Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jibran Khokhar

@drjkhokhar.bsky.social

3.3K followers 1.8K following 390 posts

Associate Professor, CRC in Translational Neuropsychopharmacology, Open-Source Tools! Committed to knowing better and doing better!

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Jibran Khokhar @drjkhokhar.bsky.social · Nov 22

Happy to share my talk for the @hbhlmcgill.bsky.social Brain Canada The Amazing Brain 2024 event titled: Cannabis and the Developing Brain: Vaping, Edibles and Genetics www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgxb...

Cannabis and the Developing Brain: Vaping, Edibles and Genetics | Jibran Khokhar

YouTube video by Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives

www.youtube.com

3 12 56

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Tracy Bale @thebalelab.bsky.social · 20h

acnp.org/annual-meeti...

Promising Targets at @acnporg.bsky.social ! 💊 This a great way to ensure your late breaking pharmacology - clinical trial unblinding, drug study or preclinical pharmacological study gets attention! Was a very hot session last year. 👏

Submissions - ACNP

acnp.org

7 8

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 3h

There is so much luck in academia. We're told to just ride it out, take the rough with the smooth.

But sometimes you get a run of bad luck or an event hits so hard that it becomes existential.

There's only so much bad luck a person can take before they run out of road and have to leave academia.

2 2 14

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 4h

Last year, I had a paper rejected after 18 months with the @amjepi.bsky.social.

It's the first time I've had a paper rejected after being invited for revisions. And the first time I've had a paper sent out to completely new reviewers.

It stung so hard that it's taken me a year to look at again.

Catherine E. de Vries @catherinedevries.bsky.social · 6h

Every academic career is built on rejection, but we don’t show it.
 CVs list publications, grants & awards, not rejected manuscripts, unfunded proposals, or failures.
 But those invisible rejections shape us more than our successes ever do.

👉 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/fail-bette...

🧵

Fail Better: Why Your Rejections Will Shape You More Than Your Publications

The Art of Learning from Rejection

catherineeunicedevries.substack.com

7 12 47

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 3h

I see your point, 💯. I also think there's more flexibility than many profs take advantage of. e.g., I've long admired that you do a lot of data analysis (I do too); not everyone does. Some admin is unavoidable. But having a big team vs small; being close to data vs far; that's up to a professor.

1 2 10

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Micah G. Allen @micahgallen.com · 3h

And I do value my job. I feel very lucky to work as a Professor in a topic I love. I don't even mind a lot of the admin (I actually really enjoy writing grants!), but I just think that the reality is very far from what most people deciding to enter the field expect. Certainly I had no idea.

2 3 18

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Micah G. Allen @micahgallen.com · 3h

I think that if most young people really knew how much non-science work a scientific career requires, most would not persue it. And I say that as someone with zero teaching and only grant and paper related admin.

5 6 67

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Micah G. Allen @micahgallen.com · 3h

What I try to remember is that I am in a luxury position with dedicated, low admin grants and zero teaching or otherwise required admin work (panels, assessments, etc). So I actually do get to choose how much admin I involve myself in - for example, by choosing to have a smaller team as you suggest.

1 2 2

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · 4h

Really interesting work by Bakhurin and colleagues challenging the reward prediction error hypothesis of dopamine:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love this figure which both echoes and undermines the famous figure from Schultz et al. (1997).

3 33 95

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 13h

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.” This Collection celebrates the award and recognizes the winners’ achievements. #medsky 🧪

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries ...

go.nature.com

1 10 44

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Dr. Genevieve Eastabrook, MD FRCSC (she/her) @placentadoc.bsky.social · 14h

‘Masking’ at work: How neurodivergent Canadians are burning out to fit in

More Canadians are identifying as neurodivergent, but many workplaces are still designed to accommodate one kind of mind. Corporate wellness strategist Vaishali Joshi says the mismatch is quietly push...

www.ctvnews.ca

1 2 12

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 18h

NIH Study Sections are on hold...again. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/n...

NIH Study Sections are on hold…again.

The primary input to deciding on the merit of proposals submitted to the NIH for potential funding, as most of my remaining blog audience well knows, is the outcome of the initial peer-review proce…

drugmonkey.wordpress.com

6 43 72

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Dr. Genevieve Eastabrook, MD FRCSC (she/her) @placentadoc.bsky.social · 13h

Quebec epidemiologist says she experienced psychological torture in Israeli custody

Nima Machouf was aboard flotilla intercepted in international waters on Wednesday

Canadian epidemiologist says she experienced psychological torture in Israeli custody | CBC Accessibility

A Canadian epidemiologist says she experienced psychological torture in Israeli custody after she was detained while participating in a flotilla trying to bring aid to Gaza.

www.cbc.ca

1 11 22

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 18h

I would love for there to be a place where we could talk about student issues and it would be good faith engagement and people would safely assume you're not making fun of students or anything, just generally seeking guidance.

16 21 530

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Amy Diehl, Ph.D. @amydiehl.bsky.social · 20h

Study of AI LLMs finds DeepSeek & Geimini were more risk-averse when responding as women, mirroring real-world patterns where women are more cautious in financial decisions. OpenAI was risk-neutral regardless of whether told to think as male or female.
decrypt.co/343871/tell-...

When You Tell AI Models to Act Like Women, Most Become More Risk-Averse: Study - Decrypt

New research shows language models mirror human gender patterns in decision-making, with some AIs dramatically changing their risk tolerance based on whether they're prompted to think as male or femal...

decrypt.co

1 4 11

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Ravi Menon, Ph.D. @northernthrux.bsky.social · 20h

We can celebrate a 🇨🇦 winning the prize while acknowledging that 🇨🇦 could not provide the environment for them to do their prize winning research, so they left. Maybe it’s time to fix that Mr. Carney.

1 4 9

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · 22h

Really excited to have this paper accepted for publication now in @natcomms.nature.com - stay tuned for the final version and huge congrats to @margestelzner.bsky.social!!!!

Ben Saunders @bensaunders.bsky.social · Aug 21

Very excited to share this major update to our paper delineating VTA GABA neuron encoding of valence and decision conflict. Studies led by the amazing @margestelzner.bsky.social. We leaned in here, taking the opportunity to add a lot of cool new data. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

2 10 52

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Western University @westernu.ca · 22h

Peter Howitt, @westernualumni.bsky.social, has won the #NobelPrize in #Economics.
He earned his master’s at #WesternU, spent nearly 25 years on our economics faculty and remains closely connected to our academic community as an Honorary Professor.
buff.ly/J5qFeSh
#PurpleAndProud

Announcement of the 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025 was awarded "for having explained innovation-driven economic growth" with one half to Joel Mokyr "for having identified…

buff.ly

4 10

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

neurosalinas.bsky.social @neurosalinas.bsky.social · 23h

First alcohol lab paper out today! Neurotoxic effects of chronic ethanol on cholinergic interneurons in the dorsomedial striatum.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
Many thanks to all contributors!

Redirecting

doi.org

2 4

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Kate Sleeth Patterson, Ph.D. @edukatedstem.bsky.social · 23h

This seems like a really fun and exciting opportunity if you are a creative postdoc and member of the National Postdoctoral Association.

Deadline for submission: Monday, November 3, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET

www.nationalpostdoc.org/news/news.as...

NPA Announces Annual Conference Design Contest - National Postdoctoral Association

To be eligible for the design contest, individuals must be a postdoctoral scholar, and be an NPA Full Individual Member OR Affiliate Member in good standing at the time of submission.

www.nationalpostdoc.org

3 4

Jibran Khokhar @drjkhokhar.bsky.social · 23h

Thanks! Too bad Hayley and Sandra aren’t on here!

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Kathryn Manning @kathrynmanning.bsky.social · 1d

The Application & Translation unit led by @catherinealebel.bsky.social , all smiles and sunshine in Bordeaux for the inaugural IST conference.

1 3 9

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

Eric Turkheimer @ent3c.bsky.social · 1d

In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.

Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are

Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.

www.theatlantic.com

8 90 230

Jibran Khokhar @drjkhokhar.bsky.social · 23h

Some media coverage of the article I posted today!

clarissacparker.bsky.social @clarissacparker.bsky.social · 23h

It always makes me happy when I see scientists I know getting their work covered by the popular press! @abepalmer.bsky.social Is Sandra on bluesky?
wapo.st/4nNhnCO

Why do people use or get addicted to cannabis? A new study offers clues.

The study builds on growing genetic research into cannabis use, as policymakers grapple with the risks and benefits of the drug’s soaring popularity.

wapo.st

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

JAMA @jama.com · 23h

In US adolescents, increasing social media use from ages 9–13 was associated with lower scores on measures of reading, memory, vocabulary, and composite cognition.

ja.ma/42B8WCd

JAMA Research Letter: "Social Media Use Trajectories and Cognitive Performance in Adolescents." Figure shows social media time trajectories by age, with lines representing high, low, and very low social media use from ages 9 to 13.

1 9 12

Reposted by Jibran Khokhar

clarissacparker.bsky.social @clarissacparker.bsky.social · 23h

It always makes me happy when I see scientists I know getting their work covered by the popular press! @abepalmer.bsky.social Is Sandra on bluesky?
wapo.st/4nNhnCO

Why do people use or get addicted to cannabis? A new study offers clues.

The study builds on growing genetic research into cannabis use, as policymakers grapple with the risks and benefits of the drug’s soaring popularity.

wapo.st

1 2 4