beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda
@beatrizurda.bsky.social
120 followers 320 following 31 posts
PhDing at Barcelona Supercomputing Center | Exploring disease co-occurrences through omics, bioinformatics & HPC — with an eye on AI bias, and occasionally covered in clay.
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
1/ Everything that could go wrong in paper publishing… did.
A story of patience, absurdity, and persistence 🌀 <1min

From Alfonso Valencia’s lab and a very stubborn PhD student (me).
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
jackamatica.bsky.social
Jack - amatica health @jackamatica.bsky.social · 28d
Some diseases show up together. Others rarely appear in the same person

This study looked into whether gene activity (from RNA data) can help explain why

The answer: yes - more than we thought

Relevant as we are testing RNA in LC & ME/CFS patients @amaticahealth

Breakdown:
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
bsc-cns.bsky.social
BSC-CNS @bsc-cns.bsky.social · 29d
💻🧬'Los vínculos secretos que existen entre enfermedades.
El estudio del BSC representa el mayor esfuerzo hasta la fecha para explicar científicamente las asociaciones clínicas entre enfermedades'

🗞En @innovaspain.bsky.social
➡ www.bsc.es/4kD

@alfonsovalencia.bsky.social @beatrizurda.bsky.social
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 8
@growkudos.bsky.social @bsc-cns.bsky.social
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 8
Excited to see our PNAS paper highlighted on Kudos, with an accessible take on the findings.

Disease links are not random—they can be predicted from the expression of our genes.
www.growkudos.com/publications...

@pnas.org @alfonsovalencia.bsky.social
📄 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Molecular map reveals hidden disease connections
Diseases rarely come alone. Many people experience a chain of diagnoses across their lives—for example, smoking-related lung cancer, asthma followed by Parkinson’s disease, or depression alongside lup...
www.growkudos.com
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
newsmedical.bsky.social
News Medical @newsmedical.bsky.social · Sep 5
🧬 New research in PNAS shows how gene expression patterns reveal why some diseases occur together while others don’t.

Scientists uncovered hidden links — with immune pathways playing a major role.

#GeneExpression #Comorbidity #PrecisionHealth

🔗 www.news-medical.net/news/2025090...
Gene expression maps explain why diseases often occur together
This study reveals how gene expression patterns uncover molecular pathways linking comorbidities, enhancing treatment strategies for overlapping diseases.
www.news-medical.net
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 4
Thank you, Luís!!
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
lmrocha.bsky.social
Luís M. Rocha @lmrocha.bsky.social · Sep 3
Great #networkmedicine work by @alfonsovalencia.bsky.social's team on deriving comorbidity networks from RNA-seq data to study complex disease relationships. Thy show that molecular mechanisms are behind many of the known comorbidities (often via immune response).
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Patient stratification reveals the molecular basis of disease co-occurrences | PNAS
Epidemiological evidence shows that some diseases tend to co-occur; more exactly, certain groups of patients with a given disease are at a higher r...
doi.org
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
0817686.bsky.social
Manuel @0817686.bsky.social · Sep 4
No le habéis hecho mucho caso a esto, pero es muy, muy bonito. Y parece revolucionario. Seguro que volveremos a oír hablar de esto.
beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
In the end, comorbidities aren’t random,
they can be predicted from the expression of our genes 🧬

And this is just the beginning.
Stay tuned for what comes next 👀🚀
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 4
Mil gracias 🤍🧬
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 3
This was devastating.
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 3
Totally! In our case it wasn’t even about sample size, but a basic textbook statistical concept 🤖. We even increased the sample size to show the results still held under the reviewer’s definition—and still, they wouldn’t budge.
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 3
Totally! In our case it wasn’t even about sample size, but a basic textbook statistical concept 🤖. We even increased the sample size to show the results still held under the reviewer’s definition—and still, they wouldn’t budge.
1 1 1
beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 3
❤️
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 3
Muchas gracias!
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
Muchas gracias por compartir!
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
genteque.bsky.social
Gente que 🥳 @genteque.bsky.social · Sep 2
Brutal. Investigadores usando el Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) han encontrado conexiones clínicas desconocidas (p.e. entre la enfermedad de Crohn y el desarrollo de úlceras), cosa que permitirá mejorar el tratamiento/medicación. Además, todos podemos ya ver toda esa (sigue 🧵)
agenciasinc.es
agenciasinc.es @agenciasinc.es · Sep 2
Un nuevo método computacional, creado en el @bsc-cns.bsky.social y basado en datos de más de 4 000 pacientes y 45 patologías, identifica conexiones clínicas conocidas y sugiere asociaciones inéditas con posibles aplicaciones en el diagnóstico y los tratamientos.

www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/El-...
El BSC diseña un mapa molecular que descubre vínculos ocultos entre enfermedades
Un nuevo método computacional basado en datos de más de 4 000 pacientes y 45 patologías identifica conexiones clínicas conocidas y sugiere asociaciones inéditas con posibles aplicaciones en el diagnóstico y los tratamientos.
www.agenciasinc.es
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
agenciasinc.es
agenciasinc.es @agenciasinc.es · Sep 2
Un nuevo método computacional, creado en el @bsc-cns.bsky.social y basado en datos de más de 4 000 pacientes y 45 patologías, identifica conexiones clínicas conocidas y sugiere asociaciones inéditas con posibles aplicaciones en el diagnóstico y los tratamientos.

www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/El-...
El BSC diseña un mapa molecular que descubre vínculos ocultos entre enfermedades
Un nuevo método computacional basado en datos de más de 4 000 pacientes y 45 patologías identifica conexiones clínicas conocidas y sugiere asociaciones inéditas con posibles aplicaciones en el diagnóstico y los tratamientos.
www.agenciasinc.es
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Reposted by Beatriz Urda
alfonsovalencia.bsky.social
Alfonso Valencia @alfonsovalencia.bsky.social · Sep 2
She explains part of the fight over 2 years with an absurd referee (can happen) and an incompetent profesional editor unable to understand even basic statistics - or worse unable to take a decision by him/her self.

But never mind: Beatriz won and the paper is now published in a better journal.
beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
1/ Everything that could go wrong in paper publishing… did.
A story of patience, absurdity, and persistence 🌀 <1min

From Alfonso Valencia’s lab and a very stubborn PhD student (me).
1 9
Reposted by Beatriz Urda
alfonsovalencia.bsky.social
Alfonso Valencia @alfonsovalencia.bsky.social · Sep 2
Very happy to get it out.

For scientific & personal reasons this one is special.
Beatriz has done more work and endured the most difficult - and absurd - publications battles I can remember.
Thanks to PNAS for being "normal" and congratulations to Beatriz.

(Beatriz: next one will be easier!)
beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
🚨 New in PNAS!
🧬 64% of disease co-occurrences can be explained by transcriptomic similarities.

Comorbidities aren’t random—they have a molecular basis.

Here’s how we found it 👇 (1/n)

🔗 doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2421060122

@alfonsovalencia.bsky.social
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
12/ This was the road.
👉 Here is the science: bsky.app/profile/beat...
📄 Paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2421060122
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
11/ Endless thanks to those who supported, listened, laughed, and advised: my colleagues, Davide Cirillo, and especially @alfonsovalencia.bsky.social, for his unwavering support throughout this wild journey. @bsc-cns.bsky.social
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
10/ And yes– I am officially fluent in rebuttals 🥋 It even helped me win Best Talk at ISMB/ECCB 2025 NetBio– for the science, the presentation, and (yes) the Q&A. #ISMBECCB2025
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
9/ I wouldn’t wish this road on anyone.
But I’m proud we used the struggle to dig deeper– and that’s where we found some of the most interesting science.

🧬 Novel, underdiagnosed links & mechanisms with therapeutic potential
🧍Works even for rare diseases
🌐 A truly useful resource for the community
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
8/ Science already takes time, I hope to help make it worth it.

Finally, terrified, we sent it to PNAS @pnas.org.
After one round of review, reports came back: supportive. Positive.
Accepted 🎉 🎉
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beatrizurda.bsky.social
Beatriz Urda @beatrizurda.bsky.social · Sep 2
7/ What I learned:
Publishing can be arbitrary.
Some reviewers make up their minds before seeing the evidence.
One reviewer can wield disproportionate power.
Rebuttals must be painfully clear.
Editors often fail to step in, even when the situation is obvious.
Don’t assume fairness in peer review
👇
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