Thanks for everything! I will miss being around in the lab but see you online 🫶🏻

It has been an absolute pleasure to host @bhernando.bsky.social here at @yalecancer.bsky.social for the last few months! I've learnt so much, and your generosity and enthusiasm will be greatly missed. Looking forward to future collaboration, friendship - and paella 🤩 @yalepathology.bsky.social

Celebrating my first year at @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social with two talks today: @yalepathology.bsky.social Grand Rounds at lunchtime. And the Center of GI Cancers seminar this evening - thanks to @pamelakunzmd.bsky.social for the invite!

📢 New preprint out! We are thrilled to introduce our framework to track #ongoingCIN by leveraging single-cell genomics and CIN signatures: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The exciting next instalment of Mutations in Time and Space... Open for registration now

📢 EvoMG-DN PhD applications are now open! Join our EU-funded MSCA network and explore evolution, ageing, and disease. 👉 www.evomg-dn.eu 📅 Apply by 30 November 2025 #PhD #DoctoralTraining #MSCA #HorizonEurope #Genomics #EvolutionaryBiology #BiomedicalResearch#EarlyCareerResearchers

It was an honor to take part in the @yalepathology.bsky.social research retreat today! Great science, inspiring discussions, a fun “guess who?”, and wonderful people. Huge thanks to organizers for such a great work! Can’t believe only 2 months left to enjoy this amazing #AitkenLab team ✨

Today was our first Yale Pathology Department retreat - with Klaske, Barbara, Jacob, and Vanessa (we missed you Tanuja!) Great to present our work with a poster and two talks, share ideas, and meet new people 🇨🇦🇪🇸🇬🇧🇳🇱🇺🇸🌎 @yalepathology.bsky.social @bhernando.bsky.social

Find out all about what's going on in Dr Coraline Mlynarczyk‬'s lab - our neighbours at #CMCO... 📽️ Exploring the interface between Immunology and Cancer @yalepathology.bsky.social

A trio of talks this week: Grand Rounds @jhu.edu yesterday. Then @bhernando.bsky.social (who has only been here a fortnight!) and I gave talks at the NYC Genome Integrity Discussion group @rockefeller.edu. Thanks for inviting us Agata Smogorzewska and Philipp Oberdoerffer @yalepathology.bsky.social

🚨 New paper alert! Sex and smoking bias in the selection of somatic mutations in human bladder www.nature.com/articles/s41... by @raquelbmi.bsky.social, @ferriol.bsky.social et al (in collaboration with Rosana Risques lab in @uwmedicine.bsky.social)

Exciting 3 months ahead at the #AitkenLab @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social! 🤩 Huge thanks to @s-j-aitken.bsky.social for the warm welcome, and to @caixaresearch.bsky.social for supporting my research career at all levels ✨

🥳 Today we welcome Dr Bárbara Hernando @bhernando.bsky.social to the #AitkenLab @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social Bárbara joins us from #CNIO as part of her @caixaresearch.bsky.social Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship @yalepathology.bsky.social @yalecancer.bsky.social @cniostopcancer.bsky.social

A fantastic (first) Closer to Free Ride: 100 miles with friends from #NHBC, colleagues from @yalecancer.bsky.social , and a #CycloPath we met along the way. Thank you for all the sponsorship - and the support on the road! #CTFRide @ctfride.bsky.social

Yesterday was our fourth lab-iversary 🥳 In the last year we moved to the US, welcomed new lab members at Yale and in Cambridge, mastered Transatlantic hybrid lab life, posted preprints, published others, submitted grants... Looking forward to what year five has in store! @yalepathology.bsky.social

💡 Cancer cells don’t just mutate—they reorganize their DNA in 3D space. Our new study shows how the genome’s folding pattern shifts as tumors progress, cell by cell 🧩🧬. It’s the first 3D genome atlas of cancer progression. Thread 👇

Almost half way to our fundraising target - and only two weeks to go! I'll be riding the 100 mile #CloserToFreeRide to raise money to support cancer research and patient care. Please consider donating - every penny counts! ➡️ www.rideclosertofree.org/participants... #CTFRide @ctfride.bsky.social

The Sanger Excellence Fellowship is back for 2025! Our 3 year fully funded postdoctoral position supports early-career researchers from Black heritage backgrounds. 📅 Apply by 7 Sept 2025 🔗 www.sanger.ac.uk/about/equali... #BlackInSTEM #GenomicsResearch

Last but not least, if you're interested in somatic mutations, new technologies and computational genomics - we're hiring a postdoc in my brand new lab @emblebi.bsky.social! Reach out if interested or you have any questions, and apply here: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

The cells in our bodies constantly acquire mutations. But what are the patterns of mutations across tissues? How do mutations in normal cells lead to cancer and disease? These are questions we will tackle within the Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network, now described in @nature.com

On Sep 6 we are riding to raise funds for cancer research and patient care. Join the #Cyclopaths team to ride with us! Can chose 10/25/40/65/100 miles 🚴 or support the effort with a donation :) www.rideclosertofree.org/index.cfm?fu... www.rideclosertofree.org/index.cfm?fu...

Together with friends and colleagues from #CMCO @yalecancer.bsky.social, @yalepathology.bsky.social, and further afield, we are the #CycloPaths Closer to Free Ride 🚲06 September 2025 💪100 miles #CTFRide Join our team, spread the word, sponsor us if you can www.rideclosertofree.org/participants...

A great week in Lisbon at the European Association for Cancer Research 2025 Congress. Thank you @helloeacr.bsky.social for the #WomenInLeadership Workshop, the opportunity to present our #ProfferedPaper, and to talk science with collaborators (and make new ones!) #EACR2025

@s-j-aitken.bsky.social comments on a live-cell tracking system that shows how DNA damage spreads unevenly through generations of cells, driving genome instability + heterogeneity potentially shaping #cancer evolution and resistance. nature.com/articles/d41... @yalepathology.bsky.social @nature.com

Does #Genetic Background Set the Trajectory of #Cancer Evolution? @s-j-aitken.bsky.social Assistant Professor of #Pathology at @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social, covered that topic at today’s @yalecancer.bsky.social Translational Science Retreat. Dr. Aitken specializes in GI & molecular pathology.

🔬Under the microscope: DNA damage tracked through cell generations🔬 It was a pleasure to write this #NewsAndViews with our PhD student Emma Reilly, online today @nature.com rdcu.be/em0qi @cruk-ci.bsky.social @spjacksongroup.bsky.social @yalepathology.bsky.social @yalecancer.bsky.social

Lastly, many thanks to Sarah Aitken (@s-j-aitken.bsky.social) and Emma Reilly for writing a great News & Views article that summarizes our findings and puts them into perspective. You can find it here: doi.org/10.1038/d415...

🚨New preprint!🚨 Venturing out of the nuclear genome to explore #mtDNA: "Germline and somatic variation influence nuclear-mitochondrial crosstalk in tumourigenesis" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Led by Dr. Maëlle Daunesse and @paulflicek.bsky.social - and many other #LCEConsortium members ⬇️

Four rising stars at the forefront of cancer research - featuring #PatternSleuth @oriolpich.bsky.social 🤩 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Thank you to the Mutations in Time and Space #MITS25 organisers (and fellow attendees!) for a fantastic few days of Dynamic, Exciting, and Interesting science and people @broadinstitute.org A great week with old friends and collaborators, and making new ones... See you again in 2026 💙

Yes! - we are hiring @yale.edu - links below...

🧩DNA Lesions Piece Together Impossible Trees🧩 This was a fun piece to write (and illustrate!) with Dr Claudia Arnedo Pac about @mikespencerchapman.bsky.social and co’s recent @nature.com paper. Thank you for the invitation, Maria @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

🚨 Job alert! 🚨 The Chung Lab @ Yale seeks a motivated, creative postdoc to examine tissue remodeling in health and disease. We study ovarian aging and cardiovascular disease in human samples and animal models. Passionate about single-cell, spatial genomics, machine learning & therapeutics? Join us!

My lab at hiring! - we have TWO postdoc positions (one computational, one wet lab focussed) at Yale @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social, working closely with our group members at University of Cambridge, UK @cambridgeuni.bsky.social Please help to spread the word! Adverts with full details below ⬇️

3/n 👨‍🔬 Postdoctoral Associate - Cancer Biology and Genomics 🧫 genome stability, 🔬 cancer biology, 🧬somatic mutations 🍕 full details: postdocs.yale.edu/postdoctoral... 🤝 lead and collaborate on multiple projects 🌎 based at CMCO, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven CT, USA 🗓️ apply now (rolling review)

2/n 👩‍💻 Postdoctoral Associate – Computational Cancer Biology 🧬 somatic mutations, genome stability, cancer biology 🎓 full details: postdocs.yale.edu/postdoctoral... 🙌 lead and collaborate on multiple projects 🌎 based at CMCO, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven CT, USA 🗓️ apply now (rolling review)

Excited to share our new preprint demonstrating somatic rescue mutations in a genetic liver disease! [1/12] www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The EACR stands against threats to cancer research. Protecting scientific research is vital for progress and and the development of new treatments. Read our full statement in support of our friends and colleagues in the US: eacr.org/statement-on...

Standing Up for Science!🧬🔬 #StandUpForScience #StandUpForScience2025

Just a scientist, doing some standing, visiting the state Capitol for the first time… #standupforscience #standupforscience2025 #hartford @standupforscience.bsky.social

WHERE WILL YOU BE ON MARCH 7TH!? Head to www.standupforscience2025.org/local-event-information/ or the link in our bio to find your closest event—or add one if you're hosting one! #standupforscience2025

An absolutely wonderful lab with fascinating research! 👇👇👇

🧬WE ARE HIRING🧬 The Aitken Lab is hiring at Yale (US) and Cambridge (UK). We are seeking experimental and computational postdocs, and a lab manager/technician. Official job ads below (more to follow when they're posted) @yalecancer.bsky.social @yalepathology.bsky.social @cambridgeuni.bsky.social

🚨🚨Job Alert🚨🚨 Do you have skills in computational biology? Do you want to work on somatic mutations in #hcc?? Do you want to work in an international collaboration with @s-j-aitken.bsky.social? Come and join us in Cambridge! 🗓️ Closing date 31/Mar/2025 www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50461/

American science is under attack Opinion piece by Dr Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize winner, former director of the #NIH and the #NCI 🧪 “Perhaps what’s most disheartening is what feels like the absence of widespread opposition to this unraveling” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of #IDWGS and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Rights. Equality. Empowerment. For ALL women and girls.

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. I’m very grateful to work with these two brilliant women in our team of computational, experimental, and clinician scientists @cambridgeuni.bsky.social and @yalecancer.bsky.social 🌎🇪🇺🇪🇸🇬🇧 #WomenInScience #womeninSTEM #IDWGS

Today our study using copy number alterations (CNAs) from low-coverage WGS to predict FUTURE colorectal cancer in patients with IBD is published, details in thread! 1/5 gut.bmj.com/content/earl...

Delighted our work using aneuploidy as a biomarker of colorectal cancer risk in inflammatory bowel disease is out: gut.bmj.com/content/earl... The initial reaction from patients&families has been overwhelming Led by Ibrahim AlBakir @yosoykit.bsky.social @cancerresearchuk.org @icrlondon.bsky.social

Very interesting work on the role of germline genetics in somatic tumor evolution.