Chris Cotsapas

Today I join @VesaliusTx as SVP Data Science. Our mission is to make progress in drug discovery for common disease. I’m excited to translate human genetics and genomics into action!

We are hiring a data maven for @cotsapaslab - please spread the word :) cotsapaslab.info/compbiorole

@StatGenDan I no longer bother re-formatting to journal style for a first submission, except bibs and any resources tables if mandatory. It either doesn’t matter or will be rearranged by the reviewers anyway.

Format manuscript for journal A, wait a month, desk reject; Reformat manuscript for journal B, wait a few days, desk reject; Reformat manuscript for journal C, wait, ... <= Too many hours of reformatting!! So just how much does journal impact factor matter?

@neilfws ETA: I have gradually realized that volume of data does not necessarily correlate to *useful/relevant* information content

@neilfws Yes?

is it that all models are wrong, or most data is inadequate

@alexisjbattle Cringe comedy?

In other news, we have an opening for an experienced comp bio maven @cotsapaslab. Come work - and grow - with us! cotsapaslab.info/compbiorole

@bvoight28 I now target 6/year (down from 10-12), in addition to AE duties @PLOSGenetics. For review I select for "important" or "I want to read in-depth" (otherwise I'd skim the pre-print and pretend I read it)

I'm no longer sure what to do with the 2-3 requests to review papers *from legitimate journals* that I'm receiving *every day*. I just can't review that many papers - and certainly don't know how to devote that time as service for free! What the heck is everyone else doing?

@ceclindgren @cristenw @pnatarajanmd @ScienceMagazine @markmccarthyoxf @moderna_tx +1 @cristenw that EBV has been floated as causal for ages. Key for me here is that EBV infection seems to precede NfL serum levels - implies no(t much) neuronal damage before infection. I'd say it's a trigger rather "causal" - but also nature.com/articles/s4158…

@cristenw @pnatarajanmd @ScienceMagazine Amazing findings - I would also be interested in host - pathogen interaction analysis and see how host genetic susceptibility plays in with this finding @ccots @markmccarthyoxf and @moderna_tx ebv vaccine is even more interesting in light of this 💫 #scienceatitsbest🍀

🤯 EBV seroconversion linked to 32-fold risk of multiple sclerosis. "These findings cannot be explained by any known risk factor for MS [multiple sclerosis] and suggest EBV as the leading cause of MS." science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… @ScienceMagazine

@LaLilli11 Open the PDF you've downloaded for at least 5 minutes...

@ccots First, let's define "read" ;)

Do you read papers regularly? Contextually (writing grants/papers etc)? Rarely (who has the time)? I've gone from regular to rare over the last 10y and I'd like to change...

@alexisjbattle @Y_Gilad @yluo86 @LB_Barreiro Went into this looking for a benchmark. Rather shocked at yield. I too suspect context (e.g. @kauralasoo enhancer priming) - but we do need to be thoughtful about current results, and about speculating w/out data. I'd also like to stop writing negative papers

@Y_Gilad @yluo86 @LB_Barreiro agreed. also colocalization is hard to do accurately when there are many regulatory variants in a region (potentially across different cell types/ contexts), only some of which are relevant to the trait: medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

In contrary to the current variant-to-gene efforts, which assumes GWAS risk alleles must have some regulatory effects on gene expression (e.g. via eQTL, sQTL). Sunyaev Lab found limited evidence to support this assumption, and argues for alternative models.medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

@SerenaTucci Yep. And not just new PIs... If you notice the older folks appearing nonchalant, that's just PTSD

Is it normal for new PIs to do hundreds things at the same time and constantly feel like you are about to have a stroke?😅 Asking for a friend

@strnr I loved Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie (first of three), and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir (also first of three). Both space operas, which aren't really my jam but these are great!

Struggling with finding good pleasure reading the last few weeks. Started and stopped several, which will remain unnamed. Looking for something escapist, SFF (but not too hard SF). Suggestions?

@WuTsaiYale postdoc fellowship now available to work on neuroticism genetics/genomics with @kristenbrennand and me at @Yale - apply by Aug 15th! wti.yale.edu/programs/postd…

@ceclindgren I like notability too - it's the only solution I've found that allows me to import an image and doodle on it to annotate. Still working out how to integrate with Bear (my main notes app) - don't want to ditch that one...

what software do people use to draw (not producing graphs but illustrations) on iPads and computers?

@tuuliel If youngest lab members cannot distiguish between you and colleagues 1/2 generations older, you're middle aged (or non-specifically old).

Is a 40-year-old middle-aged? Asking for a friend.

After close to a decade of wrangling, our cross-disease paper is finally done! medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

1/ Great to get this out there: we used mendelian randomisation to show that BMI during childhood and low vitamin D are causal risk factors for multiple sclerosis. Free to read here: nn.neurology.org/content/7/2/e6…

@PaulFlicek They probably didn’t have 20 hours of conference calls each a week 🤮