Welcome to the Genomics Research Training in Data Science (GRTDS) program! We are a program within the Masters in Data Science degree program at the University of Washington. Our goal is to train a wide range of new data scientists in genomics projects so that they are well established to take advantage of emerging job opportunities in genomics and related biosciences. Our students have access to mentoring in labs run by some of the foremost experts in Genome Sciences as part of their training.

If you are interested in this program, contact Emma Timmins-Schiffman (emmats [ a t ] uw.edu).

Current Genome Sciences Principal Investigators in the GRTDS Program

Bill Noble - https://noble.gs.washington.edu

The Noble lab applies machine learning and statistical techniques to various types of biological data, including DNA and protein sequences.

Current MSDS projects in the Noble lab:
- Modifying a deep learning algorithm that predicts how close chromosomes are to each other in a cell nucleus. This work was previously done with human heart cells, and is being extended to apply to 20 mammalian species.
- Investigating the impact of Turner and Klinefelter syndrome on humans in brain and heart tissue.

Brian Beliveau - https://www.beliveau.io/

The Beliveau lab develops and applies computational and molecular tools to understand 3D genome organization and the regulation of gene expression.


Current MSDS projects in the Beliveau lab:
- Investigating the spatial relationship between cell cycle states during mouse organogenesis via computational image analysis.

Alice Berger - https://research.fredhutch.org/berger/en.html

The Berger lab employs high-throughput functional genomics approaches to identify new drug targets, uncover mechanisms of drug resistance, and understand mechanisms of cancer gene activity.


Current MSDS projects in the Berger lab:
- Genetically edit sets of genes and then leverage this data to characterize how genes interact, predict the existence of genetic interactions, and nominate sets of genes as targets for cancer treatment

Paul Valdmanis - https://sites.google.com/view/valdmanislab/home

The Valdmanis lab studies genetic risk factors in neurodegenerative disease with a particular emphasis on tandem repeat expansions and uses biobank-level data to ascertain phenotypic consequences of these variants.

Gavin Ha - https://gavinhalab.org/people/Gavin-Ha/

The Ha lab studies how genome alterations affect cancer progression and leverage this information to inform precision medicine.


Current MSDS projects in the Ha lab:
- Developing interpretability methods for a multimodal deep learning model that predicts gene expression from liquid biopsies
- Designing an automated curation tool to support a widely-used bioinformatics tool in the cancer liquid biopsy research community
- Optimizing TITAN, a bioinformatics tool used to study genetic variations in cancer, by refining its ability to support minor subclones of cancer cells. Our goal is to enhance TITAN’s precision and robustness in accurately detecting genetic changes in complex and low tumor content samples, such as from plasma circulating tumor DNA.

Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong - https://www.nasalab.org/

The Sinnott-Armstrong lab studies the environmental risk behind human diseases, using epidemiology, genetics, microbiology, and cellular biology.

Current MSDS projects in the Sinnott-Armstrong lab:
- Web-app that visually shows points of bias in AI medical assistant recommendations based on sex, race, and age.

Sergei Doulatov - https://sites.uw.edu/doulatov/

The Doulatov lab studies hematopoietic stem cells and the development of blood cancers.

 

Conferences Attended by MSDS students

The National Human Genome Research Institute Annual Conference in Seattle, April 2024 - https://www.genome.gov/event-calendar/NHGRI-Research-Training-and-Career-Development-Annual-Meeting
The AI Summit in New York, December 2024 - https://newyork.theaisummit.com/
The Festival of Genomics and Biodata in London, January 2025 - https://festivalofgenomics.com/london/en/page/2025-homepage

For more information, please contact the Genomics Research Training for Data Scientists Program Manager, Emma Timmins-Schiffman at emmats [ a t ] uw.edu

Supported By NIH 1 R25 HG012337-01