Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 1d

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a senior bioinformatician to join the Cancer Genetics team on the Prostate Cancer UK funded project “Identifying patients with aggressive prostate cancer by detecting molecular subtypes in urine”. 3 years starting in Feb 2026.

🧬🖥️

bit.ly/3Wt3Lk8

1 1

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 2d

As blog about Jade Manning's recent 12-week placement in the Government Office for Science. She is a second-year Microbes, Microbiomes and Bioinformatics PhD student based in our team.

www.uea.ac.uk/stories/jade...

Jade Manning

University of East Anglia

www.uea.ac.uk

1

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 6d

Massive congratulations to senior author Vanessa Hayes, first author Kazzem Gheybi, and everyone else involved. Well done.

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 6d

A HEROIC Prostate Cancer Precision Health (PCaPH) Africa1K and Pan Prostate Cancer Group (PPCG) collaborative paper where through whole genome interrogation we reveal African specific candidate genes for prostate cancer germline testing, has gone live in @natcomms.nature.com.
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Pathogenic variants reveal candidate genes for prostate cancer germline testing for men of African ancestry - Nature Communications

African ancestry is a known risk factor for prostate cancer development, but the genetic determinants of this are incompletely understood. Here, the authors identify 172 potentially pathogenic variants which are enriched in an African population.

doi.org

1 1 1

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 12d

Great result from England Women's rugby team. Made me remember how much I actual enjoy watching rugby union.

1

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

University of East Anglia (UEA) @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social · Sep 8

Our researchers have shown that colorectal cancer is unique in having its own microbial ‘fingerprint’.

Read more 👉 www.uea.ac.uk/about/news/a...

#ColorectalCancer #CancerResearch #FightCancer

2 5 7

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 29d

More insights here: wonkhe.com/blogs/the-fi...

The first multi-university group arrives

The University of Greenwich and the University of Kent are moving together into a single governance structure. Mark Leach and David Kernohan report on the sector's first "super university"

wonkhe.com

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · 29d

The first of many I expect.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Kent and Greenwich universities to merge in attempt to improve financial viability

The institutions want to rebrand as London and South East University group from autumn 2026

www.theguardian.com

2 1

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Sep 4

UEA press release: www.uea.ac.uk/about/news/a...

DNA analysis shows colorectal cancer has unique microbial fingerprint

Colorectal cancer is unique in having its own microbial ‘fingerprint’ – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

www.uea.ac.uk

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Sep 4

Thank you to all the study funders, participants and co-authors.

1

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Sep 4

This work is focussed around the @genomicsengland.bsky.social 100,000 genome dataset.

A great summary from Abraham can be found here: bsky.app/profile/abra...

An interesting article in Science on the controversy this helps address can be found here: www.science.org/content/arti...

1

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Sep 4

A new paper is out from our research team at the @ueamedical.bsky.social at @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social titled "The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer" available from doi.org/10.1126/scit....

Led by @abrahamgihawi.bsky.social

🧬🖥️ @cancerinnorwich.bsky.social

The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer

Differences between cancer types, infectious disease, and potential prognostic markers are uncovered by studying microbes within cancer DNA.

doi.org

1 7 15

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Abraham Gihawi @abrahamgihawi.bsky.social · Sep 3

Many thanks to @danbrewer.bsky.social for your support and guidance through the years and to the other co-authors, funders, @genomicsengland.bsky.social and patients that made this work possible.

1 1 3

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Dr Hayley Bennett @haylesben.bsky.social · Jul 23

Last week I was wondering how many jobs in HE are currently being cut (despite ever increasing research, teaching, and admin workloads). Well an article in THE says around 20,000 (paywalled I think) www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-univ...

UK university job cuts put at 20,000 after full impact ‘hidden’

Number of roles affected could be almost double previous estimates when voluntary schemes and hiring freezes factored in, say researchers

www.timeshighereducation.com

1 4 8

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · Jul 19

Sad news:

The dataset behind this famous chart on the decline in costs of genome sequencing has had its NIH funding cut.

I loved this chart because it was the first that made me appreciate the impact of dataviz. But it also tracked progress towards an ambitious goal ($1000 genome) that succeeded.

NHGRI (at NIH)'s chart on the declining cost of sequencing a human genome from 2001 to 2021, falling faster than Moore's law.

The "$1,000 genome" catchphrase was first publicly recorded in December 2001 at a scientific retreat to discuss the future of biomedical research following publication of the first draft of the Human Genome Project (HGP), convened by the National Human Genome Research Institute at Airlie House in Virginia.[5] The phrase neatly highlighted the chasm between the actual cost of the Human Genome Project, estimated at $2.7 billion over a decade, and the benchmark for routine, affordable personal genome sequencing.

On 2 October 2002, Craig Venter introduced the opening session of GSAC (The Genome Sequencing and Analysis Conference) at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston: "The Future of Sequencing: Advancing Towards the $1,000 Genome." Speakers included George M. Church and executives from 454 Life Sciences, Solexa, U.S. Genomics, VisiGen and Amersham plc.[6][7] In 2003, Venter announced that his foundation would earmark $500,000 for a breakthrough leading to the $1,000 genome.[8] That sum was subsequently rolled into the Archon X Prize.

In October 2004, NHGRI introduced the first in a series of '$1,000 Genome' grants designed to advance "the development of breakthrough technologies that will enable a human-sized genome to be sequenced for $1,000 or less."[9]

4 47 130

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Jul 17

England through some how. What luck despite defensive terribleness.

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Jul 15

‘England’s higher education system risks long-term decline unless ministers overhaul their “confused, if not incoherent” approach to universities’

FT interview with outgoing @britishacademy.bsky.social President Julia Black where she pulls no punches!

www.ft.com/content/3162...

Universities in England at risk of long-term decline, says British Academy

Outgoing president Dame Julia Black calls on ministers to overhaul their ‘confused’ approach to higher education

www.ft.com

5 100 200

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Thomas Lumley @tslumley.bsky.social · Jun 19

XKCD has a Tukey quote for Tukey's 110th birthday
xkcd.com/3104/

Many of his specific inventions have been made obsolete over time, but he was a major contributor to data analysis and visualisation being serious and respectable parts of statistics research

Tukey

xkcd.com

13 40

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Cameron Thrash @jcamthrash.bsky.social · Jun 4

Genomics of host–microbiome interactions in humans www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Genomics of host–microbiome interactions in humans - Nature Reviews Genetics

In this Review, Ferretti et al. discuss advances in our understanding of interactions between the human genome and the microbiome, including the effects of the microbiome on host gene regulation.

www.nature.com

5 10

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Jun 19

Many thanks to Alice Macdonald MP who kindly hosted a Parliamentary Reception, on behalf of the University of East Anglia, last night. The reception was titled "Faster Smarter Earlier – UEA’s Mission to Transform Prostate Cancer Diagnosis" and was a great success.

@uniofeastanglia.bsky.social

3

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Helena Klara Jambor @helenajambor.bsky.social · Jun 18

I gave in! After students asking for it, I now made a simple figure design checklist.
To help all scientists w/o graphic skills create clear, accessible, and truthful charts!
-> Out in @nature Cell Biology: rdcu.be/erwl4

#DataVisualization #PhD #SciComm

Thx for review @bethcimini.bsky.social + 2

A checklist for designing and improving the visualization of scientific data

Nature Cell Biology - Creating clear and engaging scientific figures is crucial to communicate complex data. In this Comment, I condense principles from design, visual perception and data...

rdcu.be

15 120 300

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · Jun 16

So,as a little thought-experiment, tell me something about the United Kingdom that works well and is actually quite impressive. I am not trying to sound like some boosterish politician. I just genuinely believe that making people believe that all is lost is a convenient pretext for shady characters.

670 110 660

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · Jun 12

This article sums up the funding crisis in universities.

- Loss on teaching domestic students
- Loss on research
- Profit on teaching international students

With the Government making it increasingly difficult for international students to get here, so reducing the only profitable arm.

University research shortfall rises above £5 billion in England

Annual data shows universities in England and Northern Ireland face growing losses on research and teaching domestic students

www.timeshighereducation.com

2 2

Reposted by Daniel Brewer

Hadley Wickham @hadley.nz · Jun 10

Happy 18th birthday ggplot2! #rstats

Balloon wall art inspired by the ggplot2 hex sticker. The display features a hexagonal frame made of black balloons, filled with white balloons inside and surrounded by a background of light and dark blue balloons. A line graph with black balloon segments and round coloured nodes runs across the centre, and the word “ggplot2” is spelled out in black balloon letters below the chart.

16 160 860

Daniel Brewer @danbrewer.bsky.social · May 30

Well this is bleak. Looks like another punch to the gut for the university sector is incoming.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · May 30

'Universities will be lucky to avoid being “completely hit over the head” in the UK government’s upcoming spending review as ministers look set to prioritise plans for growth – which could eat into core research funding – and save higher education reform for a later date.' 1/3

Universities face ‘tough’ spending review after brutal few months

Potential reprioritisation of parts of research budget could heap pressure on institutions already counting cost of immigration and tax changes

www.timeshighereducation.com

1