Rob Noble
@robjohnnoble.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer (≡ associate professor) in applied maths @citystgeorges.bsky.social, investigating the evolution and ecology of cancer. Dad of two small kids. Associate Editor @jevbio.bsky.social.
Pinned
Rob Noble
@robjohnnoble.bsky.social
· Nov 19
Save the date! On behalf of the Society, I’m delighted to announce that the next International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer conference will be taking place in Hersonissos, Crete, on May 21-24, 2026. Abstract submissions will open soon. More details: www.evocancer.com
Reposted by Rob Noble
If you’re interested in machine learning and mathematical modelling, we’re recruiting a PhD student to develop new methods for studying cancer evolution at
@imperialimmuno.bsky.social
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
@imperialimmuno.bsky.social
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Developing machine learning methods to infer the evolution of haematological cancers at Imperial College London on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Developing machine learning methods to infer the evolution of haematological cancers at Imperial College London, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:18 PM
If you’re interested in machine learning and mathematical modelling, we’re recruiting a PhD student to develop new methods for studying cancer evolution at
@imperialimmuno.bsky.social
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
@imperialimmuno.bsky.social
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Rob Noble
"Why do you care about US politics?"
No reason. No reason at all.
No reason. No reason at all.
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
February 13, 2026 at 8:44 AM
"Why do you care about US politics?"
No reason. No reason at all.
No reason. No reason at all.
Reposted by Rob Noble
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
Davis Summer Population Genomics Program
Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...
docs.google.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
I just returned the proof of our paper "Selective sweep probabilities in spatially expanding populations". Google's AI Overview is already reporting the main results (presumably scraped from the November 2023 preprint) as established fact.
February 8, 2026 at 8:57 PM
I just returned the proof of our paper "Selective sweep probabilities in spatially expanding populations". Google's AI Overview is already reporting the main results (presumably scraped from the November 2023 preprint) as established fact.
"I want to be a good figurehead, lend dignity to the University ... I have networks both overseas and in the UK" - Peter Mandelson in October 2024 making his case to be Chancellor of @ox.ac.uk. Good thing no one voted for him.
February 8, 2026 at 1:28 PM
"I want to be a good figurehead, lend dignity to the University ... I have networks both overseas and in the UK" - Peter Mandelson in October 2024 making his case to be Chancellor of @ox.ac.uk. Good thing no one voted for him.
Notwithstanding my previous post this is a fantastic opportunity
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
February 7, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Notwithstanding my previous post this is a fantastic opportunity
Although I strongly sympathise with US-based colleagues valiantly swimming against the tide, I'm afraid I can't in good conscience advise any non-US citizen to take up a PhD or postdoc in the US right now. Mind you, all the ECRs I've given guidance to lately needed no persuading on this point.
Spoke with a PI whose postdoc is trapped abroad because of social media vetting. It appears the postdoc missed disclosing one account and it's unclear if they can come back… ever.
This is the country we live in now.
This is the country we live in now.
February 7, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Although I strongly sympathise with US-based colleagues valiantly swimming against the tide, I'm afraid I can't in good conscience advise any non-US citizen to take up a PhD or postdoc in the US right now. Mind you, all the ECRs I've given guidance to lately needed no persuading on this point.
People accused him of being racist. He'd like to clarify that he is in fact dumb, lazy and irresponsible. As well as racist. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trump says he 'didn't see' part of video with racist clip depicting Obamas as apes
The US president says he
www.bbc.co.uk
February 7, 2026 at 3:05 PM
People accused him of being racist. He'd like to clarify that he is in fact dumb, lazy and irresponsible. As well as racist. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Rob Noble
Missing from the coverage of redundancies at Edinburgh: this was done in such a haphazard, uncoordinated way, there are now core teams who have gone from 5 people to 1 with no change in workload or pressure and huge loss in knowledge of institutional process. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2576321...
Hundreds of staff leave Edinburgh University amid cuts drive
According to the university, 345 of these departures were the result of a targeted voluntary severance (VS) scheme run by the institution in 2025.
www.heraldscotland.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:36 AM
Missing from the coverage of redundancies at Edinburgh: this was done in such a haphazard, uncoordinated way, there are now core teams who have gone from 5 people to 1 with no change in workload or pressure and huge loss in knowledge of institutional process. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2576321...
Reposted by Rob Noble
A 🆕 episode of Genetics in Your World is live! @ecoevogal.bsky.social interviewed @srishtipatil.bsky.social & @robjohnnoble.bsky.social about their work testing a new approach to cancer treatment rooted in theory from evolutionary & conservation biology.
Listen now: buff.ly/B2YyByg
Listen now: buff.ly/B2YyByg
February 6, 2026 at 5:03 PM
A 🆕 episode of Genetics in Your World is live! @ecoevogal.bsky.social interviewed @srishtipatil.bsky.social & @robjohnnoble.bsky.social about their work testing a new approach to cancer treatment rooted in theory from evolutionary & conservation biology.
Listen now: buff.ly/B2YyByg
Listen now: buff.ly/B2YyByg
I really enjoyed chatting with @srishtipatil.bsky.social about our “Preventing evolutionary rescue in cancer" paper for the @genetics-gsa.bsky.social "Genetics in Your World" podcast. Listen for free at shows.acast.com/genetics-in-...
Bridging Disciplines: How a Theory Meant to Aid in Saving Plant and Animal Species is Helping Scientists Reconsider an Evolutionary Approach to Cancer Treatment — A Conversation with Srishti Patil and...
shows.acast.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:23 PM
I really enjoyed chatting with @srishtipatil.bsky.social about our “Preventing evolutionary rescue in cancer" paper for the @genetics-gsa.bsky.social "Genetics in Your World" podcast. Listen for free at shows.acast.com/genetics-in-...
Reposted by Rob Noble
In #GENETICS, @srishtipatil.bsky.social, @robjohnnoble.bsky.social, and colleagues present a theoretical framework to determine how to exploit the vulnerability of small tumours to stochastic extinction and the optimal time to switch treatments. buff.ly/HDhvCEN
February 3, 2026 at 5:04 PM
In #GENETICS, @srishtipatil.bsky.social, @robjohnnoble.bsky.social, and colleagues present a theoretical framework to determine how to exploit the vulnerability of small tumours to stochastic extinction and the optimal time to switch treatments. buff.ly/HDhvCEN
Reposted by Rob Noble
This is SO merited for these great women scientists, one of whom (Isabelle Oliveri) was a close colleague, friend, and helped me fight political obstacles in my move to Montpellier in 2000. www.paris.fr/pages/biento...
Bientôt 72 noms de femmes scientifiques sur la tour Eiffel !
Saviez-vous qu’au premier étage de la tour Eiffel sont inscrits en lettres d’or les noms de 72 illustres savants ? 72 femmes scientifiques auront bientôt leur place au cœur de ce « Panthéon scientifiq...
www.paris.fr
February 2, 2026 at 3:05 PM
This is SO merited for these great women scientists, one of whom (Isabelle Oliveri) was a close colleague, friend, and helped me fight political obstacles in my move to Montpellier in 2000. www.paris.fr/pages/biento...
Starmer said @zackpolanski.bsky.social's Greens are high on drugs and soft on Putin. Turns out they're high in the polls and hard to put down. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I’ve never taken drugs or drunk alcohol, says Zack Polanski
Green party leader wants to legalise all drugs, regulate their use and not be ‘the fun police’
www.theguardian.com
February 1, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Starmer said @zackpolanski.bsky.social's Greens are high on drugs and soft on Putin. Turns out they're high in the polls and hard to put down. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Rob Noble
'You may be aware of recent pauses to some programmes. For our curiosity-driven research [CDR] (...) headroom in funding will increase (...) and you can expect to see new opportunities opening later this year (...) Levels of funding for [CDR] will remain stable (...) are reflective of recent years'
Today, we're sharing an open letter from our Chief Executive, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, outlining changes to UKRI investment approach, and addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC. Read his letter here: www.ukri.org/news/open-le...
Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community
UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.
www.ukri.org
February 1, 2026 at 6:23 PM
'You may be aware of recent pauses to some programmes. For our curiosity-driven research [CDR] (...) headroom in funding will increase (...) and you can expect to see new opportunities opening later this year (...) Levels of funding for [CDR] will remain stable (...) are reflective of recent years'
I know LLMs aren't popular here but I must say ChatGPT is an excellent running coach. Running seems like a good use case because it's so quantitative. Given your current race times, goals, and training programme, the model can crunch the numbers and tell you where to tweak and what to prioritise.
January 29, 2026 at 8:33 PM
I know LLMs aren't popular here but I must say ChatGPT is an excellent running coach. Running seems like a good use case because it's so quantitative. Given your current race times, goals, and training programme, the model can crunch the numbers and tell you where to tweak and what to prioritise.
Reposted by Rob Noble
Math question: I need to understand better how Markov chains converge to stochastic diff eqs (SDEs) in a continuum limit.
Specifically, consider a sequence of Markov chains whose state space is {0, 1/N, 2/N, ..., 1}. From state k/N, can transition to either (k+1)/N or (k-1)/N, or stay at k/N.
Specifically, consider a sequence of Markov chains whose state space is {0, 1/N, 2/N, ..., 1}. From state k/N, can transition to either (k+1)/N or (k-1)/N, or stay at k/N.
January 29, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Math question: I need to understand better how Markov chains converge to stochastic diff eqs (SDEs) in a continuum limit.
Specifically, consider a sequence of Markov chains whose state space is {0, 1/N, 2/N, ..., 1}. From state k/N, can transition to either (k+1)/N or (k-1)/N, or stay at k/N.
Specifically, consider a sequence of Markov chains whose state space is {0, 1/N, 2/N, ..., 1}. From state k/N, can transition to either (k+1)/N or (k-1)/N, or stay at k/N.
Delighted to have Anuraag as my new colleague at @citystgeorges.bsky.social
A bit late to this, but I'm delighted to announce that I've officially begun my permanent faculty position in the Department of Mathematics at City St George's, University of London!
sites.google.com/view/anuraag...
sites.google.com/view/anuraag...
Bukkuri Lab
Lecturer/Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
City St George's University of London
Recent CV & Google Scholar Profile
sites.google.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Delighted to have Anuraag as my new colleague at @citystgeorges.bsky.social
Reposted by Rob Noble
The killings in Minneapolis didn’t come out of nowhere.
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
The ICE Storm: a year-long escalation
Funding, law, rhetoric, violence. How each has fed the other to lead here
christinapagel.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:39 AM
The killings in Minneapolis didn’t come out of nowhere.
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
Funding, legal cover, weakened oversight, and dehumanising rhetoric ramping up over a year. This started on 20 Jan 2025 with Trump's executive orders on immigration.
I lay it out in my latest post.
christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-ice-st...
Reposted by Rob Noble
Our new collective effort highlights what happens when AI acts in populations rather than as isolated tool. TL;DR: a lot.
We have a new paper in Science today on how malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy.
AI systems can already coordinate autonomously, infiltrate communities, and fabricate social consensus.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by @kunstjonas.bsky.social & @daniel-thilo.bsky.social!
AI systems can already coordinate autonomously, infiltrate communities, and fabricate social consensus.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by @kunstjonas.bsky.social & @daniel-thilo.bsky.social!
January 26, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Our new collective effort highlights what happens when AI acts in populations rather than as isolated tool. TL;DR: a lot.
Reposted by Rob Noble
When normalised by population size, the death toll of US troops in Afghanistan is broadly similar to that of four other countries, including the UK... and Denmark. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaliti...
January 22, 2026 at 6:37 PM
When normalised by population size, the death toll of US troops in Afghanistan is broadly similar to that of four other countries, including the UK... and Denmark. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaliti...
Reposted by Rob Noble
Expressions of interest: Director at MPI EvolBio (f/m/d) — We invite expressions of interest from distinguished scientists in evolutionary biology with a bold, long-term research vision that complements our Institute. More information: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3856225/Dire...
Directors
www.evolbio.mpg.de
January 21, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Expressions of interest: Director at MPI EvolBio (f/m/d) — We invite expressions of interest from distinguished scientists in evolutionary biology with a bold, long-term research vision that complements our Institute. More information: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3856225/Dire...
Reposted by Rob Noble
Even with everything else going on, this should still register as truly shocking, if not surprising. Bulldozing a UN building whose sole purpose is to distribute lifesaving food and medical aid.
What kind of regime does this?
(The question is rhetorical, I know the answer)
What kind of regime does this?
(The question is rhetorical, I know the answer)
TODAY: Israeli authorities demolish the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem.
January 20, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Even with everything else going on, this should still register as truly shocking, if not surprising. Bulldozing a UN building whose sole purpose is to distribute lifesaving food and medical aid.
What kind of regime does this?
(The question is rhetorical, I know the answer)
What kind of regime does this?
(The question is rhetorical, I know the answer)
Reposted by Rob Noble
Happy to share our recent work quantifying ‘just-right’ APC inactivation in colorectal cancer initiation:
doi.org/10.1158/0008...
Excellent collaborative teamwork, led by the fantastic Meritxell Brunet Guasch.
doi.org/10.1158/0008...
Excellent collaborative teamwork, led by the fantastic Meritxell Brunet Guasch.
Mathematical Modeling Quantifies “Just-Right” APC Inactivation for Colorectal Cancer Initiation
Mathematical modeling of tumor development with different APC genotypes substantiates the “just-right” APC inactivation model and suggests alterations in secondary WNT regulators enhance WNT activity ...
doi.org
December 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Happy to share our recent work quantifying ‘just-right’ APC inactivation in colorectal cancer initiation:
doi.org/10.1158/0008...
Excellent collaborative teamwork, led by the fantastic Meritxell Brunet Guasch.
doi.org/10.1158/0008...
Excellent collaborative teamwork, led by the fantastic Meritxell Brunet Guasch.
Had a great time visting @edinunimaths.bsky.social in Edinburgh yesterday to give a talk and to chat science with my hosts @mdnicholson1.bsky.social, Helen Alexander, Tibor Antal, Linus Schumacher and others. Fun conversations and unseasonally nice weather.
January 20, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Had a great time visting @edinunimaths.bsky.social in Edinburgh yesterday to give a talk and to chat science with my hosts @mdnicholson1.bsky.social, Helen Alexander, Tibor Antal, Linus Schumacher and others. Fun conversations and unseasonally nice weather.