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Sabela DeScience

@sabeladescience.bsky.social

490 followers 210 following 100 posts

Science Illustrator & Communicator | PhD in Neuroimmunology Custom-made illustrations for scientists.

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Nov 14

Hi Bluesky! I’m Sabela, a science illustrator helping scientists amplify their research with impactful design. Whether it’s for publications, grants, presentations, or branding, my work makes science accessible and engaging. Take a look at my portfolio at sabeladescience.com!

Science Illustrator | Sabela DeScience

Custom-made illustrations for scientists. Sabela DeScience is a science illustrator who designs engaging personalised figures to help researchers communicate their science.

sabeladescience.com

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 22

🔍 For the thesis internal layout, we used zoomed-in areas of the drawing to illustrate the beginning of each chapter, so that the detail could be appreciated.

Can't wait to hold the physical copy in my hands!
#PhDthesis #Anatomy #Lungs #Proefschrift #ThesisLayout

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 22

✏️ I've immersed myself in the intricate patterns of the bronchial tree, and using dots to bring volume and depth to the illustration. It was a beautiful (and intense) experience!

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 22

(Now) Dr. Geyer had a clear idea for her PhD thesis cover: an anatomical hand drawing of a human lung.
🫁She wanted to show the transition from a sick to a healthy lung through blue and pink shades.
#SciArt #ScientificIllustration #Lungs #PhDthesis

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 16

🔄 2. A graphical abstract on the transmission pathways.

🔗Check out the paper
@microbiologysociety.org: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

#Ebola #GraphicalAbstract #Microbiology #SciArt

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 16

The JMM profile on the Ebola virus is finally published! I created two scientific illustrations:
🪱 1. The viral structure.

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 9

📔 So happy to get this #PhDthesis in my hands!
A scientific and visual summary of years of research on one cover.
🎨 I really enjoyed bringing (now Dr.) Kop's idea to life.
Inspired by classic #ScientificIllustrations and cyanotypes, with a figure legend on the back, referencing each item.
#sciart

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 3

The landscape is inspired by Davide's passion for travelling to mountains and remote places.

Can't wait to see the printed book! 📘

📩 Do you want a personalised #PhDcover reflecting your unique journey? Get in touch!

#PhDthesis #CoverIllustration #SciArt

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 3

💧 #Neurovascular dysfunction is represented by rivers flowing between brain ridges, sprouting capillary beds as trees, with capCAA deposits along the banks.
🔥 #Neuroinflammation appears as swollen brain regions, erupting lipid mediators and pro-inflammatory factors.

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 3

3️⃣ After (many) iterations, we landed on the final cover. A symbolic landscape with many layers.
✨ Stars illuminate exciting discoveries happening below, forming constellations shaped like key research elements (SnaiI gene, #microglia, #DNA repair).

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 3

2️⃣ Once I find the right visual metaphor, I start sketching ✏️

#WIP #Brain #SciArt

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 3

1️⃣ I like to start with a mind map 🧠 What are the key concepts? How can I visually represent them?

#MindMap #Brain #NeuroInflammation #Alzheimers #BBB

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jul 3

A #PhD cover is more than just an illustration: It's a symbol of your research and of YOU as a researcher.
For this design, I worked closely with Davide Vacondio to create an image that captures both his scientific journey and his vision of what research is: an exploration.

👇 More about the process

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

🔚 That’s a wrap! What caught your attention in May’s brain barrier research? 🧠✨
#Neuroimmunology #BrainBarriers #Tcells #CNS #Neuroscience #SciComm (11/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

🔗 By @leonsmyth.bsky.social & @jonykipnis.bsky.social at Nature Reviews Immunology: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(10/11)

Redefining CNS immune privilege - Nature Reviews Immunology

In this Perspective, Smyth and Kipnis reappraise the concept of immune privilege in the central nervous system. Although immune privilege was originally thought to involve isolation of the central ner...

www.nature.com

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

3️⃣ 𝙍𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙉𝙎 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚
• This review walks us through the historical concept of immune privilege and its modern redefinition.
• There’s a continuous conversation between immune system and brain, especially at the borders: meninges, ChP, vasculature and CNS-associated bone marrow.
(9/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

• These T cells are primed by the gut microbiome and influenced by the gut and fat, from which they migrate to the brain.
🔗 By Tomomi Yoshida et al in @nature.com:‬ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(8/11)

The subfornical organ is a nucleus for gut-derived T cells that regulate behaviour - Nature

A distinct population of CD4 T cells resides in specific regions of the steady-state brain, and these T cells are programmed in the periphery by the microbiome to coordinate adaptive behaviour.

www.nature.com

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Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

• Researchers found that T cells reside in the subfornical organ of healthy mouse and human brains, and they are distinct from those in the meninges.
(7/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

2️⃣ 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙏 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨: 𝙜𝙪𝙩-𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙏 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣
• This study is actually about a brain region that 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 a BBB (a circumventricular organ) called the subfornical organ.
#BBB #Immunology (6/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

🔗 By J. Pareja et al in Acta Neuropathologica Communications: actaneurocomms.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
(5/11)

Lack of junctional adhesion molecule (JAM)-B traps CD8 T cells in CNS border zones and ameliorates autoimmune neuroinflammation - Acta Neuropathologica Communications

The endothelial blood-brain barrier (BBB) tightly controls T cell entry into the central nervous system (CNS). T cell extravasation across the BBB involves a multi-step cascade with a predominant role...

actaneurocomms.biomedcentral.com

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

• This suggests that JAM-B facilitates CD8 T cell migration across the glia limitans.
• Therapeutically targeting JAM-B in neuroinflammation could help preserve immune surveillance at the brain borders.
#Neuroinflammation (4/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

• Although JAM-B is expressed at BBB, it wasn’t required for T cell migration across it. Instead, CD8 T cells got stuck in the perivascular space in JAM-B-deficient mice.
• JAM-B also found in other CNS borders: meningeal fibroblasts, choroid plexus epithelium, Bergman glia, and astrocytes. (3/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

1️⃣ 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙅𝘼𝙈-𝘽, 𝙏 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙨
• Loss of JAM-B reduced CD8 T cell infiltration into the CNS parenchyma and led to milder autoimmune neuroinflammation.
#Tcells #Glia (2/11)

Sabela DeScience @sabeladescience.bsky.social · Jun 10

🧵 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 🧠 🔬
Last month, it was all about the dance between brain barriers and the immune system. Let’s go! 👇
#BBB #Neuroscience #Neuroimmunology (1/11)

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Reposted by Sabela DeScience

AGPI Asociación Galega de Profesionais da Ilustración @agpilustracion.bsky.social · Jun 10

🌟 Ilustración da nosa socia Sabela Rodríguez @sabeladescience.bsky.social
para o “3° encontro da Sociedade Ibérica Ecoloxista" @sibecol.bsky.social en Pontevedra.

Exposición “GALICIA ILUSTRA (CON)CIENCIA”

Obra "Thesis Cover"

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Reposted by Sabela DeScience

AGPI Asociación Galega de Profesionais da Ilustración @agpilustracion.bsky.social · Jun 3

A AGPI participará no “3° encontro da Sociedade Ibérica Ecoloxista" @sibecol.bsky.social en Pontevedra, cunha exposición de ilustración titulada “GALICIA ILUSTRA (CON)CIENCIA”

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