Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
@hakha.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at NYU Langone. Genetics, evolution and biology of complex traits and diseases.
Pinned
Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
@hakha.bsky.social
· Jul 25
I'm thrilled that my lab at NYU is now supported by an NIH MIRA grant! I'm looking to hire 1-2 senior lab members (outstanding postdoc candidates or experienced staff scientists) with expertise in computational or statistical methods in human genetics or genomics. Please share!
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Excited to share a preprint of my PhD project looking at interactions between SNPs and polygenic scores in the UK Biobank!
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Interactions with polygenic background impact quantitative traits in the UK Biobank
Association studies have linked many genetic variants to a variety of phenotypes but under-standing the biological mechanisms underlying these signals remains a major challenge. Since genes operate wi...
www.medrxiv.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Excited to share a preprint of my PhD project looking at interactions between SNPs and polygenic scores in the UK Biobank!
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 AM
#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
@hakha.bsky.social and I wrote a Research Briefing (with a lay summary + "behind the scenes") of our paper on how genes are prioritized by GWAS and rare variant burden tests. 🧬🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How do genetic association studies rank genes?
Genome-wide association studies and rare-variant burden tests reveal complementary aspects of trait biology.
www.nature.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:43 PM
@hakha.bsky.social and I wrote a Research Briefing (with a lay summary + "behind the scenes") of our paper on how genes are prioritized by GWAS and rare variant burden tests. 🧬🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
SAVE THE DATE: the yearly NY Population Genetics meeting will be back on March 9 2026, generously hosted by the
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
SAVE THE DATE: the yearly NY Population Genetics meeting will be back on March 9 2026, generously hosted by the
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
My center at NYU SoM is hiring an Assistant/Associate Professor in human genetics and genomics. It's a wonderful place to do science. Please apply or pass along. apply.interfolio.com/177375
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:51 PM
My center at NYU SoM is hiring an Assistant/Associate Professor in human genetics and genomics. It's a wonderful place to do science. Please apply or pass along. apply.interfolio.com/177375
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
Very excited for our paper in @nature.com on what genes association studies discover and why. It was a privilege to work closely with @jeffspence.github.io, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our collaborators.
How do GWAS and rare variant burden tests rank gene signals?
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Specificity, length and luck drive gene rankings in association studies - Nature
Genetic association tests prioritize candidate genes based on different criteria.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Very excited for our paper in @nature.com on what genes association studies discover and why. It was a privilege to work closely with @jeffspence.github.io, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our collaborators.
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Excited to share our latest work on the factors that determine what genes we find (and don't find!) in GWAS and burden tests.
We describe a critical concept that we call *specificity*.
Led by Jeff Spence and Hakhamanesh Mostafavi:
We describe a critical concept that we call *specificity*.
Led by Jeff Spence and Hakhamanesh Mostafavi:
How do GWAS and rare variant burden tests rank gene signals?
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Specificity, length and luck drive gene rankings in association studies - Nature
Genetic association tests prioritize candidate genes based on different criteria.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Excited to share our latest work on the factors that determine what genes we find (and don't find!) in GWAS and burden tests.
We describe a critical concept that we call *specificity*.
Led by Jeff Spence and Hakhamanesh Mostafavi:
We describe a critical concept that we call *specificity*.
Led by Jeff Spence and Hakhamanesh Mostafavi:
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
www.science.org
October 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Simple scaling laws control the genetic architectures of human complex traits
Genome-wide association studies have revealed that the genetic architectures of complex traits vary widely. This study shows that differences in architectures of highly polygenic traits arise mainly f...
journals.plos.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
I’ll be attending #ASHG25! I’m currently hiring for (i) a Senior Research Scientist or (ii) a Postdoc position in my lab. If you’re interested, please reach out to arrange a time to meet and discuss.
October 13, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I’ll be attending #ASHG25! I’m currently hiring for (i) a Senior Research Scientist or (ii) a Postdoc position in my lab. If you’re interested, please reach out to arrange a time to meet and discuss.
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Bittersweet to be leaving @docedge.bsky.social after a wonderful postdoc, but excited to share that I'm joining @uoregon.bsky.social next month as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Data Science.
August 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Bittersweet to be leaving @docedge.bsky.social after a wonderful postdoc, but excited to share that I'm joining @uoregon.bsky.social next month as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Data Science.
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
The 2026 Probabilistic Modeling in Genomics (ProbGen) meeting will be held at UC Berkeley, March 25-28, 2026. We have an amazing list of keynote speakers and session chairs:
probgen2026.github.io
Please help spread the news.
probgen2026.github.io
Please help spread the news.
Home - ProbGen 2026
Your Site Description
probgen2026.github.io
June 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
The 2026 Probabilistic Modeling in Genomics (ProbGen) meeting will be held at UC Berkeley, March 25-28, 2026. We have an amazing list of keynote speakers and session chairs:
probgen2026.github.io
Please help spread the news.
probgen2026.github.io
Please help spread the news.
I'm thrilled that my lab at NYU is now supported by an NIH MIRA grant! I'm looking to hire 1-2 senior lab members (outstanding postdoc candidates or experienced staff scientists) with expertise in computational or statistical methods in human genetics or genomics. Please share!
July 25, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I'm thrilled that my lab at NYU is now supported by an NIH MIRA grant! I'm looking to hire 1-2 senior lab members (outstanding postdoc candidates or experienced staff scientists) with expertise in computational or statistical methods in human genetics or genomics. Please share!
A brief musical note: I’m very excited to share that my brilliant wife, a pianist and composer, has just released her debut album featuring works by Iranian women composers, including one of her own. Here is the link in case you’d like to take a listen: www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv67...
Nahoft – Navona Records
Drawing its name from a melodic motif found in Iranian music, NAHOFT is the culmination of pianist Ava Nazar’s collaboration with the Iranian Female Composers Association, showcasing six woman compose...
www.navonarecords.com
July 21, 2025 at 2:55 AM
A brief musical note: I’m very excited to share that my brilliant wife, a pianist and composer, has just released her debut album featuring works by Iranian women composers, including one of her own. Here is the link in case you’d like to take a listen: www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv67...
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Staff scientist position (computational):
I am looking for a computational scientist to join my genomics lab at Stanford. They should have an outstanding skillset in ML/statistical methods for genomic applications, postdoc experience and a strong publication record.
#sciencejobs
I am looking for a computational scientist to join my genomics lab at Stanford. They should have an outstanding skillset in ML/statistical methods for genomic applications, postdoc experience and a strong publication record.
#sciencejobs
July 7, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Staff scientist position (computational):
I am looking for a computational scientist to join my genomics lab at Stanford. They should have an outstanding skillset in ML/statistical methods for genomic applications, postdoc experience and a strong publication record.
#sciencejobs
I am looking for a computational scientist to join my genomics lab at Stanford. They should have an outstanding skillset in ML/statistical methods for genomic applications, postdoc experience and a strong publication record.
#sciencejobs
It was fun writing this short piece on the omnigenic model. Sharing it here, though it's a painful time as my family, along with millions of others, is at risk in Iran and the region.
New online! Making sense of the polygenicity of complex traits
Making sense of the polygenicity of complex traits
Nature Reviews Genetics, Published online: 16 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41576-025-00866-7Hakhamanesh Mostafavi recalls a landmark paper by Boyle et al. on the omnigenic model, which proposed that complex traits are influenced by thousands of genes across the genome, including many that are only indirectly related to a trait through regulatory networks.
www.nature.com
June 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It was fun writing this short piece on the omnigenic model. Sharing it here, though it's a painful time as my family, along with millions of others, is at risk in Iran and the region.
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Thanks to everybody who chimed in!
I arrived at the conclusion that (1) there's a lot of interesting stuff about interactions and (2) the figure I was looking for does not exist.
So, I made it myself! Here's a simple illustration of how to control for confounding in interactions:>
I arrived at the conclusion that (1) there's a lot of interesting stuff about interactions and (2) the figure I was looking for does not exist.
So, I made it myself! Here's a simple illustration of how to control for confounding in interactions:>
May 11, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Thanks to everybody who chimed in!
I arrived at the conclusion that (1) there's a lot of interesting stuff about interactions and (2) the figure I was looking for does not exist.
So, I made it myself! Here's a simple illustration of how to control for confounding in interactions:>
I arrived at the conclusion that (1) there's a lot of interesting stuff about interactions and (2) the figure I was looking for does not exist.
So, I made it myself! Here's a simple illustration of how to control for confounding in interactions:>
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Amidst all the terrible and terrifying news, so lovely to hear of
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
April 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Amidst all the terrible and terrifying news, so lovely to hear of
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
I've been singing with the Bronx County Chorus since 2015. It's a beautiful, intergenerational community bringing free music to the Bronx since the 1930s. With grants shrinking, they now need support to keep going. If you can, please consider helping: www.gofundme.com/f/support-th...
Donate to Support the Longest Running Community Chorus in the Bronx!, organized by Denise Wharton
Keep the Bronx Singing – Support the Bronx County Chorus!
… Denise Wharton needs your support for Support the Longest Running Community Chorus in the Bronx!
www.gofundme.com
April 28, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I've been singing with the Bronx County Chorus since 2015. It's a beautiful, intergenerational community bringing free music to the Bronx since the 1930s. With grants shrinking, they now need support to keep going. If you can, please consider helping: www.gofundme.com/f/support-th...
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Posting on behalf of Shamil Sunyaev: Eimear(Vice Chair) and I (Chair) are organizing the 2025 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Human Genetics and Genomics, which will be held on July 6-11, 2025 in beautiful University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine.
2025 Human Genetics and Genomics Conference GRC
The 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Human Genetics and Genomics will be held in Portland, Maine. Apply today to reserve your spot.
www.grc.org
April 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Posting on behalf of Shamil Sunyaev: Eimear(Vice Chair) and I (Chair) are organizing the 2025 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Human Genetics and Genomics, which will be held on July 6-11, 2025 in beautiful University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine.
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
A really nice paper by @drghawkes.bsky.social et al. argues that rare and common genetic associations converge on the same genes.
While this seems at odds with our recent work about how burden tests and GWAS prioritize different genes, our results agree (🧬🧪🧵 1/6)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
While this seems at odds with our recent work about how burden tests and GWAS prioritize different genes, our results agree (🧬🧪🧵 1/6)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of anthropometric traits in 672,976 individuals reveals convergence between rare and common genetic associations
Genetic association studies have mostly focussed on common variants from genotyping arrays or rare protein-coding variants from exome sequencing. Here, we used whole-genome sequence (WGS) data in 672,...
www.biorxiv.org
March 28, 2025 at 1:22 AM
A really nice paper by @drghawkes.bsky.social et al. argues that rare and common genetic associations converge on the same genes.
While this seems at odds with our recent work about how burden tests and GWAS prioritize different genes, our results agree (🧬🧪🧵 1/6)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
While this seems at odds with our recent work about how burden tests and GWAS prioritize different genes, our results agree (🧬🧪🧵 1/6)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
One month to go until the CSHL Biology of Genomes abstract deadline! My all-time fav meeting, and one of the few covering genomics broadly. We have a ✨🤩 lineup of speakers, but it's the abstract talks & posters that really make the meeting - send us your best work! meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
January 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
One month to go until the CSHL Biology of Genomes abstract deadline! My all-time fav meeting, and one of the few covering genomics broadly. We have a ✨🤩 lineup of speakers, but it's the abstract talks & posters that really make the meeting - send us your best work! meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
Think of a polygenic score you care about. Are direct genetic effects driving variation among people in this predictor? Or perhaps other, confounding factors? We at the @arbelharpak.bsky.social & @docedge.bsky.social Labs developed a method to tackle this question. [1/n]
A Litmus Test for Confounding in Polygenic Scores
Polygenic scores (PGSs) are being rapidly adopted for trait prediction in the clinic and beyond. PGSs are often thought of as capturing the direct genetic effect of one's genotype on their phenotype. ...
www.biorxiv.org
February 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Think of a polygenic score you care about. Are direct genetic effects driving variation among people in this predictor? Or perhaps other, confounding factors? We at the @arbelharpak.bsky.social & @docedge.bsky.social Labs developed a method to tackle this question. [1/n]
Reposted by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi
The distribution of highly deleterious variants across human ancestry groups https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.31.635988v1
February 1, 2025 at 11:32 AM
The distribution of highly deleterious variants across human ancestry groups https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.31.635988v1