Welcome to the Atkinson Lab at Baylor College of Medicine!

Improving statistical genomics for diverse ancestries

Nearly 80% of all GWAS studies have been conducted on European cohorts. In particular, “admixed” people – those whose DNA contains more than one ancestral component, including African American and Latino individuals – are systemically excluded from studies due to the lack of available methods to appropriately handle their complex genomes. We bridge this concerning gap in research space by developing novel methods and tools to enable the study of complex traits in admixed people, bettering our understanding of mental health genetics in these diverse populations who have so far been underserved.

Understanding human evolution and population structure with globally representative data

A necessary precursor to accounting for global diversity in genomics research is a thorough understanding of population history and evolution, which shapes the naturally occurring patterns of genetic variation. Therefore, a second line of inquiry my research group explores is characterizing key aspects of human evolution with ancestrally-tuned evolutionary statistics using global DNA collections. Elucidating the forces shaping the genetic variation of key (brain) genes in modern populations is not only of significant academic interest, but is vital for determining the appropriate methods for statistical and medical genomic analyses of diverse datasets.

Characterizing the genetics of mental health within and across populations

Psychiatric disorders are the leading global cause of years lived with disability and affect all societies, yet there are major disparities in mental health research and treatment across ancestry groups. In partnership with both local and international colleagues and consortia, we lead efforts to optimize and apply ancestry informed analyses for psychiatric disorders to improve the understanding of the genetic contributors to mental health across populations.

Building globally representative datasets for equitable clinical genomics

Driving for equitable genomics is a team effort, and requires large sample sizes attainable only through aggregation of data. We are in the leadership of multiple international consortia, including the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PTSD working group), Neuropsychiatric Genetics in African Populations (NeuroGAP), and the Latin American Genomics Consortium (LAGC), affording trainees access to a wealth of diverse genetic datasets containing a wide range of phenotypes for potential study

Astrid Manuel

Postdoctoral Fellow

As a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Elizabeth Atkinson’s lab, Astrid’s current research goals involve the development of statical genomics methods for studying complex traits in underrepresented populations in biomedical research. She aims to apply these methods to advance pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine applications. Astrid earned her PhD from the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) in Houston, TX. The title of her PhD thesis was “Translational Bioinformatics Approaches for Decoding Mechanisms and Developing Drug Repositioning Strategies in Multiple Sclerosis”. During her PhD studies, she was a Predoctoral Fellow of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Training Program in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (T15LM007093). In the Atkinson Lab, Astrid seeks to extend her bioinformatics expertise to the domain of statistical population-level genomics and pharmacogenomics. During her free time, she enjoys drawing, visiting art museums, and indoor rock climbing with friends.

Erik Stricker

Postdoctoral Fellow

Erik is a postdoctoral research fellow, retrovirologist and cancer researcher currently at Baylor College of Medicine. Besides his interest in human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) - which comprise 8% of the human genome - and their relationship to cancer, he is a passionate teacher of science and science-unrelated topics. He has been fortunate to have received the chance to acquire training at leading universities in Germany and frequently share his expertise when teaching graduate and undergraduate students. He is the recipient of multiple teaching awards and enjoys pushing the boundaries of current knowledge through research and student projects.

Grace Tietz

Graduate Student

Grace Tietz is a Genetics & Genomics PhD student in the lab whose primary project aims to improve genetic testing for cardiovascular disease across populations. She approaches this challenge through the lens of population-genetics and integrates information on rare variants and polygenic burden to optimize performance across ancestries. Complimenting this work, she is evaluating patient perspectives to genetic testing in underserved and understudied populations and is developing polygenic approaches to prioritize genetic sequencing in individuals of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network. Beyond her research, Grace is interested in genetics’ role in society, and ways that policies and healthcare practices reflect our collective perspectives on it.

Hatoon Al Ali

Graduate Student

Hatoon is a PhD student in the Genetics and Genomics program at Baylor College of Medicine. She is working on developing methods for detecting epistasis and genetic interaction in rare and common diseases using population genetics approaches. She is also interested in the ethics and representation of Arab/Middle Eastern populations in genomic studies. Before joining the lab, Hatoon graduated from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology with a Masters in Bioinformatics and a Bachelors in Clinical laboratory sciences from King Saud University. Outside the lab she enjoys hiking, gardening, and building with mud!

Yi-Sian "Helen" Lin

Graduate Student

Helen is a PhD student in the Atkinson Lab and is in the Genetics and Genomics program at Baylor College of Medicine. She is originally from Taiwan. She completed her MS degree in Neuroscience at National Taiwan University and was a research assistant in Bioinformatics at National Yang Ming Chao Tung University. Surrounded by people with highly diverse ethnic backgrounds in Houston, she is interested in the genetics of diverse ancestry. Specifically, her research interests are optimizing genetic risk prediction for neuropsychiatric conditions in diverse populations, pharmacogenomics, and gene x environment interactions in disease prediction. Outside the lab, she enjoys playing groovy music, watching vlogs featuring cute kids or dogs, and immersing herself in nature.

Nirav Shah

Graduate Student

Nirav is a Ph.D. candidate in the Genetics and Genomics program, where he investigates African ancestral tracts in admixed individuals, as well as the genetics of PTSD as member of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Before starting graduate school, he worked as a computational biologist in a Duke spinoff biotech startup in North Carolina. In his free time, he loves to explore the outdoors, and enjoys hiking, swimming and reading.

Pragati Kore

Graduate Student

Pragati is a PhD student in the Genetics & Genomics program at Baylor College of Medicine. She is broadly interested in developing and applying approaches to study rare variants with the inclusion of admixed populations. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and graduated from UT Austin with a BS in Biochemistry. Following her bachelor’s degree, she worked at the Center for Advanced Genomics Technology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as an Associate Researcher. Outside of the lab, she enjoys attending concerts, traveling, and trying new recipes in the kitchen!

Aishi Ayyanathan

Undergraduate

Aishi is an undergraduate student from Rice University who is majoring in biology and sociology. She is currently working on running genome-wide association studies for the All of Us dataset, in order to evaluate the performance of various genetic inference algorithms for diverse populations. Broadly, she is interested in leveraging large-scale datasets to increase equity in genomics research. Outside of the lab, she enjoys crocheting and playing Anagrams.

Jessica Honorato Mauer

Bioinformatics Analyst

Jessica was a former visiting Master's student in the Atkinson Lab, who recently returned as a bioinformatics analyst! They graduated from Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil in 2019 with a BSc. in Biomedical Science, and in 2022 with a MSc. in Human Genetics/Bioinformatics. Jessica is interested in contributing to the inclusion of underrepresented populations in genetics research and improving disease risk prediction for diverse ancestry/admixed populations. Outside of the lab, they enjoy playing games, drawing, and playing guitar.

Estela Maria Bruxel

Former Postdoctoral Fellow

Estela Maria Bruxel was a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Elizabeth Atkinson’s lab. She received her master’s and Ph.D. from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), studying genetic susceptibility and pharmacogenetics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. At the University of Campinas, also in Brazil, she has developed a project to identify susceptibility loci for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) through integrating analyses of eQTL and GWAS data and prediction algorithms to predict medication response. Additionally, she received a fellowship to work in Atkinson lab to develop bioinformatic ancestry-informed techniques to study Brazilian admixed samples and improve GWAS analysis. She is a member of the Latin America Genetic Consortium and is the liaison for the Psychiatry Genetic Consortium Outreach Committee. She hopes to improve the understanding of the genetic contributors to neuropsychiatric and neurological diseases and create strategies for precision medicine treatment for such patients. In addition, she hopes for more equitable genomics studies across underrepresented populations. Out of the lab, she loves riding mountain bike and exploring parks.

Amira Ellison

Former Post-baccalaureate Scholar

Amira is a post-baccalaureate student in the Human Genome Sequencing Center Pre-Graduate Education and Training (PGET) program at Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her undergraduate study in Biology with a concentration in genetics at Pennsylvania State University in 2022. Amira’s prior research experience includes studying the gene arrangements of Klamath and Persimilis drosophila, specifically focusing on their breakpoint regions. Currently, she is working to improve polygenic risk score performance for lipoprotein(a), breast cancer, and epilepsy across ancestries.

Shantal Taylor

Former Post-baccalaureate Scholar

Shantal is an undergraduate student majoring in Chemistry with a Biomedical focus at Prairie View A&M University, Texas. She is a member of the Texas Undergraduate Medical Academy and her university’s Honors Program, and works as a student researcher in our Cooperative Agricultural Research Center. She aspires to become a primary care physician and infectious disease researcher, and is interested in exploring the vector-transmitted diseases prevalent in understudied, tropical regions. Shantal participated in the Baylor SMART program to expand her biomedical and health-related research knowledge, through which she worked in the Atkinson lab for one summer conducing a project exploring the population genetics of understudied groups in the UK biobank.

Taotao Tan

Former Bioinformatics Analyst

Taotao completed his bachelor's and master’s degree in biology, and then joined the Atkinson lab as a bioinformatics analyst in 2021. His primary focus of work revolved around the development and application of GWAS methodologies for diverse populations. Starting in the fall of 2023, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in the Quantitative and Computational Biosciences program at Baylor College of Medicine. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games and the electric guitar.