Dear 10X Genomics,
I am writing to express my interest in the Scientist, Applied Bioinformatics position, which I heard about from an employee, Dr. Lisa Johnson. I am a multi-disciplinary scientist with seven years of experience supporting bioinformatics researchers through training and community-building. I am excited by the possibility of working with a team that supports both the users and developers of products that will advance our understanding of complex biological processes.
When I started my Ph.D. program in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2012, genomic sequencing was on the rise, but training in bioinformatics was lagging. To fill this gap, I worked with the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics to organize a series of regular workshops and a “Big Data in Biology Summer School” to provide regular opportunities for students, postdocs, and staff to receive the computational training they needed. I also organized three annual symposia to bring together scientists, engineers, and medical doctors who were using similar tools to solve diverse problems. I set up Google Scholar alerts for members of that community, and I still enjoy reading papers from the collaborations and research projects that were sparked by these cross-disciplinary events.
After completing my Ph.D., I joined Dr. Titus Brown lab. Instead of conducting research (as is typical in a postdoc position) I focused on communication and community management for The Data Commons Pilot Phase Consortium (DCPPC). The DCPPC consisted of about 500 scientist and engineers from a dozen institutions whose common goals was to build cloud-based infrastructure that would make biomedical data more findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). In this role, I honed both soft skills and technical skills. I co-organized in-person meetings in different cities, facilitated webinars, conducted online retrospectives, and learned a lot about the intricacies of project and program management. I also beta-tested bioinformatic workflows, built websites, and contributed to the development of new software. This job was incredibly rewarding, and we were all hopeful the project would continue past the pilot phase, but our funding was cut short.
In 2019, I joined Dr. Rebecca Calisi-Rodríguez’s lab to work on a research project investigating the transcriptional signatures in the brain that are associated with reproduction and parental care. In addition to analyzing data, I experimented with novel ways to communicate science. For instance, coordinated changes in gene expression are often described as a “transcriptional symphony," but have you ever listened to a transcriptome? To bridge this gap, I’ve created a Shiny app called “Musical Genes” that converts data into sound so that users can listen to the sounds of gene expression changing over time. I hope this tool makes our science more accessible to diverse audiences.
Even though I am a trained scientist who is fascinated by biology, I am more passionate about supporting my colleagues who are also making discoveries and building useful tools. I look forward to learning more about the Scientist, Applied Bioinformatics position and how I could support the 10X genomics community of users and staff.
Best,
Rayna M. Harris, PhD