About
Meet the team
HAB lead
Dr. Alessandra Vigilante
Group leader
Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics
Alessandra brings a wealth of expertise in genomics and transcriptomics to the organization. With a background in Biology and a PhD in Bioinformatics, Alessandra’s main strength lies in her ability to collaborate with individuals from both biological and computational backgrounds. She has a passion for networking and creating an environment where individuals can come together to advance the field of bioinformatics. Thanks to her vision and leadership, Alessandra has successfully established the HAB as a hub for excellence in applied bioinformatics.
HAB co-lead
Dr. Rachel Tribe
Vice Dean Research and Impact
Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Health
Rachel’s research focuses on translational research related to preterm birth and other pregnancy associated conditions. Rachel’s work involves the use of various computational approaches so she recognizes the importance of bioinformatics in answering biological questions and improving research outcomes. As the Vice Dean, one of Rachel’s key goals was to improve the bioinformatics offerings in the faculty. Her extensive professional background and dedication to improving healthcare outcomes make her a valuable co-lead for the HAB.
Senior Bioinformatician
Dr. Flavia Flaviani
Flavia is currently a Senior bioinformatician at the HAB. She brings to the team her diverse background having experience in working with a variety of Next Generation Sequencing technologies, analysis of complex genomics dataset as well as having wet lab experience gained both in hospital settings, public health, and university. Flavia has been involved in various NGS ‘omics analyses for both long and short reads for medical and environmental microbiomes (both 16S and metagenome, including virome), epigenetics (EWAS), RNAseq and metabolome (NMR) and have been part of the HOCI (Hospital-Onset COVID-19 Infections) as part of the COG-UK. Flavia has led and developed training courses and is a certified Data/Software Carpentry Instructor.
Senior Bioinformatician
Dr. Michelle Simon
Michelle obtained her PhD in Applied Bioinformatics at Reading University, focusing on the evolution of amino acid repeats (2006 – 2011). During her PhD she worked as a staff scientist at the Mammalian Genome Unit (MGU), Harwell, Oxfordshire and then she progressed to lead a small team of computational biologist in the Bioinformatics Department focusing on mammalian genome to phenome associations using a variety of ‘Omic’ data, on multiple therapy groups, as well as co-supervising doctoral and master students.
She is currently a Senior Bioinformatician at the Hub for Applied Bioinformatics (HAB). Within the HAB she collaborates with faculty members from clinicians to students, exploring new methods for multiomic data analysis alongside facilitating Bioinformatic studies.
Teaching Fellow
Dr. E. Sally Chang
Sally holds an MA and PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kansas, where her research shed light on the genomic underpinnings of major evolutionary transitions within Cnidaria (jellyfish and their relatives).
Prior to her graduate research, Sally had no experience with bioinformatics. After having to get up to speed on her own, she has pursued opportunities to help others do the same. Her teaching and mentoring experiences have encompassed many audiences and topics – from a full-lenght week bioinformatics courses for researchers to a coding camp for middle schoolers. She has served as a Genomics Education Specialist at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, training people use NCBI resources and
managing the virtual workshop program. Most recently, she worked at the NIH to launch a program to build computational skills amongst the Child Health trainee/researcher community.