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Open Targets
@opentargets.org
620 followers 38 following 180 posts
Public-private partnership using human genetics and genomics data for systematic drug target identification and prioritisation. http://blog.opentargets.org
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opentargets.org
The recently-announced Open Psychiatry Project is the first initiative to jointly analyse UK mental health research data

Findings from this project will be integrated into the Open Targets Platform to help identify and prioritise the most promising therapeutic targets.
Quote accompanying a photo of Ellen McDonagh, Open Targets Translational Informatics Director and EMBL-EBI co-lead for the Open Psychiatry Project: The Open Psychiatry Project will translate the power of omics data into identifying potential new treatments for mental health conditions. This is the first major initiative to bring together mental health data for multiple stakeholders in an accessible way, and analysing this information collectively is a key step towards finding new targets for drug development.
November 24, 2025 at 11:14 AM
opentargets.org
And that's the Open Targets Hackathon done! 🧬🖥️

Thank you to everyone who joined in person and online, and who contributed to make this event a success

Particular thanks to our sponsors: Gates Foundation, Google Cloud, and @thehyvenl.bsky.social 🎉
A large group of people sat on steps in a building, smiling at the camera. The front row is holding bunting with the Open Targets logo.
October 23, 2025 at 12:26 PM
opentargets.org
Open Targets Hackathon Day 1!

Following our official kick off yesterday, there was some incredible energy and focus in the room

Thanks to our sponsors Gates Foundation, Google Cloud, and @thehyvenl.bsky.social for making this possible!
People are sat in groups, working at laptops arranged. They are engaged in individual and small group work. The room looks busy, with whiteboards covered in writing along the back wall. In a busy meeting room, participants are seated at white tables working on laptops, working independently or in groups. Three people are engaged in conversation while looking at a whiteboard covered with diagrams and notes. A blue banner or bunting is visible above.
October 22, 2025 at 9:39 AM
opentargets.org
The Open Targets Hackathon is today! 🎉

We're super excited to kick off this event celebrating 10 years of the Open Targets Platform

Thank you to Google Cloud for sponsoring our compute and Hariprasad Radhakrishnan for mentoring our teams and sharing this video — made with Google Veo 3! 🖥️🧬
October 21, 2025 at 11:24 AM
opentargets.org
At #ASHG25 and want to find out more about the largest and most comprehensive systematic analysis of common variation in humans?

Go find Daniel at poster board 1014T!
A man stands beside a poster board labelled 1014
October 16, 2025 at 2:50 PM
opentargets.org
We're at #ASHG2025!

Come say hello and find out more about Open Targets projects 👋
Find us at ASHG 2025. The graphic lists speakers in the Featured Symposium, beyond transcriptomics: can imaging bridge the gap in variant interpretation, and poster presenters. The two speakers are Gosia Trynka and Helena Kilpinen. The four poster presenters are: Catherine Sutherland, Haerin Jang, Annalisa Buniello, and Daniel Considine. Four Open
October 14, 2025 at 9:44 AM
opentargets.org
CLOSING: Postdoc in @francescoiorio.bsky.social's lab at @humantechnopole.bsky.social

Apply through LinkedIn by 5 October: www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...

#scienceJobs #AcademicSky #postdocJobs
Closing job ad for a postdoc in CRISPR meta-analytics and AI, from Open Targets and the Human Technopole. The role is in the Iorio Lab, salary up to 40k euros, apply by 5 October. The description reads: The Perturbation Catalogue project aims to create an online repository of data from post-perturbational experiments. You will focus on a meta-analytics project, developing computational methods for the reproducibility assessment, harmonisation and analysis or inter-study CRISPR datasets, aggregating data and developing and using innovative AI-based methods for therapeutic target prioritisation pipelines.
October 3, 2025 at 9:54 AM
opentargets.org
They found an interesting variant in the USP18 locus: a trans-eQTL that increases the expression of 50 interferon response genes. This variant also colocalises with a GWAS signal for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
October 2, 2025 at 11:59 AM
opentargets.org
This new data can provide insights about the function of genetic variants by linking them to likely regulatory elements that affect the transcriptional activity of nearby genes, and is available to browse on our variant pages
An example of an intervals widget for a variant in the Open Targets Platform
September 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
opentargets.org
Last call to submit a project for the Open Targets Hackathon!

Submit a project by 12 September: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We will prioritise projects where the project leads have signed up to attend the hackathon. Registrations are currently full but you can sign up to the waiting list
Open Targets Hackathon: one week left to submit a project
September 4, 2025 at 10:54 AM
opentargets.org
Google Cloud is sponsoring the compute for the Open Targets hackathon!

There is now a waiting list to attend the event in person, but project submissions and online registrations are still open.

The two-day hackathon will explore data, analyses, and tools for target discovery
Text reads: Open Targets hackathon, 21-22 October 2025, compute sponsored by Google Cloud
July 31, 2025 at 9:09 AM
opentargets.org
Meet Carlos Cruz! Carlos joined the Open Targets Platform team in 2021 🖥️🧬

@carcruz.dev, what is your role in Open Targets?
Carlos Cruz smiles at the camera from a bridge over a small river in a European town on a cloudy day.
July 29, 2025 at 9:46 AM
opentargets.org
Star Wars meme, conversation between Anakin and Padme. Padme says: Ani do you want to use Open Targets Genetics to identify drug targets?". Anakin replies, getting progressively more upset: "It's dead. The new Open Targets Platform has completely replaced it. And not just replaced it like-for-like, there's SO much new data. And they keep adding new data every 3 months — I can't keep up! I hate them!"
July 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
opentargets.org
Distracted boyfriend meme. The distracted boyfriend is labelled "Target discovery scientist", his girlfriend is "Open Targets Genetics", and the woman he is looking at is "Merged Open Targets Platform"
July 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
opentargets.org
Infinity brain-type meme with progressively happier otters. The levels read: browsing top hits on GWAS Catalog, Running your own post-GWAS analysis, Open Targets Genetics, and Merged Open Targets Platform
July 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
opentargets.org
We have now deprecated Open Targets Genetics — it has been superseded by the Open Targets Platform

The team said goodbye to Open Targets Genetics, through the medium of memes

Enjoy!
Meme: Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond comparing two cars. In the first image, Jeremy points to one labelled "Open Targets Genetics" saying, This is brilliant. In the second image, he points to another labelled "Merged Open Targets Platform" saying, "But I like this".
July 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
opentargets.org
Open Targets Genetics has now been deprecated

It has been superseded by the Open Targets Platform
Comic with four squares. Death, a skull in a black cloak, carrying a scythe, takes Open Targets Genetics by the hand, saying "It's time to go". Open Targets Genetics asks, "Was I a good platform?", and Death says "yes. They leave together, side by side.
July 9, 2025 at 1:25 PM
opentargets.org
We also undertake an all vs all study comparison, allowing you to view new studies in the context of all previously established GWAS and QTL information

GWAS and eQTL colocalisations for these credible sets further support the link between ESR1 and osteoporosis

Have you explored the data?
GWAS colocalisation metrics for overlapping sets from GWAS studies for one of the credible sets linking ESR1 to osteoporosis MolQTL colocalisation metrics for overlapping sets from GWAS studies for one of the credible sets linking ESR1 to osteoporosis
July 8, 2025 at 11:10 AM
opentargets.org
@anuragverma.bsky.social, Huffman, Rodriguez, Conery, Liu et al. (2024) conducted Genome Wide Association Studies with over 635,000 participants, identifying more than 26,000 variant-trait associations across 1270 traits
Screenshot of the publication in Science, titled: Diversity and scale, genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program
July 8, 2025 at 11:10 AM
opentargets.org
🧬 The latest Open Targets Platform release includes the first genetic evidence for ESR1 in osteoporosis

ESR1 is a known target for osteoporosis, with approved drugs such as Estradiol, but this is the first time we have genetic evidence for this association

platform.opentargets.org/disease/EFO_...
Osteoporosis associations page on the Open Targets Platform showing GWAS associations evidence for ESR1
July 8, 2025 at 11:10 AM
opentargets.org
Hackathon registrations are now open!

www.opentargets.org/hackathon

Join us in person or online on October 21-22, 2025 to explore data, analyses, and tools for target discovery.

Know someone who might be interested? Send this to them or tag them below!
July 2, 2025 at 9:06 AM
opentargets.org
Out now in iScience!

@itreg.bsky.social in Annie Speak's lab created an in vitro model of T cell exhaustion to help identify and target new genes relevant to improving the immune response against cancer cells

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Graphical abstract for the publication. The top section illustrates the in vitro model of T cell exhaustion, in which naive CD8 T cells OT-I are chronically stimulated with their cognate antigen— OVA peptide. This is followed by temporal phenotypic characterisation. This model recapitulates many critical hallmarks of exhaustion, including expression of canonical surface markers—ROS, PD1, CD39, 2B4 and LAG3— impaired proliferation, reduced cytokine production, decreased cytotoxic granule release, and metabolic alterations. The second section shows the identification of a gene signature of exhaustion between in vitro, mouse, and human TILs. Two in vivo models validate these results and establish a gene signature shared by in vitro and in vivo exhausted states. Critically, this signature is observed in tumour infiltrating T cells from multiple human tumour types, validating the translational potential of this model for discovering therapies.
July 1, 2025 at 9:53 AM
opentargets.org
Preprint out today!

A team led by @tobioinformatics.bsky.social and Bradley Harris in @carlanderson.bsky.social ‘s lab has created the largest single-cell atlas of IBD tissues to date

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
UMAP of the 9 populations and 86 cell types identified after quality control and clustering
June 26, 2025 at 8:29 AM
opentargets.org
A rundown of the new features and data in the Open Targets Platform 25.06 release!

What are you most excited about?
June 24, 2025 at 11:28 AM
opentargets.org
Open Targets Genetics will be deprecated on 9 July 2025

You will no longer be able to access genetics.opentargets.org. An archive of the data will be accessible through the EMBL-EBI FTP

We are happy to help with questions or concerns on the Open Targets Community: community.opentargets.org
Text reads: Announcement, Open Targets Genetics will be deprecated on 9 July 2025
May 15, 2025 at 10:46 AM