David Rach
@davidrach.bsky.social
Immunology PhD student @UMBaltimore. Views are my own. Favorite rabbit holes include #flowcytometry #rstats #bioconductor, with dashes of #coffee #kayaking #birding #ultrunning #languages. RPCV Ghana 16->18, TCK Mexico 96->11 https://github.com/DavidRach/
Pinned
Excited to officially announce our free "Cytometry in R" mini-course, aimed at coding beginners, will be starting up the first week of February! 🥳 It will be offered both online and in-person at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. 1500 people have signed up!!! #flowcytometry #rstats #quarto 1/7
Reposted by David Rach
Uh oh, you scrolled too far, too greedily, too deep: you have encountered a balrog.
November 12, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Uh oh, you scrolled too far, too greedily, too deep: you have encountered a balrog.
Reposted by David Rach
Wow this scoring chaos seems to be an extreme case of what I say about many ad hoc analyses: no derivation of method from a clear scientific theory, no assessment of statistical properties, and decades pass before someone notices. This happens in biology too, so let’s not pick on psychology only
Read my latest post for reflections on reproducibility, research quality and a summary of a great new study which shows how NOT to do it
https://open.substack.com/pub/tomstafford/p/gambling-with-research-quality
https://open.substack.com/pub/tomstafford/p/gambling-with-research-quality
Gambling with research quality
How you get 244 different ways to measure performance on the same test of decision making. And what it means for the reliability of behavioural science
tomstafford.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Wow this scoring chaos seems to be an extreme case of what I say about many ad hoc analyses: no derivation of method from a clear scientific theory, no assessment of statistical properties, and decades pass before someone notices. This happens in biology too, so let’s not pick on psychology only
Excited to officially announce our free "Cytometry in R" mini-course, aimed at coding beginners, will be starting up the first week of February! 🥳 It will be offered both online and in-person at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. 1500 people have signed up!!! #flowcytometry #rstats #quarto 1/7
January 27, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Excited to officially announce our free "Cytometry in R" mini-course, aimed at coding beginners, will be starting up the first week of February! 🥳 It will be offered both online and in-person at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. 1500 people have signed up!!! #flowcytometry #rstats #quarto 1/7
Reposted by David Rach
Unmixing Spread Estimation Based on Residual Model in Spectral Flow Cytometry https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.701929v1
January 27, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Unmixing Spread Estimation Based on Residual Model in Spectral Flow Cytometry https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.701929v1
Reposted by David Rach
(It also (optionally) plays a gong sound 🤣)
January 14, 2026 at 7:49 PM
(It also (optionally) plays a gong sound 🤣)
Reposted by David Rach
The 0.5.0 version of my {brms} + {tidyverse} translation of McElreath's "Statistical Rethinking" (2nd ed) is up!
solomon.quarto.pub/sr2/
1/3
#rstats
solomon.quarto.pub/sr2/
1/3
#rstats
Statistical rethinking 2 with rstan and the tidyverse
solomon.quarto.pub
January 14, 2026 at 3:08 PM
The 0.5.0 version of my {brms} + {tidyverse} translation of McElreath's "Statistical Rethinking" (2nd ed) is up!
solomon.quarto.pub/sr2/
1/3
#rstats
solomon.quarto.pub/sr2/
1/3
#rstats
Reposted by David Rach
At CYTO, it’s the people who make the experience unforgettable. Colleagues become friends, mentorships take shape, and a community comes together around a shared passion for cytometry.
December 30, 2025 at 6:43 PM
At CYTO, it’s the people who make the experience unforgettable. Colleagues become friends, mentorships take shape, and a community comes together around a shared passion for cytometry.
Reposted by David Rach
The CYTO 2026 abstract deadline is TODAY. This is your last chance to show off your research and join the global cytometry wave in West Palm Beach! Submission deadline: December 15th at 11:59pm ET.
Submit today: www.cytoconference.org/abstracts.html
Submit today: www.cytoconference.org/abstracts.html
December 15, 2025 at 12:16 PM
The CYTO 2026 abstract deadline is TODAY. This is your last chance to show off your research and join the global cytometry wave in West Palm Beach! Submission deadline: December 15th at 11:59pm ET.
Submit today: www.cytoconference.org/abstracts.html
Submit today: www.cytoconference.org/abstracts.html
Reposted by David Rach
Our English and Mandarin versions of our Basics of Flow Cytometry E-Course are now available free on YouTube!
Check it out and make sure you like and subscribe to stay updated as we release additional educational content along with this course in additional languages!
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Check it out and make sure you like and subscribe to stay updated as we release additional educational content along with this course in additional languages!
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Basics of Flow Cytometry E-Course - YouTube
This playlist includes our Basics of Flow Cytometry E-Course in various languages. For more content like this, please visit our website at https://learning.i...
youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Our English and Mandarin versions of our Basics of Flow Cytometry E-Course are now available free on YouTube!
Check it out and make sure you like and subscribe to stay updated as we release additional educational content along with this course in additional languages!
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Check it out and make sure you like and subscribe to stay updated as we release additional educational content along with this course in additional languages!
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Reposted by David Rach
Next May, the Computational Cytometry Summer School returns to Ghent for its 3rd edition.
Sofie Van Gassen explains what participants can expect from this intensive hands-on program.
https://tinyurl.com/msmzk74f
Apply before 16 December 2025 ⚠️
Sofie Van Gassen explains what participants can expect from this intensive hands-on program.
https://tinyurl.com/msmzk74f
Apply before 16 December 2025 ⚠️
December 11, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Next May, the Computational Cytometry Summer School returns to Ghent for its 3rd edition.
Sofie Van Gassen explains what participants can expect from this intensive hands-on program.
https://tinyurl.com/msmzk74f
Apply before 16 December 2025 ⚠️
Sofie Van Gassen explains what participants can expect from this intensive hands-on program.
https://tinyurl.com/msmzk74f
Apply before 16 December 2025 ⚠️
Reposted by David Rach
📢 We are taking applications for our Postdoctoral Fellows Program at Harvard/DFCI!
🔹Join a research group in our department
🔹Co-mentoring opportunities with 2+ faculty
🔹Collaborate with investigators beyond our department
🔹Salary starts at $75K
Apply here: t.co/B7SLZzQFKu
🔹Join a research group in our department
🔹Co-mentoring opportunities with 2+ faculty
🔹Collaborate with investigators beyond our department
🔹Salary starts at $75K
Apply here: t.co/B7SLZzQFKu
https://ds.dfci.harvard.edu/postdocs/
t.co
December 1, 2025 at 6:59 PM
📢 We are taking applications for our Postdoctoral Fellows Program at Harvard/DFCI!
🔹Join a research group in our department
🔹Co-mentoring opportunities with 2+ faculty
🔹Collaborate with investigators beyond our department
🔹Salary starts at $75K
Apply here: t.co/B7SLZzQFKu
🔹Join a research group in our department
🔹Co-mentoring opportunities with 2+ faculty
🔹Collaborate with investigators beyond our department
🔹Salary starts at $75K
Apply here: t.co/B7SLZzQFKu
Reposted by David Rach
Merry December folks!
Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?!
I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats
Build your own report by following the docs:
gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...
Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?!
I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats
Build your own report by following the docs:
gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...
December 1, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Merry December folks!
Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?!
I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats
Build your own report by following the docs:
gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...
Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?!
I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats
Build your own report by following the docs:
gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...
Bought my laptop back in 2020, and #plannedobsolescence be dammed, I will use it until it disintegrates. Just swapped out the dying battery, and not worrying about finding the charger after 10 minutes unplugged is nice! Similar story for last years RAM upgrades and #Linux dual-boot.
November 17, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Bought my laptop back in 2020, and #plannedobsolescence be dammed, I will use it until it disintegrates. Just swapped out the dying battery, and not worrying about finding the charger after 10 minutes unplugged is nice! Similar story for last years RAM upgrades and #Linux dual-boot.
Reposted by David Rach
Autofluorescence imaging reveals the impact of cryopreservation on T cell metabolism and activation response https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.14.688556v1
November 17, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Autofluorescence imaging reveals the impact of cryopreservation on T cell metabolism and activation response https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.14.688556v1
Reposted by David Rach
Maybe it’s a little over optimistic, but I legitimately feel like the fabled Year Of the Linux Desktop™ is really coming.
November 15, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Maybe it’s a little over optimistic, but I legitimately feel like the fabled Year Of the Linux Desktop™ is really coming.
Reposted by David Rach
My talk from posit::conf earlier this fall on getting unstuck with #Python is now available to watch!
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
How I got unstuck with Python (Julia Silge, Posit) | posit::conf(2025)
YouTube video by Posit PBC
youtu.be
November 8, 2025 at 11:59 PM
My talk from posit::conf earlier this fall on getting unstuck with #Python is now available to watch!
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
Reposted by David Rach
Just restocked a lot of stickers including these guys!
(shop.emibirdee.com/products/be-...)
(shop.emibirdee.com/products/be-...)
November 9, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Just restocked a lot of stickers including these guys!
(shop.emibirdee.com/products/be-...)
(shop.emibirdee.com/products/be-...)
Reposted by David Rach
This is an amazing (and infuriating) story, complete with Github repos of their analysis!
November 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
This is an amazing (and infuriating) story, complete with Github repos of their analysis!
Reposted by David Rach
This obit of Watson is *amazing*.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:14 PM
This obit of Watson is *amazing*.
Happy to officially announce that we are hosting a free “Cytometry in R” weekly mini-course, aimed at coding beginners, both in-person here at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and virtually, starting up in December/January. For details: umgccfcss.github.io/CytometryInR/ #rstats #flowcytometry
November 5, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Happy to officially announce that we are hosting a free “Cytometry in R” weekly mini-course, aimed at coding beginners, both in-person here at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and virtually, starting up in December/January. For details: umgccfcss.github.io/CytometryInR/ #rstats #flowcytometry
Reposted by David Rach
Huge credit to @colibricytometry.bsky.social, who has spent years working on every aspect of the spectral flow cytometry pipeline. Follow the Colibri blog to get tips in real-time, pre-pre-print!
www.colibri-cytometry.com
www.colibri-cytometry.com
Cytometry Colibri | flow cytometry
Cytometry Colibri offers scientific consulting, data analysis, panel design, method development, tutoring and all things related to flow cytometry.
Expertise in high parameter flow cytometry, spectra...
www.colibri-cytometry.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Huge credit to @colibricytometry.bsky.social, who has spent years working on every aspect of the spectral flow cytometry pipeline. Follow the Colibri blog to get tips in real-time, pre-pre-print!
www.colibri-cytometry.com
www.colibri-cytometry.com
Reposted by David Rach
First, pos-neg gating. Ideal controls are your actual antibodies on the actual cells. However different antibodies bind different cells (see: CD4 vs XCR1 below), meaning they have different backgrounds to control. AutoSpectral matches the FSC-SSC of each pos to a suitable neg: with results!
October 28, 2025 at 8:06 AM
First, pos-neg gating. Ideal controls are your actual antibodies on the actual cells. However different antibodies bind different cells (see: CD4 vs XCR1 below), meaning they have different backgrounds to control. AutoSpectral matches the FSC-SSC of each pos to a suitable neg: with results!
Reposted by David Rach
💡 Came across this nice tool today:
🎨 qualpal for algorithmically choosing maximally distinct colors under certain restrictions #dataviz
JOSS paper, online tool, R package #rstats
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
🎨 qualpal for algorithmically choosing maximally distinct colors under certain restrictions #dataviz
JOSS paper, online tool, R package #rstats
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
Qualpal: Qualitative Color Palettes for Everyone
Larsson, J., (2025). Qualpal: Qualitative Color Palettes for Everyone. Journal of Open Source Software, 10(114), 8936, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.08936
joss.theoj.org
October 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
💡 Came across this nice tool today:
🎨 qualpal for algorithmically choosing maximally distinct colors under certain restrictions #dataviz
JOSS paper, online tool, R package #rstats
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
🎨 qualpal for algorithmically choosing maximally distinct colors under certain restrictions #dataviz
JOSS paper, online tool, R package #rstats
joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21...
Reposted by David Rach
If you're one of the 0.5 people who actually use any of my #rstats packages: please, please, please send a PR my way with your beginner-friendly docs rather than make a new resource. I'll make you an official author and everything...
#RStats question:
Is there a package or site that provides alternative, more explanatory help files?
I swear a project like this exists, perhaps targeted to beginning R users, maybe centered around common data analysis functions, but I can't find it...
Is there a package or site that provides alternative, more explanatory help files?
I swear a project like this exists, perhaps targeted to beginning R users, maybe centered around common data analysis functions, but I can't find it...
October 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
If you're one of the 0.5 people who actually use any of my #rstats packages: please, please, please send a PR my way with your beginner-friendly docs rather than make a new resource. I'll make you an official author and everything...