When writing a paper message should be what was learned not what was done. Assuming of course methods appropriate
Scott Williams
@scottwilliams9.bsky.social
Geneticist, global health, evolution and human disease, higher education
Science is difficult enough without infusing it with politics. As hard as it may seem, stick to the science to solve the problems, please
"...they take immediate and secondary causes for primary ones and are thus persuaded...that they have found an indisputable basis for whatever they do..." Dostoyevsky, Notes for Underground Isn't this also a common problem with much of science?
People who can communicate a complex concept simply and well have both a talent and a deep understanding of the concept
Whenever I read that "X" is the key to a complex disease, I bristle. They are called complex diseases for a reason
Another one worth reading "Advice to a Young Scientist" By Peter Medawar Very practical advice but some very useful
Itai Yanai@itaiyanai.bsky.social · 3w ago1906 Nobel Prize winner Santiago Ramón y Cajal's 'Advice for a Young Investigator' makes important points: 1. The only thing in your power is your preparation 2. Be suspicious of “brilliance” 3. Be appropriately respectful of authority, but no more 4. Balance concentration and relaxation 🔽
The best science exists at the correct balance of curiosity and ambition. Just don't think we are anywhere close to this balance now
Reading/learning across areas makes it easier to see novel and possibly important connections that would otherwise be missed. Metaphor and analogy matters
Would be hilarious if it were satire - but it is not. We are in trouble and only by critically reading entire papers can we assess the true damage. Medical students are using a popular research tool to pump out misleading studies | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Medical students are using a popular research tool to pump out misleading studies
Critics say TriNetX’s easy analyses of electronic medical records fuel quick-and-dirty publications from inexperienced authors
science.org
What is the most important current question in your field? Are you working on it? If not, why not?
We build systems not because they are good or even useful, but because some minds can comprehend them. And not the brightest minds
Why some institutions don't share data in US. What infrastructure may be needed to help with this problem pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Leadership, Informatics Expertise, and Resources: Determinants of Institutional Data Sharing in the National Clinical Cohort Collaborative (N3C)
The National Clinical Cohort Collaborative (N3C), initially developed in response to the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the largest centralized, individual-level clinical data repositories av...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
As we add more and more new data what are the leaps in new knowledge or is more data mostly leading to incremental gains? Guess it depends if we use data in new ways that could not have been done with smaller data sets??
Lysenkoism did not end well but these clowns know no history and hence...
Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · last mo.If researchers can’t share their findings, are we really free? THIS is what I mean when I say science is a core pillar of democracy.
Of the students booing AI at their graduations - how many used it to write some of their assignments for them?
Where to begin? Couldn't agree more with your articulate response Kevin. So is there free will?
Kevin Mitchell@wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 2mo ago🤮
There are uses but also debilitating results of inappropriately using AI, hmm? Perhaps most problematic for people who have yet to develop brainstorming skills/approaches www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/o...
Opinion | Writing Is Fundamental to How We Think
nytimes.com
Faculty morale is low many places because academic administrations do not support the faculty and why they went into academics. They view the university as just another business
Benjamin McKean@blmckean.bsky.social · 2mo ago“…we are experiencing the most significant attack on academic freedom in the university in at least a century,” says Prof. Joel Wainwright, who is chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom & Responsibility at the university. “It has had a very serious negative effect on the morale of the faculty.”
This is so true, as is another point he makes about the imoortance of inter- or transdisciplinary science.
Richard Sever@richardsever.bsky.social · 2mo ago"I would like to emphasize the importance of question-driven science...young scientists might enjoy science more if they are thinking about questions rather than just collecting data" journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Genetic correlation analysis of Alzheimer's disease and stroke implicates PHLPP1 as a shared locus in individuals of African ancestry - Ray - 2026 - Alzheimer's & Dementia - Wiley Online Library alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Genetic correlation analysis of Alzheimer's disease and stroke implicates PHLPP1 as a shared locus in individuals of African ancestry
INTRODUCTION Neuropathological studies indicate a strong association between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and stroke, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. METHODS L...
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Our latest study supporting role of host pathogen interaction in susceptibility to tuberculosis, not just disease severity Human genetic variation associates with infection by derived Ugandan M. tuberculosis lineage academic.oup.com/jid/article/...
Human genetic variation associates with infection by derived Ugandan M. tuberculosis lineage
This study examined host genetic determinants of infection with the L4-Uganda tuberculosis lineage using a genome-wide association study. Supportive analys
academic.oup.com
Disrupted lipid homeostasis as a pathogenic mechanism in ABCA7‐associated Alzheimer's disease risk - Nam - 2026 - Alzheimer's & Dementia - Wiley Online Library alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Disrupted lipid homeostasis as a pathogenic mechanism in ABCA7‐associated Alzheimer's disease risk
INTRODUCTION ABCA7 (ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 7) encodes a lipid transporter associated with increasing risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). A 44-base pair deletion in ABCA7 (rs142076058...
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
I am not an average but so much about me is decided by averages.
Often the most obvious ideas in retrospect is the most important.
Variation across populations in heritability of Alzheimer's Disease alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Dissecting Alzheimer's disease heritability across populations
INTRODUCTION Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is highly heritable; however, its estimated incidence across populations remains unclear. METHODS We computed family-based heritability leveragin...
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
I like chaos for discovery but rigor for validation
When I was a student we called our PIs supervisors but they were often more like mentors. Now we call PIs mentors but they are more like supervisors. It's all in the marketing isn't it?
I always try to tell new PhD students many of these things but still they think about classes and grades. And students with a masers can be even more intransigent as have couple more years of same mindset. Of course it is one person's point of view www.upworthy.com/professor-ex...
Professor breaks down how a PhD differs from a master's degree in layman's terms
A college professor explained how a master’s degree differs from a PhD, and people found her explanation helpful and accessible.
upworthy.com
A depressing picture of the academy in modernity. If ever there was a time for faculty to assert shared governance it is now. If not too late www.publicbooks.org/the-misuses-...
The Misuses of the University - Public Books
Have the funds that might have trained the next generation of scholars at the nation’s first research university have been blown on ostentatious new buildings?
publicbooks.org