We are delighted to be organising our annual flagship event.
The theme of this year’s workshop is: Integration of data from multiple domains
The keynote lecture will be delivered by Professor Matthew Stephens from University of Chicago on:
“The menagerie of matrix factorization methods”
Abstract: Matrix factorization methods, ranging from common and garden varieties (eg Principal Component Analysis; PCA, and Non-negative Matrix Factorization; NMF), to more exotic beasts, are widely used to help summarize and interpret data.
Often a single method is used in any given analysis, although different methods may give complementary insights. This talk will review some of the factors that affect interpretability of matrix factorization results, including non-negativity, sparsity, orthogonality and data transformations. We illustrate the ideas using several applications arising in genomics, although we expect many of the ideas to apply more generally.
Programme:
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09:30 – 09:50 |
Arrival and Refreshments |
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09:50 – 10:00 |
Welcome |
Professor Stephen Burgess, MRC Biostatistics Unit |
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10:00 – 10:20 |
“A Bayesian functional factor model for high-dimensional molecular curves” |
Dr Hélène Ruffieux, MRC Biostatistics Unit |
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10:20 – 10:55 |
“Bayesian variable selection for multi-omics modelling and outcome prediction in precision oncology” |
Professor Manuela Zucknick, University of Oslo |
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10:55 – 11:15 |
Refreshments |
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11:15 – 11:35 |
“Do we need causal effect estimates?” |
Mr Benjamin Woolf, MRC Biostatistics Unit |
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11:35 – 11:55 |
“Integration of biological information to improve prediction in cancer” |
Professor Oscar Rueda, MRC Biostatistics Unit |
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11:55 – 12:15 |
“The functional p-value: a significance measure that optimally integrates informative data to maximize power in genome-wide studies” |
Dr Andrew Bass, University of Cambridge |
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12:15 – 13:30 |
Lunch | |
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13:30 – 14:05 |
“Leveraging genetic associations with multiple traits to improve causal claims” |
Professor Gibran Hemani, University of Bristol |
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14:05 – 14:25 |
“Outcome-guided biclustering for shared gene signature discovery in immune-mediated diseases” |
Dr Luis A. Vargas-Mieles, University of Cambridge |
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14:25 – 14:45 |
Refreshments |
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14:45 – 14:55 |
Introduction of Keynote Lecture |
Professor John Whittaker, MRC Biostatistics Unit |
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14:55 – 16:05 |
22nd Armitage Keynote Lecture: "The menagerie of matrix factorization methods” |
Professor Matthew Stephens, University of Chicago |
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16:05 – 17:00 |
Networking and Refreshments |
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Register:
22nd Armitage Workshop and Lecture, 23 October 2025 | University of Cambridge