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Tyler J Wenzel

@tylerjwenzel.com
1.2K followers 463 following 40 posts

Professor, licensed teacher and health equity advocate. My research studies glia; informs medical policies and guidelines; and develops cell therapies to treat pediatric and adult brain diseases.

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Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D. @ertrunnell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
@tylerjwenzel.com's work at @usask.ca CoM focuses on pediatric neurological conditions. His lab generates human brain organoids from stem cells, allowing interventions to be tested in the exact human cell types affected in children. news.usask.ca/articles/res... #neuroskyence #neurosky #pedsky
“How can we study human disease, if we’re not using human tissue?” he said. “With these stem cells, we basically have an unlimited supply of human tissue, which means we can have a system where we can focus on the human aspects of disease and treatment.”
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Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D. @ertrunnell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
🏆2️⃣ @usask.ca scientists recognized for human #organoid research. @tylerjwenzel.com won a @stemcellnetwork.ca Rising Star Award for his pediatric disease research using brain organoids. Dr. Neeraj Dhar received NFRF funding to develop immune organoids for infectious disease. #USask #USaskResearch
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 16/01/2026
“My motivation is simple,” says Dr. Wenzel. “I want to make kids healthier. I want families to have more certainty and less stress.” Dr. Wenzel's research is examining pediatric brain disease care pathways, [and is] recognized as the top project in the Biomedical category. More: bit.ly/3LgX5nu
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 15/07/2025
Humbled for our stem cell team at @usask.ca to be ranked as the top biomedical research program in Saskatchewan 2 years in a row. Big thanks to our patient partners and the folks at Jim Pattison Children's Hospital. Looking forward to improving the health of youths! @usaskcomfacdev.bsky.social
Advertisement from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation describing that Dr. Tyler J. Wenzel was awarded $150,000 for a research project aiming to develop a new technique to cure brain diseases with limited or no safe treatment options.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 30/04/2025
So cool to finally see this study out! Thanks for the morning coffee read.
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Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Kelsey Nemec @kel-nem.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Amped to share this masterclass of a paper spearheaded by @waisenberg.bsky.social, out today in Immunity. Will et al. provide a deeply detailed look into microglia dysfunction in Krabbe disease & show that microglia replacement therapeutically improves disease outcomes! www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
cell.com
Direct microglia replacement reveals pathologic and therapeutic contributions of brain macrophages to a monogenic neurological disease
Hematopoietic stem cell transplant is the gold standard for treatment of globoid cell leukodystrophy, also called Krabbe disease. Aisenberg et al. define the molecular signature of disease-associated ...
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Elizabeth Rideout @ejrideout.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Really looking forward to this today! Grateful to Erin Mulvihill and @roblab.bsky.social for the opportunity to share a little about how biological sex affects islets!
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prinetti.bsky.social @prinetti.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Remyelination getting way more complex- and interesting…
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 24/03/2025
:) I fit the bill for an add! Thanks for sharing the list! I have not had time to keep up with who has been joining here.
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Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Frank Beier @beierlab.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Changes to MSc, PhD and postdoc funding programs from 🇨🇦 tri councils. Harmonization across councils, more awards, and new eligibility for international PhD and postdoc applicants!
nserc-crsng.gc.ca
NSERC - Latest News - Launch of the new Harmonized Tri-agency Scholarship and Fellowship programs
As announced in Budget 2024, the scholarship and fellowship programs administered by the three federal research funding agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) – have been streamlined into a new harmonized talent program called the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS) that will open for applications in summer 2025.
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John Trant @trantteam.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
And some buddies who do amazing work at Cape Breton don't crack the list. If American, look at where you might want to live. Cost of living in Vancouver and Toronto is nuts. Lower outside of them, and lowest in the prairies (USask and Regina!). Each province and city is a different place.
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John Trant @trantteam.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Share with US students who had their offers of admission withdrawn for PhD programs: Apply to Canada. Check out Canadian professors, and contact us. Our system works differently here, and we are all still, technically, able to accept students for Fall 2025.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 01/03/2025
Today is Rare Disease Day, and a great reminder of the importance of NIH and science funding in driving hope 🧬⬇️ www.rarediseaseday.org
rarediseaseday.org
Rare Disease Day 2025 – Raising awareness for people living with rare diseases and their families worldwide.
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Sara Nunes Vasconcelos, PhD she/her/hers🇨🇦🇧🇷 @saravasconcelos.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Zimmerman’s trailblazing work in #stemcell #cardiomyocyte transplantation in Homo sapiens failing hearts and rhesus macaques 😀👏🏻 Looking forward to reading this in detail #HF #cardiac #regeneration
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 15/01/2025
Thanks for taking the time to make the software public. Will certainly be using this as soon as possible!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 15/01/2025
This is so cool. Thank you for doing this! I was going to ask Shane how to get the software at some point, but now it's easily available! Bookmarked!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 09/01/2025
Provocative start to 2025. Journal Club 💭: 1) How do we reconcile that other microglia-deficient (eg, CSFR1-/-) models draw different conclusions? Could the remaining immune cells be compensating? 2) Why do these brains have synchronous neuron firing, but brain organoids lacking microglia do not?
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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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 03/01/2025
I’ve heard from search committees that several job offers have been left on the table. But, that info was before it looks like UBC upped their baseline offer over the last ~2 years.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 11/12/2024
Scrolls to random page: "While methods for the culture of CNS cells in the absence of serum have emerged, these are not always used" Yup... this is going to be a gooooood (and honest) article! I know its not the focus here, but I always think/talk about the wide use of serum in iPS cell protocols.
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Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Shane Liddelow @liddelowsa.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
3 reviews on planning, execution, & validation of transcriptomic experiments in neuroscience published in @natureportfolio.bsky.social #NatureNeuroscience. A MUST READ if you're doing transcriptomics. 3 reviews, an amazing editorial, a beautiful cover – this is the issue of the year! (mini thread)
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 04/12/2024
@samanthamrae.bsky.social @stemcellnetwork.bsky.social Welcome to the Sky! Glad to see you arrive :)
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prinetti.bsky.social @prinetti.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
And of course don’t forget our amazing biennial meetings… the next one? NYC August 2025, with the American Society for Neurochemistry!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 28/11/2024
See you soon! Let me know if you need any hot tips for the university, or the city in general. If I’m not mistaken, I saw your family asking about the BC->SK move. I came from Vancouver, so I can also help with any questions you have in that regard too ☺️
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Reposted by Tyler J Wenzel
Oscar Woolnough @owoolnough.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
As I've been seeing a lot of job postings here, I've set up a NeuroJobs feed. Add #NeuroJobs to your post if you're recruiting or looking for a PhD, Postdoc, or faculty position in Neuro or an adjacent field. bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 26/11/2024
Could I be added to the Canadian list? ☺️ I was thinking about doing the same thing once I saw the country ones, so thanks for taking the time to put this together!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 26/11/2024
This is such great leadership. Regardless of the failures, I think this is one of those instances where its the thought that counts. A community coming together and trying to 'pass the torch', even if it's just a small twig on fire or a sparkler.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 24/11/2024
I won't say anything in regards to content, but I will say I no regrets from continuing to watch!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 24/11/2024
Heck yeah! I’m waiting for Sunday to binge the last two episodes of Season 3. I was a little hesitant at first with how slow it was to trickle out plot, but I have been happy still!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 24/11/2024
@blairkgage.bsky.social Welcome to the blue side Blair!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 21/11/2024
@isn-society.bsky.social 😱You have finally arrived! Welcome!
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 18/11/2024
Currently have enthusiasm listed as my #2! I told them I ranked kindness higher because, despite data and methods needing critique to ensure proper conclusions, feedback should be given in a way knowing another human is receiving it.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 18/11/2024
That’s a good one. Thanks for the reminder! Prevents a lot of repetition, while showing respect. I’m enjoying trying to make a top 5 or 10.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 18/11/2024
What is the #1 quality that you look for in a student OR investigator? I got asked this by a potential graduate student. I thought about it and answered “kindness”. Saying no is OK. Making mistakes are OK. Asking for help is OK. There is no need for being mean; it only hinders science advancement.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 16/11/2024
How much do I appreciate @jneurochem.bsky.social? I present to you my office mug. Thanks for giving back to the community. PhD candidate or postdoc? Look at their Fundamental Review program (and their schools at neurochemistry.org) to see how you could make lifelong friends & travel awards!
Mug with the abstract from Dr. Wenzels paper in Journal of Neurochemistry printed on it.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 16/11/2024
I focus on early-onset AD specifically these days! Fascinated by the phenotype in human brain tissues. ☺️
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 21/10/2024
There is not a day that goes by where I am not thankful of the life science gives me. A break from the laboratory to learn about the science behind mental health disorders in Naxos, Greece. Thanks to ISN and their Flagship School. :D
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 11/05/2024
Whelp! That's embarrassing. I accidentally copied the link wrong. Thanks for noticing that, alas there is no edit button 🥲 It should have pointed here 👉 wnzl.ca/wenzel2024-f...
wnzl.ca
Brain organoids engineered to give rise to glia and neural networks after 90 days in culture exhibit human-specific proteoforms
Human brain organoids are emerging as translationally relevant models for the study of human brain health and disease. However, it remains to be shown whether human-specific protein processing is cons...
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 11/05/2024
Apparently I can't type... What I would give for an edit button! Article is here: wnzl.ca/wenzel2024-f...
wnzl.ca
Brain organoids engineered to give rise to glia and neural networks after 90 days in culture exhibit human-specific proteoforms
Human brain organoids are emerging as translationally relevant models for the study of human brain health and disease. However, it remains to be shown whether human-specific protein processing is cons...
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
We continue to streamline the process of generating brain organoids, and are always finding new and exciting ways organoids can give us insight into physiology and pathology. I can't wait to share what's currently under review, but for now... bye bye! (9/9)
media.tenor.com
Goodbye Bye Bye GIF
ALT: Goodbye Bye Bye GIF
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
I should also plug our chapter in the Handbook of Neural Engineering: A Modern Approach (edited by @drwillerth.bsky.social ). We share a lot of ways to improve or streamline the protocols for generating brain organoids. Maybe pick up a copy from Elsevier when available? (8/9)
media.tenor.com
Just Do It Shia La Beouf GIF
ALT: Just Do It Shia La Beouf GIF
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
Our team sends a big thanks to NSERC, @usask.bsky.social and private donors for the unwavering support in our work and research program. Their initial support got us more💰backing! I also give a thank you to the late Ben Barres. Without his papers, I would probably not have a job right now. (7/9)
media.tenor.com
Youre Welcome Pleasure GIF
ALT: Youre Welcome Pleasure GIF
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
This primary research paper is a follow up to our Fundamental Review in the @jneurochem.bsky.social (a top journal paper in 2022!) 👉 doi.org/10.1111/jnc.... This review identified many research gaps, which we start tackling here and in our upcoming research (in review) (6/9)
doi.org
Fundamental Neurochemistry Review: Incorporating a greater diversity of cell types, including microglia, in brain organoid cultures improves clinical translation
The <em>Journal of Neurochemistry</em> publishes research covering all aspects of neurochemistry including molecular, cellular, biochemical and behavioural aspects of the nervous system.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
I am so proud of this paper. It was published exactly as we intended, with transparent data. None of our western blots are cropped, and all our data points are shown. Embrace the messy western blots! Real tissue does not always give a single band! (5/9)
media.tenor.com
Surprised GIF
ALT: Surprised GIF
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
Other highlights 👉The brain organoids are functional 👉Given stringent SOPs, brain organoids can be made with consistent sizes, metabolism, density of proteins, as well as protein profiles 🐭Clonal mice are more variable 🚨We can get reproducible and consistent assay responses and readouts! (4/9)
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
We also stratified data by sex: ❤️Many articles show differences in the macrostructure of male and female human brains 🚨But not many reports that compare microstructure 🫠We found that the microstructure of male and female brains & brain organoids were largely comparable. (3/9)
media.tenor.com
Kermit The Frog What GIF
ALT: Kermit The Frog What GIF
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
We started with the simple question: are these brain organoids similar to the human brain? 👉Yes! Protein banding is largely conserved. 😱Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mouse brain exhibits different protein banding. 👍Without appreciating this, densitometry is difficult! (2/9)
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 10/05/2024
🚨Our latest #research is live! 👉https://wnzl.ca/wenzel-fncel2024 Any kind shares? ⭐Highlights: 1️⃣1st documentation of #microglia, #oligodendrocytes, #neurons and #astrocytes cells in human #brain #organoids simultaneously 2️⃣Brain organoids process proteins in a manner specific to human brain 🧵(1/9)
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 13/10/2023
The privilege of being a scientist will never be lost on me - what a cool job. Some photos from giving a keynote speech to the Minister of Advanced Education Hon. Gordon Wyant, University President Dr. Stoicheff, and the rest of the #USask research community about our #regenmed and #organoid work.
Dr. Tyler J. Wenzel talking at a podium about his brain organoid platform that can be used for regenerative medicine and diagnosing adult brain diseases.Dr. Tyler J. Wenzel talking to other professors at the University of Saskatchewan about his presentation.Dr. Tyler J. Wenzel talking to Saskatchewan's Minister of Advanced Education (Honorable Gordan Wyant) about his research's impact on health care.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 12/10/2023
Refreshing, but makes me think. As they discussed, what are their demographics? What is their overlap with the article topics? Anecdotally, I think they're right, as I always use classic ways to find paper to cite (web of science, etc.), but I certainly read more papers off twitter out of interest.
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Tyler J Wenzel @tylerjwenzel.com · 09/10/2023
The worst part for me was the one time I purged during a move... I immediately needed the cable in my new home. I thought I had more 'backups' than I actually did. 🫠 I'm not sure I will ever be able to purge again.
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