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People in the News: John Quackenbush, Paul Holt, Marty Weems

John Quackenbush

Veteran computational biologist John Quackenbush has been promoted to chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Quackenbush, long a researcher in computational biology and bioinformatics at Dana-Farber Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, founded the HSPH master's program in computational biology and quantitative genetics. He has been on the Harvard faculty since 2005. Quackenbush replaced Xihong Lin, who is shifting her focus to the Genome Sequencing Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute and the Trans-Omics Precision Medicine Program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, according to a Harvard announcement.


Paul Holt

Paul Holt, chief financial officer of NantHealth, has resigned from his position effective Sept. 11. According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it is an amicable split, done for unspecified personal reasons. Holt will assume an advisory role during a transition period through Dec. 31, the company said.


Marty Weems

Advanced Genomics Solutions has appointed Marty Weems as VP of strategic business. Weems previously served as VP of sales and strategic business with EXOS for 11 years.


For more recent items on executive appointments and promotions in the omics and molecular diagnostics industries, please see the People in the News page on our website.

The Scan

Machine Learning Helps ID Molecular Mechanisms of Pancreatic Islet Beta Cell Subtypes in Type 2 Diabetes

The approach helps overcome limitations of previous studies that had investigated the molecular mechanisms of pancreatic islet beta cells, the authors write in their Nature Genetics paper.

Culture-Based Methods, Shotgun Sequencing Reveal Transmission of Bifidobacterium Strains From Mothers to Infants

In a Nature Communications study, culture-based approaches along with shotgun sequencing give a better picture of the microbial strains transmitted from mothers to infants.

Microbial Communities Can Help Trees Adapt to Changing Climates

Tree seedlings that were inoculated with microbes from dry, warm, or cold sites could better survive drought, heat, and cold stress, according to a study in Science.

A Combination of Genetics and Environment Causes Cleft Lip

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers investigate what combination of genetic and environmental factors come into play to cause cleft lip/palate.