Using computational biology to develop and tailor treatments for immune and dermatology diseases.

Lead research groups studying questions in neuroscience and cancer resulting in 2 first author papers. Developing and using novel computational methods to do unique and expedited analyses of real world and multi-omic data.• Mentoring and training 5 members of the laboratory resulting in their authorship on published manuscripts and acceptance into graduate school.• Analyze and present large data sets of Multi-Omic data sets containing clinical, Mass Spectrometry, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and ATAC-seq data for biologist, clinician, and computational scientist collaborators.• Designed and implemented machine and deep learning techniques to predictively model novel fusion proteins and protein complexes discovering conformations and interactions to target in cancer and other human diseases.• Developed a tool (lsGSEA) to examine the expression of gene sets across large data sets containing thousands of RNA-seq samples such as the entire Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), dbGAP, or Protein Atlas.• Wrote a script (Quick_qPCR_Analysis.R) to easily analyze qPCR data in seconds reducing analysis time 1000%.• Created a pipeline (ChIP_Explorer) to comprehensively characterize ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, or other next generation sequencing results, cutting analysis time by up to 90%.

Designed, executed, and wrote grants for projects that won over $150,000 in funding from the NIH. Lead teams performing molecular biology research and bioinformatic analysis of large clinical and sequencing datasets.• Author and spearheaded research for three separate first author manuscripts making discoveries in cancer, neuroscience, and developing an improved method to measure transcription.• Participated in large collaborations of bioinformaticians, molecular biologists, and clinicians developing treatments for cancer and aging. Wrote up results describing analyses published in two manuscripts.• Developed and implemented bioinformatic pipelines for large complex genetic data sets of clinical data, scRNA-seq, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, Hi-C, and Mass Spectrometry. Preformed predictive and survival analysis.• Analyzed RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, and Mass Spectrometry to find the mechanism that causes Solitary Fibrous Tumors (SFTs) to develop, illuminating a new therapeutic target.• Analyzed next generation sequencing data, patient samples, in-vivo models, and large clinical datasets to be the first to classify Solitary Fibrous Tumors as neuroendocrine tumors providing novel clinical insight.• Discovered an essential transcriptional regulator of neuronal differentiation of iPSCs through bioinformatic analysis of scRNA-seq, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, Hi-C, and Mass Spectrometry, presenting a new treatment target for neuronal developmental disorders.• Designed and optimized a method to measure nascent RNA transcription (fastGRO-seq) that improved reliability 100% and increased applicability by reducing the necessary input material by 4000%.

Directed two independent research projects studying the causes of hereditary hearing loss providingtherapeutic targets. Worked in the Genomics and Computational Biology Core helping perform andanalyze next generation sequencing experiments for over 20 research groups.• Discovered the role of the transcription factor grainyhead-like 2 (GRHL2), which is mutated inindividuals with age related hereditary hearing loss, in hearing and wound healing using mousemodels, human cell models, and RNA-seq.• Revealed the function of multifunctional cytokine hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a genemutated in families with hereditary hearing loss, in hearing using mouse models and RNA-seq.• Advised labs on next generation sequencing experimental design.• Performed and analyzed sequencing experiments for human genetics, gene therapy, andmicrobiome research.

Research Assistant in the Yuan Lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Spearheaded efforts to identify novel regulators of flower pigmentation in the Mimulus genus. Used geneediting and manipulation to identify the mechanisms responsible for proper flower color and pattern.• Conducted a mutant screen of Mimulus verbenaceus and investigated causes of phenotypes ofvarious mutants using genetic mapping mainly focusing on those affecting flower pigments.• Determined the function of a transcription factor responsible for the production of Carotenoidpigments essential for proper flower color and pollination.