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Sam Woodburn

@samcwoodburn.bsky.social
961 followers 156 following 17 posts

Researching the neurobiology of stress and novel treatments for psychiatric disorders. Postdoc in the Kwan lab at Cornell. Mental health advocate and level 16 Orc Wizard. He/him.

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Reposted by Sam Woodburn
Alex Kwan @alexkwan.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
New preprint from collaboration with @sn-lab.bsky.social - 2p imaging of psilocybin's effects on neurovascular coupling 🧠🔬 We found that psilocybin prolongs the neurovascular response, independent of neural activity. This would affect how we should interpret fMRI BOLD studies of psychedelics ‼️
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Nature @nature.com · 23/07/2025
These members of the NIH Council of Councils are voicing serious concerns about NIH grant terminations, restructure, and budget cuts go.nature.com/46Vr8t2
go.nature.com
Protect the integrity of the US National Institutes of Health
Letter to the Editor
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
#GRCPsychedelics - What a blast! It was great to talk science with so many incredible people in the field. Can't wait to do it all over again!
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Chris Rozell @crozell.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Please repost! We're hiring a postdoc to work with me and @salagapan.bsky.social on an exciting interdisciplinary project in human neuroscience and brain-body interactions underlying effortful behavior in health and mood disorders. siplab.gatech.edu/postdoc_ad_2...
siplab.gatech.edu
SIPLab
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Earlier today we said everyone should oppose the current rescission package, even though it does not include #NIH provisions. We said this bill will embolden Trump and Vought to enact massive NIH budget cuts via another rescission. Now Vought confirms. 1/
Vought's comments set off Hill furor as shutdown threat
looms
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
NEW: In an unprecedented move, the NIH will soon disinvite dozens of scientists about to take positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding. NIH staff were told to select others aligned with the Trump administration and told to expect placements by political appointees.
nature.com
Exclusive: NIH to dismiss dozens of grant reviewers to align with Trump priorities
The move would undo years of work, leaving advisory councils understaffed, and without the full expertise needed for reviews.
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Tracy Bale @thebalelab.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
NIH and FDA hosted a workshop on July 7 on efforts to reduce the use of animal models in research, NIH has formally announced a policy change. The agencies have invited comments through the workshop’s webpage. PLEASE COMMENT. The portal will be open until 5pm ET on Monday, July 14 (TODAY).
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 11/07/2025
DO NOT GIVE UP! Our advocacy is working. A key Senate committee has indicated that it will reject Trump’s proposed cuts to science agencies including NASA and the NSF. Keep speaking up and calling your electeds 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Nature: US senators poised to reject Trump’s proposed massive science cuts

Committee gives first hint that policymakers might preserve, rather than slash, funding for US National Science Foundation and other agencies.
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Reposted by Sam Woodburn
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 29/05/2025
This isn’t just a warning — it’s a call to action. 🛑 Stand against a future where facts are filtered by Trump’s ideology. Sign & share our open letter. ⬇️ actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...
actionnetwork.org
Sign The Open Letter to Stand Up For Science Now!
Science is under siege. Trump’s latest Executive Order calls for politically appointed science commissars to evaluate research. Join us in adding your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s escala...
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Microglia are often framed as driving maladaptive behavior in stress and depression, but what if they're important for treatment as well? In the final project from my graduate studies, we explored whether microglial BDNF supports the effects of low-dose ketamine. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Microglial brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) supports the behavioral and synaptogenic effects of ketamine
Microglia have been implicated in the pathogenesis for several psychiatric disorders, yet comparatively little is known about their role in treatments for these conditions. Prior work showed that the ...
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Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
If you read one thing today, make it this:
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 25/04/2025
PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081
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Eric C. Greene @dnacurtain.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
I am a professor at Columbia University. All of the student NIH training grants have been canceled and now there are reports that ALL funding will be frozen. Why are Universities not banding together and speaking out publicly and forcibly about governmental attacks on biomedical research?
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Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦 @michaelhendricks.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
IF YOU FIGHT, THEY BACK DOWN. The only explanations for institutional compliance are you're cowards or you like it.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 09/04/2025
Exclusive: Weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration ordered NIH to pull $250 million in biomedical research grants to Columbia University, the agency is freezing all remaining grant money owed to the university until further notice. scim.ag/4if5Rg1
scim.ag
NIH freezes all research grants to Columbia University
Amid negotiations with Trump, the university could risk losing nearly $700 million
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Alex Kwan @alexkwan.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
@samcwoodburn.bsky.social previously tested 2 mg/kg psilocybiin, among many other conditions, for fear extinction. pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.... The results are very close... Ours in the top, the cross-lab average in the bottom
Effect of 2 mg/kg psilocybin on fear extinction in mice.
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
"The consolidation/RIF plan pulls power away from scientists and puts it in the hands of political employees. It sets up Trump and Musk to kill NIH as an evidence-based science funder. We must stop this plan." New contributed post on our blog: Please read. It describes Orban and authoritarianism. 🧪
open.substack.com
The NIH firing plan is really a radical institute merger and an authoritarian takeover
this is an Orbanization of US science: a move to exert political control over discovery, which will kill the US medical research industry and end cancer cures. The plan must be stopped. We can act.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 28/03/2025
🚨 Over 70 graduate programs in the biological and biomedical sciences have frozen or slashed admissions. The consequences are profound—how many brilliant minds are being shut out of research entirely? How much future discovery is being lost before it even begins? docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com
Graduate Reductions Across Biomedical Sciences (2025)
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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
“Yet, far from acting in courageous defiance, many scientists and administrators now seem to think that the best response to the war on DEI is to keep their heads low and wait out four hard years.” Hell yes, Art Caplan. More courageous defiance, less quiet cowardice. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Don’t wait out four hard years: speak truth to power
The importance of diversity in science is an unshakeable reality that the scientific community must stand by.
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Justin is a phenomenal scientist and all around great person! After working together for 5 years, I seriously can't recommend him enough if you're looking for someone to tackle difficult research questions
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
I feel fortunate to mentor such thoughtful students! I'm not sure if they're aware, but stuff like this makes my whole week. It feels good to know I can have a similar impact on them as my mentors have had on me.
A thank you card and magnet from my student after their trip abroad.
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Reposted by Sam Woodburn
Alex Kwan @alexkwan.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Can whole-brain imaging of cellular c-Fos signals be used to classify #psychedelics? 🧠🔬💊 Our study by @aboharbf.bsky.social and @pashadavoudian.bsky.social, developing an imaging and machine learning pipeline to test a panel of psychoactive drugs. Paper here 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Classification of psychedelics and psychoactive drugs based on brain-wide imaging of cellular c-Fos expression - Nature Communications
A challenge in psychiatric drug discovery is to predict the therapeutic potential of a novel compound. Here, the authors show that brain-wide imaging of immediate early gene expression can be used to ...
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J. David Jentsch 🏳️‍🌈 @jdavidjentsch.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
The current administration is doing everything it can to irreparably harm trans people and destroy their dignity and well-being. Yet this is getting way less discussion and conversation than threats to grants. www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...
nbcnews.com
Trump signs sweeping order to further restrict trans care for minors nationwide
The order says the U.S. will not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” transition-related care for minors, which it defines as those under age 19.
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Academic workers across the country are organizing to call on our congressional representatives on Thursday, 1/30, at 3pm ET / 12pm PT to demand these restrictions be lifted immediately. There will be a training over zoom at the beginning of the event. Join us! form.jotform.com/250226137228...
form.jotform.com
Join researchers across the country in fighting restrictions on the NIH
Please click the link to complete this form.
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Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Working w/ a reporter on the consequences of the NIH/NSF freezes (e.g., training pipelines, how grants support clinical time for trials) If you've had a grant impacted, some organizational perspective (e.g., in APPIC leadership/DCT role) + are willing to share your experience please shoot me a DM
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
What a great panel of basic and translational research! Also, big thank you to @mayoonthebrain.bsky.social for not hitting us with her unconditioned stimulus in the morning 🙏
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
I need coffee shops to realize that deciding to be vegan ≠ deciding that $11 is a good piece for toast
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Scenes like this are my favorite thing about being on East Coast time #winterbrain #wcbr2025
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Something I'm not seeing discussed is that DEI training is required for APA and CSWE accreditation. What's going to happen to interns matched with a VA for psych and social work degrees? This is insane.
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Amy Feldman @amyfeldman7.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
If you’ve been directly impacted by a pause or cancellation of an NIH study session, we @forbes.com would like to talk to you
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
In a turn of events that I'm sure has nothing to do with a certain evil tech billionaire, this app sure is more populated since I last logged in! Anyway, here's the paper that followed up the talk I posted about *checks watch* eleven months ago. pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pubs.acs.org
Psilocybin Facilitates Fear Extinction: Importance of Dose, Context, and Serotonin Receptors
A variety of classic psychedelics and MDMA have been shown to enhance fear extinction in rodent models. This has translational significance because a standard treatment for post-traumatic stress disor...
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Alex Kwan @alexkwan.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Our latest work led by @claraliao.bsky.social is a collaboration with the other Kwan lab @kwanlab.bsky.social We used single-nucleus RNA sequencing to measure transcriptional responses in the mouse medial frontal cortex following a single dose of psilocybin. 🍄 🧠 🧬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Schematic of the experiment
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 16/02/2024
Thrilled to share our recent behavioral research! Spurred some really exciting conversations and ideas for future experiments ⚡🐀
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 10/12/2023
There are few things as exciting as accidentally replicating findings from older behavioral pharmacology studies. You mean to tell me that my results actually make sense??? These things are real and we're not just making all this shit up??? Incredible.
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
The academic urge to use work as an excuse to avoid seeing family over the holidays...
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 27/09/2023
So excited to be at the point in my career where I get speaker invites for fake conferences! Y'all know how to make a gal feel special 💁
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Sam Woodburn @samcwoodburn.bsky.social · 02/09/2023
I've resumed my grad school ritual of frenetically dancing to "Gimmie! Gimme! Gimme!" whenever I'm working at midnight, so I think it's safe to say I've fully settled into the new position 🧑‍🔬🕺
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