Andy was a brilliant scientist and genuinely lovely person. I first met Andy through the BCN grants committee and I am so glad I did. Through chat over coffee we engaged over science which sparked an excellent productive collaboration, and trips between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Andy was so generous with his time and knowledge - it was always stimulating to discuss results with him and he never made you feel inferior (which I definitely was when it came to bioinformatics). This is a tragic loss to his family, his friends, his colleagues and the scientific community. I only hope that his family take some comfort in knowing how widely respected and loved Andy was. I am so pleased I had the pleasure of knowing Andy but I'm so sad it was so time-limited. With my heartfelt sympathy, Karen