Winona Oliveros

1/ Everything that could go wrong in paper publishing… did.
A story of patience, absurdity, and persistence 🌀 <1min

From Alfonso Valencia’s lab and a very stubborn PhD student (me).

🚨 We are hiring a Postdoc @crg.eu! 🧬

Within the EU-funded #PrecisionTox project. We are developing computational methods to predict toxicity by integrating RNA-seq data from humans and model species 🪱🪰🐸🐠. The project will help replace animal testing.

🔗 Apply now: recruitment.crg.eu/content/jobs...

🚬The molecular impact of cigarette smoking resembles aging across tissues

⭕This is the 1st comprehensive, multi-tissue analysis to show that smoking doesn’t just harm specific organs like the lungs 🫁

📄By BSC & Universidade do Porto researchers, published in Genome Medicine: bsc.es/Zt2

Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’ Exclusive: Melbourne team demonstrates way to make the virus visible within white blood cells, paving the way to fully clear it from the body A cure for HIV could be a step closer after researchers found a new way to force the virus out of hiding inside human cells. The virus’s ability to conceal itself inside certain white blood cells has been one of the main challenges for scientists looking for a cure. It means there is a reservoir of the HIV in the body, capable of reactivation, that neither the immune system nor drugs can tackle. Continue reading...

Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’

This work highlights the widespread and multi-layered impact of smoking on biological aging and reinforces the value of integrative, system-level approaches to public health research.

It’s been an immense pleasure to collaborate on this project with such a talented team!

In this study, we show how tobacco use accelerates aging across nearly all tissues in the human body; not just through histological changes, but also at the levels of DNA methylation and gene expression.

The molecular impact of cigarette smoking resembles aging across tissues - Genome Medicine Background Tobacco smoke is the main cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Smoking increases the risk of developing many diseases and has been proposed as an aging accelerator. Yet, the molecular ...

🧬 I’m thrilled to share our latest publication in Genome Medicine, led by the brilliant @ramirezjmiguel.bsky.social :

“The molecular impact of cigarette smoking resembles aging across tissues”

👉 genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

so well deserved! congratulations!!! @pclavell.bsky.social @melelab.bsky.social 🚀⭐️💫

It's been an absolute pleasure to present my work on long-read transcriptomics in front of such a big audience at the European Conference of Human Genetics @eshg.bsky.social in Milano.
The feedback and the discussion were extremely interesting and useful!

I am so happy to learn that I won the Early Career Award for an outstanding presentation at the ESHG!!
Thanks to @melelab.bsky.social, @guigolab.bsky.social and to my awesome colleagues that also attended the conference for their support @rubenchazarra.bsky.social @ramirezjmiguel.bsky.social

Our new contribution to the quest to find causal GWAS genes! Sam Ghatan from my lab at @nygenome.org led a systematic comparison of eQTLs and CRISPRi+scRNA-seq screens. TL;DR: they provide highly complementary insights, with ortogonal pros and cons. 🧵👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I’m so sorry to hear this, John. Keeping you and your family in my thoughts. When I faced something similar, what kept me going was thinking about how proud they are of what we do. Just spending time with them and doing your best really matters. You will get through this, I’m sure of it!

The impact of sex, age, and genetic ancestry on DNA methylation across tissues Background: Understanding the consequences of individual DNA methylation variation is crucial for the study of human biology and disease. However, the collective impact of demographic traits on DNA me...

Our work provides a detailed view of epigenetic variation under healthy conditions, a useful baseline for future epigenetic studies.

Big thanks to my amazing co-author @ramirezjmiguel.bsky.social, the best partner I could ever ask for! And to the best PhD mentor @martamele.bsky.social!

Aging & PRC:
Aging increases DNA methylation at PRC target sites across most tissues, consistent with the literature. But interestingly: not in the gonads!
Why gonads behave differently is still an open question.

Focusing on the sex differences, we found:
The female genome is hypermethylated across tissues.
Why? We hypothesize that it is likely due to the continuous activity of the Polycomb Repressive Complex (PRC), a key chromatin regulator in the X chromosome inactivation.

But does DNA methylation mediate gene expression changes?
Surprisingly, less than 10% of the expression variation linked to sex, age, or ancestry is explained by methylation, with ancestry showing the highest mediation.

Which factors matter most?
Genetic ancestry and age have stronger effects on methylation than sex.
But: (1) Age changes are widespread but modest. (2) Ancestry changes are more localized and often under genetic control.

First: DNA methylation varies more than gene expression across individuals.
This suggests methylation captures broader inter-individual variability, possibly including environmental and genetic effects.

The impact of sex, age, and genetic ancestry on DNA methylation across tissues Background: Understanding the consequences of individual DNA methylation variation is crucial for the study of human biology and disease. However, the collective impact of demographic traits on DNA me...

Excited to share our new preprint: The impact of sex, age, and genetic ancestry on DNA methylation across tissues. Briefly, we explored how sex, age, and genetic ancestry shape DNA methylation across tissues and individuals. Want to know a bit more? Follow this “bluetorial”!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

It's a beautiful spring day in Barcelona. Sunshine welcoming all our guests for the first day of the CRG's annual symposium! This year's theme is all about the mechanisms of gene expression.

Vaccination in pregnancy to protect the newborn - Nature Reviews Immunology In this Review, Male and Jones provide an overview of the current vaccines that are offered during pregnancy and to newborns, explaining the rationale behind the different vaccination programmes and t...

👶🏼 Many #vaccines are not effective in newborns. So how do we protect them from infectious disease?

🤰🏽 By vaccination in #pregnancy!

Here we review…

💉 Established campaigns vs whooping cough, flu, COVID

💡 New approaches to RSV, GBS

🌈 Future challenges, opportunities

#ReproSky #ImmunoSky #IDSky

Clonal Hematopoiesis as a Driver of Solid Tumors | NEJM Clonal hematopoiesis is the expansion of a genetically related population of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells that disproportionately contribute to blood-cell production.1 Clonal hematopoies...

New evidence @nejm.org today that age-related clonal hematopoiesis (CHIP) has a driver role in evolution of solid cancers
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Harvard University Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

This is what scientific leadership and courage looks like:

www.harvard.edu

We called out Harvard in the past for inaction. So now we are happy to speak out with praise.

This is a major step forward.

It’s not just a lack of capitulation. It’s an aggressive effort leaning into public comms — exactly what is needed. Bravo to Harvard 👏

🎆 Congratulations to @elisamasber.bsky.social, from the Aerosols, Dust and Climate group, on the successful defence of her #PhD thesis!

🙌We wish you all the best, Elisa!

#BSCTalent

Congratulations @oliveroswinona.bsky.social!!! A humongous amount of great work!! So proud and happy for you, even though you set the bar very high for the rest of us in the @melelab.bsky.social

Yesterday I defended my PhD thesis at the UB after nearly 5 years of work at the BSC @melelab.bsky.social. I couldn’t be happier! This wouldn’t have been possible without my amazing friends and fellow PhD students. 💘🎉

Are terminations of NIH grants wasting billions of taxpayer dollars? DOGE argues killing grants saves money, but a Science analysis suggests more than $1.4 billion in sunk research costs may produce few results

Speaking of waste....
@science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...

Deadline to register for the CRG's annual symposium is fast approaching. Sign up before Friday 11 April to attend!

www.crg.eu/en/event/202...

Hablan los científicos que quieren emigrar a España por Trump: “Tengo miedo al fascismo” Centros punteros de Barcelona y Madrid reciben decenas de solicitudes de investigadores en Estados Unidos

Nuestro director Luis Serrano, hoy en la portada de @elpais.com: "España debería hacer un esfuerzo presupuestario para atraer este talento. La última vez que se planteó algo así fue tras la caída del Muro de Berlín. Solo falta voluntad política".