Welcome to the Atkinson Lab at Baylor College of Medicine!

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 heterogeneous 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 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.

Estela Maria Bruxel is 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 formerly 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. Out of the lab, she loves riding mountain bike and exploring parks.

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 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 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 incorporation 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!

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. Her research interests are optimizing genetic risk prediction for neuropsychiatric conditions across 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 is a Ph.D. candidate in the Genetics and Genomics program, where he investigates the genetic architecture of complex traits and the ancestral history of admixed individuals with biobank data, 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 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 incorporation 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!

Sruthi is a PhD student in the Genetics and Genomics program at Baylor College of Medicine. She is currently working on developing and applying novel approaches to study genotype interactions with age. Prior to graduate school, she graduated from the University of Maryland College Park with a Bachelor's in Cell Biology and Genetics and a statistics minor, followed by a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Outside of the lab, she enjoys lifting, pickle ball, outdoor activities, and reading novels.