Ishmail Abdus-Saboor
Associate Prof | Columbia Biology & Zuckerman Institute
Freeman Hrabowski Scholar | HHMI
We study how the skin-brain axis drives somatosensory behaviors
abdus-saboorlab.com
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorExcited to co-host this conference with @marissascavuzzo.bsky.social and Steve Liberles focused on the peripheral nervous system -- No Brainer! Check out the amazing list of speakers and apply for one of the spots for this small, interactive meeting on the beautiful Janelia Campus at HHMI.
- 📢 Apply by May 14 to explore peripheral nervous system function across somatic + autonomic + enteric divisions, with a focus on new methods + emerging technologies. 🛏️ Meals & lodging covered; no registration fee Apply ➡️ janelia.news/PNS26 @ardemp.bskyverified.social @marissascavuzzo.bsky.social
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorIn this month’s “Liftoff,” @shawnrhoadsphd.com talks about how he’ll implement hackathons to foster community in his lab, and @zurisullivan.bsky.social shares how weekly discussions about unfamiliar topics can encourage curiosity in a lab. bit.ly/3ZkMQl8 By @franciscorr25.bsky.social #neuroskyence
- very darn cool!
- Cow Tools! We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years. We breed them and exploit them It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS Here I describe our study (paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social with @auersperga.bsky.social
- Exciting new preprint on oxytocin neural circuits for massage led by Manon Bohic in Vicky Abraira’s lab. Sasha and I were glad to contribute imaging experiments to this collaborative effort, spanning mice to humans. Vicky is a master at bringing people together. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- I enjoyed reading these 20 reviews in this special edition on interoception. This exciting field of brain-body signaling has many open questions – indicated by most articles written by PIs of labs opened within the past few years. Nice job authors and editors. www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
- very cool work @sethblackshaw.bsky.social and team!
- Nice summary on our paper on mechanisms controlling development and evolution of the cone-dominant ground squirrel retina, which is now in final form at eLife. www.lifescienceeditors.com/2026/01/06/h...
- Congratulations @flybottleescape.bsky.social and team on this impressive study. Greg, I still remember your job talk and you dreaming of doing things like this. You've made it happen!
- Researchers identify the neurons involved in the emotional distress associated with pain go.nature.com/4qIKkB8
- Congratulations @zurisullivan.bsky.social!! I'm so proud of you and MIT and Whitehead are so fortunate to have landed you. Looking forward to seeing some amazing science come from your lab.
- Thrilled to start my lab at the @whiteheadinstitute.bsky.social @mit.edu and to join such a special community of creative and inspiring colleagues. The Sullivan Lab asks (1) how and (2) why infections make us sick, bridging immunology and neuroscience to understand host defense at the organism scale
- This really struck me too about this biography. Over and over in his career when people asked Crick what he did for a living he would respond: "I read and I think"
- Loved this brilliant biography of Crick by @matthewcobb.bsky.social But what struck me from the start: it's also a portrait of a lost time in science: no grant applications or teaching, big travel budgets: the job only to think, talk & get science done. Future scientific biogs will be so different.
- incredible advice @arjunraj.bsky.social!!
- Blog post: Just quit Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it. open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-Saboor🎉 New Publication in @pnas.org Excited to share our lab’s latest research article: PIP₂ Corrects an Endothelial Piezo1 Channelopathy pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... (Open Access)
- I read 22 books this year and these were my favorites.
- Just finished this thrilling, vulnerable, and inspiring book on friendship, loss, addiction, resilience, and editing memories by Prof Steve Ramirez. Neuroscientists and neuroscience enthusiasts should enjoy this one.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorGrateful to @pewtrusts.org for funding our snow fly work, in collaboration with Sebastian Brauchi at Universidad Austral de Chile. We are now looking for post-docs to work on the biophysical mechanisms that allow snow fly neurons and muscles to function below zero. newsroom.uw.edu/news-release...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-Saboor[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-Saboor“Basic neuroscience hasn’t produced new drugs.” 💊 Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab. I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorNew paper alert!!...🤩 Led by @blogeman.bsky.social, we identify how cell type-specific hormonal responses in the hypothalamus tunes parenting behavior in males and females 🐭🧠🍼. Highlights in thread 👇 1/6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorAncient Plants Used Infrared Radiation to Attract Their Pollinators #research 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social @science.org
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-Saboor[This post could not be retrieved]
- Congratulations, glad to see this work out.
- I am thrilled to share our latest work led by @zurisullivan.bsky.social in collaboration with @moffittlab.bsky.social ! We find that the brain encodes distinct, pathogen-specific sickness states across behavior, physiology, neural activity, and gene expression 1/6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorThe 1st NYC Area Pain Research Meetup was a roaring success! What started as an idea from @dr-lupo.bsky.social and myself turned into an incredible gathering with the help of @karapedsgastrodoc.bsky.social, and her team at @nyupainresearch.bsky.social. #PainResearch #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-Saboor✨ Sponsor Spotlight! ✨ Huge shoutout to Tactorum — leading the way in improving preclinical pain research and pushing the field forward. We’re grateful for your support! 🔬💡
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorA gathering that truly exceeded our wildest expectations! Excited to see what comes next!
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- This was a fascinating and page-turning read on the life of Francis Crick by @matthewcobb.bsky.social. Crick was a scientific pioneer and prophet, but also a complex and imperfect human being. Cobb captures it all masterfully.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorCheck out the newest Editors' (that would be me and Eunjoon Kim) Choice issue in Current Opinion in Neurobiology. Superbly guest edited by Stephen Liberles and @zknight.bsky.social >20 review articles on Interoception www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
- I think I have a new favorite textbook. Cool to see.
- Ive seen this work from Prof Liqun Luo’s presented a few times now and its stunning and heroic.
- Nature research paper: Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code go.nature.com/3MbCoZT
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorCheck out our latest issue where we interview Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and differentiation at Harvard University. www.cell.com/current-biol...
- Incredible that Crick predicted that Biology would one day move towards comparative sequencing across species in 1957. No sequencing technology at the time and still wasnt clear that DNA made RNA, which makes protein.
- Come do a joint postdoc with me and @tinakim-neuro.bsky.social, splitting your time between Princeton and Columbia. Come design new activity-dependent labeling enzymes and transcriptional reporters optimized for application in the peripheral nervous system. hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
- new book & new coffee shop in battery park (nyc); the life
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorExcited to present our latest work improving and validating our ARM system for automating evoked touch and pain assays at @sfn.org this weekend! Come check it out if you’re interested in automating your own work. #PainResearch #SFN #SFN2025
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorFor solving a 50-year mystery by uncovering the machinery behind BMP, a molecule with protective effects against various disorders, Uche Medoh is the winner of the 2025 Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists. 🎉 Learn more about the work: scim.ag/4qVpK1a
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorAnd here is the story after peer review. This work highlights our current approach, which is to use Piezo channels to uncover new areas of biology that are shaped by mechanical forces: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- New preprint alert! The uterus expands ~500-fold in pregnancy, yet we know little about how pressures are sensed. Led by @yunxiao-dr.bsky.social, we show PIEZOs are required for contractions and birth in mice, with dual roles of PIEZO1 in muscle and PIEZO2 in neurons www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- 153 books read in one year. I need to step my game up lol. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Year of Judging the Booker Prize www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/b...
- Cool paper from Sora Shin’s lab mapping a neural circuit for aggression and self-harm. Awesome to see another group using our pain assessment platform in their studies. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorJames D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
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- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorExcited to announce the first NYC Area Pain meetup being hosted at NYU. Come connect with other pain researchers and learn about the advances being made by early career researchers. RSVP: luma.com/m5zwchlt?tk=... Still accepting submissions for lightening talks, reach out if interested.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorCongratulations to the 2025 SfN award & prize recipients! Their dedication to advancing the understanding of the brain paves the way for future discoveries. SfN looks forward to celebrating their achievements at #SfN25. Learn about the recipients. 🔗 vist.ly/4cni8 #neurosky
- Great series and this game7 was one of the greatest games Ive ever seen! Congrats Dodgers! Yamamoto has to be MVP of this series.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorThe latest work from our PRECISION Human Pain Center project is now up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social led by Katherin Gabriel and @oliviadavis.bsky.social with a huge contribution from @allanhpool.bsky.social's lab and, of course, the Southwest Transplant Alliance: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorWe fully redesigned the device and added new sensors to create a more accurate and streamlined device able to deliver custom forces with automated reflexive measurements! Thanks to @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social and all the other authors for your effort and support!
- I love this work! And Im now convinced that flies feel pain, not just nociception.
- Do flies feel pain? Spooky new preprint from our lab on the cells and circuits that mediate nociceptive behaviors in adult Drosophila, led by graduate student (and newly minted PhD!) @jonesjes.bsky.social. 🪰⚡👻🎃 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorCatherine Dulac Named Xander University Professor 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @dulaclab.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @hhmi.org @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social
- All star line-up!
- Congrats to Leon Levy Scholar in my lab, Yuki Haba, on publishing his exciting PhD paper in Science from Lindy McBride’s lab at Princeton.
- Where did an underground mosquito in London come from? @yukihaba.bsky.social in @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social ’s lab found that it evolved 1,000+ yrs ago, showing how early societies helped it thrive in modern times and imperil our health. @science.org @princeton.edu www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorI’m excited to announce that I’ve been selected as a winner of the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications @scicommexcellence.nationalacademies.org!! Learn more: www.nationalacademies.org/news/2025/10... #scicomm
- Beautiful research from the lab of HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar @karalmckinley.bsky.social
- The mice could be used to better understand and treat heavy menstrual bleeding, and study reproductive health conditions such as endometriosis. scim.ag/473mwRw
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-Saboor🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity! We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have: (1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs) (2) better hand dexterity (3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵
- Evolutionary expansion of the corticospinal system is linked to dexterity in Peromyscus mice biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorCheck out this exciting new tool from @ajboender.bsky.social - An aav based CRISPR-Cas9 strategy to knockdown dopamine receptors. Works in mice, voles and hamsters. It was a fun collaboration. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorNew faculty job opening at @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social @columbiauniversity.bsky.social Come be our colleague! Application deadline: November 22 apply.interfolio.com/176153
- Abdus-Saboor lab retreat at Mohonk Mountain House was a blast! I’m fortunate to work with such a great team.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorI am thrilled to share our latest work: we identified a population of central amygdala neurons that promote the earliest and perhaps most important social behavior: pup suckling!... We also developed new tools for pup neuroscience Work by @Jeff Moore now at USC, a collaboration with @Sam Pfaff lab
- A genetically-defined population of amygdalofugal neurons promotes suckling and early postnatal growth biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- Excited to share the final version of our paper, where we invented a robotic device (ARM) for pain and somatosensory testing in rodents. We are excited to see many groups already getting this device in their labs through our startup company Tactorum Inc. elifesciences.org/articles/996...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorThe work with bats on barren, 7-acre Latham Island was Nachum Ulanovsky’s most complex undertaking yet. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorBreaking News: D’Angelo, the acclaimed neo-soul singer who found fame in the 1990s and 2000s with a sensuous take on R&B, has died at 51. nyti.ms/4qb0wvo
- We were just having this conversation @meera-sundaram.bsky.social! Using C.elegans as a model in your lab as a PhD student, I learned to think about biological systems as integrated networks. This has shaped my approach to studying the nervous system, attempting to link the body and brain.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorThe NIH has awarded a $14.2M Director’s Transformative Research Award to a team led by Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist @ardemp.bskyverified.social, Prof. @liye-tsri.bsky.social and Assoc. Prof. @xinjin.bsky.social to map interoception and build the first atlas of this hidden sixth sense.
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorGreat Job - Great Colleagues - Great Science👍 Help us pick the next generation of @hhmi.org Investigators, Freeman Hrabowski Scholars, Hanna Gray Fellows, Gilliam Fellows Relocation to DC is required, perfect for academic PIs looking for their next chapter hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorWhy does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years? A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today! Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Ishmail Abdus-SaboorFinally out: our recent work with Nick Betley is a view into how the brain reshapes its behavior in the face of competing survival needs- and also a potential angle on treatment targets for enduring pain. A brief rundown... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
