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William DeWitt

@wsdewitt.github.io

940 followers 640 following 330 posts

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]

dewitt-lab.github.io

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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.

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.bsky.social · 1d

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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Fred Hutch Basic Sciences Division @hutchbasicsci.bsky.social · 10d

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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 1d

👏 👏 👏

orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

The U.S. Department of Education recently sent MIT and eight other institutions a proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," along with a letter asking that MIT review the document.

orgchart.mit.edu

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Reposted by William DeWitt

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 3d

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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Asher Leeks @asherleeks.bsky.social · 4d

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 🧪

The social lives of viruses | Asher Leeks | TEDxNewEngland

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Armita Nourmohammad @thearmita.bsky.social · 5d

check out our manuscript (led by Obinna Ukogu) on Design principles of cytotoxic T-cell response: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by William DeWitt

UC Berkeley Law @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social · 9d

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky via @nytimes.com:
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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · 10d

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.

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Jason Williams @jasonwilliamsny.bsky.social · 12d

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/

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William DeWitt @wsdewitt.github.io · 14d

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.

Katie Langin @klangin.bsky.social · 15d

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...

‘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

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William DeWitt @wsdewitt.github.io · 18d

your window opens... jealous

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Yun S. Song @yun-s-song.bsky.social · 20d

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)

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The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 20d

“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

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William DeWitt @wsdewitt.github.io · 28d

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.

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 28d

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

Reposted by William DeWitt

Alison Feder @alisonfeder.bsky.social · Sep 10

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:

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Jesús Martínez-Gómez @jesusgm.bsky.social · Sep 2

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...

doi.org

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · Sep 3

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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

William DeWitt @wsdewitt.github.io · Aug 26

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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · Aug 27

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!

Sarafan ChEM-H @stanford-chemh.bsky.social · Aug 26

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

Open Faculty Position: Assistant or Associate (Untenured) Professor

Application deadline: 11:55 PM on Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Sarafan ChEM-H is seeking candidates with research programs that exist at the interface between molecular science and computation.

Click the link above to learn more & apply!

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William DeWitt @wsdewitt.github.io · Aug 26

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

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Reposted by William DeWitt

berkeleyMCB @berkeleymcb.bsky.social · Aug 20

We're Hiring! Assistant Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine in MCB. Learn more and apply online:
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05096

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Frederick "Erick" Matsen @matsen.bsky.social · Aug 19

Why does selection feel so weak relative to mutation in affinity maturation? A new blog post giving three perspectives, including our new transformer-based model of natural selection on antibodies: matsen.group/general/202...

The term 'affinity maturation' understates the influence of somatic hypermutation

Three recent papers quantify how nucleotide-level mutation processes drive antibody evolution.

matsen.group

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Terence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · Aug 18

I wrote an op-ed on the world-class STEM research ecosystem in the United States, and how this ecosystem is now under attack on multiple fronts by the current administration: newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-an-awar...

I’m an award-winning mathematician. Trump just cut my funding.

The “Mozart of Math” tried to stay out of politics. Then it came for his research.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org

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Reposted by William DeWitt

Sarah Gurev @sarahgurev.bsky.social · Aug 17

🚨New paper 🚨

Can protein language models help us fight viral outbreaks? Not yet. Here’s why 🧵👇
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Reposted by William DeWitt

psathyrella.bsky.social @psathyrella.bsky.social · Aug 16

In a new preprint we use deep learning on lineage trees to infer the functional form of the relationship between affinity and fitness that controls antibody evolution in germinal centers: arxiv.org/abs/2508.09871 🧵

Inference of germinal center evolutionary dynamics via simulation-based deep learning

B cells and the antibodies they produce are vital to health and survival, motivating research on the details of the mutational and evolutionary processes in the germinal centers (GC) from which mature...

arxiv.org

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