Welcome to the July Edition of the Boston Women in Bioinformatics Newsletter!

Summer is bringing plenty of reasons to get together, spark new ideas, and celebrate our incredible community! Whether you’re looking to expand your network, hear inspiring career stories, catch up on the latest in computational biology, or simply enjoy time with fellow bioinformaticians, this month’s newsletter is packed with opportunities to connect, learn, and have fun along the way.

We’re excited to announce a Call for Speakers for our upcoming Return to Work Panel, where women who have navigated career breaks will share their experiences and insights to help others on similar journeys. You’ll also find updates on upcoming BWIB events—including our next Byte and Bite, our first Family Day gathering, and our signature Fall Fundraiser—and a roundup of partner events featuring outstanding opportunities to learn, network, and engage with the broader life sciences community.

Finally, we’re looking back at our recent Lightning Talks with Boston Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, where members shared innovative research, sparked thoughtful discussions, and strengthened the collaborative spirit that makes this community so special.

We hope this edition inspires you to get involved, discover something new, and connect with fellow members. Thank you for being an important part of Boston Women in Bioinformatics—we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!

Here’s what’s inside this month:

• Don’t Lose Us in Spam
• Call for Speakers
• Events on the Horizon
• Events Reflections
• Partner Events
• Get Involved
• Executive Board
• Social Media

Don’t Lose Us in Spam

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Call for Speakers

The BWIB Advocacy Committee is looking for women in the bioinformatics field to join our “Return to Work” panel in October 2026 (Date TBD).

We are seeking professionals to share their experiences after having taken a break in their careers, whether it was voluntary or involuntary (also includes professionals who have taken maternity leaves). We are hoping that your stories will help women going through the same journey right now and give them a direction on how they can navigate their careers. If you are interested in being a panelist, please fill this form.

Application deadline: August 31, 2026 at 11:59 pm EST

If you have any questions about the panel, please feel free to reach out to Amulya Shastry or Viveka Patil.

Events on the Horizon

Byte and Bite: Lunch Meetup

Date & Time: July 29, 2026 @ 11 AM - 1 PM ET Eastern Edge Food Hall 290 Main St Cambridge, MA 02142 Register

Tired of eating lunch alone at your desk? Come share a meal with fellow bioinformatics professionals where great conversations, shared ideas, and new connections are on the menu! Bring your takes on the latest in single-cell workflows, LLM-powered analysis, multi-omics integration, or whatever rabbit hole you’ve fallen into lately.

Boston Women in Bioinformatics Family Day at Danehy Park

Date & Time: August 23rd, 2026 @ 10 AM - 1 PM ET Danehy Park Cambridge, MA Register

Pack your sunscreen because Boston Women In Bioinformatics is hosting an outdoor hangout at Danehy Park in Cambridge this summer! Whether you’re flying solo or bringing the whole crew, soak in the fresh air and catch up with your fellow bioinformatics peers. Free parking is available right at the park, and the Alewife Red Line stop is a short walk away for those taking the T.

Fall Fundraiser

Date & Time: September 29, 2026 @ 5–8 PM Venue TBA Learn More

As scientists, we often describe bioinformatics as objective. But every dataset, every pipeline, and every model is shaped by human decisions. For much of history, those decisions have been primarily driven by male perspectives. At our Fall Fundraiser, female senior leaders in our field will lead us in answering a powerful question: If the female perspective had been fully represented throughout the history of biomedical science, what would we know today that we don’t know now?

Women’s health is one of the fastest-growing sectors in biotech, and the science driving that growth runs on data. This fall, Boston Women in Bioinformatics is gathering to celebrate what our community is building and to connect the people building it. Join us on September 29th for a panel discussion over dinner, networking, and a raffle with researchers, industry scientists, and data professionals who are shaping what comes next.

This is one of our rare ticketed events. Ticket sales directly fund the community programming and resources we provide year-round. Want to help make it happen? We’re looking for volunteers! Reach out to Sammy or Liyang on Slack, or email events@boston-wib.org.

Events Reflections

BWIB x BCBB Lightning Talks, Sponsored by Seqera

Dana Moochnick • June 29, 2026

Boston Women in Bioinformatics and Boston Computational Biology & Bioinformatics (BCBB) came together for an inspiring evening of Lightning Talks at the Cambridge Innovation Center. Sponsored by Seqera, the event created a welcoming space for researchers, students, engineers, and bioinformatics professionals to share their work in a fast, approachable format. Each speaker had just five minutes, but the talks opened up much larger conversations about how computational biology is shaping research across immunology, aging, cancer, genomics, and human health.

What made the evening especially exciting was how naturally the talks moved between scientific discovery and practical problem-solving. Some speakers shared new ways to understand disease biology and treatment response, while others focused on the tools, pipelines, and data practices that make research more reliable and reproducible. Together, the presentations showed the full range of what bioinformatics can be: a field that connects biology, computation, software, medicine, and community.

The event also highlighted the value of bringing people together in person. The Lightning Talk format made the room feel energetic and accessible, giving speakers a chance to practice communicating their work while giving the audience a quick glimpse into many different areas of research. It was a motivating reminder of the creativity, collaboration, and momentum within the Boston bioinformatics community, and of how much can be learned when people are given space to share their ideas.

Read more here.

Partner Events

Mass Innovation Nights at the Museum of Science
Mass Innovation Nights | Museum of Science | Jul 15, 2026, 7–10 PM
TOMORROW Join Mass Innovation Nights to celebrate local innovators and the Museum of Science’s Year of Revolutionary Science! Local Boston-area startups showcase new products in front of a live audience, and attendees vote for their favorite. The winning product gets to present at the event. This is a great opportunity to see what’s new from the region’s startup community and connect with founders, builders, and fellow innovation enthusiasts. Grab tickets here.

Advances in the Development of Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Women’s Health
Pharmaceutical & Bioscience Society (PBSS) in collaboration with Women in Bio | Virtual | Jul 22, 11:30 AM–5:30 PM
Join the Pharmaceutical & Bioscience Society (PBSS) and Women in Bio for a free full-day webcast on the latest advances in therapeutics and diagnostics for women’s health. Nine speakers from across academia, biotech, and industry will share their work spanning oncology, autoimmune disease, neurology, reproductive health, and more. You can find more information on speakers and registration here.

The Semantic Layer for Life-Science AI: Building Agents and Apps on the Amass API
Bioinformatics and AI XChange | Virtual | Aug 22, 10:00 AM
Join Bioinformatics & AI XChange for a hands-on, demonstration-focused session with Alexander Junge, co-founder and CTO at Amass. Junge will introduce Amass, a unified API integrating biomedical publications, clinical trials, regulatory documents, therapeutic molecules, and gene targets. The session covers how to build life-science AI agents that access structured, cross-linked biomedical knowledge through a single API. More information here.

Women’s HealthX Conference
Women’s HealthX (WoHX) | Encore Boston Harbor, Boston, MA | Dec 3–4
Women’s HealthX is a two-day conference for the leaders building the women’s health ecosystem from the ground up with sex-specific data, longitudinal research, and measurable outcomes that influence policy, reimbursement, product development, and clinical practice. You can find more information about tracks and registration here. There will be limited opportunities through BWIB for student tickets–stay tuned!

Get Involved

Boston Women in Bioinformatics 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

Lorena Pantano

Immediate Past President
Founder

Yevgenia Khodor Tolan

President

Lina Faller

Vice President
Nominating and Governance Committee Chair

Diveena Becker

Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair,
Events Committee Co-chair

Minita Shah

Secretary

Katie Hughes

Board member

Francine Camacho

Board member

Liyang Diao

Events Committee Co-chair

Sakina Saif

Communications Committee Co-chair

Samantha Klasfeld

Communications Committee Co-chair

Aysheh Alrfooh

Career Mentorship Committee Co-chair

Peili Zhang

Career Mentorship Committee Co-chair

Emily Lachtara

Sponsorship Committee Co-chair

Prisni Rath

Sponsorship Committee Co-chair

Amulya Shastry

Enabling Advocacy Committee Co-chair

Viveka Patil

Enabling Advocacy Committee Co-chair

Saba Nafees

Podcast Committee Co-chair

Sharvari Narendra

Podcast Committee Co-chair

Social Media

• Slack: Join our Slack
• 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