The Alaskome project represents a deep, long-term collaboration with Indigenous communities in Arctic Alaska to understand the genetic landscape of Alaska Native peoples and develop genomic reference panels that reflect their diversity. Our work is anchored in a commitment to community sovereignty, reciprocity, and the ethical principles of Indigenous data governance. We use whole genome sequencing (WGS), Hi-C, and trio sequencing to build a comprehensive Arctic reference panel — while simultaneously working with communities to establish frameworks that ensure genomic data benefits the people from whom it originates.

Key questions include: How do we integrate Indigenous ethics frameworks with standard bioethics protocols? How can a community-specific genomic reference improve diagnostic accuracy? What does equitable return of genomic information look like in remote, resource-limited settings?

The three-dimensional organization of the genome — how DNA folds and loops inside the nucleus — is a fundamental layer of gene regulation that we are only beginning to understand. Our lab applies and extends Hi-C technology to map chromatin architecture across cell types, developmental stages, and in the context of aging. We study how topologically associating domains (TADs), compartments, and enhancer–gene loops change as cells differentiate, and what goes wrong when this organization breaks down in disease.

We leverage computational tools including Juicer/Juicebox, the cooler ecosystem, and custom analysis pipelines, as well as collaborations with clinical partners to connect epigenomic signatures to patient outcomes.

Our lab developed POLAR (Pathogen-Oriented Low-Cost Assembly & Re-Sequencing), a whole-genome sequencing-based diagnostic method for SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens that achieves clinical-grade sensitivity and specificity at a fraction of the cost of conventional platforms. Beyond diagnosis, POLAR simultaneously assembles the pathogen genome — enabling surveillance and variant tracking from a single test. We continue to develop and validate genomic diagnostic tools for deployment in both high-resource and resource-constrained clinical settings, with an emphasis on pediatric populations.

Bridging fundamental microbiology with genomic and computational approaches, our infectious disease work spans the microbiology of emerging pathogens, genomic epidemiology, and translational clinical research. We are situated at UTMB, a premier institution for infectious disease research, and benefit from a rich environment of clinical collaborators and biosafety infrastructure. Projects in this area examine pathogen genomics, host-pathogen interaction, and the use of genome sequencing to improve outbreak response and patient care in infectious disease settings.