Hacking your way into computational biology

Our first-ever live recording, from the BWIB 2026 Fall Fundraiser: a panel on the data, tech, and funding shaping women's health.Links:Season 1 ArchiveThanks to Amulya Shastry and Yaseswini Neelamraju for editing and management support, Dina Issakova for the cover art and Valisha Shah and Elyse Loveman for social media support.Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-nafees/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharvarinarendra/

Networking is really just talking, but doing it well in bioinformatics takes strategy. Join Dina and Saba as they break down how to make meaningful connections at conferences, local events, and online, plus some unconventional tips and how to keep your network alive through career transitions. Whether you're a grad student or job hunting, you'll leave with practical steps you can use this week.Links:Season 1 ArchiveThanks to Amulya Shastry and Yaseswini Neelamraju for editing and management support, Dina Issakova for the cover art and Valisha Shah and Elyse Loveman for social media support.Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-nafees/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharvarinarendra/

Academia or Industry? Join us as we talk to two scholars in academia and two scientists in industry. They share a day in their life, what they would redo and how they navigated one of the biggest career forks a PhD in computational biology faces. Explore both worlds and the various career paths in both sectors. A must listen if you have a PhD or are a current PhD student.Deciding between academia and industry is a hard question, hear from lived experiences in both fields.Links:Season 1 ArchiveThanks to Amulya Shastry and Yaseswini Neelamraju for editing and management support, Dina Issakova for the cover art and Valisha Shah and Elyse Loveman for social media support.Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-nafees/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharvarinarendra/

Bioinformatics is a field built on collaboration and some of the most meaningful work happens beyond the lab and workplace. In our latest podcast episode, we chat with our two wonderful guests Ryan Yordanoff from Cambridge biotech club and Aaron Blotnick from Bits in Bio and SynbioBeta. Together, we explore the people and communities working to make science more accessible, inclusive, and impactful. From creating opportunities for students and early-career researchers to building supportive communities, these organizations play an important role in shaping the future of bioinformatics. Tune in as we talk about the impact of volunteering, community building, and giving back to the bioinformatics community. Because science isn't just about the work we do, it's also about the communities we build along the way!Links:Season 1 ArchiveThanks to Amulya Shastry and Yaseswini Neelamraju for editing and management support, Dina Issakova for the cover art and Valisha Shah and Elyse Loveman for social media support.Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-nafees/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharvarinarendra/

In this episode of A Coffee with CompBio, we sit down with Lorena Pantano - a bioinformatician with about two decades of experience, founder of Boston Women+ in Bioinformatics, and co-founder of the Health Integrity project. We talk about her journey through computational biology, how the field has shifted (AI included), and the work she's done to build community and open doors for others along the way. Fittingly for Pride month, we also dig into what allyship looks like in science. A conversation about the work, the why, and what comes next.Links:Season 1 ArchiveThanks to Amulya Shastry and Yaseswini Neelamraju for editing and management support, Dina Issakova for the cover art and Valisha Shah and Elyse Loveman for social media support.Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-nafees/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharvarinarendra/

May is mental health awareness month and we're highlighting neurodiversity with an open and insightful conversation centered on lived experience and understanding. In this episode, our co-host Dina Issakova sits down with two guests Isabella Chawrun and Lorena Pantano who share their experiences with ADHD and autism. Together, they discuss challenges, strengths, misconceptions, diagnosis journeys, and what neurodiversity looks like in everyday life and Bioinformatics.5086ef111f0a90bedc0162713250a713eaf7538eSharvari Narendra: Co-host & Co-chair Saba Nafees : Co-host & Co-chair Amulya Shastry : Co-host & Production Manager Dina Issakova : Co-host & Creative DirectorYaseswini Neelamraju: Co-editorIf you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and leave us a review. Subscribe here:

What does it really take to land a bioinformatics role? In this episode, we sit down with Lauren Fitch, the Head of Computational Biology at ArkeaBio and Kaye Guerard-Hatziioannou, HR Business Partner at ArkeaBio, to break down how a Bioinformatics Software Engineer position actually gets filled — from resume screening to interview rounds, and the things hiring managers wish candidates knew. Whether you're early-career or mid-career, this one's full of practical, behind-the-scenes advice you won't find in a job description.Thanks to Amulya Shastry for editing and management support, Dina Issakova for cover art and Valisha Shah for social media support.Follow us on LinkedIn: Saba Nafees and Sharvari NarendraGo through all the podcast episodes on the Boston Women in Bioinformatics website: boston-wib.org

Claude code has taken over the tech world like a storm. But how good is Claude code when it comes to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology? In this episode of A Coffee with Compbio, Saba and Amulya take on the task of testing claude code on a simple task of performing QC on a Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) single cell dataset. They find out the dos and don’t with a tool like claude code while comparing it to how a real bioinformatician would analyze these results. Tune into this episode to learn more about Claude code for Bioinformatics. Bonus - We share all the results, markdown files and the single cell RNA QC skills markdown file that you can try on your own!Links:All files related to this episodeJournalMatch: A vibe-coded tool for finding the right match for your publication by AmulyaSharvari Narendra: Co-host & Co-chair \ Saba Nafees : Co-host & Co-chair \ Amulya Shastry : Co-host & Production Manager \ Dina Issakova : Co-host & Creative Director \ Valisha Shah : Marketing Lead \If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and leave us a review. Subscribe here:

Hackathons are not just for coders anymore — computational biologists have made it their own with data, models, and insights! Hackathons can be a great way to understand the trends in your field, meet new people, and network. Do you want to try and participate in a hackathon this year and feel like a true hacker? The wait is over — in this episode we give you all the tea about hackathons, over a cup of coffee! Tune into our latest episode of "A Coffee with CompBio" where Sharvari Narendra and Saba Nafees talk about hackathons and more!If you think you know some more hackathon-related resources, let us know in the comments and we will give you a shoutout in the next episode!Links:Season 1 ArchiveBioHackathonsnf-core Hackathon Eventsnf-core Hackathon March 2026How I Organized a Hackathon at HarvardBIO-IT World FAIR Data HackathonOpenHackathonsMLH 2026 EventsCodeDayDevpostNCBI CodeathonsThanks to Amulya Shastry for editing and management support and Dina Issakova for social media support and the cover art!Follow us on LinkedIn: Saba Nafees and Sharvari Narendra

New year, new episode, new comp-bio goals and new hosts. But first, we wish you a very Happy New Year! Most new year's resolutions fail due to lack of clarity, so to make it easier, we begin our first episode of the season with a list that hopefully inspires you. From using AI tools to make your life easier to documenting your own code better, we are bringing resolutions every computational biologist needs this new year. Tune into the latest episode of "A Coffee with CompBio" where Sharvari Narendra and Saba Nafees present 12 awesome resolutions for the new year.If you think you have a better one, let us know in the comments and we will give you a shoutout in the next episode!Links:Season 1 ArchiveThanks to Amulya Shastry for editing and management support and Dina Issakova for social media support and the cover art!.Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-nafees/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharvarinarendra/