David Cox Email & Phone Number

Lyon, Fr

Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

I lead a research team at the forefront of personalized medicine. The team is currently made up of a bioinformatician, a biostatistician, and a clinical research assistant.Our main activity is the identification of constitutional genetic signatures associated with treatment efficacy in early breast cancer patients, particularly those with HER2-positive cancers. We have genome-wide genotyping data and prospective follow-up on nearly 10,000 women. In addition to applying the traditional method of variant-by-variant analyses, we are actively exploring novel techniques of teasing out the complex influence of genetic and non-genetic factors on response to treatment. The end goal of this work will be factors or risk scores that can subsequently be used as stratification variables in precision medicine clinical trials.In parallel, I co-mentor a PhD student with researchers from the University of Nancy to apply machine learning and natural language processing to literature and health records to build an algorithm and platform for clinicians to be able to access, digest, and act upon this information. The amount of data and information that have been generated over the last few years is staggering. Clinicians need streamlined intuitive methods to not only access, but also to internalize, comprehend, and then apply this information to their clinical practice. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing are well suited to deal with the sheer mass of data to be analyzed, and repackage this data into useable information for clinicians.

I joined SOPHiA GENETICS to translate my years of research in genetic epidemiology into something useful for clinicians. My role was to convert the raw algorithm of breast cancer risk I had developed into a SaaS platform available to healthcare professionals. The algorithm took into consideration genetic and non-genetic variables that influence breast cancer risk. I was responsible for all stages of development (i.e. algorithmic, UX), and interactions with all other teams in the deployment (i.e. regulatory, marketing, sales support) of the solution.

I decided to move to France to take advantage of the well-developed nation-wide network of clinician-researchers. I led a research team made up of students (undergraduate and graduate), post-doctoral fellows, visiting scientists, and engineers. My main focus was on breast cancer, building resources to apply cutting-edge genetic analyses to large cohorts of patients.My expertise in genome wide association studies furthermore allowed for a number of fruitful collaborations with clinicians studying diseases such as Ewing sarcoma, uveal melanoma, and lymphoma.

My role at Imperial College was to aid in the application of genome-wide analyses techniques in the European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer (EPIC) cohorts.

As an instructor at the Harvard School of Public Health, I led research projects on genetic susceptibility to breast cancer.

My thesis at IARC was based on detecting novel polymorphisms in candidate genes, and using these polymorphisms in epidemiology studies.

M.S., Epidemiology

The aim of pursuing a degree simultaneously to my post-doctoral fellowship was to provide more structure and depth to my knowledge.

Ph.D., Human Genetics

My thesis focused on the identification of novel single nucleotide variants (SNPs) in candidate genes, and testing these variants.

B.S., Biology

Activities and Societies: Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Rugby, SCOPEIn my last two years at UNH, I also participated in work study programs.