Li Li, MD, PhD
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dilithium.bsky.social
Li Li, MD, PhD
@dilithium.bsky.social
Anesthesiologist and neuroscientist at University of Washington and Seattle Children's interested in neuromodulation of arousal and developing precision anesthesia.
Happy to share our study “Noradrenergic tuning of arousal is coupled to movement transitions” from my time at Michael Bruchas' lab. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Highlights:
1. Anesthetic emergence dissociates arousal components; LC-NE activation is coupled to the return of organized behavior.
Noradrenergic tuning of arousal is coupled to movement transitions
Li et al. characterize the locus coeruleus (LC)-norepinephrine system in movement-arousal coupling during anesthetic emergence and awake-movement transitions. They find that LC activity correlates wit...
www.cell.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
The Gowrishankar lab will be opening its doors @neuro_MUSC on Dec 1, 2025! We will be hiring at all levels. I will also be at @SfNtweets presenting my lab's vision on Wednesday, Nov 19, 8AM-12PM at poster board GG7. If you're interested, please reach out!

www.raajgowrishankarlab.org
Gowrishankar Lab
www.raajgowrishankarlab.org
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
I’m extremely honored to be a recipient of the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award!
Congratulations to @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social on receiving the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, celebrating “scientists with outstanding records of creativity.” His lab will explore how the sense of touch can help build relationships. 🫶🧠💡

See zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/zuckerman-in...
October 8, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
🔵 I'm interrupting my social media hiatus to flag this important preprint from the Bruchas lab (is he not on Bluesky!?) together with @davidweinshenker.bsky.social. Very difficult experiments to show that dopamine release from LC terminals is independent of VTA 🔥
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
September 17, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
Reposting this as a reminder that we have an open Research Assistant position - appreciate reposts and passing along to colleagues who may know people who are interested!

Details and link to apply are in the second post!
New posting for a Research Assistant in our division. Ideal position for recent graduate looking for experience in molecular neurobiology and microscopy. Team-oriented environment working across projects generating spatial transcriptomics data in human 🧠 tissue and human-derived neuronal cell models
June 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
Far from being a passive neighbor to the locus coeruleus, the pericoeruleus appears to act as a kind of micromanager of arousal, selectively inhibiting different subgroups of locus coeruleus neurons, writes @macshine.bsky.social.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/attention/th...
The brain’s quiet conductor: How hidden cells fine-tune arousal
New research published today suggests that the pericoeruleus acts as a kind of micromanager of arousal, selectively inhibiting different subgroups of locus coeruleus neurons depending on the…
www.thetransmitter.org
May 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
NIH's work saves lives—& Trump is gutting it.

Straight from D.C. I headed to Seattle Children's to hear from researchers & patients alike about the importance of NIH funding—it's not just about lines in a budget, it's about lifesaving discoveries.

We ALL need to speak up to save it.
May 2, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
It finally happened, the Castro lab's first paper! Congrats to
@katybraden.bsky.social
!! In this review we examine what we know, and more importantly, what we DON'T know about neuropeptides in the dorsal raphe/ventromedial PAG. Here we go! www.frontiersin.org/journals/beh...
a drag queen wearing a blue dress with the word iconic on the front
ALT: a drag queen wearing a blue dress with the word iconic on the front
media.tenor.com
April 9, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
Our latest study identifies a specific cell type and receptor essential for psilocybin’s long-lasting neural and behavioral effects 🍄🔬🧠🧪

Led by Ling-Xiao Shao and @ItsClaraLiao

Funded by @NIH @NIMHgov

📄 Read in @nature.com - www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1/12
Psilocybin’s lasting action requires pyramidal cell types and 5-HT2A receptors - Nature
A pyramidal cell type and the 5-HT2A receptor in the medial frontal cortex have essential roles in psilocybin’s long-term drug action.
www.nature.com
April 2, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
Wanted to share this story about my colleague Bryant Lin. We’re working together on bringing art and science together but his story runs much deeper. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...
When This Stanford Professor Got Cancer, He Decided to Teach a Class About It
Dr. Bryant Lin, who teaches medicine at Stanford University, was given a terminal diagnosis. He wanted his students to understand the humanity at the core of medicine.
www.nytimes.com
February 27, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
Call to End Freeze on Federal Grants

The White House's pause on federal grants threatens our nation’s scientific progress. Read SfN's full statement urging this Administration to lift the freeze to protect the health and security of our nation: bit.ly/4gq9i2I
Call to End Freeze on Federal Grants
bit.ly
January 28, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
If you are still at #ACNP2024 and are interested in the locus coeruleus and/or the amygdala, please stop by my poster from the @mbruchas lab examining how both nodes of this circuit mediate stress-induced anxiety-like behavior tonight (W169)!
December 11, 2024 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Li Li, MD, PhD
The Juarez lab at University of Maryland, Baltimore is hiring a PD! We combine gene editing, neurophysiology and behavior to understand the basis of disordered behaviors 🧠🧬✂️🔬🐭. Check us out and apply at thejuarezlab.com .
October 19, 2023 at 11:20 AM