Ben Hall

Excited for our opening computational cancer seminar of the year by Jasmin Fisher next week- “Digital Cancer Twins: From Mechanistic Insights to Therapeutic Applications”! Tuesday 12-1 at the LMCB 2nd floor seminar room in UCL. Register below! eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-computat…

Very excited to announce that MSc computational cancer is now open for applications! A new programme from UCL engineering & cancer institute. Teaching #cancer through a computational lens, integrating research with taught components. Apply below! ucl.ac.uk/prospective-st…

Delighted that Sebastian Brandner will open the computational cancer seminar series with “Prediction of genomic and epigenetic alteration in meningiomas: a project proposal”! Tuesday 21st October 12pm, LMCB at UCL! Full details and registration below: eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-computat…

Very excited for our upcoming computational cancer seminar by Brenda Andrews on “Mapping biological networks using systematic yeast genetics and cell biology”! 27th January 10am at the UCL Cancer institute- register below! eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-computat…

Our next computational cancer seminar will be Dr David Shorthouse, from UCL Pharmaceutics talking on “Labs of the Future - Self Driving Platforms for Making Medicines” Tuesday 26th November at LMCB seminar room in UCL- register below! eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-computat…

Join my group over the summer with a Health Data Science Black Internship Programme! Working with colleagues at ARC in UCL we will be hosting interns again this year- apply for the scheme at the link below hdruk.ac.uk/study-and-trai…

Excited for our opening computational cancer seminar of the year by Jasmin Fisher next week- “Digital Cancer Twins: From Mechanistic Insights to Therapeutic Applications”! Tuesday 12-1 at the LMCB 2nd floor seminar room in UCL. Register below! eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-computat…

Our newest preprint on mutations associated with the aged oesophagus and cancer “Somatic mutant selection is altered by prior NOTCH1 mutation in aging esophageal epithelium” We find evidence for ordering of mutations in healthy aging and the epistasis biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Understanding large scale sequencing datasets through changes to protein folding 1. This paper reviews how protein folding calculations can be used to interpret genetic variants from large sequencing datasets, offering predictive insights into how mutations affect disease. 2. The authors emphasize that misfolding is a common mechanism for disease-causing variants, responsible for the loss of function in about two-thirds of pathogenic mutations. 3. Computational tools like FoldX and Rosetta are highlighted as critical for calculating changes in protein stability (ΔΔG) upon mutation, allowing researchers to predict the impact of mutations on protein folding. 4. Case studies, such as hereditary diffuse gastric cancer and retinitis pigmentosa, demonstrate how folding calculations can help classify variants of uncertain significance (VUS) and guide clinical decision-making. 5. The paper discusses how misfolding predictions have been validated through experimental studies, such as chaperone therapy for protein misfolding disorders, providing potential therapeutic pathways. 6. Future directions include integrating folding predictions with machine learning approaches and expanding high-throughput experimental methods to improve the accuracy of mutation impact predictions. @Hall_b_a @dpsSpiders 📜Paper: doi.org/10.1093/bfgp/e…

This is just *unbelievable* - Google has a new AI tool that takes any document and turns it into a podcast discussion between two AI voices. Here’s a clip from one it made about my latest Substack post. It captures all the key points, even adds its own jokes. Insane.

Almost exclusively on Bluesky now, but returning occasionally to.... persuade you to give it a go too. For UK people it functions pretty well as early Twitter. Those follower numbers you like here I'd suggest are not entirely real; many dormant or steered away by the algorithm

Universities contribute more than £250 BILLION to the UK economy. For every £1 of public money invested into UK universities, £14 of economic benefit is generated.  And yet the university sector is under threat. There’s a clear case for investment for growth that will benefit the whole UK. I look forward to hearing more from @UniversitiesUK this Autumn. universitiesuk.ac.uk/latest/news/ne…

the true cost of software is not the build, it's maintenance + opportunity cost day 1 of a new project: 0 tech debt, team is motivated, engineering spec is clean. lots of momentum! day 100: backlog of requests, codebase littered w/ hacks, team moved onto other priorities

Folks, today is the 6th anniversary of the passing of screen legend Burt Reynolds. You know what that means, right?

Humans are unreliable models of mouse disease: Cell cell.com/cell/fulltext/…

#InTheNews You may have questions about breast cancer following Elle Macpherson's recent interview, which has made the headlines. Learn about the differences between DCIS and a stage 1-4 cancer diagnosis and the differences between complementary and alternative cancer therapies on our website 👇 DCIS cruk.ink/4cWRuds Stages of breast cancer cruk.ink/4dPbxM9 Complementary and alternative therapies cruk.ink/4cUs14k

What a kick in the teeth to these local GPs who tried their best to keep the practice going, had to throw in the towel only to see their local commissioners hand the contract over with a huge uplift of funding. Wonder if @wesstreeting is aware… pulsetoday.co.uk/news/practice-…

Did you know that lab-made and lab-grown diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and about three times cheaper than mined diamonds? worksinprogress.co/issue/lab-grow…