From 2c538186cd6a8286c19f18ee570878cef9ebcad7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 10:21:03 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/4] update alumnae
---
_members/Zihan_Lyu.md | 4 ++--
_members/hildana_shiferaw.md | 4 ++--
_members/xinran_bi.md | 2 ++
3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/_members/Zihan_Lyu.md b/_members/Zihan_Lyu.md
index 48e342d..f795da3 100644
--- a/_members/Zihan_Lyu.md
+++ b/_members/Zihan_Lyu.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
name: Zihan Lyu '25
image: images/ZihanLyu.jpg
description: Undergraduate Researcher
-role: undergrad
+role: alum
aliases:
- Zihan Lyu
links:
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zihan-lyu/
---
-I am a senior at Smith College, double majoring in Computer Science and Neuroscience. I plan to pursue further education and apply my skills in medical technology, focusing on rehabilitation and neural interfaces. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, crocheting, and ceramics.
+Zihan graduated from Smith College in 2025 with a double major in Computer Science and Neuroscience. She is now pursuing her interest in medical technology, focusing on rehabilitation and neural interfaces, at the graduate level: she is now pursuing an M.S. in Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on sensory feedback and functional restoration in upper-limb amputations in the [Neuroengineering and Biomedical Instrumentation Lab led by Prof. Nitish Thakor](https://neuroengineering.bme.jhu.edu/people). In her free time, she enjoys cooking, crocheting, and ceramics.
diff --git a/_members/hildana_shiferaw.md b/_members/hildana_shiferaw.md
index 15eb801..63846a7 100644
--- a/_members/hildana_shiferaw.md
+++ b/_members/hildana_shiferaw.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
name: Hildana Shiferaw '25
image: images/hildana_shiferaw.jpg
description: Undergraduate Researcher
-role: undergrad
+role: alum
links:
---
-
+Hildana graduate from Smith in 2025 with B.A. in Biological Sciences and a B.S. in Engineering Science. She completed the VBIL's first honors thesis, where she assessed the viability of miRNA markers for assessing ovarian cancer risk, with the goal of developing point of care diagnostic testing. After graduating from Smith, she went on to pursue a [Ph.D. in Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics at Yale University](https://cbb.yale.edu/students).
diff --git a/_members/xinran_bi.md b/_members/xinran_bi.md
index 6760556..e129251 100644
--- a/_members/xinran_bi.md
+++ b/_members/xinran_bi.md
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ links:
---
Xinran completed majors in Mathematical Statistics and Computer Science as a 2024J graduate. Her current research interest lies in the intersection of artificial intelligence and biomedicine. She is originally from Shanghai, China. Outside of academics, she enjoys listening to audio books, learning languages, and cooking.
+
+After graduating from Smith, Xinran continued her work in bioinformatics while pursuing an [M.S. in Computer Science](https://www.cs.princeton.edu/people/grad) in the [Pritykin Lab at Princeton University](https://pritykinlab.github.io/).
From 2fc7fb63131f7a1f0c9d67ece8cb422d3a512a09 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 14:51:06 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/4] Add lab news page and homepage feed
---
_includes/post-info.html | 2 +-
_layouts/member.html | 12 ++++++++----
_posts/.gitkeep | 1 +
index.md | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
news/index.md | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5 files changed, 71 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 _posts/.gitkeep
create mode 100644 news/index.md
diff --git a/_includes/post-info.html b/_includes/post-info.html
index c0585d7..de1fb39 100644
--- a/_includes/post-info.html
+++ b/_includes/post-info.html
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@
{% if include.tags %}
- {% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="blog" %}
+ {% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="news" %}
{% endif %}
diff --git a/_layouts/member.html b/_layouts/member.html
index 034b5d0..893b098 100644
--- a/_layouts/member.html
+++ b/_layouts/member.html
@@ -39,13 +39,17 @@
{% capture search -%}
- blog/?search={{ page.name }}
+ news/?search={{ page.name }}
{%- endcapture %}
-
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/_posts/.gitkeep b/_posts/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b13789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/.gitkeep
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+
diff --git a/index.md b/index.md
index 175f172..b78dbda 100644
--- a/index.md
+++ b/index.md
@@ -7,6 +7,27 @@ Here in the VBIL within the Computer Science Department at Smith, we are interes
{% include section.html %}
+## Latest News
+
+{% if site.posts.size > 0 %}
+{% for post in site.posts limit: 3 %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% else %}
+Future lab announcements, milestones, publications, and event updates will appear here.
+{% endif %}
+
+{%
+ include button.html
+ link="news"
+ text="View all news"
+ icon="fa-solid fa-arrow-right"
+ flip=true
+ style="bare"
+%}
+
+{% include section.html %}
+
## Highlights
{% capture text %}
diff --git a/news/index.md b/news/index.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6235e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+---
+title: News
+nav:
+ order: 4
+ tooltip: Lab updates and announcements
+redirect_from:
+ - /blog
+ - /blog/
+---
+
+# {% include icon.html icon="fa-regular fa-newspaper" %}News
+
+Use this page for lab updates, student milestones, publications, talks, and other announcements from the VBIL.
+
+{% if site.posts.size > 0 %}
+
+{% include search-box.html %}
+
+{% include search-info.html %}
+
+{% assign posts_by_year = site.posts
+ | group_by_exp: "post", "post.date | date: '%Y'"
+%}
+
+{% for year in posts_by_year %}
+## {{ year.name }}
+
+{% for post in year.items %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% else %}
+
+No news posts have been published yet.
+
+To publish one, add a Markdown file to `_posts/` using the filename format `YYYY-MM-DD-title.md`.
+
+{% endif %}
From 34b3da217c1681496e4f14ea034afcf6bff78627 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: HM Rando
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 14:52:43 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 3/4] Update GitHub Actions for current runtimes
---
.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml | 6 +++---
.github/workflows/build-site.yaml | 6 +++---
.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml | 12 ++++++------
.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml | 10 +++++-----
.github/workflows/update-url.yaml | 10 +++++-----
5 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml
index 5284286..cd239cc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-preview.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
uses: crazy-max/ghaction-dump-context@v1
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
with:
repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
@@ -35,13 +35,13 @@ jobs:
if: github.event.action != 'closed'
uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
with:
- ruby-version: "3.0"
+ ruby-version: "3.1"
bundler-cache: true
- name: Get Pages url
if: github.event.action != 'closed'
id: pages
- uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
+ uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
with:
enablement: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml
index 9b71767..a4a34b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-site.yaml
@@ -25,17 +25,17 @@ jobs:
uses: crazy-max/ghaction-dump-context@v1
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
- name: Install Ruby packages
uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
with:
- ruby-version: "3.0"
+ ruby-version: "3.1"
bundler-cache: true
- name: Get Pages url
id: pages
- uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
+ uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
with:
enablement: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml b/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml
index bf227f7..303da7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/first-time-setup.yaml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ jobs:
branch: "gh-pages"
- name: Checkout Pages branch
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
with:
ref: gh-pages
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ jobs:
run: echo "Placeholder homepage" > index.html
- name: Commit changes to Pages branch
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
branch: gh-pages
commit_message: "Clear branch"
- name: Checkout main branch
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
- name: Remove files user doesn't need
run: |
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ jobs:
" > README.md
- name: Personalize Jekyll config for user
- uses: actions/github-script@v6
+ uses: actions/github-script@v8
with:
script: |
const { readFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("fs");
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ jobs:
writeFileSync(file, contents);
- name: Personalize homepage for user
- uses: actions/github-script@v6
+ uses: actions/github-script@v8
with:
script: |
const { readFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("fs");
@@ -109,6 +109,6 @@ jobs:
writeFileSync(file, contents);
- name: Commit changed files
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
commit_message: "Setup repo"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml
index fbaf34f..03cfbc8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-citations.yaml
@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ jobs:
uses: crazy-max/ghaction-dump-context@v1
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
with:
repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
- name: Setup Python
- uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+ uses: actions/setup-python@v6
with:
python-version: "3.11"
cache: "pip"
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
- name: Check if citations changed
id: changed
- uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v17
+ uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v20
with:
files: |
_data/citations.yaml
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ jobs:
if: |
steps.changed.outputs.files_changed == 'true' &&
inputs.open-pr != true
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
commit_message: "Update citations"
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
if: |
steps.changed.outputs.files_changed == 'true' &&
inputs.open-pr == true
- uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v4
+ uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v8
with:
branch: citation-update
title: Periodic citation update
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml b/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml
index 9ccd9a3..6fa5200 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-url.yaml
@@ -25,16 +25,16 @@ jobs:
- name: Get Pages url
id: pages
- uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
+ uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
with:
enablement: false
- name: Checkout branch contents
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+ uses: actions/checkout@v5
# update link to site in readme
- name: Update readme
- uses: actions/github-script@v6
+ uses: actions/github-script@v8
with:
script: |
const { readFileSync, writeFileSync } = require("fs");
@@ -53,14 +53,14 @@ jobs:
- name: Check if readme changed
id: changed
- uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v13
+ uses: tj-actions/verify-changed-files@v20
with:
files: |
README.md
- name: Commit changed files
if: steps.changed.outputs.files_changed == 'true'
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+ uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
with:
commit_message: "Update url"
From 2afc1131c21da468efff3b1e92e857f10e70063b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: rando2
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 19:11:18 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 4/4] Update citations
---
_data/citations.yaml | 4 ++--
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/_data/citations.yaml b/_data/citations.yaml
index a490099..7d913f5 100644
--- a/_data/citations.yaml
+++ b/_data/citations.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
- Nicholas R. Howe
- Halie M. Rando
publisher: American Journal of Veterinary Research
- date: '2025-02-21'
+ date: '2025-03-01'
link: https://doi.org/g85s7s
type: journal paper
tags:
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@
- Anupam Sule
- Umit Topaloglu
- Melissa A. Haendel
- publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
+ publisher: openRxiv
date: '2021-03-26'
link: https://doi.org/gjk3ng
image: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8975841/112666874-013a3400-8e33-11eb-9be9-5c74f3e397ea.png