Scientific Program Analysts

Katie supports the Technology Development and Small Business Programs. She graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s degree in plant biology and minors in statistics and chemistry. Her honors thesis explored the demographic history of red spruce from the perspective of the chloroplast genome. It helped foster her passion for bioinformatics and genomics.

Jake is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst supporting H3Africa, dGTEx, Comparative Genomics, and the GWAS catalog. He is a recent graduate of the University of Montana in Missoula, MT with a BS in Biology, a BS in Microbiology, and a minor in Biochemistry. During his time at the University of Montana, he leveraged phylogenetics to discover the origin of nitrogen fixation genes in strains of the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina, and comparative genomics techniques to study cyanobacteria near the thermal limits of life in Yellowstone National Park.

Zo is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst for the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen), Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER), and International HundredK+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC). They are a recent graduate of Barnard College in New York, NY with a BA in Archaeology and Biology. During their time at Barnard, they worked as an EMT. They have a broad interest in public health, including everything from forensics to epidemiology. 

Stephanie supports the ENCODE and IGVF programs. She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in cell and molecular biology and a minor in science, policy and ethics. Stephanie is passionate about public health and is interested in pursuing a career at the intersection of environmental health, epidemiology and health policy.

Sara is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst supporting The GREGoR Consortium, The Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS), The Human Genome Reference Program (HGRP), and The Genome Sequencing Program (GSP). She graduated from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA this past May with a BS in Cellular, Molecular, and Physiological Biology, a BA in Leadership Studies, and a minor in Spanish. During her time at Christopher Newport University, she was a part of the leadership team in their Center for Academic Success and managed the cohort of Science Tutors while tutoring Chemistry herself.

Bri is excited to join the NHGRI as a scientific program analyst supporting the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) and the Human Hereditary Health in Africa (H3Africa) programs. She recently graduated from Davidson College with a B.S. in Biology on the Pre-Medicine track. During her time at Davidson, she conducted research that further explored the functionality of multiple borate transporters that are homologous to Human Band 3, was a student health advisor, and promoted DEI work in STEM as a member of the Fostering Inclusivity & Respect in Science Together (FIRST). She plans to pursue a career as a physician with a focus on marginalized communities and better improving racial disparities within healthcare.;

Jenell supports the Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) program. She graduated from Christopher Newport University in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She conducted research on Urosaurus gracious (long-tailed brush lizard). Her interests are in integrating genomics in various fields of medicine.

Amber supports the Extramural Training Team program. She recently graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology and molecular biology. She is interested in genetic epidemiology and health disparities.

Sarah is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN), the Computational Genomics and Data Science Program (CGDS), and the Genetic Counseling RFA. She is a recent graduate of Georgetown University with a BS in Biology and a minor in Cognitive Science. At Georgetown, she advanced a smoking cessation counseling program for cancer patients and a trial evaluating cascade genetic testing for hereditary cancer. She is passionate about the implementation of genomic medicine and hopes to pursue genetic counseling in the future.

Imani is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst supporting the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) and Ethical Legal and Social Implications (ELSI). She is a recent graduate of Brown University with a B.A. in Public Health. During her time at Brown, Imani worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. She is interested in bioethics, health education and promotion, and genetic epidemiology, with plans to pursue medical school in the future.

Jahnavi is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst for the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network, the Genomic Medicine Working Group (GMWG), and Advancing Genomic Medicine Research (AGMR). She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a BS in Biology and a minor in English. She is interested in scientific communication and plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Colette is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst supporting the AnVIL Program and other activities of the NHGRI Office of Genomic Data Science (OGDS). She is a recent graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, MN with a BA in Statistics. During her time at Carleton, she worked as a Statistical Consultant and conducted research on double strand break repair with CRISPR and on the use of machine learning to identify predictors of cell sex from transcriptome data. She is especially interested in genomics and the use of statistical tools to better understand biological data.

Helen supports the Computational Genomics and Data Science Program (CGDS) and the Small Business program. Helen graduated from Christopher Newport University in May 2021 with bachelor’s degrees in biology and communications and a minor in leadership. Helen is interested in effective communication strategies within the field of genomics.

Maya VanZanten is excited to join NHGRI supporting the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) and Knockout Mouse Phenotyping Program (KOMP2). She is a recent graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, with a B.S. in Biology, Cell and Molecular Emphasis. Maya brings a strong background in scientific communication and education from her experiences as a science museum educator and undergraduate teaching assistant for biology lecture and laboratory courses. She is interested in clinical genomics, rare diseases, promoting health equity, and encouraging diversity in scientific research.

Riley is excited to join NHGRI as a Scientific Program Analyst for Molecular Phenotypes of Null Alleles in Cells (MorPhiC), Polygenic Risk Methods in Diverse Populations (PRIMED), and Multi-Omics. She recently graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA with a BS in Systems Biology. During her time at Virginia Tech, she helped develop novel techniques for bacteriophage classification of the order Caudovirales under the Aylward Lab. She will continue pursuing her interests in genomic data science and personalized genomic medicine in graduate school.