Forever developmental biologist at ❤️ studying the blood-brain barrier #BBB in the best model system #zebrafish to understand how different molecular and cellular interactions affect BBB function. www.obrownlab.com
Natasha O'Brown
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What fun could be had!
Had a great time visiting WashU today and reconnecting with some old friends! Tony gave me the sweetest introduction that only 16 years of knowing me could achieve.
Natasha O'Brown
'We primarily do comparative analysis using human stem cells/organoids and genetically modified mouse models, with some minor use of frog models. We use this approach because, for developmental anomalies, it is impossible to assess true function without in vivo models'
@karenjliu.bsky.social
And look at this amazing cake that my postdoc Jackie baked for my birthday!
Starting #asn2026 right with @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social and Sarah Ackerman (not pictured but driving us lushes around town)
I created this collection of common brain models in neuroscience, all to scale
Across species, brains share fundamental principles and many homologous regions
But as size increases, complexity and connectivity change. We need the full spectrum, from flies to rodents, non-human primates, and humans
For anyone who is a scientist or has benefitted from basic research on model organisms (that's EVERYONE), please take the time to leave a comment about priority 1 here: rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6998c3a23e... by the deadline May 28! I know I wouldn't be here today without modern medicine
It's been a pretty good week for the obrownlab.com. We had a nice lab lunch to celebrate the end of the semester. InWord received the prestigious Henry Rutgers Scholar award for her honors thesis research in the lab, and it's my birthday!
I had such a good time visiting #UVA this week. Good views, good wine, good food, and great people. Thanks @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social for hosting me and letting me crash lab meeting!
Had such a fun night with these ladies after an amazing day at #asn2026 @megancphd.bsky.social @laurafontenas.bsky.social @jcoutinhobudd.bsky.social and Sarah and Claudia with no bluesky. On to the last day and a bunch of our talks today.
Summary: The call to arms for alternatives to model organisms of disease will fail without ongoing integration with – and validation against – complex animal models and support from the animal modelli...
New preprint from my lab! Will Anderson developed a transgenic #zebrafish ubiquitously expressing an optogenetic FGF/ERK activator. We're having a lot of fun with it and think you will too! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
