Awarded in 2019
Home Department: Genetics
Faculty Advisors: Karla Kirkegaard (Genetics and Microbiology & Immunology) and Stephen Montgomery (Pathology and Genetics)

Research Title: Defining the Regulatory Roles of Long Non-Coding RNAs in the Immune System

Research Description: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have integral functions in key processes like dosage compensation, embryonic development, and the immune response. Despite this, they are often ignored in gene expression studies. As a result, only a fraction of lncRNAs in the genome have been functionally characterized, and the others are largely unexamined. Olivia will combine computational genomics and experimental immunology to interrogate lncRNA regulation of immune system function. The goal of this project is to define healthy regulatory variation in immune-associated lncRNAs and to understand how their dysregulation relates to autoimmune disease development.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Olivia is a data scientist at AbCellera.