Alistair Forrest
@alforrest.bsky.social
Head of the Systems Biology and Genomics Lab at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, University of Western Australia
#FANTOM5 #transcriptomics #spatial #cellcommunication #ovariancancer #bioinformatics #singlecell
#FANTOM5 #transcriptomics #spatial #cellcommunication #ovariancancer #bioinformatics #singlecell
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
Registration for the HCA Asia Meeting on 2-4 November, 2026 is now open! The #HCA2026Asia meeting will be held in Perth, Australia, and online, and is hosted by @alforrest.bsky.social. Please register at buff.ly/gADDEnC
🖥️ 🧬 #Genomics #SingleCell #Spatial #HumanCellAtlas
🖥️ 🧬 #Genomics #SingleCell #Spatial #HumanCellAtlas
January 28, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Registration for the HCA Asia Meeting on 2-4 November, 2026 is now open! The #HCA2026Asia meeting will be held in Perth, Australia, and online, and is hosted by @alforrest.bsky.social. Please register at buff.ly/gADDEnC
🖥️ 🧬 #Genomics #SingleCell #Spatial #HumanCellAtlas
🖥️ 🧬 #Genomics #SingleCell #Spatial #HumanCellAtlas
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
connectomeDB2025: Quality matters!
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
October 31, 2025 at 11:21 PM
connectomeDB2025: Quality matters!
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
First ride and ocean swim of the year in the big blue antidepressant. There's beauty out there, fish, seaweed and seagrass.. and so far no stingers!
December 15, 2025 at 2:24 AM
First ride and ocean swim of the year in the big blue antidepressant. There's beauty out there, fish, seaweed and seagrass.. and so far no stingers!
Australia’s hyper-competitive grant system is harming the very researchers working to improve our nation’s health. Chronic stress, relationship breakdowns, depression, burnout, self-medication, and, tragically, suicide are part of our sector's reality.
www.linkedin.com/posts/alforr...
www.linkedin.com/posts/alforr...
Australia's hyper competitive grant system, and the chronic job insecurity it creates, is harming the very researchers who are working to improve the nation's health. The people striving to fi...
Australia's hyper competitive grant system, and the chronic job insecurity it creates, is harming the very researchers who are working to improve the nation's health. The people striving to find cures...
www.linkedin.com
December 7, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Australia’s hyper-competitive grant system is harming the very researchers working to improve our nation’s health. Chronic stress, relationship breakdowns, depression, burnout, self-medication, and, tragically, suicide are part of our sector's reality.
www.linkedin.com/posts/alforr...
www.linkedin.com/posts/alforr...
Chances are you're about to lose. Science funding in Australia is now a gamble with terrible odds. #NHMRC Ideas success rates have hit 8.1% nationally, <4% in WA. Brilliant colleagues are leaving or quitting. We need change. www.linkedin.com/posts/alforr...
For those outside of Australia this is an anti-gambling advert. I am posting this because funding for science in Australia is at a crisis and for many in the research sector we are gambling with our… ...
For those outside of Australia this is an anti-gambling advert. I am posting this because funding for science in Australia is at a crisis and for many in the research sector we are gambling with our f...
www.linkedin.com
December 7, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Chances are you're about to lose. Science funding in Australia is now a gamble with terrible odds. #NHMRC Ideas success rates have hit 8.1% nationally, <4% in WA. Brilliant colleagues are leaving or quitting. We need change. www.linkedin.com/posts/alforr...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
Australia: Low ARC success rates for early career researchers sparks anger (free to read): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...
Low success rate in early career grants ‘deeply disappointing’ - Research Professional News
“Decay continues” as Australian Research Council’s Decra scheme announces 13.1 per cent success rate
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Australia: Low ARC success rates for early career researchers sparks anger (free to read): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
Chelsea Mayoh at #abacbs2025: "If you're not using RNA-seq in your precision medicine program you're probably missing stuff"! Great to see @aliciao.bsky.social lab tools MINTIE, ALLsorts and TALLsorts making an appearance 🎉
November 26, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Chelsea Mayoh at #abacbs2025: "If you're not using RNA-seq in your precision medicine program you're probably missing stuff"! Great to see @aliciao.bsky.social lab tools MINTIE, ALLsorts and TALLsorts making an appearance 🎉
It's time... theconversation.com/how-the-war-...
How the war was won: the campaign to stop medical research cuts
One day in April, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research director Douglas Hilton called his communications manager, Penny Fannin, into his office. “He said he’d heard significant cuts wer...
theconversation.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
It's time... theconversation.com/how-the-war-...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
When I took this job as the Head of a department, I never thought my job would involve consoling & moving on some of my most talented researchers at the end of each year - just bc their ARC/NHMRC grant didn’t get up. Having worked in multiple countries, I have never seen this normalised like in Aus.
November 26, 2025 at 8:13 PM
When I took this job as the Head of a department, I never thought my job would involve consoling & moving on some of my most talented researchers at the end of each year - just bc their ARC/NHMRC grant didn’t get up. Having worked in multiple countries, I have never seen this normalised like in Aus.
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
The success rate for NHMRC Ideas Grants announced yesterday was just over 8%. That means 11 of every 12 people who applied got rejected. This is a culture changing level of rejection and frankly a point of national shame. This is a crisis for research.
I will not rest until we see this resolved.
I will not rest until we see this resolved.
November 26, 2025 at 8:34 PM
The success rate for NHMRC Ideas Grants announced yesterday was just over 8%. That means 11 of every 12 people who applied got rejected. This is a culture changing level of rejection and frankly a point of national shame. This is a crisis for research.
I will not rest until we see this resolved.
I will not rest until we see this resolved.
Be kind to each other.. bad news for most coming in under embargo. We need more funding in the system...
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Be kind to each other.. bad news for most coming in under embargo. We need more funding in the system...
Heading to Radelaide for #ABACBS2025 . Looking forward to catch up with old friends and nerd out on bioinformatics!
Checkout PhD student Peiwen Liu's poster on connectomeDB2025 (Quality matters!) connectomeDB.org
Checkout PhD student Peiwen Liu's poster on connectomeDB2025 (Quality matters!) connectomeDB.org
– ConnectomeDB2025
connectomeDB.org
November 23, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Heading to Radelaide for #ABACBS2025 . Looking forward to catch up with old friends and nerd out on bioinformatics!
Checkout PhD student Peiwen Liu's poster on connectomeDB2025 (Quality matters!) connectomeDB.org
Checkout PhD student Peiwen Liu's poster on connectomeDB2025 (Quality matters!) connectomeDB.org
connectomeDB2025: Quality matters!
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
October 31, 2025 at 11:21 PM
connectomeDB2025: Quality matters!
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
✅3,579 ligand-receptor pairs supported by 2,803 papers
✅14 vertebrates
❌ >2,900 unsupported pairs from other DBs excluded
connectomedb.org
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
@JARamilowski @sakura_maezono @rui_hou_ @weitao_lin @yen_yeow + team
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
The ARC has “announced” an update on the proposed changes to its grant schemes.
Key changes, in response to “nearly 350” submissions” (!) on their proposal, are 👇
More here: www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...
Key changes, in response to “nearly 350” submissions” (!) on their proposal, are 👇
More here: www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...
July 14, 2025 at 12:41 AM
The ARC has “announced” an update on the proposed changes to its grant schemes.
Key changes, in response to “nearly 350” submissions” (!) on their proposal, are 👇
More here: www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...
Key changes, in response to “nearly 350” submissions” (!) on their proposal, are 👇
More here: www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
The ARC Board has proposed a major shake-up of the National Competitive Grants Program ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/engage-us/co...
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
February 25, 2025 at 3:46 AM
The ARC Board has proposed a major shake-up of the National Competitive Grants Program ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/engage-us/co...
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇
Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
Prohormone cleavage prediction uncovers a non-incretin anti-obesity peptide
.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Prohormone cleavage prediction uncovers a non-incretin anti-obesity peptide - Nature
Computational drug discovery is used to identify a 12-mer peptide derived from BRINP2 with potent anti-obesity effects that are independent of leptin, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor and melanocortin...
www.nature.com
March 11, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Prohormone cleavage prediction uncovers a non-incretin anti-obesity peptide
.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
Do you have an exciting story about #enhancers or #enhanceropathies?. Then submit your abstract to the @embo.org workshop on "Enhancer mechanics and Enhanceropathies" in Denmark before is too late: the deadline for abstract submissions is in two weeks (March 17th)!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-enh...
meetings.embo.org/event/25-enh...
March 3, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Do you have an exciting story about #enhancers or #enhanceropathies?. Then submit your abstract to the @embo.org workshop on "Enhancer mechanics and Enhanceropathies" in Denmark before is too late: the deadline for abstract submissions is in two weeks (March 17th)!
meetings.embo.org/event/25-enh...
meetings.embo.org/event/25-enh...
Heading to #lornegenome25 #LorneCancerConference ? Looking for a computational postdoc to work on spatial and single nuclei transcriptomics of poor prognosis cancers, please DM me or see me at Lorne. We will be advertising soon. @ozsinglecell.bsky.social #LorneCancer2025 #Lorne2025
bsky.app
February 12, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Heading to #lornegenome25 #LorneCancerConference ? Looking for a computational postdoc to work on spatial and single nuclei transcriptomics of poor prognosis cancers, please DM me or see me at Lorne. We will be advertising soon. @ozsinglecell.bsky.social #LorneCancer2025 #Lorne2025
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
@ozsinglecell.bsky.social #OzSingleCell25 has a new website www.ozsinglecell.com See the current list of invited speakers and stay tuned for registration details. Sponsors reach out to ozsinglecells@gmail.com
January 30, 2025 at 6:31 AM
@ozsinglecell.bsky.social #OzSingleCell25 has a new website www.ozsinglecell.com See the current list of invited speakers and stay tuned for registration details. Sponsors reach out to ozsinglecells@gmail.com
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
MagLOV!
MagLOV is a fluorescent protein you can "turn off" with a handheld magnet, engineered by @mariaingaramo.bsky.social.
We think/hope we can use it to turn arbitrary proteins (including drugs!) on and off in opaque creatures (including humans!).
bsky.app/profile/addg...
MagLOV is a fluorescent protein you can "turn off" with a handheld magnet, engineered by @mariaingaramo.bsky.social.
We think/hope we can use it to turn arbitrary proteins (including drugs!) on and off in opaque creatures (including humans!).
bsky.app/profile/addg...
November 22, 2024 at 12:06 AM
MagLOV!
MagLOV is a fluorescent protein you can "turn off" with a handheld magnet, engineered by @mariaingaramo.bsky.social.
We think/hope we can use it to turn arbitrary proteins (including drugs!) on and off in opaque creatures (including humans!).
bsky.app/profile/addg...
MagLOV is a fluorescent protein you can "turn off" with a handheld magnet, engineered by @mariaingaramo.bsky.social.
We think/hope we can use it to turn arbitrary proteins (including drugs!) on and off in opaque creatures (including humans!).
bsky.app/profile/addg...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
A little video intro into Illumina Single Cell 3' RNA Prep protocols. It has begun!!
#singlecell
#transcriptomics
#PIPSeq
#illumina
#singlecell
#transcriptomics
#PIPSeq
#illumina
🧬Two updated technical videos demonstrating T2 and T20 workflows on newly released #Illumina Single-Cell 3' RNA Prep
T2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i5k...
T20: www.youtube.com/watch?featur...
📰 www.prnewswire.com/news-release...
T2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i5k...
T20: www.youtube.com/watch?featur...
📰 www.prnewswire.com/news-release...
January 13, 2025 at 7:54 AM
A little video intro into Illumina Single Cell 3' RNA Prep protocols. It has begun!!
#singlecell
#transcriptomics
#PIPSeq
#illumina
#singlecell
#transcriptomics
#PIPSeq
#illumina
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
Out today in @naturegenet.bsky.social -- PERFF-seq! With @tsionabay.bsky.social , @ronanchaligne.bsky.social, Bob Stickels, Meril Takizawa, + Ansu Satpathy, we describe this new assay to study rare populations with programmable nucleic acid cytometry. 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Transcript-specific enrichment enables profiling of rare cell states via single-cell RNA sequencing - Nature Genetics
Programmable Enrichment via RNA FlowFISH by sequencing (PERFF-seq) isolates rare cells based on RNA marker transcripts for single-cell RNA sequencing profiling of complex tissues, with applicability t...
www.nature.com
January 8, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Out today in @naturegenet.bsky.social -- PERFF-seq! With @tsionabay.bsky.social , @ronanchaligne.bsky.social, Bob Stickels, Meril Takizawa, + Ansu Satpathy, we describe this new assay to study rare populations with programmable nucleic acid cytometry. 1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
@nature.com wants to hear from you on the battle of David vs Goliath - aka Twitter 🐥 vs Bluesky 🦋*
And if you’re reading this post I already know your answer to one of the questions 🙂↕️
👉🏼 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
*I’ll let you decide who’s who at this point!
And if you’re reading this post I already know your answer to one of the questions 🙂↕️
👉🏼 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
*I’ll let you decide who’s who at this point!
Has Bluesky replaced X for scientists? Take Nature’s poll
The research community has flocked to the social-media platform Bluesky. Tell us about your experience.
www.nature.com
January 14, 2025 at 8:54 PM
@nature.com wants to hear from you on the battle of David vs Goliath - aka Twitter 🐥 vs Bluesky 🦋*
And if you’re reading this post I already know your answer to one of the questions 🙂↕️
👉🏼 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
*I’ll let you decide who’s who at this point!
And if you’re reading this post I already know your answer to one of the questions 🙂↕️
👉🏼 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
*I’ll let you decide who’s who at this point!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Perturb-map - focused on receptor/ligands hypothesized to be involved in tumor-macrophage communication
Perturb-map - focused on receptor/ligands hypothesized to be involved in tumor-macrophage communication
Ovarian cancer-derived IL-4 promotes immunotherapy resistance
Cancer-derived paracrine factors create distinct “neighborhoods” in the tumor microenvironment, promoting clonal selection and tumor heterogeneity. In ovarian cancer, IL-4 originating from a minority of cells within the tumor can promote immune suppression and tumor resistance to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.
www.cell.com
January 10, 2025 at 3:36 AM
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Perturb-map - focused on receptor/ligands hypothesized to be involved in tumor-macrophage communication
Perturb-map - focused on receptor/ligands hypothesized to be involved in tumor-macrophage communication
Reposted by Alistair Forrest
I've been catching up on some reading and came across this paper. Ovarian cancers export a cancer-specific #lncRNA, Tu-stroma, to TME via exosomes. Tu-stroma alters spicing of flower gene in stromal cells to reduce cell fitness. Such a cool mechanism.
The battle between cancer and the microenvironment is fierce!
Ovarian cancer cells use lncRNA to weaken healthy tissue.
This was a great project to be a part of.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ovarian cancer cells use lncRNA to weaken healthy tissue.
This was a great project to be a part of.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ovarian tumor cells gain competitive advantage by actively reducing the cellular fitness of microenvironment cells - Nature Biotechnology
Reduced fitness of the tumor microenvironment is mediated by a long non-coding RNA expressed in tumors.
www.nature.com
January 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I've been catching up on some reading and came across this paper. Ovarian cancers export a cancer-specific #lncRNA, Tu-stroma, to TME via exosomes. Tu-stroma alters spicing of flower gene in stromal cells to reduce cell fitness. Such a cool mechanism.