and not the mRNA vaccine.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Using preclinical modeling, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infection sensitizes the dopamine neurons lost in Parkinson's to oxidative stress that in an unaffected animal would be innocuous. We also show that animals carrying a G2019S LRRK2 mutation lose these same DA neurons following infection alone.

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Stacey Schultz-Cherry @ssclabquips.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

We are excited to announce the next Journal of Virology seminar series will be live streamed on March 28 at 11 am Central Time. The paper to be presented is journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... by Dr. Christine Marizzi and her group asm.org/Biographies/...

journals.asm.org

Detection of clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus in New York City | Journal of Virology

While surveillance programs for avian influenza viruses are often focused on migratory routes and their associated stop-over locations or commercial poultry operations, many bird species—including mig...

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

I don’t normally post about politics and I say this as an older white male. We need to get rid of this older generation of Dems. We need new vigor to fight for our beliefs. The current admin will keep winning because Crazy has a lot of Energy.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

But you are right. Optic nerve directly to brain. So iaee other cranial nerves: olfactory (from nose), trigeminal from mouth, facial (tongue), glosspharyngeal (tongue/thriat) hypoglossal (uvula). Then there is vagus from visceral organs. Many roads to the brain.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

One reason (for some) that there is only conjunctivitis might be some cross protection from flu vaccine and previous flu immune memory. This might be from the previous clade and not the newest infecting cows, cats and now rodents.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I find this sad. From Von Economo’s encephalopathy (made famous in Oliver Sacks “Awakenings”) after 1918 flu to 2003 H5N1 to the 2009 H1N1 swine flu, viruses seem to be the trigger for neurodegeneration. While not the only cause; to ignore their contribution to lose a whole entree to prevention.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

My lab is looking for a postdoc to carry on a series of neurovirology studies to develop a deeper understanding of whether encephalopathies caused by a number of viruses (influenza, SARS, WNV) induce pathology by common vs unique mechanisms.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Congratulations to our labs latest PhD graduate, Debotri Chatterjee who successfully defended her thesis entitled “Induction of Parkinsonism Pathology by Different Strains of SARS-CoV-2 in mice”. Now onto the final 2 years of medical school.

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Chengyuan Wu, MD, MSBmE @chenwumd.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Intracranial electrode bending is underrecognized but not random—it correlates with brain stiffness interfaces. Our study shows MR elastography can predict deviations, challenging the idea that bending is inevitable. 🔗 Read the full article here: journals.lww.com/onsonline/ab... #DBS #stereotaxy

journals.lww.com

Deep Brain Stimulation Electrode Deviations are Associated... : Operative Neurosurgery

tion, an estimated 3% to 8% of patients still require revision surgery to address suboptimal electrode placement. DBS electrode deviation may occur at mechanical tissue interfaces, with denser interna...

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Reposted by Richard Smeyne

Amelia Eisch 🧪🧠👩‍🔬 🐁 @eisch.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Updated flyer for the Philly Friday March 7 @standupforscience.bsky.social science protest, now w/ alt text & a slightly earlier time. Pls mark those calendars, make those signs & share widely #ScienceIsForEveryone #RestThenResist #CallYourRepresentatives #GoBirds #FlyScienceFly

A promotional flyer for 'Stand Up For Science 2025' featuring the Statue of Liberty in light blue against a blue background. The statue holds a torch with a yellow flame. Red banners contain white text announcing the event details: March 7, 2025 at Philadelphia City Hall at 11 AM. The flyer includes the tagline 'SCIENCE IS FOR EVERYONE' and directs viewers to find their local rally site at standupforscience2025.org. The design combines patriotic imagery with bold, modern typography in red and white.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Danielle. As you know from our chats, regular folks will get sick and demand this work. Those of us who do this will likely have to find alternative sources for funds. Not all people with means reject science and I hope they step up (dollars talk!). Philanthropy can support this work.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Listening to Super Bowl champion and leader in community activism Malcolm Jenkins at Jefferson’s Salutes Martin Luther King Jr’s vision.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Nothing else needs to be said.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Our lab is looking for a self motivated postdoc to examine the role of infections in the brain, with a particular focus on induction and progression of parkinsonian pathology. The ideal candidate will have experience in immunology/virology. Although a background in neuroscience will be helpful.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

I’m 65 years old and still Get excited when I look up In the sky and can see Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Fly Eagles Fly. E-A-G-L-E-S. Great for the city. Broad Street by Jefferson is a sea of happy humanity.

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Richard Smeyne @rjsmeyne.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

So sad to hear. I worked as the Senior section editor for molecular and developmental neuroscience for years under Floyd as EIC of Brain Research. Remember editorial meetings going out and tooling around San Diego in his little sports car talking science.

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