🪴 Branching Out: The BWIB April 2026 Edition

We’re back with another edition of the BWIB newsletter. This month we’re saying a fond farewell to our LinkedIn Group as we consolidate our online home, shining a spotlight on another leader in our community, and reflecting on a packed season of events. We’ve also got career wisdom from the other side of the interview table, fresh blogs, partner events, and plenty of ways to get involved. Grab your boba and dig in.

Here’s what’s inside this month:

• Farewell to our Linked in Group
• Member Spotlight: Aysheh Alrfooh
• Events Reflections
• Events on the Horizon
• Coffee with CompBio: Behind the Interview Table
• Blogs
• Partner Events
• Get Involved
• Executive Board
• Social Media

A Farewell to our Linked in Group

Group chat left on read
Company page glows brand new
Follow us. We’re here.

Member Spotlight: Aysheh Alrfooh

An interview as intriguing as her name

She walked away from a career on her second day. She calls a molecule her first love. She’s the co-chair of the BWiB Career-Sponsorship Committee. Somewhere out there, 6.2 million strangers may have already seen the world through her eyes — and they don’t even know it.

In our next Member Spotlight, Sharvari Narendra sits down with Aysheh for a glimpse into a life that refuses to sit still: the choices she almost made, the one she’d make again in a heartbeat, and the quiet philosophy holding it all together. Along the way, she takes us from the lab bench — where she’s chased signals hidden in DNA, from the roots of mental illness to the biology of aging — to the leap from academia into industry, and what AI is quietly rewriting about the field along the way. There’s a trek, a spreadsheet, a family you’ll want to count, and a truth hiding between two others. You’ll think you’ve figured her out. You won’t have.

Coming soon. Bring your curiosity.

Events Reflections

NF-Core hackathon — A First-Timer’s Reflection

Mrunali Thokadiwala • March 11-13,2026

I walked into the nf-core Hackathon with more questions than answers. The goal was to contribute, though I wasn’t yet sure what I had to offer. The first two days were humbling: hours of scanning issues, looking for something I could meaningfully address, and quietly closing tabs on threads I couldn’t yet navigate. With guidance from Lei Ma (our Boston event host), I submitted my first-ever pull request and finally found my footing. By Day 3, I was implementing a fix rooted in my own single-cell RNA-sequencing experience, which led maintainers to evaluate a more elegant, universal solution within Nextflow itself. Looks like I brought something worth noticing after all.

I’m so glad this was hosted in-person by Lei Ma and the BWIB team. Meeting fellow beginners, talking through first issues, and walking each other through those initial roadblocks made me feel far less alone in the process. Even hearing from experienced folks, some with conventional paths but interesting stories of finding opportunities and others with slightly unconventional trajectories, opened my eyes to just how many ways there are to carve your own path in this field.

Two words for someone on the fence about their first hackathon — just go!

Byte & Bite @ Shy Bird

Emily Lachtara • March 16,2026

Our latest Byte & Bite lunch was a great success! We had 17 attendees from across the bioinformatics field, including industry professionals, academic researchers, postdocs, and graduate students. It was my first time hosting, and I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Everyone was so kind and welcoming, which made it feel easy and fun. The conversations were lively and insightful, and the food made it even better. Huge thanks to Shy Bird for hosting us. I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Single Cell Basics Workshop

Prisni Rath, Liyang Diao & Maryanne Muchuki • April 2-3,2026

We recently hosted our first beginner-friendly, hands-on, virtual workshop on single-cell RNA-seq analysis in collaboration with BWiB and Sprout Informatics. It was incredibly rewarding to see the level of participation and engagement throughout the sessions.

What stood out most was the depth of the questions participants asked — not just about how to run the analysis, but also about why we make certain decisions. From choosing QC thresholds to understanding clustering, and even exploring how different visualization methods like t-SNE and UMAP shape our interpretation of cellular relationships, the discussions were thoughtful and insightful. Together, we worked toward the central biological question: identifying the most abundant cell type in the dataset.

These conversations made the workshop highly interactive and pushed us, as instructors, to reflect more deeply on the science behind each step. From setting up the computational environment to interpreting plots, the experience felt like true data storytelling.

As our first workshop of this kind, we learned just as much as we taught. We’re excited to continue building on this experience — exploring more complex datasets and tackling deeper biological questions in future sessions.

Events on the Horizon

Networking Without the Ick Workshop with Jenn

April 21, 2026 @ 5:30 PM CambridgeSide Mall, Cambridge, MA Register

You’ve built pipelines, analyzed datasets, and figured out problems most people don’t even know exist. Now let’s make it easier to talk about. Dr. Jenn Felsted-Knight, a former neuroscientist and certified professional coach, will walk us through building a networking pitch that actually sounds like you: no personal branding buzzwords, no cringe, just a clear and honest way to communicate the impact you’ve had. You’ll practice out loud in small group rounds and leave with something ready to use. Only 9 spots left. And if you know someone who could use this too, bring them along. Tickets are $10.61. Click “Donate & Tickets” on the givebutter registration page.

Bits & Brews

April 24, 2026 @ 4:00 PM Tap 151 Bar and Grill, Cambridge, MA Register

Swap your terminal for a barstool and join us for a casual happy hour where bioinformaticians (and bioinformatics-curious folks) come together to laugh, swap stories, and make the kinds of connections that don’t require a p-value. Come as you are. Leave with new friends, new ideas, and maybe a few good recommendations for your next pipeline. Each guest will be responsible for purchasing their own meal and/or beverages.

Festival of Genomics Networking

June 4, 2026 @ 11:30 AM Genome Dome, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center Event Page

If you’re attending the Festival of Genomics in Boston, come find us in the Genome Dome. We’re hosting a structured speed networking session with women working across bioinformatics, research, and industry. The format is simple: fast, one-on-one conversations with one goal: walk away with one memorable detail about every person you meet. Not just a new connection, but a real reason to follow up. Bring something to write with.

BCBB & BWIB Lightning Talks

June 2026, date T.B.A.

BWIB is teaming up with Boston Computational Biology & Bioinformatics for an evening of community Lightning Talks this June, and we’re especially excited to spotlight the rockstar women in bioinformatics across both communities. Five minutes, any topic: your current research, a workflow that changed how you work, the AI agent you’ve been obsessing over, a dataset you think everyone should know about, or a tool you wish someone had shown you sooner. Start thinking now about what you’d talk about if you had five minutes and a room full of people who get it. Stay tuned for the venue, date, and submission form.

Coffee with CompBio: Behind the Interview Table

Ever wonder what hiring managers are actually looking for when they review your application or conduct an interview? In our April episode, we sit down with Lauren Fitch and Kaye Guerard-Hatziioannou from ArkeaBio for an honest conversation about the interview process from the interviewer’s perspective.

Now here’s where you come in. Got a burning question about hiring, interviews, or breaking into the field? Drop it in this Google Form. We’ll pick the best one, answer it live on the episode, and give you a shoutout. One question per person · Deadline: April 25, 11:59 PM EST And stay tuned until the end of the episode for a surprise!

Blogs

Getting Started with UK Biobank and All of Us
Tutorial Series by Samantha J. Klasfeld, Ph.D.
This series provides a practical guide to working with UK Biobank and All of Us. Written for researchers who are new to working with these environments, it covers cloud hardware, phenotype data, OMOP concepts, and genetic variant extraction. A wrap-up post is planned to close out the series.

The Rite of Process
Quick Take by Sharvari Narendra
What does it feel like to be a DNA sample moving through a whole genome sequencing pipeline? Reimagine the process from the inside out in this evocative poem.

Want to see your name here? We’re always looking for new voices. You don’t need citations, a polished draft, or even a complete idea — just something you’ve been thinking about. Reach out to the us at the communications committee to get started.

Partner Events

AI Agents for Biological Discovery: From Spatial Omics to Therapeutics
Bioinformatics XChange | Virtual | April 18, 10:00 AM
Spatial omics datasets are growing faster than teams can analyze them. In this virtual talk, Dr. Ilknur Icke (Head of R&D, Symbiont-AI Cognitive Labs) presents a landscape analysis of 37 AI agent systems, with a deep dive into multi-agent approaches for spatial biology and their links to therapeutic reasoning. Register here.

Nextflow Summit Boston 2026 Seqera | Boston & Online | April 30 – May 1 The annual Nextflow Summit, presented by Seqera, brings together scientists and computational biologists to advance data science and workflow development. This year’s Boston edition includes the nf-core Hackathon and Nextflow Training (April 28-29) ahead of the main summit. Academic registration is $100; online attendance is free. In-person registration closes April 17, but you can reach out to communications@boston-wib.org for a promo code. Learn more and register here.

Get Involved

BWIB runs entirely on volunteer energy, and we’re always looking for passionate people to join us. From organizing events and producing the podcast to managing finances and advocating for equity in the field, there’s a place for every skill set. Learn more at boston-wib.org/about/committees

🏛️ Executive Board

Social Media

• Slack: boston-women-bioinfo
• Email: communications@boston-wib.org
• LinkedIn: Boston-area Women in Bioinformatics
• Lu.ma: Boston Women in Bioinformatics
• Blue Sky Boston Women in Bioinformatics
• Location: Boston Area, Massachusetts