Katharina Schmack
@kathaschmack.bsky.social
Psychiatrist | Neuroscientist | Founding Member of the Psychosis Collective @TheCrick @UCLPsychiatry
๐
In case it makes you feel better, here is an excerpt from my recent breakfast conversation: "Mom, don't say that! This is so 2023!"
In case it makes you feel better, here is an excerpt from my recent breakfast conversation: "Mom, don't say that! This is so 2023!"
November 25, 2025 at 12:21 AM
๐
In case it makes you feel better, here is an excerpt from my recent breakfast conversation: "Mom, don't say that! This is so 2023!"
In case it makes you feel better, here is an excerpt from my recent breakfast conversation: "Mom, don't say that! This is so 2023!"
How often have you heard that schizophrenia is โ80% geneticโ?
That number is almost certainly too high because it comes from twin studies that overestimate heritabilty.
Great explainer of this phenomenon๐
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychiatry
That number is almost certainly too high because it comes from twin studies that overestimate heritabilty.
Great explainer of this phenomenon๐
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychiatry
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short ๐งต
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:49 AM
How often have you heard that schizophrenia is โ80% geneticโ?
That number is almost certainly too high because it comes from twin studies that overestimate heritabilty.
Great explainer of this phenomenon๐
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychiatry
That number is almost certainly too high because it comes from twin studies that overestimate heritabilty.
Great explainer of this phenomenon๐
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #psychiatry
Introducing the ๐๐-๐๐ญ-๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐! ๐คฏ
When activated, it will auto-reply to your PI's frantic ideas for new experiments, analyses, and projects with "Great suggestion! Saving this for later" (aka: let's talk when youโre back and got some sleep)
#sfn2025 #sfn25
When activated, it will auto-reply to your PI's frantic ideas for new experiments, analyses, and projects with "Great suggestion! Saving this for later" (aka: let's talk when youโre back and got some sleep)
#sfn2025 #sfn25
November 18, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Introducing the ๐๐-๐๐ญ-๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐! ๐คฏ
When activated, it will auto-reply to your PI's frantic ideas for new experiments, analyses, and projects with "Great suggestion! Saving this for later" (aka: let's talk when youโre back and got some sleep)
#sfn2025 #sfn25
When activated, it will auto-reply to your PI's frantic ideas for new experiments, analyses, and projects with "Great suggestion! Saving this for later" (aka: let's talk when youโre back and got some sleep)
#sfn2025 #sfn25
Genius workspace, then and now.
(Neither my desk nor my desktop look like this. Draw your own conclusions ๐ )
(Neither my desk nor my desktop look like this. Draw your own conclusions ๐ )
November 12, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Genius workspace, then and now.
(Neither my desk nor my desktop look like this. Draw your own conclusions ๐ )
(Neither my desk nor my desktop look like this. Draw your own conclusions ๐ )
Highlighting the human side of science can only make science better.
So, I still donโt have a clear answer for how best to navigate the tension between structural sexism and personal effectiveness and well-being.
But humanity is probably part of the solution.
#humanScientist
(n/n)
So, I still donโt have a clear answer for how best to navigate the tension between structural sexism and personal effectiveness and well-being.
But humanity is probably part of the solution.
#humanScientist
(n/n)
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Highlighting the human side of science can only make science better.
So, I still donโt have a clear answer for how best to navigate the tension between structural sexism and personal effectiveness and well-being.
But humanity is probably part of the solution.
#humanScientist
(n/n)
So, I still donโt have a clear answer for how best to navigate the tension between structural sexism and personal effectiveness and well-being.
But humanity is probably part of the solution.
#humanScientist
(n/n)
Scientists also want to be humans.
The reversed Finkbeiner approach addresses this by talking about male scientists in a way that would fail the Finkbeiner test if it was a female scientist.
That resonates much better with me because...
(5/n)
The reversed Finkbeiner approach addresses this by talking about male scientists in a way that would fail the Finkbeiner test if it was a female scientist.
That resonates much better with me because...
(5/n)
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Scientists also want to be humans.
The reversed Finkbeiner approach addresses this by talking about male scientists in a way that would fail the Finkbeiner test if it was a female scientist.
That resonates much better with me because...
(5/n)
The reversed Finkbeiner approach addresses this by talking about male scientists in a way that would fail the Finkbeiner test if it was a female scientist.
That resonates much better with me because...
(5/n)
I have considered applying the Finkbeiner Test to how I think and talk about other scientists - and myself. But it never felt quite right, becauseโฆ
(4/n)
(4/n)
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I have considered applying the Finkbeiner Test to how I think and talk about other scientists - and myself. But it never felt quite right, becauseโฆ
(4/n)
(4/n)
Scientists just want to be scientists.
The Finkbeiner Test was proposed for journalism: a checklist ensuring that profiles of female scientists donโt focus on gender, family, or personality when equivalent profiles of male scientists would not.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finkbei...
(3/n)
The Finkbeiner Test was proposed for journalism: a checklist ensuring that profiles of female scientists donโt focus on gender, family, or personality when equivalent profiles of male scientists would not.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finkbei...
(3/n)
en.wikipedia.org
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Scientists just want to be scientists.
The Finkbeiner Test was proposed for journalism: a checklist ensuring that profiles of female scientists donโt focus on gender, family, or personality when equivalent profiles of male scientists would not.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finkbei...
(3/n)
The Finkbeiner Test was proposed for journalism: a checklist ensuring that profiles of female scientists donโt focus on gender, family, or personality when equivalent profiles of male scientists would not.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finkbei...
(3/n)
On a structural level, sexism in science is real and must be challenged hard.
On a personal level, being seen as a woman scientist can be exhausting - explaining your childcare arrangements, questioning your nurturing side, thinking about competitiveness in a gender-bias world.
(2/n)
On a personal level, being seen as a woman scientist can be exhausting - explaining your childcare arrangements, questioning your nurturing side, thinking about competitiveness in a gender-bias world.
(2/n)
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
On a structural level, sexism in science is real and must be challenged hard.
On a personal level, being seen as a woman scientist can be exhausting - explaining your childcare arrangements, questioning your nurturing side, thinking about competitiveness in a gender-bias world.
(2/n)
On a personal level, being seen as a woman scientist can be exhausting - explaining your childcare arrangements, questioning your nurturing side, thinking about competitiveness in a gender-bias world.
(2/n)
โShe [Rosalind Franklin] would have thought of herself simply as a scientist whose achievements should have been judged on their own terms, not as a โwoman scientistโ striking a blow for the rights of women.โ
#notAWomanScientist
(1/n)
#notAWomanScientist
(1/n)
'She certainly felt insulted when she found that the main dining room at King's, where scientists would meet for discussions over lunch or coffee, was open only to men; this un-Parisian attitude was hard to take even if not unusual in English colleges at the time.'
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
โShe [Rosalind Franklin] would have thought of herself simply as a scientist whose achievements should have been judged on their own terms, not as a โwoman scientistโ striking a blow for the rights of women.โ
#notAWomanScientist
(1/n)
#notAWomanScientist
(1/n)
He: You spent money on an AIR PURIFIER?
Me: [erupting into a 15-minute talk on air pollution in cancer and dementia, confidently citing studies I once skimmed]
He: You really should be in sales.
Me: That's half my job, using vague recollections of science to convince people to fund more science.
Me: [erupting into a 15-minute talk on air pollution in cancer and dementia, confidently citing studies I once skimmed]
He: You really should be in sales.
Me: That's half my job, using vague recollections of science to convince people to fund more science.
November 8, 2025 at 9:32 PM
He: You spent money on an AIR PURIFIER?
Me: [erupting into a 15-minute talk on air pollution in cancer and dementia, confidently citing studies I once skimmed]
He: You really should be in sales.
Me: That's half my job, using vague recollections of science to convince people to fund more science.
Me: [erupting into a 15-minute talk on air pollution in cancer and dementia, confidently citing studies I once skimmed]
He: You really should be in sales.
Me: That's half my job, using vague recollections of science to convince people to fund more science.
Reposted by Katharina Schmack
Apply to become a CSHL-Simons Fellow in Neuroscience!
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; โค~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; โค~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Fellows Positions | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
CSHL Simons Fellow in NEUROSCIENCE Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is seeking to fill a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellow position in the area of NEUROSCIENCE (experimental and/or computationa...
www.cshl.edu
October 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Apply to become a CSHL-Simons Fellow in Neuroscience!
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; โค~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
Run your own lab, pursue bold ideas, join a highly collaborative community!
All areas including experimental or computational neuro, including NeuroAI & systems
PhD required; โค~1 yr postdoc
www.cshl.edu/about-us/car...
๐ฏ agree itโs a backwards expectation for women to take their husbandsโ names! In this case, it was simply about seizing the chance to swap a name that sounds exactly like a word meaning โidiotโ (or worse) for a more melodic one. Glad that particular feature of my name isnโt too obvious ๐
November 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
๐ฏ agree itโs a backwards expectation for women to take their husbandsโ names! In this case, it was simply about seizing the chance to swap a name that sounds exactly like a word meaning โidiotโ (or worse) for a more melodic one. Glad that particular feature of my name isnโt too obvious ๐
7/7 Looking back, Katharina Rubi would have been the better choice. And this is one of the few regrets I have, but at least it comes with a story. And whatโs in a name anyway? ๐น
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
7/7 Looking back, Katharina Rubi would have been the better choice. And this is one of the few regrets I have, but at least it comes with a story. And whatโs in a name anyway? ๐น
6/7 My first paper set me off on pursuing a clinician-scientist career, but its scientific impact was less enduring than my marriage. Imaging genetics quietly faded (for good scientific reasons) while Mr Rubi and I kept evolving together โค๏ธ
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
6/7 My first paper set me off on pursuing a clinician-scientist career, but its scientific impact was less enduring than my marriage. Imaging genetics quietly faded (for good scientific reasons) while Mr Rubi and I kept evolving together โค๏ธ
5/7 I published my first paper on these results under Schmack et al. So by the time I married Mr Rubi, my maiden name had already made it into PubMed. And that surely was a very good reason not to change it. ๐
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
5/7 I published my first paper on these results under Schmack et al. So by the time I married Mr Rubi, my maiden name had already made it into PubMed. And that surely was a very good reason not to change it. ๐
4/7 We found that people with a certain COMT variantโan enzyme that breaks down dopamineโshowed stronger brain responses to reward cues. I was intrigued by how a single base-pair difference could change how anticipatory joy may feel! ๐งฌ
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
4/7 We found that people with a certain COMT variantโan enzyme that breaks down dopamineโshowed stronger brain responses to reward cues. I was intrigued by how a single base-pair difference could change how anticipatory joy may feel! ๐งฌ
3/7 Life happened, and instead of moving on, we moved in. I also stumbled into fMRI: watching the brain at work in an awake, feeling person drew me in and led me to my doctoral research on dopamine. ๐ง
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
3/7 Life happened, and instead of moving on, we moved in. I also stumbled into fMRI: watching the brain at work in an awake, feeling person drew me in and led me to my doctoral research on dopamine. ๐ง
2/7 When I met the wonderful Mr Rubi, it was anything but clear that we would end up sticking together for the next decades. He was amazing and I was in love, but we were young, curious, and very not ready to settle.
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
2/7 When I met the wonderful Mr Rubi, it was anything but clear that we would end up sticking together for the next decades. He was amazing and I was in love, but we were young, curious, and very not ready to settle.
1/7 I could be Katharina Rubi. So, why am I still Katharina Schmack-(suppressed giggles)-can-you-spell-that for me?
Hereโs a story about a dopamine-degrading enzyme that fell out of fashion. ๐งต
Hereโs a story about a dopamine-degrading enzyme that fell out of fashion. ๐งต
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
1/7 I could be Katharina Rubi. So, why am I still Katharina Schmack-(suppressed giggles)-can-you-spell-that for me?
Hereโs a story about a dopamine-degrading enzyme that fell out of fashion. ๐งต
Hereโs a story about a dopamine-degrading enzyme that fell out of fashion. ๐งต
Cycling through London and something tells me many wishes will come true ๐ช
November 4, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Cycling through London and something tells me many wishes will come true ๐ช
๐ Thank you for sharing and sorry to hear what you have had to go through! Wishing you exciting new opportunities ahead!
October 31, 2025 at 7:33 PM
๐ Thank you for sharing and sorry to hear what you have had to go through! Wishing you exciting new opportunities ahead!
Yes, Iโm of a certain age, but would it kill the supermarket self-checkout worker to at least hesitate for a second before pressing โvisibly over 25โ?
#foreverYoung
#foreverYoung
October 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Yes, Iโm of a certain age, but would it kill the supermarket self-checkout worker to at least hesitate for a second before pressing โvisibly over 25โ?
#foreverYoung
#foreverYoung