🎓 PhD Candidate in Molecular Genetics & Genomics (WashU) in the Dougherty Laboratory
🧬 Computational genomics | RNA regulation | Neurodevelopment
I study how genetic variation in untranslated regions impacts gene regulation, with a focus on neurodevelopmental disorders like ASD.
My current work investigates how 3′UTR single nucleotide variants (SNVs) influence:
- Gene expression
- mRNA localization
- Translational efficiency
I’m particularly interested in how these variants disrupt regulatory elements such as:
- miRNA binding sites
- RNA-binding protein (RBP) interactions
- Conserved sequence elements
🧬 3′UTR Variant Analysis in ASD
- Identifying SNVs in ASD-associated genes
- Assessing functional impact on post-transcriptional regulation
🧠 Regulatory Mechanisms
- miRNA-mediated repression
- RBP binding and transcript stability
- Effects on translation and localization
📊 Functional Genomics Approaches
- RNA-seq / miRNA-seq analysis
- UTR annotation and variant mapping
- Integration of conservation and regulatory datasets
Languages
- Python 🐍
- R 📊
- Bash
Bioinformatics & Analysis
- RNA-seq workflows
- Variant annotation (UTRs, SNVs)
- FASTQ processing & QC
- Sequence-based analysis
Libraries & Tools
- pandas, numpy, matplotlib
- Biopython
- samtools / bedtools
- Linking 3′UTR variation to functional outcomes (Gene expression + translation + RNA Stability)
- Exploring RBP/miRNA motif disruption in disease contexts
Understanding how non-coding variation reshapes gene regulation in the brain and contributes to neurodevelopmental disorders 🧬