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Andy Hickl

Andy Hickl

@andyhickl.bsky.social

870 followers 1.6K following 1.8K posts

CTO, AllenInstitute.org. Advisor, Fathom.org. He/him. Working at intersection of AI and biology.

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Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Apr 28

Time to try something new.

Reposted by Andy Hickl

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Feb 12

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

Reposted by Andy Hickl

Sarah Hörst @planetdr.bsky.social · Feb 18

Professors please pull up a chair.

I’ve been talking to my classes about what has been going on. I explained indirect costs to them. I talked to them about what a probationary employee is in the government.

At the end of class they asked if we could talk about it more. (1/)

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 18

If you believe theory, computation, and data science hold the key to the next great breakthroughs in biology, let’s talk.

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 18

We're looking for a visionary leader to help drive this effort. As Director of Studio D3, you’ll shape the future of data-driven discovery at the Allen Institute, guiding a team at the cutting edge of computation and biology. 🧪

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 18

That’s where Studio D3 comes in. Studio D3 brings together world-class theoreticians, computational biologists, and engineers to turn data into discovery. From decoding cellular organization to building #AI-driven models of biological function, the work we do transforms our understanding of life.

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 18

Here at the Allen Institute, our teams get to work with some of the largest biological datasets ever collected. But data alone isn’t enough. We need bold theoretical models, innovative analytical frameworks, and scalable computational methods to extract the principles that govern life.

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 18

We’re #hiring a Director for Studio D3, our center for data-driven discovery at the @alleninstitute.bsky.social. 🧪

www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/41...

Allen Institute hiring Director, Center for Data Driven Discovery in Seattle, WA | LinkedIn

Posted 3:19:54 PM. Director, Center for Data-Driven Discovery The mission of the Allen Institute is to understand…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.

www.linkedin.com

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 15

Instead of undermining established therapies, we should be investing in understanding the root causes of these conditions and developing new ways to prevent and treat them. 🧪

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 15

Given that nearly 3 billion people worldwide live with brain diseases—ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to ADHD and depression—our priority should be expanding access to effective treatments, not restricting them. 🧪

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 15

Decades of research show SSRIs are safe and non-addictive when used as prescribed, yet stigmatizing them could discourage people from seeking help. 🧪

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 15

Mental health treatments should be guided by science, not misinformation. With 13% of American adults relying on SSRIs to manage depression and anxiety, the new HHS Secretary’s unscientific claims about these medications are cause for outrage 🧪

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

RFK Jr. is already taking aim at antidepressants

The new HHS secretary has made baseless claims that the drugs are addictive and cause violent behavior.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Andy Hickl

Tim Mosca (he/him) @drosophilosophy.bsky.social · Feb 7

Oh. My. God.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 6

Seeing a lot of hype about AI models trained for “under $50.” Let’s be real—these models are distilled from much larger models trained with massive resources. Distillation is useful, but calling it “cheap training” seems misleading. What am I missing?

www.theverge.com/news/607341/...

Researchers trained an OpenAI rival in half an hour for less than $50

Doing a DeepSeek.

www.theverge.com

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 6

Aptly put:

Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, compared the halting of outbreak updates to “finding out that your local fire department has been told not to sound any fire alarms”.

www.ft.com/content/6067...

US scientists must resist Trump’s efforts to tear down research

It is misguided for academics to pre-emptively self-censor, tempting though that may seem

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 5

The story of this climate data resource should serve as a cautionary tale: we need to act as a community to ensure vital datasets and analytics platforms are safe from political shifts. We should start planning for the self-sustaining, resilient infrastructure needed to protect scientific work

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 5

When the Trump administration took a key climate justice tool offline, a coalition of data scientist heroes restored it within 48 hours.
🧪

www.ehn.org/scientists-r...

Scientists restore climate justice data tool after Trump administration took it offline

When the Trump administration deleted a key climate justice tool, a group of data scientists raced to bring it back online — restoring access in under 48 hours.Anika Jane Beamer reports for Inside Cli...

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 5

This is your chance to shape the future of AI-driven discovery. If you have an idea — big or small — that could push the boundaries of what’s possible, we want to hear it.

Submit your ideas and be part of the conversation. Let’s build the future together.

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Feb 5

What AI should exist — but doesn’t yet — to transform biology?

The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group has launched the Ask Anything, Change Everything campaign to gather bold ideas on how AI can revolutionize our understanding of fundamental biology.

alleninstitute.org/ask-anything...

Ask Anything Change Everything

Submissions are open for ideas of how artificial intelligence (AI) could unlock discoveries that advance our knowledge of fundamental biology.

alleninstitute.org

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Jan 2

Using smaller, open-source models like Llama-3.1-8B, Aviary achieves expert-level performance at 100x lower inference costs compared to frontier LLMs. A major leap for accessible, scalable AI in science.

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Jan 2

Aviary from FutureHouse provides a new framework for training language agents on real-world scientific challenges, including protein stability, DNA engineering, and literature-based question answering. 🧪

arxiv.org/pdf/2412.21154

Andy Hickl @andyhickl.bsky.social · Dec 25

Merry Christmas (to those who celebrate)

Photo credit: Grok

The Mandalorian and Grogu celebrating Christmas from an AI image generator

Reposted by Andy Hickl

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · Dec 23

Inside me are two wolves: one wants to make cinnamon rolls from scratch and the other doesn't want to go to the grocery store

Okay they're not wolves more like sloths

Reposted by Andy Hickl

Todd A. Carpenter @9thprime.bsky.social · Nov 25

The Allen Institute and the University of Washington have released a new AI search tool to answer scientific queries of OpenAccess content

Preprint released in @arxiv-cs-cl.bsky.social

OpenScholar: Synthesizing Scientific Literature with Retrieval-augmented LMs

arxiv.org/abs/2411.14199

OpenScholar: Synthesizing Scientific Literature with Retrieval-augmented LMs

Scientific progress depends on researchers' ability to synthesize the growing body of literature. Can large language models (LMs) assist scientists in this task? We introduce OpenScholar, a specialize...

Reposted by Andy Hickl

Allen Institute @alleninstitute.org · Dec 12

Meet ACE - a new tool for comparing annotations across Allen Institute transcriptomic taxonomies!

Join us for a webinar on how to use it in your #neuroscience research, incl. studies using our Alzheimer's datasets.

📆 Dec. 18, 9:30am PT
💻 Webinar
🎟️ alleninstitute.org/events/cell_...

#neuroskyence

Cell Type Taxonomies A-Z: Webinar Series

Webinar series covering everything and anything cell types starting in January 2024. Hosted by the Allen Institute.

alleninstitute.org