VascLab UCSF

Vascular Anomalies & Stroke Computation Lab | Led by @EWinklerMDPhd at @NeurosurgUCSF | Decoding and re-envisioning human cerebrovascular disease

[Jerry Wang @jerrywangbio]

[1/17] Excited to share my PhD thesis work, now published in Cell: a cell + spatial atlas of the adult human brain vasculature.

How are vascular cells organized from arteries to veins, and what does that mean for brain function and disease? A thread 🧵

https://t.co/UDPUlOXsqU

[Cell @CellCellPress]

Now online! Spatial atlas of the human brain vasculature reveals specialized cell ensembles https://t.co/kLF9XKO7XX

[UCSF Neurosurgery @NeurosurgUCSF]

Today in @CellCellPress, researchers led by @UCSF neurosurgeon-scientist @EWinklerMDPhD, publish the most comprehensive cell atlas of the brain’s blood vessels, revealing how a cell’s location influences vascular disease in the brain. @VascLabUCSF https://t.co/GbExvu5Y4c

[Ethan Winkler, MD, PhD @EWinklerMDPhD]

Excited to share our @CellCellPress spatial atlas of the human brain vasculature. Across 314,535 transcriptomes and 1.5M cells, we reveal stereotyped vascular ensembles underlying specialized function, disease risk, and segment-selective drug responses.
https://t.co/AlyPneNH6A

[Michael T. Lawton, MD @mtlawton]

Really proud of this paper and the effort that went into getting it published. Congrats to the teams at BAARC (Barrow Aneurysm & AVM Research Center) and UCSF. Read the paper at https://t.co/VLmZ0WnlGA.

[UC San Francisco @UCSF]

About 1 in 50 Americans has a brain aneurysm. Why do some burst, causing stroke, while others don’t? A new UCSF study found an interaction between cells that weakens blood vessels. The discovery could help doctors predict and prevent strokes in the future.https://t.co/P6BD1Ggg54

[Michael T. Lawton, MD @mtlawton]

Here's an article to go with today's #SevenSeries video....
https://t.co/GGQjbf18Uj

[Jerry Wang @jerrywangbio]

Aneurysm walls are not homogeneous.

Some regions retain vascular structure. Others are fibrotic, inflamed, or depleted of smooth muscle cells.

By combining single-cell and spatial data, we could start to map these disease states back onto the wall itself. [4/9]

[Jerry Wang @jerrywangbio]

We profiled 227,663 neurovascular cells, including 52,946 aneurysmal cells, from 14 adult human brain aneurysms and 11 control vessels. [3/9]

[Jerry Wang @jerrywangbio]

The classic picture: aneurysm walls lose structural support, become inflamed, and may eventually rupture.

Problem: we didn’t know which specific cells drive these changes in human brain aneurysms.

So we asked: who is in the wall, where are they, and what are they doing? [2/9]

[Jerry Wang @jerrywangbio]

Brain aneurysms are usually described as weakened “bulges” in blood vessels.

But what actually happens inside the aneurysm wall at cellular resolution?

In our new @NatureNeuro paper, we built a human brain aneurysm cell + spatial atlas to find out [1/9]:
https://t.co/zcO2lDvvKP

[Belda Gulsuyu, MD @BeldaGulsuyuMD]

Join us on 7/2/26! @TAAF @jerrywangbio @VascLabUCSF

[The Aneurysm and AVM Foundation (TAAF) @TAAF]

Congrats @EWinklerMDPhD et al behind the landmark @NatureNeuro study helping answer: Why do #BrainAneurysms form, weaken, & rupture?

Proud to see TAAF-funded investigators @DrMichaelLevitt, @BeldaGulsuyuMD & Dr. Daniel Cooke @UCSF among the authors.

Reg: https://t.co/dWqzDSVCBV

[The Aneurysm and AVM Foundation (TAAF) @TAAF]

@DrMichaelLevitt @UWNeurosurgery @UWSANSCenter @EWinklerMDPhD @SNISinfo @cvsection @NIH @uwnews This breakthrough reflects years of collaboration among so many and w/the commitment to advance brain aneurysm research for all. Hearty congrats to @DrMichaelLevitt and team, @EWinklerMDPhD and team, and so many others we support and respect. Feels so close to answering the why!

[Michael Levitt, MD @DrMichaelLevitt]

This is the culmination of an amazing effort by colleagues across the country, including @UWNeurosurgery and @UWSANSCenter. Congrats @EWinklerMDPhD and team, grateful of funding from @TAAF @SNISinfo @cvsection @NIH and others making this foundational research possible! @uwnews

[UCSF Neurosurgery @NeurosurgUCSF]

In a new @NatureNeuro study led by @UCSF neurosurgeon @EWinklerMDPhD, researchers profiled the cells in human aneurysms, identifying the changes that make a rupture more likely and new opportunities for therapeutic intervention: https://t.co/IHiF18unhJ
@mtlawton @BarrowNeuro

[Michael T. Lawton, MD @mtlawton]

Exceptional work from our special @BarrowNeuro and @NeurosurgUCSF pipeline…

[Ethan Winkler, MD, PhD @EWinklerMDPhD]

This work made possible by an incredible team across institutions, including @VascLabUCSF, @DrMichaelLevitt, @berejah, @LabNowakowski, @andcyang, and many others.

Deeply grateful to the patients, families, collaborators, and advocacy groups advancing brain aneurysm research.

[Ethan Winkler, MD, PhD @EWinklerMDPhD]

Excited to share our multi-center study in @NatureNeuro describing the cellular landscape of human brain aneurysms to help understand why they form, progress, and rupture. Wonderful collaboration with @mtlawton, @NeurosurgUCSF, @BarrowNeuro, and @BAFOUND
https://t.co/AzPMFUdlsP

[Brain Aneurysm Foundation @BAFOUND]

Dr. Ethan Winkler, a BAF research grant recipient at @UCSF, published a landmark study in Nature Neuroscience revealing why brain aneurysms rupture at the cellular level—research that could help prevent ruptures before they happen. @NeurosurgUCSF

https://t.co/VMQP1f0nyY