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Karen W

- Research Program Mentor

PhD at University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Expertise

Human genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, DNA sequencing

Bio

I am a doctoral level bioinformatic scientist with a strong background in bioinformatics, clinical genomics, and a wide variety of next-generation sequencing platforms. I’m interested in developing new computational tools to analyze human DNA to better understand health and disease. This is a rapidly evolving field and much of what we have learned about the human genome in the past decade has directly shaped the healthcare industry around the world! Here’s a snippet of my graduate work: https://www.ashg.org/publications-news/press-releases/201910-reference-genome-resources/

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

1. Introduction to next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies:

We will dive into different sequencing technologies and learn how they revolutionize our understanding of the human genome. We will also analyze publicly available datasets to learn how real world scientists use sequencing to interrogate different parts of the human genome. For more advanced students, we can develop innovative computational methods to tackle some of the complex regions that are inaccessible by typical sequencing methods.

2. Precision Medicine:

As the cost of DNA sequencing plummets, it is now possible to implement high throughput sequencing in genomic medicine. In this project, we will analyze simulated patient sequencing data and do some detective work to find out his/her genetic diagnosis! We will design a computational pipeline and package off-the-shelf algorithms to identify genetic mutation(s) underlying different diseases.

Coding skills

python, R, shell scripting

Languages I know

Cantonese, Mandarin

Teaching experience

I served as a teaching assistant in a Biostatistics course at UCSF. My main responsibilities include answering questions from students and preparing course materials prior to each lesson.

Credentials

Work experience

Color Genomics (2020 - Current)
Bioinformatic Scientist

Education

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
BS Bachelor of Science (2016)
Biochemistry
University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
PhD Doctor of Philosophy (2020)
Biomedical Sciences

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