William DeWitt
@wsdewitt.github.io
Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Genome Sciences.
Previous: JSMF Fellow, Berkeley EECS
♡: Computational biology, evolutionary dynamics, quantitative immunology
https://dewitt-lab.github.io/
[disclaimer: opinions mine]
Previous: JSMF Fellow, Berkeley EECS
♡: Computational biology, evolutionary dynamics, quantitative immunology
https://dewitt-lab.github.io/
[disclaimer: opinions mine]
Pinned
William DeWitt
@wsdewitt.github.io
· Jun 7
I'm stoked to have this long-term and highly collaborative effort out in the wild. We present an experimental evolution system to quantitatively study the rapid evolutionary dynamics of B-cell affinity maturation. These evolutionary mechanisms underpin antibody responses and immune memory formation.
Reposted by William DeWitt
Open faculty position (Assistant or Associate) in UW Medical Genetics. As you might expect, faculty often end up also interacting with Genome Sciences, so we're hoping for some great prospects! Note the clinical requirements for the position. apply.interfolio.com/176466
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Open faculty position (Assistant or Associate) in UW Medical Genetics. As you might expect, faculty often end up also interacting with Genome Sciences, so we're hoping for some great prospects! Note the clinical requirements for the position. apply.interfolio.com/176466
Reposted by William DeWitt
How the Web Was Lost (The internet was not meant to suck).
I review some history—thoughtful, philosophical, and enraged—by Tim Berners-Lee, Joanna Walsh, and @[email protected].
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
I review some history—thoughtful, philosophical, and enraged—by Tim Berners-Lee, Joanna Walsh, and @[email protected].
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
How the Web Was Lost | James Gleick
The Internet was not meant to suck.
www.nybooks.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
How the Web Was Lost (The internet was not meant to suck).
I review some history—thoughtful, philosophical, and enraged—by Tim Berners-Lee, Joanna Walsh, and @[email protected].
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
I review some history—thoughtful, philosophical, and enraged—by Tim Berners-Lee, Joanna Walsh, and @[email protected].
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Reposted by William DeWitt
😎 🚝
October 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
😎 🚝
Reposted by William DeWitt
excited that this paper is finally out in @pnas.org :
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Led by Gian Marco Visani (effort initiated by Michael Pun), fantastic collaboration with @pgtimmune.bsky.social @asya-minervina.bsky.social and Phil Bradley.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Led by Gian Marco Visani (effort initiated by Michael Pun), fantastic collaboration with @pgtimmune.bsky.social @asya-minervina.bsky.social and Phil Bradley.
October 16, 2025 at 7:39 PM
excited that this paper is finally out in @pnas.org :
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Led by Gian Marco Visani (effort initiated by Michael Pun), fantastic collaboration with @pgtimmune.bsky.social @asya-minervina.bsky.social and Phil Bradley.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Led by Gian Marco Visani (effort initiated by Michael Pun), fantastic collaboration with @pgtimmune.bsky.social @asya-minervina.bsky.social and Phil Bradley.
Reposted by William DeWitt
Reposted by William DeWitt
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
Reposted by William DeWitt
Biophysicists are realizing that there is an undervalued element at play in early development: Aside from genes, mechanical forces also steer the growth of embryos. @annademming.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/genes-have-h...
Genes Have Harnessed Physics to Help Grow Living Things | Quanta Magazine
The same pulling force that causes “tears” in a glass of wine also shapes embryos. It’s another example of how genes exploit mechanical forces for growth and development.
www.quantamagazine.org
October 10, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Biophysicists are realizing that there is an undervalued element at play in early development: Aside from genes, mechanical forces also steer the growth of embryos. @annademming.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/genes-have-h...
Reposted by William DeWitt
The Weintraub Award is seeking nominations for 2026! The award recognizes the outstanding achievements of grad students in biology and was established to honor the bold, creative, pioneering spirit embodied by Dr. Hal Weintraub. www.fredhutch.org/en/research/...
Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award
Annual award to honor the bold, creative, pioneering spirit embodied by Hal Weintraub. The Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award recognizes outstanding achievements during graduate studies in the...
www.fredhutch.org
October 1, 2025 at 4:53 PM
The Weintraub Award is seeking nominations for 2026! The award recognizes the outstanding achievements of grad students in biology and was established to honor the bold, creative, pioneering spirit embodied by Dr. Hal Weintraub. www.fredhutch.org/en/research/...
Reposted by William DeWitt
Reposted by William DeWitt
ICE has been pulling guns on civilians, spraying tear gas in the face of protestors who film them, shooting priests with pepper spray and pellets—and, increasingly it seems, targeting journalists and others trying to document their activities. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Opinion | ‘ICE Goes Masked for a Single Reason’
www.nytimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
ICE has been pulling guns on civilians, spraying tear gas in the face of protestors who film them, shooting priests with pepper spray and pellets—and, increasingly it seems, targeting journalists and others trying to document their activities. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Reposted by William DeWitt
I gave a talk last year at TEDxNewEngland aimed at introducing the idea of viral sociality to a general audience, including implications for evolution & virology. Video now available online below.
#socialviruses #evosky #virosky 🧪
#socialviruses #evosky #virosky 🧪
The social lives of viruses | Asher Leeks | TEDxNewEngland
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
www.youtube.com
October 7, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I gave a talk last year at TEDxNewEngland aimed at introducing the idea of viral sociality to a general audience, including implications for evolution & virology. Video now available online below.
#socialviruses #evosky #virosky 🧪
#socialviruses #evosky #virosky 🧪
Reposted by William DeWitt
check out our manuscript (led by Obinna Ukogu) on Design principles of cytotoxic T-cell response: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 6, 2025 at 10:31 PM
check out our manuscript (led by Obinna Ukogu) on Design principles of cytotoxic T-cell response: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by William DeWitt
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky via @nytimes.com:
Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o... #Opinion
Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o... #Opinion
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky via @nytimes.com:
Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o... #Opinion
Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o... #Opinion
Reposted by William DeWitt
Some problems have simple solutions. This new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is one. The answer is simply saying no.
Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.
Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.
October 2, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Some problems have simple solutions. This new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is one. The answer is simply saying no.
Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.
Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.
Reposted by William DeWitt
The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year.
We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
September 29, 2025 at 5:47 PM
The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year.
We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
Here at UW Genome Sciences, PhD students take a summer course at the end of 1st year to write NSF GRFP proposals. They finished refining proposals on Wednesday, the first day of Autumn quarter, marking the start of their 2nd year. With NSF's announcement, the entire cohort is suddenly ineligible.
Today was a hard day for Ph.D. students who found out that they can no longer apply for NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. "Devastating“ was how one student described it to me. #GradSchool #NSFGRFP
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
September 27, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Here at UW Genome Sciences, PhD students take a summer course at the end of 1st year to write NSF GRFP proposals. They finished refining proposals on Wednesday, the first day of Autumn quarter, marking the start of their 2nd year. With NSF's announcement, the entire cohort is suddenly ineligible.
Reposted by William DeWitt
We are excited to share GPN-Star, a cost-effective, biologically grounded genomic language modeling framework that achieves state-of-the-art performance across a wide range of variant effect prediction tasks relevant to human genetics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
September 22, 2025 at 5:29 AM
We are excited to share GPN-Star, a cost-effective, biologically grounded genomic language modeling framework that achieves state-of-the-art performance across a wide range of variant effect prediction tasks relevant to human genetics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
Reposted by William DeWitt
“To encounter an octopus is to be implicated in a question about being that engulfs you both.” —Verlyn Klinkenborg
‘Such Flexible Intensity of Life’ | Verlyn Klinkenborg
Their striking intelligence makes octopuses tempting subjects for wishful anthropomorphism and uncanny reminders of nature’s mysteries.
buff.ly
September 21, 2025 at 11:56 AM
“To encounter an octopus is to be implicated in a question about being that engulfs you both.” —Verlyn Klinkenborg
This piece proposes radical measures—equal and opposite to “put AI in everything” initiatives at UW and elsewhere—to emulate the college experience at the turn of the millennium. Nostalgia aside, I think I benefited from slowly titrated tech, encountering AI tools only after learning how to think.
Colleges and universities are going way too soft on policing AI, Tyler Austin Harper argues. “Institutions of higher learning can abandon their centuries-long educational project,” he writes. “Or they can fight.” https://theatln.tc/C2g5ZCSZ
September 13, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This piece proposes radical measures—equal and opposite to “put AI in everything” initiatives at UW and elsewhere—to emulate the college experience at the turn of the millennium. Nostalgia aside, I think I benefited from slowly titrated tech, encountering AI tools only after learning how to think.
Reposted by William DeWitt
The constant barrage of terrible news on bluesky has made me feel weird about promoting papers, but people in the lab have been doing so much amazing work over the past few months that I want to share a few brief teasers/links:
September 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The constant barrage of terrible news on bluesky has made me feel weird about promoting papers, but people in the lab have been doing so much amazing work over the past few months that I want to share a few brief teasers/links:
Reposted by William DeWitt
Almost 10 years ago Smith and Baum's textbook introduced me to Phylogenetic Comparative Methods.
We now have our own review on PCM! Come for history, traits and spicy takes!
We welcome any comments/ concerns/ jokes!
@tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and MRM!
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
We now have our own review on PCM! Come for history, traits and spicy takes!
We welcome any comments/ concerns/ jokes!
@tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and MRM!
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
doi.org
September 2, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Almost 10 years ago Smith and Baum's textbook introduced me to Phylogenetic Comparative Methods.
We now have our own review on PCM! Come for history, traits and spicy takes!
We welcome any comments/ concerns/ jokes!
@tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and MRM!
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
We now have our own review on PCM! Come for history, traits and spicy takes!
We welcome any comments/ concerns/ jokes!
@tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and MRM!
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
Reposted by William DeWitt
Save the date! #PEQG26 June 9-12 2026 in Asilomar, CA. Happens only every 2yrs, but is my favorite conference. Full website coming soon, and registration and abstract submission opens November 14, but I'm allowed to tease that keynotes will be @jnovembre.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social and me!
Homepage - Population, Evolutionary, and Quantitative Genetics Conference
Visit our website to learn more.
genetics-gsa.org
September 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Save the date! #PEQG26 June 9-12 2026 in Asilomar, CA. Happens only every 2yrs, but is my favorite conference. Full website coming soon, and registration and abstract submission opens November 14, but I'm allowed to tease that keynotes will be @jnovembre.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social and me!
Reposted by William DeWitt
A short blog post about a recent preprint (work hatched as a very fun all-postdoc collaboration at @sfiscience.bsky.social)
A dynamical perspective on triggering multiscale immune responses
Preprint: BH Schlomann, WS DeWitt, Y Zhang, K Shah. Ignition criteria for trigger waves in cell signaling. arXiv:2508.16810 [q-bio.CB]
dewitt-lab.github.io
August 26, 2025 at 11:42 PM
A short blog post about a recent preprint (work hatched as a very fun all-postdoc collaboration at @sfiscience.bsky.social)
Reposted by William DeWitt
Spread the word - we at @stanford-chemh.bsky.social are searching to fill a new junior faculty at the interface of molecular and computational science. See link below!
Open faculty position!
We're seeking applicants for a tenure-track faculty position at the junior level (Assistant or untenured Associate Professor) with research programs that exist at the interface between molecular science and computation. Apply here: stanford.io/45MF3Qa
We're seeking applicants for a tenure-track faculty position at the junior level (Assistant or untenured Associate Professor) with research programs that exist at the interface between molecular science and computation. Apply here: stanford.io/45MF3Qa
August 27, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Spread the word - we at @stanford-chemh.bsky.social are searching to fill a new junior faculty at the interface of molecular and computational science. See link below!
A short blog post about a recent preprint (work hatched as a very fun all-postdoc collaboration at @sfiscience.bsky.social)
A dynamical perspective on triggering multiscale immune responses
Preprint: BH Schlomann, WS DeWitt, Y Zhang, K Shah. Ignition criteria for trigger waves in cell signaling. arXiv:2508.16810 [q-bio.CB]
dewitt-lab.github.io
August 26, 2025 at 11:42 PM
A short blog post about a recent preprint (work hatched as a very fun all-postdoc collaboration at @sfiscience.bsky.social)