Sage Bionetworks

Better Science Together | We are driving a new age of discovery through truly open science and radical collaboration.

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

BIG NEWS: We have just launched SynapseChat! 🤖

We now have an AI chatbot integrated into our Synapse platform. This is the best example of an LLM built into an NIH-listed generalist repository.

It’s going to transform the way researchers find and query data.

So what does it mean for you?
- High-precision search of datasets of interest
- Helpful summaries of complex data
- Assistance in making new connections across different findings

Our new AI agent marks a major step in making our biomedical data more discoverable and usable, all while maintaining our highest standards of patient privacy.

Make your next discovery at lightspeed by trying out SynapseChat today!

Learn more about the Chatbot and what it can do for you: https://t.co/rJ8F6FuDSF

Need help with your data management needs? We’d love to help! Check out our plans: https://t.co/dlUUa1zIZI

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

Not intended to provide medical care, diagnosis, or medical advice.

Full details: https://t.co/LSvlcJlfMg

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

1/ Today we're launching Rare Disease, Real Kid: The MVA Hackathon 2026 🧬

An open research hackathon built on the real genome and clinical history of one child living with Mosaic Variegated Aneuploidy, an ultra-rare genetic condition affecting fewer than 50 people worldwide.

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

6/ If you work in ML, bioinformatics or applied AI and haven't touched a rare disease problem, this is built to be a way in.

Organized by @sagebio with the MVA Society, @huggingface (Thanks @cgeorgiaw!) and BEACON.

👉 https://t.co/TQ47PdMP8U

#RareDisease #OpenScience #Genomics #MachineLearning

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

🧬 Help Advance Genomic Interpretation—Join a CAGI7 Challenge!

Sage Bionetworks is excited to support the recently launched CAGI7 (Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation) challenges—open to researchers, data scientists, and students who want to help predict the functional impact of genetic variants.

8 challenges are already open for submission. These include:

🔹 BARD1: Predict how single nucleotide variants affect RNA abundance and cell survival—using data from saturation genome editing of a key tumor suppressor gene.

🔹 ARSA: Predict the stability of 8,867 missense variants in Arylsulfatase A, linked to the lysosomal storage disorders.

🔹 ATP7B: Model the functional effects of ATP7B missense variants—key to understanding Wilson disease, a disorder of copper metabolism that affects the liver and brain.

Work with cutting-edge data, get credit, and contribute to a global open science effort to improve genetic prediction models.

➡️ Explore the open challenges and register today
https://t.co/fsXes2sdoo

#CAGI7 #openscience #datachallenges

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

As with others, we at Sage Bionetworks are mourning the passing of Atul, our colleague and joint architect of this organization. One instance that illustrates how important his voice was to Sage is the time when, along with Trey Ideker and Eric Schadt, Atul helped us form the "Sage Bionetworks “Federation.”

While he was at Stanford, he hosted all of us and helped finalize our charter for a Sage Federation. It was framed so that all students in these four individual labs were given full and direct access to what was in each other’s labs—from reagents to code to data—and, as one large lab, encouraged students to find counterparts in other labs to collaborate with on projects.

What was the "Sage Bionetworks Federation"? ➡️ https://t.co/cLkzhxN5II

This Sage Federation worked on several projects, but one of the best examples—driven jointly by students in the Ideker Lab and at Sage Bionetworks (Justin Guinney)—was the successful search for how methylation patterns could predict biological age. This work was published in 2013 in Molecular Cell: https://t.co/HNWFPTKegS

This is notable for both Biomarker Development and Open Science.

Biomarker Development: The paper established DNA methylation as a robust biomarker for aging, influencing subsequent research on epigenetic clocks and age-related disease prediction.

Collaborative Science: It exemplified the power of data sharing and collaboration in advancing biomedical research.

We at Sage will miss you, Atul.

Stephen Friend
Chairman of the Board
Sage Bionetworks

Luca Foschini
President
Sage Bionetworks

(Photo credit: Noah Berger/UCSF)

[AD Knowledge Portal @AMPADPortal]

Registration is open for the TREAT-AD webinar April 29 at 1pm ET! Learn from Dr. Greg Cary of the @jacksonlab about the team's in vitro screening approach to identify promising targets for #Alzheimers disease. @EmoryMedicine @thesgconline @Sagebio

https://t.co/KVd7LwIiBv

[AD Knowledge Portal @AMPADPortal]

Don't miss this webinar! Sign up now to attend Evaluation of Therapeutic Hypotheses & Targets Prioritized from Systems-level Analyses of #Alzheimers disease: https://t.co/KVd7LwIiBv

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

Big News for Aging and Longevity Research! 🧬

We have now launched the ELITE portal (Exceptional Longevity Translational Resources)—the largest open-access molecular data repository dedicated to studying exceptional human longevity!

💡 Why ELITE matters:
🔹 Fosters collaboration among longevity researchers
🔹 Standardizes data collection for stronger comparative insights
🔹 Democratizes access to previously siloed datasets
🔹 Accelerates discoveries that could unlock the secrets of longer, healthier lives

With generous funding from the @NIHAging, our initial release features comprehensive molecular profiles of centenarians and their offspring, with plans for continued expansion as the research community contributes new data.

This open, community-driven portal is a milestone for aging research, providing scientists worldwide with unprecedented access to critical datasets.

Explore the portal today: https://t.co/heb8ZJB9Pv

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

Collaboration is critical for advancing cancer research and transforming patient outcomes. For this to occur, we need rich, multi-modal datasets to be widely accessible to the scientific community.

At Sage Bionetworks, we’re proud to be part of the HTAN Data Coordinating Center (DCC) with our colleagues at @DanaFarber, @isbsci and @MSKCancerCenter .

The HTAN DCC brings together experts in clinical, multi-omics and FAIR data and data governance, ensuring that these high-resolution tumor atlases can be shared, explored, and reused seamlessly. In a new perspective in Nature Methods the HTAN DCC team describe how researchers can now:

🔹 Access diverse cancer datasets via the HTAN Portal
🔹 Explore data with tools like CellxGene, Minerva, and cBioPortal
🔹 Analyze datasets in the cloud through NCI Cancer Research Data Commons

By leveraging the Synapse platform, we’ve built an infrastructure for the HTAN DCC that standardizes, harmonizes, and disseminates complex cancer research data—paving the way for new discoveries. This model sets a precedent for open, scalable, and reproducible biomedical research.

🔗 Read more about our approach in the new publication: https://t.co/x42Tznhy8Z

#OpenScience #CancerResearch #HTAN

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

We now have over 3.5 petabytes of biomedical data on our Synapse platform for the research world to reuse.

And it's easier than ever to discover the datasets you're looking for and how they can accelerate your research.

Introducing the Synapse Data Catalog!

https://t.co/CwVF9IofPF

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus affect millions, yet finding effective treatments remains a major challenge.

This Autoimmune Awareness Month, we’re spotlighting our ARK portal—a game-changer for autoimmune research. ARK accelerates discoveries by making high-quality multiomics datasets openly available to scientists, helping to uncover new biological targets.

Built with funding from the NIAMS AMP AIM program and in partnership with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, ARK is proof that data sharing and collaboration can lead to better patient outcomes.

🔬 Ready to explore? Check out the ARK portal and help push autoimmune research forward!

https://t.co/Vnt2L1CcW3

#AutoimmuneAwareness #AutoimmuneAwarenessMonth #OpenScience

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

🚀 Join Us at Sage Bionetworks – Senior Scientific Program Manager Opportunity! 🚀

We’re looking for a Senior Scientific Program Manager to support groundbreaking Alzheimer’s disease research.

This role will drive multi-institutional collaboration, oversee data coordination and dissemination, and engage the broader research community to maximize impact.

If you thrive on managing complex scientific projects and love working with interdisciplinary teams, this is your chance to make a real difference.

Explore our open positions: https://t.co/JxpQLBtRAp

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

It’s now easier than ever to discover, access, and cite high-quality datasets hosted on our Synapse platform.

Synapse is being added to the Data Citation Index on Web of Science, which provides descriptive records for data objects and links them to the relevant literature articles.

Records are easily searchable so that scientists can find the data they need to accelerate high-impact research.

This inclusion will boost visibility, attribution, and reproducibility, and ensure that our data contributors receive the proper credit they deserve when committing to open science.

Explore the index: https://t.co/Uz3mx2GYW2

[Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative @AlzData]

NOW LIVE: The AD Discovery Portal, a public facing catalog for enhanced data discovery! Designed to be open to all, the Portal allows anyone to find datasets available through AD Workbench without having to log in. Discover over 100 datasets here: https://t.co/ZoB3NwTcTL

[Sage Bionetworks @Sagebio]

BIG NEWS 🚀 We are delighted to announce that Andrea Varsavsky, PhD has joined Sage as our new Chief Operating Officer!

Andrea will use her 20+ years of experience in healthcare technology, operations, and analytics to help us accelerate cutting-edge research and new pathways to advancing human health.

Before joining Sage, Andrea led data strategy, product development, and large-scale analytics initiatives at @evidation and @Medtronic .

Now, she’ll be leading our operations and business functions, ensuring we continue supporting high-impact discoveries through open science.

We’re excited about the expertise and leadership she brings to our mission—welcome to the team, Andrea! 🎉

[Susheel Varma PhD MBA FBCS 🇬🇧🇺🇦 @susheelvarma]

1/6 📢 For day 4 #LoveData25, we explore how @Sagebio advances open science through collaborative challenges! Check out our three flagship platforms that bring researchers together to solve complex biomedical problems 🧬🔬

#LoveData25 #CriticalAssesment #Challenges #Benchmarking