Robert Y. Chen (@therealRYC) / X

Robert Y. Chen

3,926 posts

Robert Y. Chen

@therealRYC

PGY-3 @UW Psychiatry. Prev MD-PhD @WUSTL. Biomarker and drug discovery for psychiatry, starting with Schizophrenia. Dog Daddy x2 to Taro and Azuki.

Seattle, WA

Joined February 2020

Pinned
Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
May 23
🚨 A new RCT just tested an IL-6 monoclonal antibody for difficult-to-treat depression. It’s the first direct test of IL-6 receptor blockade in psych. Remember: the new DSM is considering an inflammatory subtype of depression. But did it actually work? 🧵
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Sep 24, 2025
🚨 The first disease-modifying therapy for Huntington's disease was just announced this morning. 75% reduction in symptoms over 36 months. This isn't hype. It's field-changing. And it uses RNA. Here's what you need to know about $QURE AMT-130 🧵
207K
Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Oct 9, 2025
🚨 The older the sperm, the more likely it is to cause autism Sequencing sperm using nearly error-free sequencing → measure % sperm carrying disease-causing mutations: 2% at age 30 → 4.5% at 70 Most were autism genes New paper in @Nature today 🧵
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Sep 11, 2025
Replying to @NTFabiano
Free gains, perfect for leg day
55K
Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Aug 18, 2025
Antidepressants work for less than half of patients with depression and anxiety.
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Sep 3, 2025
Today, @TheLancet published its most sweeping recommendations on lifestyle modifications as a treatment modality for mental health. "Delivered by accredited exercise physiologists, dieticians, and peer support workers." Treat lifestyle as a prescription @NTFabiano
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Aug 31, 2025
🚨GLP-1 receptor agonists will transform mental health over the next five years: » Suicide: 58% reduction » Depression: 37% reduction » Substance use disorder: 42% reduction n=174,000 obese adults who initiated GLP-1RAs in a target trial emulation published yesterday.
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Nov 7, 2025
‼️MORE WILDNESS IN PSYCHIATRY Ketamine has long been thought to impact depression through glutamate signaling. But it doesn’t A new paper in @Nature shows that ADENOSINE is the causal neurotransmitter And adenosine also underlies the antidepressant effects of ECT 🤯
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Aug 22, 2025
80% of patients with schizophrenia in the real world do not meet eligibility criteria for the very trials their antipsychotics were approved for.
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Oct 25, 2025
🚨 Holy. Mushrooms. The entire field of psychedelic neuroimaging may have just gotten everything wrong. Psilocybin decouples neurovascular response from neuronal activity. That means fMRI studies on hallucinogens could be picking up vessel, rather than neuronal effects.
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Oct 31, 2025
🚨 LANDMARK STUDY ALERT The largest, multicenter, assessor-blinded, RCT of antipsychotic efficacy was just published this week. 7 arms. 7 antipsychotics. 3000 patients. » All antipsychotics ↓ symptoms by 50% in 6 weeks » Olanzapine, risperidone > the rest
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Sep 4, 2025
🚨 Semaglutide completely prevents metabolic side-effects caused by antipsychotics: Compared to placebo after 30 weeks: » Remission from prediabetes: 81% vs 19% » Weight: -20 lbs » Waist size: -2.4 in. » Psychosis: same Practice changing. Published yesterday @JAMAPsych
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Oct 17, 2025
🫰🏻What do people actually want from therapy? A meta-analysis of 177 studies found: » Self-awareness » Self-acceptance » Authenticity » Relationships Symptom improvement? Near the bottom. Therapy is so much more than "treatment".
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Robert Y. Chen
@therealRYC
Nov 7, 2025
We can now map the entire dendritic structure of neurons in a brain. It's called dendritome mapping. And it's been used to characterize dopaminergic neurons in the part of the brain most affected in schizophrenia. Published in @NatureNeuro Oct 31 2025
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