Center for Genomics and Data Science Research

The Center for Genomics and Data Science Research focuses on the development and application of computationally intensive approaches to analyze large-scale genetic and genomic data, with a particular focus on identifying genetic contributions to human disease.

Overview

Genomics is, fundamentally, a data science. Nucleic acids are the most abundant information storage medium on Earth and every organism has recorded “in their DNA” a history of life passed down from generation to generation. The CGDSR embraces this data-centric view of genomics and leverages innovative computational and experimental approaches to untangle the complexities of the genome and uncover genomic associations with health and disease.

Members of the center perform research at the forefront of genomics and have made foundational research contributions to the field including the first truly complete, “telomere-to-telomere” human genome sequence. By developing new computational methods and leveraging emerging genomic technologies, the center has dramatically improved the performance of genome sequencing methods, uncovering the genomes of thousands of species and opening new avenues for studying genomic function and disease. Their efforts in characterizing genomic variation across many diverse species have helped explain fundamental biomolecular processes, animal development, fertility, ancestry, infectious disease, agriculture, bioconservation, and more. In addition to reading genomes, the center has also developed and applied advanced genome engineering techniques to explore the effects of thousands of genetic variants, providing insights into the principles linking genomic and phenotypic variation. These efforts are laying the groundwork for a future of personalized genomics, where computational models may learn to better predict disease risk and pharmacological effects directly from genomic code.