M. Veronica Pravata
@mveronicapravata.bsky.social
HFSP postdoctoral fellow in Silvia Cappello Lab - Biomedical Center LMU (Munich, DE) 🇮🇹🏴🇩🇪 Interested in the role of PTMs in Brain Development and Evo-Devo 🧬🧠
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Who “belongs” in biology?
The first comprehensive analysis of the LGBTQ+ climate in the biological sciences! #LGBTinSTEM #preprint 🏳️🌈
#preLight prepared by @ryanharrison13.bsky.social, Stefan & @reinierprosee.bsky.social ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/l...
The first comprehensive analysis of the LGBTQ+ climate in the biological sciences! #LGBTinSTEM #preprint 🏳️🌈
#preLight prepared by @ryanharrison13.bsky.social, Stefan & @reinierprosee.bsky.social ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/l...
LGBTQ+ realities in the biological sciences - preLights
Who “belongs” in biology? Researchers conduct the first comprehensive analysis of the LGBTQ+ climate in biological sciences.
prelights.biologists.com
June 12, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Who “belongs” in biology?
The first comprehensive analysis of the LGBTQ+ climate in the biological sciences! #LGBTinSTEM #preprint 🏳️🌈
#preLight prepared by @ryanharrison13.bsky.social, Stefan & @reinierprosee.bsky.social ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/l...
The first comprehensive analysis of the LGBTQ+ climate in the biological sciences! #LGBTinSTEM #preprint 🏳️🌈
#preLight prepared by @ryanharrison13.bsky.social, Stefan & @reinierprosee.bsky.social ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/l...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
📢 We are pleased to announce our 4th open science summer school! #OSSS25
📌 Sept 15-19, Munich & Zoom
🔥 keynotes and outstanding hands-on workshops
2️⃣ dual-track: open science training and instructor training tracks!
➡️ apply before July 14 or register anytime for the public lectures!
📌 Sept 15-19, Munich & Zoom
🔥 keynotes and outstanding hands-on workshops
2️⃣ dual-track: open science training and instructor training tracks!
➡️ apply before July 14 or register anytime for the public lectures!
LMU Open Science Center Summer School 2025
programme and application process
lmu-osc.github.io
June 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
📢 We are pleased to announce our 4th open science summer school! #OSSS25
📌 Sept 15-19, Munich & Zoom
🔥 keynotes and outstanding hands-on workshops
2️⃣ dual-track: open science training and instructor training tracks!
➡️ apply before July 14 or register anytime for the public lectures!
📌 Sept 15-19, Munich & Zoom
🔥 keynotes and outstanding hands-on workshops
2️⃣ dual-track: open science training and instructor training tracks!
➡️ apply before July 14 or register anytime for the public lectures!
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Our latest "Dynamic Landscape Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions: Predictive Models of Neural Development From Single-Cell Data"
A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making
Applied to ventral neural tube development
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making
Applied to ventral neural tube development
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Dynamic Landscape Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions: Predictive Models of Neural Development From Single-Cell Data
Building a mechanistic understanding of cell fate decisions remains a fundamental goal of developmental biology, with implications for stem cell therapies, regenerative medicine and understanding dise...
www.biorxiv.org
May 29, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Our latest "Dynamic Landscape Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions: Predictive Models of Neural Development From Single-Cell Data"
A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making
Applied to ventral neural tube development
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making
Applied to ventral neural tube development
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Still openings, check it out!
🧠Job Opening!🧠
We are opening 2️⃣! positions
– bioinformatics / molecular biology –
in a project studying how temporal patterns set up connectivity in human brain tissue.
@institutimagine.bsky.social.
Full details below, contact me for details if interested.
And please retweet (re-bluesky?)!
We are opening 2️⃣! positions
– bioinformatics / molecular biology –
in a project studying how temporal patterns set up connectivity in human brain tissue.
@institutimagine.bsky.social.
Full details below, contact me for details if interested.
And please retweet (re-bluesky?)!
May 28, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Still openings, check it out!
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Very cool @natgenet.nature.com study by @danielibrahim.bsky.social revealing hidden enhancer conservation across distant species via genome synteny 🧪🧬
Nice overview by @alexdemendoza.bsky.social:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nice overview by @alexdemendoza.bsky.social:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 28, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Very cool @natgenet.nature.com study by @danielibrahim.bsky.social revealing hidden enhancer conservation across distant species via genome synteny 🧪🧬
Nice overview by @alexdemendoza.bsky.social:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nice overview by @alexdemendoza.bsky.social:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Check out this superb, beautiful and insightful work from @silvianeuro.bsky.social lab led by my brilliant colleague @mveronicapravata.bsky.social! What a thrill to learn about key biochemical changes across evolution contributing to drive brain formation😊
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
DCHS1 Modulates Forebrain Proportions in Modern Humans via a Glycosylation Change
Comparative anatomical studies of primates and extinct hominins, including Neanderthals, show that the modern human brain is characterised by a disproportionately enlarged neocortex relative to the st...
www.biorxiv.org
May 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Check out this superb, beautiful and insightful work from @silvianeuro.bsky.social lab led by my brilliant colleague @mveronicapravata.bsky.social! What a thrill to learn about key biochemical changes across evolution contributing to drive brain formation😊
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
New preprint alert 📣
#Cerebellum, organoid, autism & brain evolution 🧪 🧫🧠🧬
Collaboration with G. Testa; fruit of years of work by smart students, led by postdoc Davide Aprile. Organoids to understand better the developmental basis of autism (focus: CHD8) & sapiens brain evolution (focus: CADPS2) 🧵
#Cerebellum, organoid, autism & brain evolution 🧪 🧫🧠🧬
Collaboration with G. Testa; fruit of years of work by smart students, led by postdoc Davide Aprile. Organoids to understand better the developmental basis of autism (focus: CHD8) & sapiens brain evolution (focus: CADPS2) 🧵
Benchmarking cerebellar organoids to model autism spectrum disorder and human brain evolution
While cortical organoids have been used to model different facets of neurodevelopmental conditions and human brain evolution, cerebellar organoids have not yet featured so prominently in the same cont...
www.biorxiv.org
May 16, 2025 at 11:08 AM
New preprint alert 📣
#Cerebellum, organoid, autism & brain evolution 🧪 🧫🧠🧬
Collaboration with G. Testa; fruit of years of work by smart students, led by postdoc Davide Aprile. Organoids to understand better the developmental basis of autism (focus: CHD8) & sapiens brain evolution (focus: CADPS2) 🧵
#Cerebellum, organoid, autism & brain evolution 🧪 🧫🧠🧬
Collaboration with G. Testa; fruit of years of work by smart students, led by postdoc Davide Aprile. Organoids to understand better the developmental basis of autism (focus: CHD8) & sapiens brain evolution (focus: CADPS2) 🧵
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Excellent work from @silvianeuro.bsky.social lab on DCHS1 ! @mveronicapravata.bsky.social congratulations!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
DCHS1 Modulates Forebrain Proportions in Modern Humans via a Glycosylation Change
Comparative anatomical studies of primates and extinct hominins, including Neanderthals, show that the modern human brain is characterised by a disproportionately enlarged neocortex relative to the st...
www.biorxiv.org
May 16, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Excellent work from @silvianeuro.bsky.social lab on DCHS1 ! @mveronicapravata.bsky.social congratulations!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Excellent work from @silvianeuro.bsky.social lab, led by a brilliant young scholar, @mveronicapravata.bsky.social, on
the impact of a mutation in DCHS1 distinguishing sapiens from Neandertals: shifting the ratio between cortical & striatal progenitors
(Nice to see work going beyond the cortex) 🧪🧠🧬🧫
the impact of a mutation in DCHS1 distinguishing sapiens from Neandertals: shifting the ratio between cortical & striatal progenitors
(Nice to see work going beyond the cortex) 🧪🧠🧬🧫
DCHS1 Modulates Forebrain Proportions in Modern Humans via a Glycosylation Change
Comparative anatomical studies of primates and extinct hominins, including Neanderthals, show that the modern human brain is characterised by a disproportionately enlarged neocortex relative to the st...
www.biorxiv.org
May 15, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Excellent work from @silvianeuro.bsky.social lab, led by a brilliant young scholar, @mveronicapravata.bsky.social, on
the impact of a mutation in DCHS1 distinguishing sapiens from Neandertals: shifting the ratio between cortical & striatal progenitors
(Nice to see work going beyond the cortex) 🧪🧠🧬🧫
the impact of a mutation in DCHS1 distinguishing sapiens from Neandertals: shifting the ratio between cortical & striatal progenitors
(Nice to see work going beyond the cortex) 🧪🧠🧬🧫
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Delighted to share our new preprint, the outcome of many years of collaborative work with Giuseppe Testa’s group, both at the bench & in front of the computer, probing human brain evolution using organoids. We tried something cool, and learned a lot 🧪🧫🧠🧬
[follow 🧵]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
[follow 🧵]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Regulatory logic of human cortex evolution by combinatorial perturbations
Comparative genomic studies between contemporary and extinct hominins revealed key evolutionary modifications, but their number has hampered a system level investigation of their combined roles in sca...
www.biorxiv.org
May 2, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Delighted to share our new preprint, the outcome of many years of collaborative work with Giuseppe Testa’s group, both at the bench & in front of the computer, probing human brain evolution using organoids. We tried something cool, and learned a lot 🧪🧫🧠🧬
[follow 🧵]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
[follow 🧵]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Why does the forebrain expand dramatically while other neural regions grow less? Our new publication reveals progenitor metabolism critically shapes region-specific brain growth. Thread below. authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-udL7PXu...
May 5, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Why does the forebrain expand dramatically while other neural regions grow less? Our new publication reveals progenitor metabolism critically shapes region-specific brain growth. Thread below. authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-udL7PXu...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Wonderful to have the last (major) part of my postdoctoral work preprinted! Huge thanks to @ioansarr.bsky.social and @tyamadat.bsky.social—it's been a blast. Grateful to be part of the inspiring, collaborative and supportive team @kaessmannlab.bsky.social! #Cerebellum rocks! #EvoDevo #GeneRegulation
March 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Wonderful to have the last (major) part of my postdoctoral work preprinted! Huge thanks to @ioansarr.bsky.social and @tyamadat.bsky.social—it's been a blast. Grateful to be part of the inspiring, collaborative and supportive team @kaessmannlab.bsky.social! #Cerebellum rocks! #EvoDevo #GeneRegulation
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Brilliant new preprint by @ioansarr.bsky.social @marisepp.bsky.social @tyamadat.bsky.social @steinaerts.bsky.social @kaessmannlab.bsky.social
on the evolution of gene regulation in mammalian #cerebellum development 🧪🧠🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
on the evolution of gene regulation in mammalian #cerebellum development 🧪🧠🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The evolution of gene regulation in mammalian cerebellum development
Gene regulatory changes are considered major drivers of evolutionary innovations, including the cerebellum's expansion during human evolution, yet they remain largely unexplored. In this study, we com...
www.biorxiv.org
March 16, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Brilliant new preprint by @ioansarr.bsky.social @marisepp.bsky.social @tyamadat.bsky.social @steinaerts.bsky.social @kaessmannlab.bsky.social
on the evolution of gene regulation in mammalian #cerebellum development 🧪🧠🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
on the evolution of gene regulation in mammalian #cerebellum development 🧪🧠🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Amazing Lab, fantastic people and a stellar PI: Klingler Lab is a wonderful place for a great postdoc!!
📣 Postdoc opportunity !
Our lab is hiring a funded postdoc to explore the development of fear circuits using slice electrophysiology. If you have expertise in this area and are interested about cutting-edge neuroscience, reach out ! 🤗
klinglerlab.org
Please share with your network 🙏
Our lab is hiring a funded postdoc to explore the development of fear circuits using slice electrophysiology. If you have expertise in this area and are interested about cutting-edge neuroscience, reach out ! 🤗
klinglerlab.org
Please share with your network 🙏
March 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Amazing Lab, fantastic people and a stellar PI: Klingler Lab is a wonderful place for a great postdoc!!
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Open positions in human developmental neuroscience, check it out!
🧠Job Opening!🧠
We are opening 2️⃣! positions
– bioinformatics / molecular biology –
in a project studying how temporal patterns set up connectivity in human brain tissue.
@institutimagine.bsky.social.
Full details below, contact me for details if interested.
And please retweet (re-bluesky?)!
We are opening 2️⃣! positions
– bioinformatics / molecular biology –
in a project studying how temporal patterns set up connectivity in human brain tissue.
@institutimagine.bsky.social.
Full details below, contact me for details if interested.
And please retweet (re-bluesky?)!
March 5, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Open positions in human developmental neuroscience, check it out!
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Happy to share this new #glycotime work with collaborator Tony Wyss-Coray, led by grad student Sophia Shi, mucin loss at the BBB is associated with aging and cognitive decline, can be reversed by restoration with with gene therapy. Aging is a mucinopathy!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Glycocalyx dysregulation impairs blood–brain barrier in ageing and disease - Nature
Disruption of mucin-domain glycoprotein expression and function in the endothelial glycocalyx are associated with ageing and Alzheimer’s disease, leading to dysregulated blood–brain barrier function.
www.nature.com
February 26, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Happy to share this new #glycotime work with collaborator Tony Wyss-Coray, led by grad student Sophia Shi, mucin loss at the BBB is associated with aging and cognitive decline, can be reversed by restoration with with gene therapy. Aging is a mucinopathy!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
☕️Ma et al. show that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U promotes the primed state in human #pluripotent stem cells by interacting with #NuclearMatrix protein, Matrin-3, and regulating primed-specific genes.
👉https://rdcu.be/ebq0W
bit.ly/4iiVHLV
👉https://rdcu.be/ebq0W
bit.ly/4iiVHLV
The nuclear matrix stabilizes primed-specific genes in human pluripotent stem cells - Nature Cell Biology
Ma et al. show that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U promotes the primed state in human pluripotent stem cells by interacting with nuclear matrix protein, Matrin-3, and regulating primed-spec...
bit.ly
February 26, 2025 at 9:12 PM
☕️Ma et al. show that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U promotes the primed state in human #pluripotent stem cells by interacting with #NuclearMatrix protein, Matrin-3, and regulating primed-specific genes.
👉https://rdcu.be/ebq0W
bit.ly/4iiVHLV
👉https://rdcu.be/ebq0W
bit.ly/4iiVHLV
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
I often see misunderstandings & confusion (in media but also scientific literature) over what studies of the FOXP2 gene can & cannot tell us about human evolution. Here's a short commentary I wrote a few years ago for @currentbiology.bsky.social with aim of clarifying for a general readership. 🧬🗣️🧪
Human Genetics: The Evolving Story of FOXP2
FOXP2 mutations cause a speech and language disorder, raising interest in potential
roles of this gene in human evolution. A new study re-evaluates genomic variation
at the human FOXP2 locus but finds...
www.cell.com
February 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I often see misunderstandings & confusion (in media but also scientific literature) over what studies of the FOXP2 gene can & cannot tell us about human evolution. Here's a short commentary I wrote a few years ago for @currentbiology.bsky.social with aim of clarifying for a general readership. 🧬🗣️🧪
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Beautiful new work by @itsmeawais.bsky.social @estherkli.bsky.social @djabaudon.bsky.social @silvianeuro.bsky.social @mveronicapravata.bsky.social & L. Gomez, probing evolutionary changes in the developmental expression of shared genes, focusing on the cortex. Key role for JUNB in human 🧠
👇🧬🧫🧪
👇🧬🧫🧪
✨ We tend to think of species-specific differences as resulting from the presence of species-specific genes. In our latest work with @djabaudon.bsky.social, we show that building brains is not only about which genes you use, but also about when and where you do.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
February 20, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Beautiful new work by @itsmeawais.bsky.social @estherkli.bsky.social @djabaudon.bsky.social @silvianeuro.bsky.social @mveronicapravata.bsky.social & L. Gomez, probing evolutionary changes in the developmental expression of shared genes, focusing on the cortex. Key role for JUNB in human 🧠
👇🧬🧫🧪
👇🧬🧫🧪
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
🚀 Excited to share our latest work uncovering TGIF2 as a key transcription factor (TF) safeguarding neural stem cell (NSC) fate and regulating neurogenic priming! 🧠
🔗 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.13.635953v1
Here’s how we found it and why it’s important!🧵👇
🔗 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.13.635953v1
Here’s how we found it and why it’s important!🧵👇
TGIF2 is a major regulator of neural stem cell fate and neurogenic priming
During brain development, neural stem cells (NSCs) must balance self-renewal with differentiation and ensure lineage progression. To identify novel regulators of NSCs during neurogenesis, we isolated ...
biorxiv.org
February 17, 2025 at 12:08 PM
🚀 Excited to share our latest work uncovering TGIF2 as a key transcription factor (TF) safeguarding neural stem cell (NSC) fate and regulating neurogenic priming! 🧠
🔗 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.13.635953v1
Here’s how we found it and why it’s important!🧵👇
🔗 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.13.635953v1
Here’s how we found it and why it’s important!🧵👇
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
✨ We tend to think of species-specific differences as resulting from the presence of species-specific genes. In our latest work with @djabaudon.bsky.social, we show that building brains is not only about which genes you use, but also about when and where you do.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
February 20, 2025 at 8:11 AM
✨ We tend to think of species-specific differences as resulting from the presence of species-specific genes. In our latest work with @djabaudon.bsky.social, we show that building brains is not only about which genes you use, but also about when and where you do.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Three fantastic @science.org papers on convergent development & evolution of neurons + their connections in the bird &
mammalian pallia, by @kaessmannlab.bsky.social @steinaerts.bsky.social & Fernando García-Moreno.
Expertly synthesised by @giacomogattoni.bsky.social & Maria Antonietta Tosches 🧪🧠
mammalian pallia, by @kaessmannlab.bsky.social @steinaerts.bsky.social & Fernando García-Moreno.
Expertly synthesised by @giacomogattoni.bsky.social & Maria Antonietta Tosches 🧪🧠
Constrained roads to complex brains
Neural development and brain circuit evolution converged in birds and mammals
www.science.org
February 14, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Three fantastic @science.org papers on convergent development & evolution of neurons + their connections in the bird &
mammalian pallia, by @kaessmannlab.bsky.social @steinaerts.bsky.social & Fernando García-Moreno.
Expertly synthesised by @giacomogattoni.bsky.social & Maria Antonietta Tosches 🧪🧠
mammalian pallia, by @kaessmannlab.bsky.social @steinaerts.bsky.social & Fernando García-Moreno.
Expertly synthesised by @giacomogattoni.bsky.social & Maria Antonietta Tosches 🧪🧠
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Our new paper is out in BioRxiv. Using human fetal tissue and cortical organoids, we figured out how human bRG cells colonize the developing neocortex to expand the oSVZ stem cell niche. Turns out, it's a more complex process than we had anticipated!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
January 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Our new paper is out in BioRxiv. Using human fetal tissue and cortical organoids, we figured out how human bRG cells colonize the developing neocortex to expand the oSVZ stem cell niche. Turns out, it's a more complex process than we had anticipated!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by M. Veronica Pravata
Our International Max Planck Research School is offering two PhD fellowships, funded by @maxplanck.de & hosted at @mpi-nl.bsky.social, to carry out innovative research projects on language & genetics, & on multimodal language. Application portal closes 6th Jan 2025! 🧪
www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...
www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...
January 4, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Our International Max Planck Research School is offering two PhD fellowships, funded by @maxplanck.de & hosted at @mpi-nl.bsky.social, to carry out innovative research projects on language & genetics, & on multimodal language. Application portal closes 6th Jan 2025! 🧪
www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...
www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...