linkstream2 microblog

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/huge-brain-study-uncovers-buried-genetic-networks-linked-to-mental-illness/

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2018/12/14/Genetic-analysis-reveals-brain-changes-that-lead-to-mental-illness/3051544806383/

https://news.yale.edu/2018/12/13/developing-brain-scientists-find-roots-neuropsychiatric-diseases

yale press release

https://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/psychencode-studies-explore-brain-development-neuropsychiatric-regulatory-features#.XBRjaxNKgWo

Long-awaited @Yale STEM report calls for new research institutes
https://YaleDailyNews.com/blog/2018/06/14/long-awaited-stem-report-calls-for-new-research-institutes Top recommendation is a new #DataScience institute! Followed by one for #Neuroscience. Cross-cutting recommendations on grad. student support & sci. cores (https://research.Yale.edu/ussc-report)

Blog post itself has some interesting “text evolution”:
http://meetings.gersteinlab.org/2018/06.20/Text-evolution-of-USSC-news-article

Points from the new University Science Strategy Committee Report :

Under Five Ideas for Top-Priority Investment: (University-wide Institute for) Integrative Data Science and its Mathematical Foundations and Neuroscience, from Molecules to Mind

Under Five Additional Priority Ideas: Computer Science, Conquering Cancer, Precision Medicine, Regenerative Medicine

QT:{{”
Mark Gerstein — a professor of biomedical informatics— similarly emphasized the value of a new data science institute that would integrate Yale’s science campuses and discourage research “silos.” …
Another concern is establishing the specific role of the institute amid the various departments and programs at Yale that perform data science research, Gerstein said. For example, he said, Yale’s new Center for Biomedical Data Science, which Gerstein co-directs, might eventually be folded into the proposed institute.
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http://www.bio-itworld.com/2018/05/09/carl-zimmer-to-speak-at-bio-it-world-tackle-heredity-genes-and-how-our-understanding-of-the-two-is-changing.aspx

QT:{{”
“It was a huge amount of fun watching them take that raw data and put it through their own pipelines,” Zimmer told me, but he also felt uncomfortable pointing out discrepancies to the scientists he worked with. “I still remember, I was sitting down with Chris Mason at Weill Cornell. He and his students were so enthusiastically going through their findings with me… and they showed me, among other things, how many SNPs I had. Not too long beforehand I’d gone through the same experience with Mark Gerstein and his team at Yale, and their numbers for my SNPs were off by hundreds of thousands. … It was a little awkward with Chris, but I just said, ‘Hey, I got a very different number from Mark Gerstein,’ and Chris just shrugged and said, ‘Oh yeah, that happens.’”

It turns out, there’s a lot about our current understanding of our genes and how we pass them on that isn’t perfectly clear cut. “}}

QT:{{”
Mark Gerstein, a professor of biomedical informatics, molecular biophysics and biochemistry and computer science, lauded the committee’s creation. It is crucial, he said, to determine a strategy for science at Yale, as opposed to just narrow “tactics,” like specific programs or buildings.

“If we want to maintain our strength as a university — not just in the sciences — we really need to field a full team,” Gerstein said. “It’s like a football team — you can’t win the Super Bowl if you don’t have all the different positions.”

…
Gerstein suggested that Yale’s location in New Haven also serves as a “major factor,” potentially hindering success in faculty recruitment. Especially when compared to California, Boston or New York, living in New Haven may be less appealing to potential professors, he added. “}}

Written by Amy Xiong
Photos by Daniel Zhao
Graphics by Rebecca Goldberg
Published on April 27, 2018

Yale establishes biomedical data science center
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/02/09/yale-establishes-biomedical-data-science-center

QT:{{
“The field of data science has become particularly relevant in the biomedical realm — in genomic sequencing, imaging data, patient record data, data on molecules like nucleotides, proteins and metabolites and wearable personal health devices,” Gerstein said. “All of these create data streams that are growing particularly large, and there’s a lot of value in mining and integrating these different data streams.” …

“Although this initiative was started by the medical school, it is meant for the whole campus,” Gerstein said. “We want undergraduates to do research and take courses in biomedical data science — and to be engaged in this center.”
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http://ymm.yale.edu/autumn2017/features/feature/317720/

QT:{{”
Center co-director Mark B. Gerstein, Ph.D., the Albert L. Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics, explains that succeeding with what researchers term “Big Data” requires “real thought about standards, the uniform collection of data, the distribution of samples, and the presentation and packaging of results.” After three years of planning, Gerstein and co-director Hongyu Zhao, Ph.D., a geneticist and the Ira V. Hiscock Professor of Biostatistics, have assembled a kind of central clearinghouse for research and development of these issues, particularly cloud computing and privacy, as well as for education and bridge-building collaboration on university, national, and international levels. “Our mission is really about connecting and coordinating the people and resources already here, and becoming a way to recruit the scientists we want to attract in the future for the Big Data initiatives we want to participate in,” says Gerstein. “We expect the center to have a very broad impact.” “}}

The absent-minded prof in the news…!

http://www.nature.com/news/cybersecurity-for-the-travelling-scientist-1.22379

Cybersecurity for the travelling scientist

Virtual private networks, tracking apps and ‘burner’ laptops: how to protect sensitive data when you take your research on the road.

Brian Owens

02 August 2017

QT:{{”
Mark Gerstein has had his fair share of scares when it comes to losing track of his electronic devices — and, along with them, access to his private information and research data.

“I’m very security conscious, but also a bit of an absent-minded professor,” says Gerstein, a bioinformatician at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

He recalls one trip to Boston, Massachusetts, when he left his phone in a taxi, and watched it get farther and farther away on the tracking app on his iPad while he ran after the car in vain. Luckily, Gerstein was able to contact the taxi company, and eventually watched his phone make the return journey to his pocket.

Gerstein’s story had a happy ending, but all too often, hardware lost on the road is lost for good.
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