📢📢New paper alert! The work of Aly, the first PhD student in my lab is out! We have explored the mechanisms of germline entry in the mouse and identified integrin signaling as a new roadblock of primordial germ cell specification. Keep reading:
España me formó. 6 años en un instituto público, 5 años de Biología y un máster en la UAM y 5 años de doctorado en el CNIO. Gracias a las becas jamás pagué nada. Ahora que llegó el momento de devolver a la sociedad la inversión lo hago en el extranjero.
#SinCienciaNoHayFuturo
Best way to start 2022: my lab has been awarded an ERC starting grant
@ERC_Research
!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳 We will be studying how tissue morphology affects pluripotent stem cell fate decisions during mouse and human development. Stay tuned for updates!
The most exciting news I will probably ever share in Twitter: I am honoured and thrilled to announce that I am officially starting my own group at the LMB in Cambridge! I will be looking for a postdoc soon so stay tuned!
First paper of the Shahbazi lab: a review on human embryo development. I wrote it during maternity leave and lockdown, and so it is very special for me. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Extremely happy to share the first manuscript of the lab! 🥳🥳🥳In this paper, we have looked at the coupling between delamination and differentiation at gastrulation. If you are interested in pluripotency, gastrulation, and mouse embryos keep reading!
Our first trip as a family: an Italian dad, a Spanish mother and a British daughter. Tomorrow vote to keep us all together, vote against borders and for unity.
#VoteTactically
New paper!! What happens when the number of cells in an embryo is increased? The dynamics and mechanisms of embryonic morphogenesis change! Amniotic cavity formation is delayed and requires cell death
More than 15 years ago visiting Iran with my family I was stopped by the morality policy. They just told me: go to the van!! I was paralysed. There was just one empty seat in the van, waiting for me, the rest already occupied by other young teenagers. My father quickly said...👇🏼
After two years and 8 months of paperwork to import human morulas from Spain for research, we have finally received them!! One million thanks to
@URH_GdR
and all the patients that donated their embryos. We will try our best to learn as much as we can from them
Congratulations to both of our 2019
#3RsPrize
winners, who will each receive a £15k prize grant and a £2k personal award for their outstanding contributions to 3Rs research.
📢Applications for the LMB PhD programme are now open. The LMB is without any doubt a fantastic place to do a PhD! This year I am recruiting. If you are interested please get in touch
Our newest story published
@NatureComms
! Fantastic collaboration between
@MZG_Lab
,
@IVIclinics
and
@thermanetwork
. We have used our human embryo culture system to study the phenotypes of aneuploid human embryos at day 9 of development: 👇👇👇
The bravery of Iranian women is absolutely remarkable. They risk their lives to fight for their freedom and we should do everything we possibly can to support them
#Masha_amini
#IranRevoIution2022
6 papers reporting embryo models in less than a month it’s a lot to digest! And this is why I decided to give a journal club comparing the 6. Really useful discussion with the lab and our special guest
@BailWeatherbee
New paper alert! We have analysed the mechanism of cell polarisation in the human embryo and how this influences the first cell fate decision. Continue reading if you want to know more! 👇👇👇👇
Recruitment alert!! The Cell Biology division of the LMB is looking for a junior group leader. Core funding, amazing facilities, freedom to pursue your ideas, collaborative environment, and great colleagues. Any questions please get in touch.
How do cells know what to become?
@Marta_Shahbazi
, who joins the LMB today, aims to understand the molecular mechanisms that govern cell identity, a fundamental question that involves multiple levels of biological organisation. Welcome to the LMB!
#stemcells
Today my baby Alma went to her first lab meeting. She is only 4 weeks old but it’s never too early to start learning about human embryo development!
#womeninstem
Finally published!! I really enjoyed this collaboration with Manuel Serrano and Cian Lynch from the
@IRBBarcelona
. Inhibition of CDK8/19 stabilises naive pluripotency in mouse and human ESCs
Conectamos EN DIRECTO con
@Marta_Shahbazi
, bióloga de la Universidad de Cambridge, para analizar una de las noticias de la semana en el ámbito científico.
#MilenioLive
The Cell Biology Division of the LMB is recruiting group leaders! This is a unique opportunity! I cannot recommend it enough. Don't hesitate to apply and please reach out if you have any questions
The field of embryo models is advancing very quickly.
@vincentpasque
and I have tried our best to present the current status of the field and deconstruct all the complexity in this review. If you want to know more keep reading!
Very happy to share with you our latest publication: We have generated human yolk sac-like cells, and use them to model the yolk sac-epiblast interaction in vitro
Check out the special issue on human embryo development that
@nmoris
and myself put together. Really great reviews! Thanks a lot to all the authors that contributed.
“She is a foreigner! She doesn’t know how to wear the hijab properly” After telling me off, they let me go. I was soo afraid, the following day I made sure I was fully covered. When a society is built around fear is easy to become paralysed, blocked, and unable to think... 👇🏼
Going back home, spending time with my family, going out with my high school friends, running San Silvestre... None of that is happening this year. But at least thanks to science there is light at the end of the tunnel! Merry Christmas, specially to those that are far from home!
If you missed the workshop from the company of biologists "Cell State Transitions" don't miss the meeting report: It was a pleasure to write it with such fantastic co-authors!
@KateMiro1
@JoseNegreteJr3
@KevinChalut
and Austin Smith
Congratulations Dr. Makhlouf!! It has been a pleasure to have you as the first PhD student of the Shahbazi lab. Thanks to the examiners for the discussion and to everyone in the lab for creating such an amazing PhD hat! 😊😊
#proudPI
Thank you so much
@ISSCR
for approving my application for a child dependent care grant to attend the annual meeting! Initiatives such as this have such a huge positive impact. In my case, it means me, my baby and my parents are going to
#ISSCR2024
! 😃
I am really happy to see this work from
@ZernickaGoetz
lab finally published! Fantastic work from the fantastic
@zhumeng123
! Congratulations to everyone! Keep reading if you want to know more about early embryos, polarity and time
New paper alert! How do early human embryos polarise? This work involved so many IVF clinics and collaborators across the globe. I am so glad to see it finally published!
I am looking for a postdoc to join me at the LMB in February. Scientists at the LMB tackle “fundamental, often difficult and long-term research problems”. Get in touch if you are up for the challenge!
Gastrulation enthusiasts: don't miss the new article from Isabelle Migeotte's group! Non-apical mitoses contribute to delamination during mouse gastrulation. I am very happy to be part of this work and to see that our 3D EpiSC model was useful!
La burocracia va a matar a la ciencia española. Una clínica de FIV con la que colaboro solicitó un permiso de exportación de embriones a la Comisión Nacional de Reproducción Asistida. Un año después nos informan de que la solicitud la tengo que hacer yo y tenemos que empezar de 0
So many cool articles in Nature today! Mouse embryos cultured in vitro from E5.5 to E11! 🤩Amazing achievement from
@jacob_hanna
and colleagues. And new stem cell models of the human blastocyst.
Finally out! Don’t miss it if you are interested in innovations to study the early mouse and human embryo. I hope people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it 😊
@NatureCellBio
@ZernickaGoetz
This is such a nice cover. Congratulations
@MZG_Lab
!
@ZernickaGoetz
I have learned so many valuable lessons from you, and the importance of having an artistic mindset when doing science was definitely one of them.
Are you ready to become a group leader? Are you looking for a supportive environment and really nice colleagues? Do you want freedom and resources to follow your best ideas? Then apply to the group leader call of the LMB Cell Biology division!
On my way to the 12th DB course
@institut_curie
. I cannot be more excited! My first in person meeting since the pandemic began! Also my first night away from my daughter since she was born. I will definitely miss her!
#motherscientist
The EMBO leadership course should be mandatory to all new group leaders. Fantastic experience, food for thought, and a list of changes to implement in the lab!
Just spent 4 very fulfilling days in Cambridge with MRC-LMB & S. Leadership isn't all about whipping people up for results and these people got that.
@MelanieGlickman
@LifeSciLearn
@LeadSculpt
I am very excited to learn that our findings in PGCs extend to other species and tissues. Extracellular matrix signaling also inhibits the Wnt signaling pathway in the context of brain organoids!
I am really happy to see the first edition of the Stem Cell Report podcast! This is a fantastic initiative. I really enjoyed listening to Janet Rossant and Patrick Tam while I was dissecting E5.5 embryos. Very inspiring!
While I hug my kids in bed I can’t stop thinking about all the parents that lost their kids, all the kids that lost their parents, and all the families that hug each other at night praying they will see the light of another day. My heart is with you
A great resource for those studying the human embryo: transcriptome and methylome of human embryos cultured in vitro beyond implantation. So glad to see different independent groups using our culture method successfully!
The COVID pandemic has impacted our lives in many different ways. Thanks to
@CellStemCell
for giving visibility to the struggles, ambitions and hopes of early career scientists. It was a pleasure to share my experience as a mother scientist
Over the past year, we've featured 71 early-career researchers who discussed their research and the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on their labs & lives. We mark the closing of this article series with interviews and essays from some of the participants.
Really glad to see this published! Validates some of our findings and provides very interesting new insights on the pluripotency of the epiblast rosette.
Baby Alma got her first round of vaccines today. Of course she cried, but by vaccinating her we are contributing to create a world free of preventable diseases. Vaccines save lives!
#VaccinesSaveLives
#VaccinesWork
To those living in Cambridge: last Friday I lost this silver pendant. It has an extremely important sentimental value. The chances are very small, but if anybody has seen it please let me know. Thanks!
Are you interested in imaging, morphogenesis, and mechanical forces? Do you want to join an interdisciplinary lab to work on an exciting project? Then look no further and apply for the postdoc position available in Kate McDole's lab!
The ERC grant,
@Viviane13825742
birthday, Melinda’s farewell party, and a very delayed Christmas celebration. It was definitely time to get together!
#bestlabever
Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you are having a lovely holiday break. For me Christmas means family and friends, sleeping without setting up an alarm, reading a book, long walks in the city, and visiting the nativity in church. Food for the soul and energy for the new year!
A tour de force: a single cell spatiotemporal protein atlas of transcription factor expression across embryo development. It was a pleasure to write the news and views!
I just googled "blastoid" and found out "Blastoids are an extinct type of stemmed echinoderm, often referred to as sea buds". Lots of beautiful fossil images instead of embryo models!
For
#postdocappreciationweek
let me introduce the first postdoc of the Shahbazi lab! Nanami Sato studied cell competition in epithelial tissues during her PhD. For her postdoc she will be looking at how epithelial tissue organisation affects pluripotent cell identity
@773ssss
@j_cantoral
@ERC_Research
It would be good to know how many women and men applied. Is the female/male ratio of applicants and awardees conserved? This would help us understand whether reviewers could have an unconscious bias
My first blog post: a personal view on our human embryo research for the
@sciencemuseum
! And if you are in London don’t forget to visit their fantastic IVF exhibition!
See you soon Barcelona! The
#EIWConf
was really fantastic. I had engaging scientific discussions, bring with me a list of ideas/questions to think about, saw old and new friends, and even sat on
@viktri08
chair to chat with
@XavierTrepat
!
This is a really important article. There are plenty of human embryos available for research, and even when patients would like to donate them for research, in most cases this does not happen. Now more than ever, we need more human embryo research.
I am very happy to have witnessed the birth and growth of
@MZG_Lab
's stem cell embryo models. It is mind-blowing how much progress has been made over the past years. Science in real time!
When I told my high school Physics teacher that I wanted to study Biology to be a scientist he replied "you will end up been a cashier". 17 years later I want to tell every girl: you can follow your dreams