Andrea Ganna
@andganna.bsky.social
Associate Prof in health data science @HiLIFE_helsinki @FIMM_UH - MGH/Harvard - Playing with all kind of data - http://dsgelab.org
Reposted by Andrea Ganna
1/ 🚨New paper in Nature Genetics
Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...
Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...
Genetic associations with educational fields - Nature Genetics
Genome-wide analyses of 10 educational fields identify 17 associated loci. Analysis of genetic clustering across specializations identifies two key dimensions that show genetic overlap with personalit...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:23 AM
1/ 🚨New paper in Nature Genetics
Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...
Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...
Happy to have contributed to this study!
Our personality and behaviors, as captured by genetic markers, also influence what we end up studying and, eventually, our professional careers
Our personality and behaviors, as captured by genetic markers, also influence what we end up studying and, eventually, our professional careers
1/ 🚨New paper in Nature Genetics
Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...
Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.
Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...
Genetic associations with educational fields - Nature Genetics
Genome-wide analyses of 10 educational fields identify 17 associated loci. Analysis of genetic clustering across specializations identifies two key dimensions that show genetic overlap with personalit...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Happy to have contributed to this study!
Our personality and behaviors, as captured by genetic markers, also influence what we end up studying and, eventually, our professional careers
Our personality and behaviors, as captured by genetic markers, also influence what we end up studying and, eventually, our professional careers
EU vice-president Virkkunen launches RAISE: resource for AI science in Europe. Not exactly clear what this entails. But i understand: more money, more networking.
November 3, 2025 at 2:36 PM
EU vice-president Virkkunen launches RAISE: resource for AI science in Europe. Not exactly clear what this entails. But i understand: more money, more networking.
Yoshua Bengio and the role of EU in AI development
November 3, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Yoshua Bengio and the role of EU in AI development
Reposted by Andrea Ganna
Are you in #Boston for #ASHG25?
Come by and check out my poster (#1023) today from 2:30–4:30 PM.
Would love to connect and discuss about it :)
Come by and check out my poster (#1023) today from 2:30–4:30 PM.
Would love to connect and discuss about it :)
🎉 New preprint out!
"Removing genetic effects on plasma proteins enhances their utility as disease biomarkers"
We show that adjusting plasma proteins for genetic effects can make them stronger predictors of disease
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
"Removing genetic effects on plasma proteins enhances their utility as disease biomarkers"
We show that adjusting plasma proteins for genetic effects can make them stronger predictors of disease
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Removing genetic effects from plasma proteins is an effective strategy to increase power for biomarker discovery and clinical trial design, consistent with the largely non-causal role of most plasma proteins in disease risk.
👏 Lead by Daniela Fusco and Zhiyu Yang
👏 Lead by Daniela Fusco and Zhiyu Yang
October 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Removing genetic effects from plasma proteins is an effective strategy to increase power for biomarker discovery and clinical trial design, consistent with the largely non-causal role of most plasma proteins in disease risk.
👏 Lead by Daniela Fusco and Zhiyu Yang
👏 Lead by Daniela Fusco and Zhiyu Yang
✅ 88% of 1,300+ protein–disease pairs showed stronger associations after genetic adjustment
✅ Equivalent to needing 30% fewer samples for the same power
✅ Multi-protein scores improved prediction for 7 major diseases
✅ Adjusted proteins aligned more closely with exposome
✅ Equivalent to needing 30% fewer samples for the same power
✅ Multi-protein scores improved prediction for 7 major diseases
✅ Adjusted proteins aligned more closely with exposome
October 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
✅ 88% of 1,300+ protein–disease pairs showed stronger associations after genetic adjustment
✅ Equivalent to needing 30% fewer samples for the same power
✅ Multi-protein scores improved prediction for 7 major diseases
✅ Adjusted proteins aligned more closely with exposome
✅ Equivalent to needing 30% fewer samples for the same power
✅ Multi-protein scores improved prediction for 7 major diseases
✅ Adjusted proteins aligned more closely with exposome
Plasma proteins reflect both genes and environment.
But when genetic variation unrelated to disease drives protein levels, it can dilute biomarker signals.
We genetically-adjust 94 highly heritable proteins in ~40K UK Biobank individuals to see if removing genetic effects helps
But when genetic variation unrelated to disease drives protein levels, it can dilute biomarker signals.
We genetically-adjust 94 highly heritable proteins in ~40K UK Biobank individuals to see if removing genetic effects helps
October 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Plasma proteins reflect both genes and environment.
But when genetic variation unrelated to disease drives protein levels, it can dilute biomarker signals.
We genetically-adjust 94 highly heritable proteins in ~40K UK Biobank individuals to see if removing genetic effects helps
But when genetic variation unrelated to disease drives protein levels, it can dilute biomarker signals.
We genetically-adjust 94 highly heritable proteins in ~40K UK Biobank individuals to see if removing genetic effects helps
🎉 New preprint out!
"Removing genetic effects on plasma proteins enhances their utility as disease biomarkers"
We show that adjusting plasma proteins for genetic effects can make them stronger predictors of disease
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
"Removing genetic effects on plasma proteins enhances their utility as disease biomarkers"
We show that adjusting plasma proteins for genetic effects can make them stronger predictors of disease
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
🎉 New preprint out!
"Removing genetic effects on plasma proteins enhances their utility as disease biomarkers"
We show that adjusting plasma proteins for genetic effects can make them stronger predictors of disease
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
"Removing genetic effects on plasma proteins enhances their utility as disease biomarkers"
We show that adjusting plasma proteins for genetic effects can make them stronger predictors of disease
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Andrea Ganna
Very important paper for the geroscience hypothesis. Healthy aging is critical, even in the face of obvious disease states.
🧬💥 Do the genetics that make you develop a disease also help you survive it? Not much.
Our new study in Nature Genetics including 9 disease and 7 biobanks shows:
• Susceptibility variants ≠ survival
• PRSs for onset weak at predicting progression
• Lifespan PRS predicts survival better
Our new study in Nature Genetics including 9 disease and 7 biobanks shows:
• Susceptibility variants ≠ survival
• PRSs for onset weak at predicting progression
• Lifespan PRS predicts survival better
October 6, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Very important paper for the geroscience hypothesis. Healthy aging is critical, even in the face of obvious disease states.
Link to the pre-print: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.medrxiv.org
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Link to the pre-print: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A fantastic collaboration with
@finngen.bsky.social &
Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere, led by Rodos Rodosthenous & Leena Viiri.
I personally learned a lot about running an RCT: we need to make them simpler!
@fimm-uh.bsky.social
@hilife-helsinki.bsky.social
@finngen.bsky.social &
Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere, led by Rodos Rodosthenous & Leena Viiri.
I personally learned a lot about running an RCT: we need to make them simpler!
@fimm-uh.bsky.social
@hilife-helsinki.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
A fantastic collaboration with
@finngen.bsky.social &
Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere, led by Rodos Rodosthenous & Leena Viiri.
I personally learned a lot about running an RCT: we need to make them simpler!
@fimm-uh.bsky.social
@hilife-helsinki.bsky.social
@finngen.bsky.social &
Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere, led by Rodos Rodosthenous & Leena Viiri.
I personally learned a lot about running an RCT: we need to make them simpler!
@fimm-uh.bsky.social
@hilife-helsinki.bsky.social
Takeaway:
While genetics strongly predict body weight at baseline, they do not determine who benefits from dietary coaching. In other words, behavioral interventions can overcome genetic risk in non-diabetic overweight and mildly obese adults.
While genetics strongly predict body weight at baseline, they do not determine who benefits from dietary coaching. In other words, behavioral interventions can overcome genetic risk in non-diabetic overweight and mildly obese adults.
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Takeaway:
While genetics strongly predict body weight at baseline, they do not determine who benefits from dietary coaching. In other words, behavioral interventions can overcome genetic risk in non-diabetic overweight and mildly obese adults.
While genetics strongly predict body weight at baseline, they do not determine who benefits from dietary coaching. In other words, behavioral interventions can overcome genetic risk in non-diabetic overweight and mildly obese adults.
📊 Results:
✅ Excellent retention: 90% participants returned at 6 months (in both trial arms)
✅ Diet worked: intervention group lost ~5% body weight vs controls
❌ But… the effectiveness of the intervention did not differ between those with high vs. low genetic risk for higher BMI.
✅ Excellent retention: 90% participants returned at 6 months (in both trial arms)
✅ Diet worked: intervention group lost ~5% body weight vs controls
❌ But… the effectiveness of the intervention did not differ between those with high vs. low genetic risk for higher BMI.
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
📊 Results:
✅ Excellent retention: 90% participants returned at 6 months (in both trial arms)
✅ Diet worked: intervention group lost ~5% body weight vs controls
❌ But… the effectiveness of the intervention did not differ between those with high vs. low genetic risk for higher BMI.
✅ Excellent retention: 90% participants returned at 6 months (in both trial arms)
✅ Diet worked: intervention group lost ~5% body weight vs controls
❌ But… the effectiveness of the intervention did not differ between those with high vs. low genetic risk for higher BMI.
🧠 What makes GENEROOS unique?
👉 It’s the first prospective RCT to directly test this hypotesis (others did so retrospectively) and the first to recruit participants from the extreme tails (top & bottom 5%) of the BMI polygenic score.
223 non-diabetic adults (BMI 23–36 kg/m²) took part.
👉 It’s the first prospective RCT to directly test this hypotesis (others did so retrospectively) and the first to recruit participants from the extreme tails (top & bottom 5%) of the BMI polygenic score.
223 non-diabetic adults (BMI 23–36 kg/m²) took part.
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
🧠 What makes GENEROOS unique?
👉 It’s the first prospective RCT to directly test this hypotesis (others did so retrospectively) and the first to recruit participants from the extreme tails (top & bottom 5%) of the BMI polygenic score.
223 non-diabetic adults (BMI 23–36 kg/m²) took part.
👉 It’s the first prospective RCT to directly test this hypotesis (others did so retrospectively) and the first to recruit participants from the extreme tails (top & bottom 5%) of the BMI polygenic score.
223 non-diabetic adults (BMI 23–36 kg/m²) took part.
💥 New preprint & our first RCT! 💥
Does an extremely high or low BMI polygenic score influence weight loss after a diet intervention?
GENEROOS is a 6-month randomized diet vs. control trial testing if genetic predisposition to higher BMI affects weight loss in overweight adults
Does an extremely high or low BMI polygenic score influence weight loss after a diet intervention?
GENEROOS is a 6-month randomized diet vs. control trial testing if genetic predisposition to higher BMI affects weight loss in overweight adults
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
💥 New preprint & our first RCT! 💥
Does an extremely high or low BMI polygenic score influence weight loss after a diet intervention?
GENEROOS is a 6-month randomized diet vs. control trial testing if genetic predisposition to higher BMI affects weight loss in overweight adults
Does an extremely high or low BMI polygenic score influence weight loss after a diet intervention?
GENEROOS is a 6-month randomized diet vs. control trial testing if genetic predisposition to higher BMI affects weight loss in overweight adults
Reposted by Andrea Ganna
A pretty comprehensive comparison of most actual #proteomics platforms:
Current landscape of plasma proteomics from technical innovations to biological insights and biomarker discovery
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Current landscape of plasma proteomics from technical innovations to biological insights and biomarker discovery
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Current landscape of plasma proteomics from technical innovations to biological insights and biomarker discovery - Communications Chemistry
Plasma proteome profiling has surged as a promising avenue for biomarker discovery, yet comprehensive platform comparisons remain scarce. Here, the authors evaluate eight proteomics platforms, revealing key differences and complementary strengths, providing crucial insights for researchers into coverage trade-offs and implicating biomarker discovery and clinical applications.
www.nature.com
October 1, 2025 at 6:13 AM
A pretty comprehensive comparison of most actual #proteomics platforms:
Current landscape of plasma proteomics from technical innovations to biological insights and biomarker discovery
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Current landscape of plasma proteomics from technical innovations to biological insights and biomarker discovery
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Thanks to the many biobanks involved!
And particularly Zhiyu Yang for leading this!
And particularly Zhiyu Yang for leading this!
September 30, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Thanks to the many biobanks involved!
And particularly Zhiyu Yang for leading this!
And particularly Zhiyu Yang for leading this!
Why it matters? progression genetics is more relevant drug targets + clinical care.
👉 Solutions:
• Build larger, harmonized cohorts & refined progression phenotypes
• Use proxy phenotypes from general population
Read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👉 Solutions:
• Build larger, harmonized cohorts & refined progression phenotypes
• Use proxy phenotypes from general population
Read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Limited overlap between genetic effects on disease susceptibility and disease survival - Nature Genetics
Systematic comparison of genome-wide association results for disease risk and disease-specific mortality for nine common diseases across seven biobanks finds limited overlap between genetic effects on disease susceptibility and survival.
www.nature.com
September 30, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Why it matters? progression genetics is more relevant drug targets + clinical care.
👉 Solutions:
• Build larger, harmonized cohorts & refined progression phenotypes
• Use proxy phenotypes from general population
Read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
👉 Solutions:
• Build larger, harmonized cohorts & refined progression phenotypes
• Use proxy phenotypes from general population
Read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬💥 Do the genetics that make you develop a disease also help you survive it? Not much.
Our new study in Nature Genetics including 9 disease and 7 biobanks shows:
• Susceptibility variants ≠ survival
• PRSs for onset weak at predicting progression
• Lifespan PRS predicts survival better
Our new study in Nature Genetics including 9 disease and 7 biobanks shows:
• Susceptibility variants ≠ survival
• PRSs for onset weak at predicting progression
• Lifespan PRS predicts survival better
September 30, 2025 at 12:50 PM
🧬💥 Do the genetics that make you develop a disease also help you survive it? Not much.
Our new study in Nature Genetics including 9 disease and 7 biobanks shows:
• Susceptibility variants ≠ survival
• PRSs for onset weak at predicting progression
• Lifespan PRS predicts survival better
Our new study in Nature Genetics including 9 disease and 7 biobanks shows:
• Susceptibility variants ≠ survival
• PRSs for onset weak at predicting progression
• Lifespan PRS predicts survival better
“Towards modeling evolving longitudinal health trajectories with a transformer-based deep learning model”
in collaboration with Pekka Marttinen at @AaltoUniversity
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
in collaboration with Pekka Marttinen at @AaltoUniversity
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Towards modeling evolving longitudinal health trajectories with a transformer-based deep learning model
Health registers provide valuable insights into individuals’ health trajectories. This study explores the use of deep learning to model and analyze th…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:05 PM
“Towards modeling evolving longitudinal health trajectories with a transformer-based deep learning model”
in collaboration with Pekka Marttinen at @AaltoUniversity
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
in collaboration with Pekka Marttinen at @AaltoUniversity
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you are interested in our pilot use of cross-EU health data ahead of the European Health Data Space implementation, check this out
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40926479/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40926479/
User journeys in cross-European secondary use of health data: insights ahead of the European Health Data Space - PubMed
The European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation aims to facilitate cross-border sharing of health data across Europe. However, practical challenges related to data access, interoperability, quality, ...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 23, 2025 at 10:50 AM
If you are interested in our pilot use of cross-EU health data ahead of the European Health Data Space implementation, check this out
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40926479/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40926479/
Reposted by Andrea Ganna
A project many years in the process, we’re pleased to present our work on multi-ancestry meta-analysis across a boatload of traits in the UK Biobank: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Pan-UK Biobank genome-wide association analyses enhance discovery and resolution of ancestry-enriched effects - Nature Genetics
Genome-wide analyses for 7,266 traits leveraging data from several genetic ancestry groups in UK Biobank identify new associations and enhance resources for interpreting risk variants across diverse p...
www.nature.com
September 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM
A project many years in the process, we’re pleased to present our work on multi-ancestry meta-analysis across a boatload of traits in the UK Biobank: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
comparing to one clinical prediction model is one way to think about this. the other is about the re-use of generated trajectories for multiple purposes in just one go: readmission rate, mortality, healthcare costs, disease risk and so on…
September 17, 2025 at 8:57 PM
comparing to one clinical prediction model is one way to think about this. the other is about the re-use of generated trajectories for multiple purposes in just one go: readmission rate, mortality, healthcare costs, disease risk and so on…
Thanks Michel! let’s chat. we want to have this pan-european.
September 17, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Thanks Michel! let’s chat. we want to have this pan-european.