How to Prepare for a Career in Computational Genetics/Bioinformatics, Molecular Genetics, and Research & Development

Mila Mirceta completed her doctoral studies in the lab of Dr. Christopher Pearson at the Hospital for Sick Children as part of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto in December 2019. Her research focused on understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of several neurodegenerative repeat expansion diseases, such as ALS/FTD. After extending her PhD work into a short post-doc in the same lab, she started as a biologist in a drug discovery start-up, before transitioning to a clinical research scientist with Emergent Biosolutions.  She was previously a member of the ASHG Training and Development Committee and last year's co-chair of the ASHG Career Development Committee.

Dr. Regis James is a Staff Bioinformatics Scientist in the Bioinformatics Core Services group at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, in Tarrytown, New York.  He obtained his undergraduate B.S. in bioengineering from Rice University and his Ph.D. in SCBMB (Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics) from Baylor College of Medicine.  During his tenure as a Ph.D. student, he was the primary developer of the transitive prioritization algorithm and its companion encapsulating web application (OMIM Explorer) for rapid, cost-effective, and highly accurate genome-wide genetic diagnostics and disease gene discovery. OMIM Explorer is in effect, a software prototype demonstrating possibilities for computational approaches to personalized/precision medicine. 

Dr. Kelsey McIntyre is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota. She is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics boarded in both Clinical Cytogenetics and Clinical Molecular Genetics and Genomics and works as a clinical laboratory director in those disciplines. She obtained her PhD in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin—Madison and her clinical training from Harvard Medical School. As a member of Children’s Oncology Group, she is involved in review of genetic studies for pediatric patients with myeloid leukemias. Her research is focused on the characterization of genomic alterations in pediatric myeloid leukemia with the goal of improving risk stratification and defining genetic determinants of disease progression.