Nikhil Milind

I'm excited to share that our work studying gene dosage response curves (GDRCs) is now out in Cell Genomics (@cellpress.bsky.social). www.cell.com/cell-genomic... [1/n]

We have some fun insights into interpreting mechanisms underlying non-coding variation, understanding 5’ UTR effects on translational regulation, and inferring selection in gene regulatory regions. Excited to connect with folks working in these areas! (2/2) #ashg2026

Hi ASHG 🧬 — I’m presenting our work on mapping the flow of regulatory effects through the biological cascade (variants -> gene dosage -> traits -> fitness) on *Saturday at 8:15am in 710B*. Joint with Wilder Wohns and @srikarkrishnag.bsky.social, supervised by @jkpritch.bsky.social. (1/2)

Duke Biology has two faculty positions we're searching for: 1) Assistant Professor in Cellular and Molecular Systems 2) Assistant Professor of the Practice with a focus on Ecology. See here the following link for more details and how to apply: biology.duke.edu/about-us/jobs

🚨 Our department is hiring! Looking to fill an endowed position in genetics/genomics to join us in beautiful Oregon. Search is at the Associate/Full Professor level. See below for details and share with your colleagues!

We have an open tenure-track faculty position in the broad area of quantitative biology. Come join our department in NYC! Deadline has been extended to Nov 23rd, 2026. Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/192256

Don’t miss the deadline (Oct 31) if you want to apply for a faculty position in Evolutionary Biology in my department! facultypositions.stanford.edu/jobs/assista...

Happy to share some new work done in collaboration with my colleagues in Human Genetics at Genentech! In it, we assess five model-based variant pathogenicity labels in the context of rare variant burden testing. [Summary ⬇️]. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Delighted to share this new article where we propose our view for the next generation of human genetics. We argue a need for "Trait Causal Models" linking genetics to effects at all levels of biological structures, and talk about how to get there using gwas, perturbations and observational omics

Stoked to share our new perspective on ✨ Trait Causal Models ✨ as the next frontier for human genomics! It was a pleasure to put this together with @jeffspence.github.io and @jkpritch.bsky.social with guidance from @minetoota.bsky.social @jengreitz.bsky.social @marsonlab.bsky.social Thread 👇

As an addendum, AI slop has made it difficult to post perspective pieces on preprint servers, so we're sharing ours on Zenodo. We did use LLMs to catch typos etc..., but rest assured that human minds conceived the work, human fingers typed it up, and human eyeballs proofread it.

We discuss all of this and more in the piece. It was a lot of fun thinking through how to use the data that we have and to try to crystallize what the goal of human genetics should be. We're hoping to spark a conversation so please let us know you're thoughts. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

Key challenges include: - Extracting directional, quantitative effects of _genes_ on traits from GWAS data - Choosing cell types and conditions and types of perturbations in screens - Choosing the right level of abstraction for modeling the path from variant --> trait

There have been incredible advances across all 3 of these data pillars, but we discuss what more needs to be done to move from these pillars to building TCMs.

To build TCMs will require 3 distinct "data pillars", each with complementary advantages 1. Genetic association data (e.g., GWAS) 2. Perturbations in model systems (e.g., perturb-seq in cell lines) 3. Human subjects omics profiling (e.g., scRNA-seq from cases and controls).

TCMs should be: - Quantitative: we should move beyond just cataloging associations and instead we should estimate _by how much_ and _in which direction_ a variant or a perturbation would affect the trait

We argue that the goal of human genetics should be to build *Trait Causal Models*. TCMs are quantitative, predictive models that trace the biological processes from genes --> traits.

Highly recommend reading this perspective on the future of human genetics!! I plan to go over it multiple times as I think about postdoc projects 😆

Thrilled to share our first work on centromeres in human biology, led by tenacious student @yikaidong.bsky.social, with collaborator David Cutler . Q: Does common centromeric variation matter for complex traits? medrxiv.org/content/10.6... We thinks so! 🧵🧬👇

Very excited to be heading to Montreal for #ASHG26 next week! Come find me at poster board 8448F to talk about scalable single-cell eQTL mapping

Have you ever looked at a gene in IGV or a genome browser and wondered “What are all those (ATAC-seq/H3K27ac/CTCF ChIP-seq/…) peaks doing?” 🤔 I’m thrilled to share that we developed a new technology called Swap-seq to answer that exact question. Swap-seq: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Systematic mapping of enhancers, silencers, and topological elements using prime editing deletion screens www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Check out our preprint on next-generation tech for mapping distal regulatory effects! We’re excited to help set this up - please get in touch Thread 👇

Phylogenetic conservation scores have long been used to identify selection targets in the genome. With machine learning, they take a new form and will likely grow in popularity. @apragsdale.bsky.social and I investigate their relationship with mutation rates www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Another possible topic is that I am looking to hire: -- a senior scientist and --1-2 postdocs Looking for a strong publication record in at least one of: functional genomics/single cell work/computational methods/statgen/popgen.

This is a great chance to chat with Jonathan during #ASHG26!

I want to try something again at #ASHG26: I'll block off some time on Weds/Th/Friday afternoons to meet with trainees who would be interested to chat on any topic. I have done this the last 2 years and it was great to meet a whole bunch of new people, from many countries, at all career stages!

We then applied the theory to human demography and deduced a provisional estimate of stabilizing selection in humans accounting for LD. The key machinery is Roshni Patel's conditional frequency spectra. With SDEs, this becomes a PDE scheme.

We studied the evolution of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium and its influence on genetic architecture with genetic drift. We found that the Bulmer effect is population size and demography dependent. For nerds: genetic architecture follows from solving PDEs.

So excited about this work with @nasalab.bsky.social! Led by Stephanie Gogarten & with help from @daphmarts.bsky.social, we use LLMs as judges to evaluate the use of population descriptors in the entirety of the GWAS Catalog (~4,000 papers published 2007-2025) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

10 days left to apply for an Assistant Professorship in Evolutionary Biology at Columbia.

I am excited to share that I will be joining the Baker Institute for Animal Health and College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University as an Assistant Professor next spring! I am grateful to my mentors and colleagues who have supported me throughout this journey.

Excited to share that my department has an open faculty search for an Assistant Professor! The search is broad, focused on candidates who plan to address fundamental questions in genetics and genomics. The due date is soon: Nov 13. You can apply through interfolio. apply.interfolio.com/190644

A searchable mapping between NIH study sections and program officers that doesn't suck. (Claude one-shot) sashagusev.github.io/po-study-sec...

The September issue of #GENETICS features work from @jonj-udd.bsky.social, @jeffspence.github.io, & Co which determines how genes associated with human recessive disorders fit the predictions of the classic theory of mutation–selection balance. 🔗 buff.ly/v8FpWWA

JOB ALERT: UNC Bio is hiring 2 tenure track assistant profs doing molecular, cell, and dev bio. The search is intentionally broad, so please share widely and spread the word! Find more information and apply here: unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/325... Application review begins Nov 1.

For the last 34 years I have been on the faculty of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Biology and have never regretted that decision. This year we are hiring TWO new Assistant Professors in the broad area of Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology 1/n bio.unc.edu

The Emory Biology department is hiring a tenure-track ecologist at any rank. Deadline is Nov 1, link below! As I've said many times before, I couldn't ask for a more supportive department. Our faculty colleagues, dept chair, and admin staff are truly awesome ❤️ apply.interfolio.com/191783

Exciting news: @uwgenome.bsky.social will be hiring for two tenure-track faculty positions this year, one open rank and one assistant professor. Both are “Genome Sciences” interpreted broadly so we welcome applicants working in a variety of fields and methods. Ad will be out shortly.

Please help spread the word! We are recruiting multiple Postdoctoral Fellows as part of the recently launched Bakar Computational Biomedicine Initiative (BCBI) at UC Berkeley and UCSF. BCBI website: bcbi.berkeley.edu Apply by Nov 1, 2026: berkeley.infoready4.com#freeformComp... (1/n)

📣 We are looking for a PhD student in 2027! Interested in studying rapid evolutionary dynamics of species in changing climates? Apply to the MOI LAB by Nov 19! Flyer below & tinyurl.com/flyerphdmoilab @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @innovativegenomics.bsky.social @hhmi-science.bsky.social

These are of course very old questions with tremendous recent progress; we focus mostly on the recent progress and what it offers for the next era of studying human genetics in biobanks. Excited this preprint is out and we'd of course love to hear any thoughts!

@roshnipatel.bsky.social and I wrote about using biobanks to learn about evolution, and how those findings shape interpretations of association studies. We focused on estimating evolutionary constraint and relating relating selection on variants to selection on traits and include open questions.

Jeffrey P. Spence, Roshni A. Patel: Insights into human evolution from large genetic biobanks https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.12297 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.12297 https://arxiv.org/html/2609.12297

The Stengl-Wyer Postdoctoral Scholars Program is a great launch pad for early independence. Supports 3y of research at UT Austin. Inquiries to faculty sponsors welcome! Apply by 12/7/26 biodiversity.utexas.edu/about-center/endowments-biodiversity/stengl-wyer-endowment/stengl-wyer-scholars-program

I’m currently recruiting an experienced postdoc to join our team in Brisbane for at least two years, working on some cutting-edge problems in statistical genomics and genetic epidemiology. Link: uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/uqcare...

Job opportunity at Columbia U., in "any combination of field, experimental, computational, or theoretical approaches to study fundamental questions in evolutionary biology".

We have a tenure-track faculty position in Evolutionary Biology in Columbia's E3B Department. Application deadline is October 15. Come be our colleague. Please RT! apply.interfolio.com/193016

I’m looking to hire an NIH funded postdoc to join our lab here at Davis (please RT). Ongoing areas of interest include: 1) polygenic signals of selection from time series, ARGs, GWAS, etc 2) The interpretation of GWAS, polygenic scores, & sources of confounding