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Jason Stein

@steinlab.bsky.social
558 followers 315 following 11 posts

Associate to the professor, UNC Chapel Hill Dept of Genetics and UNC Neuroscience Center, studying genetic effects on brains, steinlab.org

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Reposted by Jason Stein
Hyejung Won @hyejungwon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
1/ I’m excited to share our new work, now out in @natneuro.nature.com! This was a wonderful collaboration with my long-term collaborator @steinlab.bsky.social, led by two fantastic trainees, @nanamatoba.bsky.social and Jessica McAfee. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Massively parallel assessment of gene regulatory activity at human cortical-structure-associated variants - Nature Neuroscience
A large-scale functional screen identified noncoding variants that regulate gene activity during human brain development, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms that shape differences in hum...
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Come be our colleague at UNC! The Department of Cell Biology & Physiology and the Neuroscience Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invite applications for an open-rank, tenure-track faculty position. Please apply here: unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/322...
unc.peopleadmin.com
Open Rank
The Department of Cell Biology & Physiology and the Neuroscience Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invite applications for an open-rank, tenure-track faculty position. The succ...
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Reposted by Jason Stein
Ian Curtin @iancur.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Why are brains with Chd8 mutations larger? 🧠 It’s a top risk factor for autism, but the “how” and “when” of this growth have been unknown. Our new study in @bioRxiv images 118 brains in a large-scale 3D pipeline to help solve the mystery! 🔍 tinyurl.com/y4fm6km6 Thread 1/10
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Reposted by Jason Stein
Greg Copenhaver @copenhaverlab.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Exciting neuroscience and bioelectronics engineering by Wubin Bai and @steinlab.bsky.social working with #UNC Institute for Convergent Science. Their technology may open new doors for psychiatric and neuro treatments. innovate.unc.edu/cracking-the...
innovate.unc.edu
Cracking the Brain’s Code: New Sensor Wraps the Human Mind in 3D Insight | Innovate Carolina
Peek inside a laboratory at the UNC Neuroscience Center and you might spot what looks like a collection of tiny white beads spinning in a container of red-tinted liquid. No larger than small peas or p...
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
GxTs in a dish suggest a treatment target that has already demonstrated efficacy in model systems and human populations. We're interested in pursuing this model more broadly to answer pharmacogenomics and gene x environment interactions. Thanks for reading!
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Interesting because folate supplementation in mice rescues VPA induced teratogenicity and dietary folate supplementation in mothers taking antiepileptics, including VPA, is also associated with reduced autism diagnosis in the exposed children.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
When performing TWAS using Edu Attainment GWAS (imperfect proxy for cognitive ability) on gene expression during VPA exposure, many significantly associated genes were identified, which were enriched in folate metabolism.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Many common genetic variants impacted chromatin accessibility or gene expression in this population (black circles are significant interaction molQTLs). Showing that inherent genetic variation does impact response to drugs.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
VPA also strongly shuts down proliferation, measured through an EdU assay, consistent with prenatal VPA exposure leading to microcephaly.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Genes differentially expressed due to VPA replicated previous work and were enriched in genes associated with autism through whole exome sequencing, again suggesting convergence.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
We found GWAS heritability for ASD and intelligence was strongly enriched within peaks differentially accessible due to VPA exposure, suggesting a convergence of genetic and environmental factors.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
We added VPA, an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizer where prenatal exposure is associated with intellectual disability and autism, as well as Li, used for treatment of bipolar disorder, to a population of genotyped human neural progenitors.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Pharmacogenomic studies aim to identify which genetic variants predict response to clinically useful drugs. While these studies have had some success, they face inherent difficulties due to confounding and often find genetic variants influencing drug metabolism rather than brain cell response.
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Jason Stein @steinlab.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Excited to share our new preprint on molecular gene x treatment interactions led by Jordan Valone, Brandon Le, and @nanamatoba.bsky.social. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1.... Here, we tried to further develop the "pharmacogenomics in a dish" approach for psychiatry.
medrxiv.org
Assessing molecular gene by treatment interactions using a population of neural progenitors exposed to valproic acid and lithium
Gene by treatment (GxT) interactions likely contribute to variability in clinical response, but are difficult to identify in population studies. Here, we applied psychiatric and neurological disorder ...
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