Alicia Martin
@genetisaur.bsky.social
Population and statistical geneticist @MGH/HMS and Broad Institute
Interested in pleiotropy dissection but not sure where to start, which methods are useful, which studies offer illustrative examples, or how to robustly validate your results? Look no further 👀 rdcu.be/eSfAZ
Dissecting pleiotropy to gain mechanistic insights into human disease
Nature Reviews Genetics - Genome-wide association studies of increasing scale have revealed the prevalence of pleiotropic genetic variants that affect multiple traits. In this Review, the authors...
rdcu.be
November 28, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Interested in pleiotropy dissection but not sure where to start, which methods are useful, which studies offer illustrative examples, or how to robustly validate your results? Look no further 👀 rdcu.be/eSfAZ
Reposted by Alicia Martin
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...
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Kristin Tsuo, @genetisaur.bsky.social, & Mark Daly just wrote the best proteomics paper I've read.
They convincingly show how smoking and alcohol (aka, the environment) dramatically influences proteomics data.
Some 🤯 results
1) proteomics predicts frequency (5a) & quanity (5b) of alcohol consumed
They convincingly show how smoking and alcohol (aka, the environment) dramatically influences proteomics data.
Some 🤯 results
1) proteomics predicts frequency (5a) & quanity (5b) of alcohol consumed
September 11, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Kristin Tsuo, @genetisaur.bsky.social, & Mark Daly just wrote the best proteomics paper I've read.
They convincingly show how smoking and alcohol (aka, the environment) dramatically influences proteomics data.
Some 🤯 results
1) proteomics predicts frequency (5a) & quanity (5b) of alcohol consumed
They convincingly show how smoking and alcohol (aka, the environment) dramatically influences proteomics data.
Some 🤯 results
1) proteomics predicts frequency (5a) & quanity (5b) of alcohol consumed
Reposted by Alicia Martin
On the new acting CDC director. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
August 29, 2025 at 1:59 AM
On the new acting CDC director. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Alicia Martin
The Govt. Accountability Office issued a report today finding that the Trump admin has violated a law blocking presidents from withholding funding Congress has approved
@mmolteni.bsky.social & I break it down:
www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/g...
@mmolteni.bsky.social & I break it down:
www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/g...
Trump administration violated impoundment law by canceling NIH grants, slowing new awards, GAO finds
The Government Accountability Office found that the Trump administration, by abruptly canceling NIH grants, had violated a 1974 federal law
www.statnews.com
August 5, 2025 at 10:33 PM
The Govt. Accountability Office issued a report today finding that the Trump admin has violated a law blocking presidents from withholding funding Congress has approved
@mmolteni.bsky.social & I break it down:
www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/g...
@mmolteni.bsky.social & I break it down:
www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/g...
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
Release from HHS: HHS will wind down its development of the mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
August 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
Let’s not pretend this ends with Harvard. This will be every American university unless a resounding legal win establishes precedent
For reference, the NSF letter for UCLA's suspensions is on the left, while the letter for Harvard's terminations is on the right.
August 5, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Let’s not pretend this ends with Harvard. This will be every American university unless a resounding legal win establishes precedent
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Incredibly well reported deep dive on NIH and health disparities research in STAT. 🧵
www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...
1/31
www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...
1/31
Jay Bhattacharya once studied health disparities. As NIH director, he’s allowed such research to wither
Jay Bhattacharya’s tenure as NIH director has seen health disparities research swept up in the Trump administration’s attack on DEI
www.statnews.com
August 1, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Incredibly well reported deep dive on NIH and health disparities research in STAT. 🧵
www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...
1/31
www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...
1/31
Reposted by Alicia Martin
The NIH can’t award ANY grants to outside researchers under new WH restriction, reports @wsj.com.
The pause came in the form of a footnote from OMB Director Vought, in a document that doles out federal funds to the NIH.
Prelude to rescissions, especially after his comments over the weekend?
The pause came in the form of a footnote from OMB Director Vought, in a document that doles out federal funds to the NIH.
Prelude to rescissions, especially after his comments over the weekend?
Trump Administration Puts New Chokehold on Billions in Health-Research Funding
The National Institutes of Health can’t award grants to outside researchers under a new White House restriction.
www.wsj.com
July 30, 2025 at 12:44 AM
The NIH can’t award ANY grants to outside researchers under new WH restriction, reports @wsj.com.
The pause came in the form of a footnote from OMB Director Vought, in a document that doles out federal funds to the NIH.
Prelude to rescissions, especially after his comments over the weekend?
The pause came in the form of a footnote from OMB Director Vought, in a document that doles out federal funds to the NIH.
Prelude to rescissions, especially after his comments over the weekend?
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Wonderful tribute to a dear colleague- well worth the read www.ucsf.edu/news/2025/06...
UCSF Bioinformatics Pioneer Atul Butte Dies at 55
Atul Butte, who championed the use of big data in science and health care and inspired a generation of trainees at UC San Francisco and beyond to pursue the fields he pioneered — translational and cli...
www.ucsf.edu
June 25, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Wonderful tribute to a dear colleague- well worth the read www.ucsf.edu/news/2025/06...
Reposted by Alicia Martin
📢 Just posted: Our preprint introducing SPC — Spectral Components — is now live on medRxiv!
Led by Dr. Ruhollah Shemirani and years in the making, this method offers a robust, scalable way to adjust for recent population structure in genomic analyses.
🔗 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/9
Led by Dr. Ruhollah Shemirani and years in the making, this method offers a robust, scalable way to adjust for recent population structure in genomic analyses.
🔗 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/9
SPC: a SPectral Component approach to address recent population structure in genomic analysis
Population structure is a well-known confounder in statistical genetics, particularly in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), where it can lead to inflated test statistics and spurious associations...
www.medrxiv.org
June 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
📢 Just posted: Our preprint introducing SPC — Spectral Components — is now live on medRxiv!
Led by Dr. Ruhollah Shemirani and years in the making, this method offers a robust, scalable way to adjust for recent population structure in genomic analyses.
🔗 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/9
Led by Dr. Ruhollah Shemirani and years in the making, this method offers a robust, scalable way to adjust for recent population structure in genomic analyses.
🔗 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/9
Reposted by Alicia Martin
🚨 BREAKING: Nearly 4 months the NIH cut its first grants, a judge has ruled that the directives and process that led to cuts are arbitrary and capricious.
"The explanations are bereft of reasoning — virtually in their entirety... unsupported by [facts]."
Each of them are VOID and ILLEGAL, he says.
"The explanations are bereft of reasoning — virtually in their entirety... unsupported by [facts]."
Each of them are VOID and ILLEGAL, he says.
June 16, 2025 at 6:16 PM
🚨 BREAKING: Nearly 4 months the NIH cut its first grants, a judge has ruled that the directives and process that led to cuts are arbitrary and capricious.
"The explanations are bereft of reasoning — virtually in their entirety... unsupported by [facts]."
Each of them are VOID and ILLEGAL, he says.
"The explanations are bereft of reasoning — virtually in their entirety... unsupported by [facts]."
Each of them are VOID and ILLEGAL, he says.
Reposted by Alicia Martin
"We are speaking on behalf of hundreds of NIH staff who are standing up together to say: WE DISSENT.
I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up."
Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!
I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up."
Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!
June 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"We are speaking on behalf of hundreds of NIH staff who are standing up together to say: WE DISSENT.
I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up."
Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!
I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up."
Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!
Reposted by Alicia Martin
"Our calculations suggest that the proposed budgetary cuts to the NIH will create a social cost that is 16 times greater than the savings that the administration is attempting to achieve."
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Cutting the NIH—The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe
This JAMA Forum discusses the recent budget cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the effects of these cuts on scientific research and health of individuals in the US, and the prospects for cha...
jamanetwork.com
May 30, 2025 at 7:10 PM
"Our calculations suggest that the proposed budgetary cuts to the NIH will create a social cost that is 16 times greater than the savings that the administration is attempting to achieve."
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Now published! Congrats Yon Ho on this huge lift conducting dozens of GWAS in Korea and performing meta-analyses with other Asian biobanks reaching a sample size comparable to UK Biobank. The fine-mapping, novel loci, and ancestry-enriched discoveries are very cool. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genome-wide association studies in a large Korean cohort identify quantitative trait loci for 36 traits and illuminate their genetic architectures - Nature Communications
Here the authors identify hundreds of genetic loci linked to 36 traits in East Asians, revealing population-specific associations and emphasizing the importance of diverse ancestry groups in genome-wi...
www.nature.com
May 29, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Now published! Congrats Yon Ho on this huge lift conducting dozens of GWAS in Korea and performing meta-analyses with other Asian biobanks reaching a sample size comparable to UK Biobank. The fine-mapping, novel loci, and ancestry-enriched discoveries are very cool. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Statement from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
ACOG is deeply disappointed by HHS’s move to drop COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in pregnancy. The science is clear: COVID-19 remains dangerous in pregnancy and vaccination protects both patients and newborns. The vaccine is safe and protects families. Read our full statement: buff.ly/OGue7sO
May 27, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Statement from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Reposted by Alicia Martin
America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.
May 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.
Reposted by Alicia Martin
🚨This is a HUGE escalation and a deliberate effort to use the government against Trump's enemies. Weaponizing the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification against Harvard to punish them for pushing back is a new low — and needlessly punishes thousands of innocent students.
Trump just revoked the ability for foreign students to enroll at Harvard. Every foreign student, which is in the thousands, enrolled for next year at Harvard will not be able to continue studying if this isn't challenged in court.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 6:07 PM
🚨This is a HUGE escalation and a deliberate effort to use the government against Trump's enemies. Weaponizing the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification against Harvard to punish them for pushing back is a new low — and needlessly punishes thousands of innocent students.
Reposted by Alicia Martin
The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
May 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
Reposted by Alicia Martin
She’s out!! They have released Ozturk from ICE custody!
May 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
She’s out!! They have released Ozturk from ICE custody!
Reposted by Alicia Martin
And just today the EIC of Nature Neuroscience told me in public that they are a for-profit company and if they had to pay reviewers they would "need" to raise prices.
April 24, 2025 at 5:58 AM
And just today the EIC of Nature Neuroscience told me in public that they are a for-profit company and if they had to pay reviewers they would "need" to raise prices.
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Breast cancer diagnoses rose by over 300% between 1973 and 1992.
Was there a breast cancer epidemic?!
NO.
Mammograms were implemented for screening in 1976.
PREVALENCE is a function of being able to correctly diagnose something.
This is also about autism.
Was there a breast cancer epidemic?!
NO.
Mammograms were implemented for screening in 1976.
PREVALENCE is a function of being able to correctly diagnose something.
This is also about autism.
April 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Breast cancer diagnoses rose by over 300% between 1973 and 1992.
Was there a breast cancer epidemic?!
NO.
Mammograms were implemented for screening in 1976.
PREVALENCE is a function of being able to correctly diagnose something.
This is also about autism.
Was there a breast cancer epidemic?!
NO.
Mammograms were implemented for screening in 1976.
PREVALENCE is a function of being able to correctly diagnose something.
This is also about autism.
Reposted by Alicia Martin
I've received additional confirmation, as well as an email I can share publicly.
See the directive NIH grants management staff received from Michelle Bulls, director of extramural policy at NIH:
See the directive NIH grants management staff received from Michelle Bulls, director of extramural policy at NIH:
April 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I've received additional confirmation, as well as an email I can share publicly.
See the directive NIH grants management staff received from Michelle Bulls, director of extramural policy at NIH:
See the directive NIH grants management staff received from Michelle Bulls, director of extramural policy at NIH:
Reposted by Alicia Martin
🚨 PGC Africa Monthly Meeting Alert!
We are delighted to have Dr Lerato Majara from the Martin Lab @genetisaur.bsky.social, @broadinstitute.org join our 3rd virtual meeting of 2025
📆 24th April 2025
⏲️ 2PM GMT | 2PM WAT | 3PM CAT | 4PM EAT
📢 More details on the flyer below
#Psychosis #Africa #GWAS
We are delighted to have Dr Lerato Majara from the Martin Lab @genetisaur.bsky.social, @broadinstitute.org join our 3rd virtual meeting of 2025
📆 24th April 2025
⏲️ 2PM GMT | 2PM WAT | 3PM CAT | 4PM EAT
📢 More details on the flyer below
#Psychosis #Africa #GWAS
April 17, 2025 at 9:35 AM
🚨 PGC Africa Monthly Meeting Alert!
We are delighted to have Dr Lerato Majara from the Martin Lab @genetisaur.bsky.social, @broadinstitute.org join our 3rd virtual meeting of 2025
📆 24th April 2025
⏲️ 2PM GMT | 2PM WAT | 3PM CAT | 4PM EAT
📢 More details on the flyer below
#Psychosis #Africa #GWAS
We are delighted to have Dr Lerato Majara from the Martin Lab @genetisaur.bsky.social, @broadinstitute.org join our 3rd virtual meeting of 2025
📆 24th April 2025
⏲️ 2PM GMT | 2PM WAT | 3PM CAT | 4PM EAT
📢 More details on the flyer below
#Psychosis #Africa #GWAS
Reposted by Alicia Martin
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu
Harvard University
Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.
www.harvard.edu
April 14, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu