Danielle Beckman

@daniellebeckman.bsky.social

18855 Followers 3944 Following

PharmD, MS in Biophysics, PhD in Biochemistry I like taking photos of weird things inside the brain 🔬 🇧🇷 Rio 🇺🇸 Sacramento 🇩🇪 Munich daniellebeckman.com

Article at eBiomedicine: Dopaminergic vulnerability in long COVID: striatal PET imaging at the brain-body interface Eric Guedja, Danielle Beckman
Mary Lasker’s iconic quote, "If you think research is expensive, try disease."
Cervical cancer mortality trends following HPV vaccination in England, 2001–24: an analysis of population-based mortality data
Image shows the title of the paper: Original Investigation 2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccine and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events Among US Veterans A graph that shows the reduction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) following COVID vaccination. Importance: COVID-19 vaccines were previously shown to reduce risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) Conclusions and Relevance  The substantially larger reduction in all-cause MACE suggests that the vaccine’s protective association extends to the hidden burden of undetected SARS-CoV-2 and its sequelae.
Image shows the title of the article: Pathological potential of autoantibodies in long COVID, and the text: Using mice with fluorescently labelled pain-sensing neurons to explore the potential mechanisms of pathogenicity, the authors found that mice receiving long COVID IgG exhibited a reduction in intraepidermal nerve fibres (a hallmark of small fibre neuropathy) alongside increased circulating neurofilament light chain, consistent with axonal injury. Whole-brain mapping with iDISCO imaging revealed widespread neuronal activation after IgG transfer across areas associated with pain perception, fatigue, emotional regulation and cognition. These findings suggest that circulating autoantibodies can access neural tissues and perturb both sensory pathways and higher-order brain networks. The finding that patient IgG is sufficient to induce disease-relevant phenotypes in mice raises the possibility that therapies that target circulating antibodies could ameliorate some symptoms of long COVID and suggests that autoimmunity is one mechanistic axis for long COVID, among others.
Estimated number of children suffering from Long covid: March 2023: 62,000 (England, Scotland, Wales and N Ireland) March 2024: 118,816 (England & Scotland only)
Nature news: Eye drops made from pig semen deliver cancer treatment to mice Minuscule particles with the ability to cross hard-to-penetrate barriers can be loaded with drug treatments to target intractable diseases.
Jesus saw that!
Image shows that Viral persistence is one of the potential causes of Long Covid, together with reactivation of latent viruses, multi-tissue damage/autoimmunity, disturbance in gut microbiota, and viral superantigen activation of the immune system
Text reads the author Yunlong Richard Cao's tweet: Our latest preprint is out, where we investigated a profound SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological anomaly: BA.3.2.2 is selectively infecting children. Here, we show that the lack of ancestral-strain immune imprinting is promoting BA.3.2.2 pediatric infections.
Alan Levinotvitz, author of the journalist article about Long Covid at Wired. He is also the author of "The Gluten Lie" and "Natural". He is an assistant professor of philosophy at James Madison University. Levinovitz shared insight about the connection between religious thinking and dietary philosophy, and the importance of virtue of uncertainty as a guiding character trait.
The image shows a text that reads: The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is part of the olfactory cortex. Also controls emotions, reward value, reward-related decision-making, and inhibitory behavior Damage to the OFC can lead to disinhibition, characterized by perseveration (repeated actions), reduced reversal ability (difficulty adapting to changing rules) and impulsive choices. Followed by microscopy images showing Cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs) in the OFC after COVID-19 infection
Figure of a human brain with a text that reads: All quiet on the frontal lobe
Title of the review article: Understanding Neuroinflammation in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: Biological Mechanisms, Diagnostic Biomarkers, and Therapeutic Prospects, by Daniel Martins ,Danielle Beckman,Marco Loggia,Alessandra Constanza,Alessandra Borsini
Message shared from *Freud.intensifies* that reads: If anyone has any experience with anything or knows anything about something please let me know
Study: Long COVID Persistence and Surveillance Gaps Across 58 US Hospitals Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, approximately 1 in 6 patients with COVID-19 developed PASC, and 89.31% of these patients had at least 1 chronic condition. Current diagnostic coding captured fewer than one-half of the cases, obscuring a substantial chronic disease burden. The persistently increasing prevalence through 2024 indicated an accumulating health care burden requiring investment in surveillance infrastructure and integrated care pathways.
Paper published on Cell titled: A causal link between autoantibodies and neurological symptoms in long COVID
Confocal microscopy images comparing the piriform cortex of non-infected vs infected with COVID. Images show increased degeneration of myelin following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Title of the study: White matter microstructural abnormalities in neurological poste-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease: Imaging signatures consistent with persistent neuroinflammation published at Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health
Microscopy image showing mature neurons in the monkey cortex
Table showing the annual myocarditis hospitalization incidence, 2017–2024. The bar chart displays myocarditis case counts across an 8‐year period
Outdoor sign that reads: Life is hard but at least I'm not dumb enough to think it's hard because of immigrants
Image shows a picture of all the viruses together trying to pass through the same door
Key Summary Points from the study published yesterday: Among studies directly comparing disease severity outcomes to earlier Omicron subvariants, some reported slight increases or decreases in severity that were not statistically significant. Therefore, COVID-19 disease severity, including hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality, was comparable overall across Omicron subvariants. Presence of comorbidities was a consistent predictor of worse COVID-19 outcomes, regardless of which Omicron subvariant predominated. Our findings highlight a persistent severe COVID-19 risk across Omicron subvariants, particularly among individuals with comorbidities, indicating a need to consider continued surveillance, prevention efforts, and disease management.
Certificate of achievement provided by Wiley
Text from the BZ Berlin news: The contact person from Berlin affected by the hantavirus will not be admitted to the special isolation ward of the Charite after all. According to the Senate Health Administration, she will be discharged to go home. There, she must isolated herself.
The number of people exposed to hantavirus increased from 7 on May 12 to 173 on May 13
Text reads: A New Hantavirus Vaccine Is in the Works Since 2023, Moderna and Korea University have been developing a new mRNA vaccine for hantavirus. The work has been promising so far, but a finished product isn't likely coming any time soon.
Hantavirus ANDV dashboard
The frog is mildly concerned
Three women positioned next to a tree in a friendly casual outdoor setting.
Text reads: To the woman who moved to a new country, learned a new system, built a new life with no village, no safety net, no guarantee it would work. And did it anyway. With a smile on the outside and terror on the inside. That took everything. Don't let anyone minimise that.
Text from the Vertlartnic: Hantavirus only a risk to those at risk from hantavirus, says CDC
3 arms with the same tattoo, a california grizzly bear
Figure from the manuscript showing the major microscopic findings in humans and animal models associated with neuro-PASC development
A photo of myself wearing sunglasses and a cool shirt of one of the coolest bands, Bad Brains!
Cover of the book After Covid - by Jason Gale
A confocal microscopy image showing early tau accumulation in the brain with Alzheimer's Disease. Everything in blue (all nuclei) and green (neurons) is healthy. All the other colors are composed of a combination of different markers for pathological tau. The key question is: how do we avoid this tau spreading from cell to cell via neuronal connections? If we can avoid this, we can avoid memory loss.
This chart shows which of Congress’s oldest 24 members are running for re-election (13 members), which aren’t (six members), and which are uncertain (four members). Each politician’s current age is shown, and for those running, the age they would be at the end of the term they could be re-elected for is shown. The party of each member is also shown. All of these politicians are at least 80 years old, most are younger than 84, and one is in his 90s. The uncertain politicians are, on average, the oldest, though there are three politicians at or near 88 who are running for re-election.
The image shows an illustration of the comic book character Doctor Manhattan from the graphic novel Watchmen, depicted sitting on Mars. The text reads: It is 1996, we have a president born in 1946 It is 2006, we have a president born in 1946 It is 2016, we have a president born in 1946 It is 2026, we have a president born in 1946
Manuscript: Virus-induced endothelial senescence as a cause and driving factor for ME/CFS and long COVID: mediated by a dysfunctional immune system Figure shows: Overview of the present hypothesis. Acute viral infections induce endothelial senescence via direct and indirect mechanisms, which is then sustained by immune dysfunction and impaired clearance of senescent endothelial cells. (EC - endothelial cell).
Confocal microscopy image showing astrocytes in the human brain
Comic from @perrybiblefellowship that shows scientists observing a robot admiring a flower and a butterfly in the first square. In the second square, a scientist places a human heart inside the robot, saying, "Today I shall give you what you've been missing." 3rd square shows the scientist saying: humanity. The last square shows scientists observing the robot killing all life forms around it.