Reposted by Nik BayaThe American Journal of Human Genetics @ajhgnews.bsky.social · 25/09/2026🥳Congratulations @nbaya.bsky.social & @itskatelawrence.bsky.social !!! 031
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 19/08/2026BRaVa is led by @astheeggeggs.bsky.social , @konradjk.bsky.social , @ceclindgren.bsky.social and Benjamin Neale from @ox.ac.uk and @broadinstitute.org with co-authors from around the world. Thank you to all the biobank participants who make this research possible! 010
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Future partners include: ALSPAC, China Kadoorie, DanRaV, deCODE genetics, Qatar Genome, and Viking Genes. 🇨🇳🇩🇰🇮🇸🇶🇦🏴 120
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Our flagship release includes meta-analysed data from: @ukbiobank.ac.uk , All of Us, CCPM, @genomicsengland.bsky.social , @genesandhealth.bsky.social , @mgbresearch.bsky.social , @pennmedicine.bsky.social , BioMe, BioBank Japan, and the Estonian Biobank. 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇯🇵🇪🇪 Preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202...doi.org 120
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Browser features: 🔍 Search by gene or trait 📏 Trait view - Ancestry by biobank. Interactive Manhattan plots. 📊 Gene view - PheWAS +ancestry-specific forest plots. Variant-level Manhattan plot. 👥 Filter by ancestry, variant consequence, etc. ⬇️ Download results instantly 📲 Use on mobile! 110
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Introducing the BRaVa results browser v1! 🎉 1.2M+ individuals across 10 global biobanks 44 heritable, disease-relevant traits (and counting) 419M gene- & variant-level association tests ➡️ nikbaya.github.io/brava_browser/ 1176
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Some individuals defy their polygenic score. One explanation for their deviation may be a burden of rare variants with large effect. To find out more, explore our ✨INTERACTIVE✨ graphic abstract here: nikbaya.github.io/phenotype_de... #Genetics #RareDisease #PolygenicScores #SciComm #DataViz 020
Reposted by Nik BayaKonrad @konradjk.bsky.social · 26/03/2026Excited to share our new preprint on gnomAD v4! We present the full analysis of 730,947 exomes — new constraint metrics, improved LoF annotation (LOFTEE-2), LLM-based literature curation, and a unified framework for gene discovery and rare disease diagnosis. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...medrxiv.orgIntegrating 730,947 exome sequences with clinical literature improves gene discoveryAccurate estimates of allele frequencies aid in genetic discovery, including rare disease diagnosis, common disease investigations, and population genetics. Here, we present the Genome Aggregation Dat... 23717
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Excellent question! We briefly looked into singleton burden causing deviation from PGS for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The signal wasn't quite as robust, but perhaps an opportunity for future work! 010
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Thanks for sharing our preprint! :) For those curious, here's our graphical abstract 020
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Thank you to senior authors @astheeggeggs.bsky.social and @ceclindgren.bsky.social , and my co-authors Frederik Lassen, @barneyhill.bsky.social , @samvidav.bsky.social, @hannahcurrant.bsky.social ! 050
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 06/01/2026We also performed an exome-wide scan for novel genes associated with misalignment... ♀️Age at Menopause: We identified KANK1 as a gene associated with later-than-expected age at menopause, suggesting a potential protective role against primary ovarian insufficiency. 180
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 06/01/2026We found "misaligned" individuals are enriched for rare variants: 🦴 Bone Density: Low misaligned enriched for pLoF in COPB2 & GORAB. 🩸 T2D: Cases with rare HNF1A/HNF4A variants had significantly lower polygenic risk. 🫀 CAD: Controls with protective ANGPTL3 variants had higher polygenic risk. 150
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Why do some individuals defy their polygenic score? In the largest study of its kind (402k UKB individuals; 7 continuous traits + 3 diseases), we asked: If your phenotype deviates from common-variant polygenic score prediction, what's driving that difference? www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6... 25027
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 04/09/2025This research was made possible through funding from @wellcometrust.bsky.social, the Clarendon Scholarship, and the Oxford-Bendich scholarship from @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social 020
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Thanks to co-authors İlknur Sur Erdem (co-first), @samvidav.bsky.social, Saskia Reibe, Philip Charles, Elena Navarro Guerrero, @barneyhill.bsky.social, Frederik Heymann Lassen, Melina Claussnitzer, and senior authors @astheeggeggs.bsky.social and @ceclindgren.bsky.social for their contributions! 140
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Read about our recent paper here: www.bdi.ox.ac.uk/news/first-d...bdi.ox.ac.ukFirst direct evidence links gene to fat storage, hinting at new obesity therapiesA new study, involving researchers at the Big Data Institute, has shown for the first time that a little-known gene, SLTM, plays a direct role in how fat is stored inside human cells. While large popu... 141
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 04/09/2025✨ NEW PUBLICATION ✨ We combined large-scale human genetics with CRISPR-Cas9 editing in fat cells to identify genes linked to fat accumulation. Check out the full study, now published in AJHG! www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltex...cell.comCombining evidence from human genetic and functional screens to identify pathways altering obesity and fat distributionOverall and tissue-specific fat accumulation are associated with altered risk of cardiometabolic disease and mortality. By combining exome-wide association analysis of traits related to obesity and fa... 152
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 09/06/2025Check out this PhD opportunity to work with a great supervisor at Oxford! 🌟 000
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 26/05/2025And thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social, Clarendon Scholars' Association, and @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social for funding my DPhil! 020
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 26/05/2025Grateful as always to my co-authors @samvidav.bsky.social, Frederik Heymann Lassen, @hannahcurrant.bsky.social and mentors @astheeggeggs.bsky.social, @ceclindgren.bsky.social for their support! 140
Nik Baya @nbaya.bsky.social · 26/05/2025So excited to give a talk at #ESHG2025! ✨ I presented our work demonstrating that individuals whose phenotype deviates from genetic expectation are enriched for rare damaging variants. This has implications for: - Screening of rare disorders 🔎 - Target discovery 💊 - Improving trait prediction 📈 2264