The four presentations are followed by a panel discussion and an audience Q&A. We are looking forward to meeting you there! 5/5

My talk, "Toward Justice and Community Empowerment in Genomics Studies on Sensitive Traits,” highlights lessons learned from community engagement efforts in genomics studies on socio-behavioral and neuro-psychiatric traits, and envisions a path forward for a more just and inclusive research. 4/5

The session is moderated by Christa Ventresca (UMich) and @metecivelek.bsky.social (UCLA), and I'm joined as a speaker by Emerson Dusic (Umich), Tala Berro (Kaiser Permanent) and Kristina Suorsa-Johnson (U of U). 3/5

The session addresses issues related to clinical and genetic research to gender identity, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics. We will highlight research findings, ethical concerns, and practical implications through the lenses of bioethics and community engagement. 2/5

I'm looking forward to attending #ASHG25 next week in Boston! I have the honor and privilege to be presenting at the Featured Symposium "Genes, Traits, and Identities: Navigating Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Modern Research" on Wed, Oct 15, 8:30-10am. 1/5

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam.... Acetaminophen (Tylenol) does not cause autism in this very large study 🧪 #medsky

Biomedical and genetics researchers are not incentivized to do work that aligns with the autism community’s needs and priorities. The groups and individuals benefitting from the current state of biomedical autism research are labs working on finding the causes of autism and supplement salesmen. 6/6

So far, studies on autism “risk” and have failed to produce concrete benefits to the autism community. Autism researchers continue to justify their goals with the rising rate of autism diagnoses, often ignoring the major impact of increased awareness and knowledge. 5/

The projects funded by the Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI) largely aim to identify the causes of autism, with little to no focus on the areas of research that stakeholders consider most important: health, quality of life, and applied research with tangible real life implications. 4/

Now, the HHS has announced that 1) acetaminophen causes autism and 2) folate supplements (sold by Dr. Oz) can be used to “treat” autism. In an effort to find new targets for intervention, the NIH is also investing $50M in research dissecting the genetic and environmental contributors to autism. 3/

The complex nature of autism, lack of definitive answers from biomedical research, pressure on autistic individuals and their families, and deliberate exploitation have contributed to the proliferation of pseudoscientific bogus remedies for autism. 2/

Some thoughts about today’s announcement on Tylenol, “the autism epidemic”, and the $50M NIH initiative ADSI. 1/

Why do so many disease risk variants show no regulatory effects in GTEx and/or other standard eQTL studies?

What do we mean when we say a regulatory effect is "context-specific" and how do we define the context?

We explored these questions using brain organoids and oxygen stress.

It’s so gross to demand proof that someone “matters” for them to deserve health care. We are a rich country and *everyone* matters

Here we go again… techcrunch.com/2025/06/06/g... Genetics testing startup Nucleus Genomics criticized for its embryo product: 'Makes me so nauseous' | TechCrunch

Great piece and highlights what we need to be making clearer.

The phase II clinical trial in China tested CAR T cells in people with advanced gastric cancer or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer - one of the first times this therapy has worked against solid tumours

🧪 #MedSky

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Georges Benjamin: For every dollar we put into research, we get 2.64 dollars back. This enterprise produces innovation and economic activity. #STATBreakthrough @statnews.com

A computational framework links transcriptomic analyses with mechanical signatures to study the interplay between cell mechanical forces and gene expression.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Great to see this paper finally out. We've been using it for a while, a really great resource for omics in glioblastoma!
doi.org/10.1093/neuo...

Our new contribution to the quest to find causal GWAS genes! Sam Ghatan from my lab at @nygenome.org led a systematic comparison of eQTLs and CRISPRi+scRNA-seq screens. TL;DR: they provide highly complementary insights, with ortogonal pros and cons. 🧵👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New preprint! My (now former) postdoc @kvastad.bsky.social led this integration of GWAS and spatial transcriptomics (ST) data to identify tissue structures with enrichment of disease-implicated genes = likely causal drivers of disease biology.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

US President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 calls for unprecedented cuts to scientific agencies that, if enacted, would deal a devastating blow to US science, policy specialists say.

https://go.nature.com/4jYv3IP

ASHG is concerned about the research cuts in the proposed U.S. FY26 budget, forecasting substantial reductions to the NIH and other agencies. We urge the U.S. Congress to reject this proposal and maintain support for life-saving biomedical research. Read More: www.ashg.org/publications... #ASHG