Started working as Manager, Translational Bioinformatics

Regeneron Genetics Center, Tarrytown, NY, USA

I made the big leap from academia to industry, keeping the same focus on empowering great research through well-made computational tools.

November 2022

Moved to New York, USA 🗽🚕🦅

November 2022

Co-founder, Makerbox Lao

With a group of friends, I co-founded the first makerspace in Laos. Have a look at the article!

September 2021-January 2022

Moved to Laos

Vientiane, Lao PDR

While I was visiting my partner in Southeast Asia, the pandemic struck and the borders closed. I ended up staying in the country for three years, keeping my role but working remotely.

January 2020

Consultant

I performed geographical information (GIS) analyses using R, in order to map the evolution of several types of biodiversity-critical habitats in an administrative region of the Republic of Congo.

April-June 2019

📰Article (Bioinformatics)

Very low depth whole genome sequencing in complex trait association studies.

View on publisher's website

December 2018

Started working as Head of Analytics

Institute of Translational Genomics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Munich, Germany

Following the completion of my PhD, I moved to the new Institute of Translational Genomics founded by P. Zeggini at the Helmholtz in Munich, where I am to lead the new Analytics team. The aim is twofold: first, to provide support to other scientists in the institute to put in place best practices, streamline analyses and avoid duplication of work. Second, to carry out and identify scientific projects that can be answered with data-intensive methods.

November 2018

Completed my PhD

You can read my thesis, entitled Sequencing in Isolation: Next-generation sequencing studies in founder populations on the University's online repository. Good luck!

October 2018

📰Article (Nature Communications)

Cohort-wide deep whole genome sequencing and the allelic architecture of complex traits..

View on publisher's website

November 2018

Created the Sounds of Paris website

Paris, France

The webiste was featured in the exhibition Espaces Publics at the Maison des Ensembles. To read more about what motivated this project, check out this post.

May 2018

Helped organise and run the 2nd Volos Summer School of Human Genetics

Volos, Greece

Following the success of the first edition, we expanded on the teaching materials to deliver the second edition of our training event in Greece.

April-June 2018

📰Article (Nature Communications)

Whole genome sequencing and imputation in isolated populations identify genetic associations with medically-relevant complex traits.

View on publisher's website

November 2017

Student Consultant

Cambridge Consulting Network

Along with a group of 5 other students, I acted as a consultant for a healthcare charity. We developed models for the health economics and social return on investment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and produced a report and recommendations.

April-June 2017

Helped organise and run the 1st Volos Summer School of Human Genetics

Volos, Greece

The Summer School is aimed at training Greek students of all scientific backgrounds in the basics of human genetic research. The School runs through 2 days of theoretical lectures in genetics and statistics, combined with practical workshops where the technical aspects of genetic data analysis are covered. I developed the website for the event, ran several lectures and workshops, and managed the github repository where the materials are stored.

April-June 2017

📰Article (Human Molecular Genetics)

Very low-depth sequencing in a founder population identifies a cardioprotective APOC3 signal missed by genome-wide imputation.

View on publisher's website

May 2016

Started working as Principal Bioinformatician

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK

Following on from the low-depth sequencing work, I kept working on the HELIC study, this time focusing high-depth, population wide sequencing. The unprecedented scale of the datasets allows the exploration of a previously untapped section of the genetic landscape: rare mutations with comparatively low effects on human traits and diseases. To adress the growing need for analysis, I started supervising a Senior Bioinformatician, while continuing to train visiting workers and students.

Skills used: Python (pandas, plotly, bokeh, seaborn), R, bash (sed/awk), REST/JSON

June 2016

Started a PhD

Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge

April 2016

Ecohack Cambridge

UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK

Ecohack is a global hackathon organized by UNEP-WCMC, an environmental consulting charity linked to the UN. During the event, environmentalists, analysts and policy consultants meet to work on .

I designed the project website and built a prototype layered map in Umap.

Nov 2014

📰Article (Nature Communications)

Genetic characterization of Greek population isolates reveals strong genetic drift at missense and trait-associated variants

View on publisher's website

Nov 2014

Cambridge Big Biology Day

Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge, UK

The Big Biology Days are an initiative by the Society of Biology to bring together researchers from the life sciences and young students, as well as the broader public. The goal is to introduce children to the basic concepts of biology through play activities.

I animated the DNA sequencing, Sorting Algorithm and DNA alphabet activities.

October 2014

📰Article (Briefings in Functional Genomics)

Using population isolates in genetic association studies.

View on publisher's website

Nov 2014

Started working as Senior Bioinformatician / Statistical Geneticist

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK

Low-depth sequencing allows to assess the genetic landscape of individuals at a lower cost than other methods, but also lower accuracy. I am in charge of developing an analysis pipeline that accurately predicts millions of mutations in small (thousands) to large (hundred thousands) human populations, and uses them to model traits such as disease status, height or cholesterol levels.</br> </br> This involves large multidimensional analyses to characterise and choose the best types of population to sequence, building and testing disease models, and data quality control among other things.

Skills used: Bash, Perl, C++ (boost libraries), Python (scipy libraries), R, Tableau

Statistics used: Logistic regression, PCA/MDS, Linear Mixed Models, hypothesis testing, clustering (k-means), methods for sparse data (imputation)

August 2013

Crossed the Channel to Cambridge, UK 🏡☔

August 2013

Article (BMC Bioinformatics)

TE-Tracker: Systematic identification of transposition events through whole-genome resequencing

March 2013 View on publisher's website

Transposons are small DNA sequences that have the ability to copy-paste or cut-and-paste themselves around in the genome. Some of them are thought to be virus sequences that were absorbed in the genomes of modern species throughout evolution. Due to their potential for genetic disruption, they are usually silenced (inactivated) in most living organisms. They are thought to play a role in certain genetic disorders. I co-wrote TE-Tracker, a Perl tool that allows the detection of transposition events via whole-genome sequencing.

Ran statistics courses at CEA/Genoscope

Topics covered: Introduction to statistics, estimation theory, hypothesis testing, regression models, (M)AN(C)OVA, model building.</br></br> Fortnightly 2-hour sessions and practicals using R.

Autumn/Winter 2012

Started working as Research Engineer

CEA/Genoscope, Evry, Paris, France

Genome sequencing reads the DNA from living cells by duplicating it many times and breaking it into small fragments. The fragments can be read individually, but the whole sequence has to be reconstructed algorithmically, which is done using a reference sequence onto which the fragments are aligned. However, when structural variations (such as copy and paste of long sequences) affect the genome, alignment will fail.</br></br> I designed a program, TE-Tracker, that clusters sequencing reads that do not align properly and tries to model the structural mutation that produced them.

Skills used: Bash, Perl, C++ (boost libraries)

Statistics used: clustering (single-linkage), supervised classification

January 2012

Started working as R&D Engineer (short-term contract)

Misys Sophis, Paris, France

When predicting the value and risk of an investment portfolio, the worth of each financial asset needs to be priced accurately by incorporating market data. Due to the complexity of exotic financial products, no explicit formula can be derived to value them using probabilistic theory. It is however possible to estimate their price using simulation.

A client requested this functionality in a call for tender, so I was sent to the Paris R&D department to develop it. I used a Monte-Carlo pricing algorithm that models the behavior of the derivative under different volatility scenarios using a volatility surface based on historical measurements.

Skills used: C#

Statistics used: Monte-Carlo methods, Stochastic processes, derivatives valuation models

August 2011

MSc in Applied Mathematics 🎓

Department of Mathematical Modelling, Image and Simulation, Grenoble INP-ENSIMAG, Grenoble, France

August 2011

Started working as Junior Front Office Consultant (intern)

Misys Sophis, Hong Kong SAR, P.R. of China 🇭🇰

Misys Sophis is a major solutions provider to the banking and fund management industry. Its main products at the tine, Risque and Value, were designed to manage large investment portfolios down to the single trade. My role was to provide technical support to institutional clients as well as answering specific client demands and calls for tender.

Skills used: C#, Excel, SQL

January 2011

Exchange semester

Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea 🇰🇷

August-December 2010

Bachelor in Engineering 🎓

Grenoble INP-ENSIMAG, Grenoble, France

August 2010

Born 👶♉

Toulouse, France

April 1989