Issue 011: October 2026

Welcome to the October Newsletter!

THANK YOU to everyone who joined us on October 1st for our largest fundraiser yet! Your support will power our 2027 plans, from conference sponsorships to research funding.

Inside, you’ll find highlights from the evening, plus a new Coffee with CompBio episode on the art of networking in bioinformatics, Blog Bytes on the data gaps in women’s healthcare, and details on our upcoming virtual event with Sprout Informatics on November 18th. Enjoy!

Fall Fundraiser 2026: Thank You for an Unforgettable Night

On October 1st we gathered for our largest fundraising effort to date, and what a night it was. Boston Women in Bioinformatics President Yevgenia Khodor, Ph.D. shared BWIB’s plans for 2027, including conference sponsorships, cloud compute credits, back-to-work support, and research funding. Kelle Moley, M.D. moved us all with her experiences as a clinician and a clear reminder of how much unmet medical need remains.

Our brilliant panel of Ashley Abel, Ph.D., Sheri Simmons, Ph.D., Shruthi Mahalingaiah, M.D., M.S., and Brandi Davis-Dusenbery, Ph.D. then took us through everything from menstrual cycle effects on gene expression to wearables, consumer health, and the institutional hurdles facing women’s health. Missed it, or want to hear it again? The full panel, recorded by Trevor Campbell, is now available as a Coffee with CompBio episode.

A huge thank you to our sponsors and hosts: Diamond Age Data Science, Seqera, Zifo, ZS, Benchling, BioTeam, Sprout Informatics, and Brandeis University. And because we are 100% volunteer run, an enormous thank you to the organizing team: Liyang Diao, Ph.D., Samantha Klasfeld, Ph.D., Yevgenia Khodor, Ph.D., Emily Brodd, Sakina Saif, M.S., Iqra Amin, Diveena Becker, Ph.D., Yaseswini Neelamraju, Ph.D., and Nandeeni Suryawanshi, as well as our day-of volunteers Elyse Loveman, Francine Camacho, Ph.D., Genevieve Baddoo, M.S.,Tracy A. Vu, M.S., Anna McNiff, M.S., Ruoqiao Wang, and Petra Palenikova, Ph.D. We are so grateful to everyone who came out!

Events Reflections

Fall Fundraiser 2026: The Data, Tech, and Opportunities Driving a New Era of Women’s Health

Lina Faller, Ph.D., VP of Boston Women in Bioinformatics

For once, I wasn’t running the event. At our Fall Fundraiser, I just got to be in the audience, and it reminded me why I keep showing up to BWIB.

Kelle Moley, M.D. of Eli Lilly opened her keynote with the advice she got in med school: a woman is just a small man, so halve the dose. It was wrong, and it shaped decades of medicine. The panel that followed went deep on the data gap in women’s health, and I walked out wanting a whole second event on what we, as the people who work with this data, can do about it. Maybe we’ll host one.

And the hugs from familiar faces were the best part.

Cambridge Science Carnival 2026

Tracy A. Vu, M.S., Boston Women in Bioinformatics Communications Committee Member

The Cambridge Science Carnival was held on Sunday, October 4th, a celebration of science and a day full of hands-on booths to inspire curiosity! Boston Women in Bioinformatics joined over 100 STEAM activities, hosting our own booth to engage with the community and highlight our organization’s work.

Our booth was DNA by Design, where we made DNA and RNA bracelets based on sequences of different animals. Using different colored beads to represent each nucleotide, attendees could make sequences from animals like humans, cats, dogs, and mice. Some of our most creative visitors designed their own sequences, like chimeras and unicorns! Throughout the day, we shared how bioinformatics helps us understand and use DNA.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who staffed the booth and to everyone who stopped by!

Coffee with CompBio: Two New Episodes

Live from the Fall Fundraiser: The Data, Tech, and Opportunities Driving a New Era of Women’s Health

For the first time ever, we recorded A Coffee with CompBio in front of a live audience. Take a front-row seat at our Fall Fundraiser panel with Ashley Abel, Ph.D., Shruthi Mahalingaiah, M.D., M.S., Sheri Simmons, Ph.D., and Brandi Davis-Dusenbery, Ph.D., moderated by Liyang Diao, Ph.D. and Samantha Klasfeld, Ph.D. On the table: how federal policy shaped the gender data gap, the scientific and funding hurdles of building therapies for women’s biology, the data infrastructure the field still needs, and what consumer health research can unlock.

Networking in Bioinformatics

Networking is really just talking, but doing it well in bioinformatics takes strategy. Join Dina Issakova, Ph.D. and Saba Nafees, Ph.D. as they break down how to make meaningful connections at conferences, local events, and online, plus some unconventional tips and how to keep your network alive through career transitions. Whether you’re a grad student or job hunting, you’ll leave with practical steps you can use this week.

Blog Bytes

Behind the Scenes: A Village for Women’s Health

As an all volunteer nonprofit, Boston Women in Bioinformatics runs on passion, but passion doesn’t pay the bills. Enter our first annual Fall Fundraiser, an opportunity not only to strengthen our financial footing and showcase our community, but also to network with some truly awesome scientists. In her new blog post, Communications Co-Chair Samantha Klasfeld, Ph.D. shares how it all came together, what she learned along the way, and what this event means for BWIB’s future.

Blind Spots: The Data Crisis in Women’s Healthcare

What happens when the diagnostic tools we’ve used for decades were never designed with female biology in mind? Lakshmi Kuttippurathu, Ph.D. explores how the data shortage in women’s health is only half the story. The real barrier is coming up with innovative solutions for analyzing gender-stratified data, and what that means for medicine for women. Essential reading for anyone interested in unpacking why these scientific gaps matter far beyond the abstract.

Events on the Horizon

Ask Us Anything (Except Our Five-Year Plan): Sprout Informatics’ First Twelve Months

Date & Time: Wednesday, November 18th, 2026 @ 12 - 1 PM ET Virtual Register

Last fall, Liyang Diao, Ph.D. and Michael Seiler, Ph.D. jumped feet-first into building Sprout Informatics, a fractional computational biology and bioinformatics consultancy for early-stage biotechs. After the honeymoon period, how did it go? Join us for a candid conversation with them about year one, with real talk on finding a niche, pricing and scoping, living with uncertainty, and life after the 9-to-5. Curious about life as an independent bioinformatician? Come ask them anything!

Partner Events

Research Spotlights on Proteomics, Biobank Data, and AI Agents (+ Virtual Networking)
Bioinformatics & AI XChange | Virtual | Oct 24, 10:00–11:30 AM ET
Looking for a fresh dose of science? Join our friends at Bioinformatics & AI XChange for a virtual morning of research spotlights followed by relaxed networking with peers around the world. Xiaojing Sui, Ph.D., will share how structural proteomics reveals that nearly a third of the proteome changes shape early in aging; Aleena Iraqui will explore how target trial emulation on All of Us data can answer clinical questions we can’t test with randomized trials; and Julia Gross, Ph.D., will walk through what goes right (and wrong) when AI agents review immunology evidence. Talks start at 10:00 AM, with time to ask the speakers questions directly. Register 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. Registration is filling up, so act soon! Find more information about tracks and registration here.

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🏛️ 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

Marissa Sumathipala

Career Mentorship Committee Co-chair

Peili Zhang

Career Mentorship Committee Co-chair

Emily Brodd

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

Social Media

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