Senior Computational Biologist

T.C. Howton, PhD

Dr. Howton earned his PhD in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During his doctoral studies, T.C. focused on using network-based approaches to elucidate the molecular interactions between plants and bacterial pathogens. T.C. currently serves as a lab manager and research scientist in the Lasseigne lab.

Senior Computational Biologist

Lizzy Wilk

Lizzy earned her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Alabama at Huntsville and M.S. in Biotechnology with a specialization in Bioinformatics from University of Maryland Global Campus. As a staff scientist, she focuses on rare diseases and polycystic kidney disease, leveraging machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to deepen mechanistic understanding of genetic disease variants and prioritize repurposed drug candidates for patients with genetic disorders

Computational Biologist

Tabea Soelter, PhD

Dr. Soelter has a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Piedmont University and earned her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During her doctoral studies, Tabea investigated the role of altered glia-neuron communication and its downstream effects on gene expression and gene regulation in Alzheimer’s disease using snRNA-seq and network approaches. As a staff scientist, Tabea is working on identifying a transcriptomic exercise signature from mouse hippocampus snRNA-seq data using machine learning approaches, investigating alternative splicing across contexts (i.e., disease and sex) in long-read RNA-seq data, and leading the creation of a harmonized public-domain polycystic kidney disease transcriptomic data hub.

Lab Manager

Cameron McPhail

Cameron earned a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Peace, Justice and Ecology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After spending some time in the outdoors industry and cancer genetics, he is now working as the lab manager for the Lasseigne lab.

Computational Scientist Assistant

Tonie Crumley

Tonie holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from UAB and works as a staff scientist in the Lasseigne lab.  They are currently working on PKD pathway analysis using RNA-Seq data and tools to improve reproducibility in computational science.

Graduate Student

McKay Freeman

McKay is a graduate student in the Pathobiology, Pharmacology, and Physiology theme under the UAB Graduate Biomedical Sciences Program. She has a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in History from the University of Alabama. Currently, she is working on drug repurposing in ADPKD and examining alternative splicing to improve therapeutic outcomes.

Medical Student

Sasha Taluri

Sasha attends UAB Heersink School of Medicine and holds a B.S. in Genetics and Genomic Sciences from UAB. Previously in the lab, she analyzed genomic instability across different cancers. Currently, she works on various projects related to artificial intelligence-driven drug repurposing for SETBP1- and PKD-associated disorders. 

Undergraduate Research Student

Elizabeth Okunbor

Elizabeth is a junior studying Computer Science at UAB, with a minor in Business Administration. She enjoys building full-stack applications using React, React Native, and Python/Flask, with a focus on creating tools that are both practical and user-friendly. She is especially interested in using data and technology to improve health outcomes and expand access to care through research and innovation. 

Summer Undergraduate Student

Angela Hjelmeland

Angela is an undergraduate student at the University of Georgia pursuing a B.S. in Statistics with a minor in Spanish. Through summer research with the Lasseigne Lab, she has worked with RNA-seq and genomic datasets using computational approaches. She is currently working on target prioritization and drug repurposing.