ORCiD: 0009-0007-4163-6928. Email: first initial + last name @ ucsc.edu
UC Santa Cruz BMEB PhD student. Advisor: Dr. Benedict Paten (UCSC Computational Genomics Lab)
About me
I’m Faith Okamoto, a bioinformatics PhD student who loves algorithms. I hope to explore methods to better detect and genotype structural variation. Structural variants are often much more potent than easy-to-genotype variants, e.g. single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Yet, standard genetic analyses use SNPs because of how easily, cheaply, and accurately they can be genotyped. I want to bring more complex variants to the same level of access. We’re on the brink of a genomics revolution and I want to be a part of it.
Publications
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Okamoto et al. 2024. Y and Mitochondrial Chromosomes in the Heterogeneous Stock Rat Population. G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. doi:10.1093/g3journal/jkae213
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Chen et al. [including Okamoto F] 2024. A Cost-effective, High-throughput, Highly Accurate Genotyping Method for Outbred Populations. G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. doi:10.1093/g3journal/jkae291
Talks
- “Y and mitochondrial chromosomes in the heterogeneous stock rat population”, Complex Trait Community, October 2024
Awards
- NHGRI T32 Trainee: Award to support PhD students working in the genome sciences
- Regents Fellowship: Extra stipend for first-year UCSC graduate students
Work experience
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Graduate researcher, UCSC Computational Genomics Lab (March 2025—present). Developing and using vg for pangenomic research.
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Student research assistant, Palmer Lab (September 2022—August 2024). Published a journal article. Also, several blog posts.
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NREIP intern, Naval Environmental Preventative Medicine Unit 5 (June 2022—August 2022). Code (sans classified data) on GitHub.
Education
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PhD, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics, University of California, Santa Cruz (2024—present)
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BS, Biology with a Specialization in Bioinformatics, University of California, San Diego (2021—2024)
Graduated summa cum laude. Performed extracurricular research in the lab of Dr. Abraham Palmer. Member of the Undergraduate Bioinformatics Club.