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In the News

Headlines featuring UW Biostatistics people and research.
Sarah Nelson sits down to talk about consumer DNA testing
Sarah Nelson sits down to talk about consumer DNA testing
How much info do you get, how much to you give away with DNA health and ancestry tests?
KOMO News,

Sarah Nelson, a researcher with the Department of Biostatistics and Genetic Analysis Center at the University of Washington is interviewed explaining how DNA and ancestry test services analyze and use your data.

Adam Szpiro
Adam Szpiro
Offspring of pregnant women exposed to high level of pollutants may have lower IQs
UW News,

Biostat Associate Professor Adam Szpiro is co-author of a new study that found that pregnant women exposed to higher levels of air pollutants had children with lower IQs, compared to the children of women exposed to lower levels.

Drawing of ancient humans in a cave sitting by a fire
Drawing of ancient humans in a cave sitting by a fire
A Genetic Ghost Hunt: What Ancient Humans Live On in Our DNA?
Discover,

The article quotes UW Research Professor Sharon Browning: “The reality of human history is pretty complex,” she says. “If you simplify too much and don’t capture the right aspects of what really happened then you’re going to be comparing different models, all of which are wrong.”

DNA helix
DNA helix
People using third-party apps to analyze personal genetic data
UW News,

“It’s the proverbial ‘wild West’ of genetic interpretation,” said Sarah Nelson, a University of Washington research scientist in the Department of Biostatistics who recently completed her doctorate in the School of Public Health. Nelson is the lead author of a paper recently published in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

Photo of consumer genetic testing kit
Photo of consumer genetic testing kit
Consumer genetic testing customers stretch their DNA data further with third-party interpretation websites
The Conversation,

UW Biostatistics Research Scientist Sarah Nelson writes about her recent study that sought to better understand the perspectives, experiences and motivations of consumers accessing their raw genetic data and using third-party interpretation tools

Ross Prentice
Ross Prentice
Landmark scientific paper turns 40
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Hutch News,

Forty years ago, UW Biostatistics Professor and Fred Hutch researcher Ross Prentice was part of a team that published the first unequivocal report in humans that immune cells have the power to cure cancer.

A collage of human teeth
A collage of human teeth
Tooth analysis suggests Neanderthals and modern humans split apart far earlier than we thought
Gizmodo,

A new study of dental evidence suggests Neanderthals and humans diverged around 800,000 years ago—hundreds of thousands of years earlier than standard estimates.  UW Biostatistics Research Professor Sharon Browning feels that the new paper relied too heavily on an extrapolation made from a single data point.

Jim Hughes
Jim Hughes
Addressing statistical issues in AIDS research
UW School of Public Health,

Biostatistics professor James Hughes and his team of Biostat co-investigators continue their critical work of developing innovative statistical methods for HIV/AIDS research.