VG

Varun Umesh Gowda

I'm a Genomics Researcher

M.S. Bioinformatics @ Northeastern University | Bioinformatics Research Assistant @ Cox Lab, Brigham & Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School | Specializing in multi-omics data analysis, spatial transcriptomics, and neurodegeneration research

🧬 RNA-seq 🧬 WGS πŸ”¬ Spatial Transcriptomics 🧠 Neurodegeneration πŸ“Š R & Python ⚑ Nextflow ☁️ HPC

My Journey

From wet lab to computational biology

πŸŽ“ Foundation
πŸ”¬ Industry
πŸ’» Transition
🧠 Research
πŸŽ“
Stage 1

Biotechnology Foundation

Earned B.E. in Biotechnology from Siddaganga Institute of Technology, building a strong foundation in molecular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics. Gained hands-on experience with PCR, gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, microbiological screening, and biomaterials research.

Degree
B.E. Biotechnology
Focus
Wet Lab & Molecular Biology
πŸ”¬
Stage 2

Industry Experience

Joined Theomics International as Data Scientist, managing diverse NGS analysis projects including RNA-Seq, WGS, miRNA, metagenomics, and ChIP-seq. Developed robust analytical pipelines and delivered actionable biological insights across 30+ projects.

Role
Data Scientist
Projects
30+ NGS Analyses
πŸ’»
Stage 3

Computational Biology Transition

Pursued M.S. in Bioinformatics at Northeastern University, deepening expertise in computational methods, statistics, and machine learning applied to biological data. Coursework spanned genomics, transcriptomics, data mining, and multi-omics integration.

Degree
M.S. Bioinformatics (GPA: 3.55)
Focus
Computational Methods & ML
🧠
Stage 4

Current Research

Currently at Cox Lab (Brigham & Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School), investigating the gut-brain axis in Alzheimer's disease through bulk RNA-seq analysis of microglial transcriptional changes. Developing WGS workflows for Bacteroides genomes and expanding into spatial transcriptomics.

Institution
BWH / HMS
Focus
Neurodegeneration & Gut-Brain Axis

Technical Arsenal

Comprehensive expertise across the bioinformatics pipeline

🧬 Omics Analysis
πŸ’» Programming
πŸ”§ Tools & Platforms
πŸ“Š

Bulk RNA-seq

DESeq2, edgeR, limma-voom for differential expression, pathway enrichment, and visualization

🎯

Spatial Transcriptomics

10x Visium analysis with Scanpy, Squidpy, spatial statistics (Moran's I), neighborhood enrichment

πŸ”

Single-cell RNA-seq

Seurat workflows, trajectory inference, cell-type annotation, integration methods

🧬

WGS & Variant Calling

GATK, freebayes, SnpEff for variant detection, annotation, and functional impact prediction

🦠

Metagenomics

Taxonomic profiling, functional annotation, diversity analysis for microbiome studies

πŸ“ˆ

ChIP-seq & ATAC-seq

Peak calling, motif analysis, chromatin accessibility assessment

πŸ“˜

R Ecosystem

DESeq2, ggplot2, limma, tximport, ComplexHeatmap for publication-ready analysis and visualization

🐍

Python Stack

Scanpy, Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, Seaborn for data manipulation and scientific computing

πŸ–₯️

Unix/Linux

Bash scripting, command-line tools, HPC job scheduling (SLURM)

πŸ—„οΈ

SQL & Databases

Data querying, clinical trial databases (AACT), Snowflake data warehousing

πŸ€–

Machine Learning

Scikit-learn, classification, clustering, ensemble methods for predictive modeling

πŸ“Š

Statistical Analysis

Hypothesis testing, regression, survival analysis, experimental design

πŸ”„

Workflow Management

Nextflow, nf-core pipelines for reproducible, scalable analysis workflows

🐳

Containerization

Docker, Conda for environment management and reproducibility

☁️

Cloud Computing

AWS, HPC clusters for large-scale data processing and analysis

πŸ”€

Version Control

Git, GitHub for code management, collaboration, and project tracking

πŸ”

Genome Browsers

IGV, UCSC Genome Browser for genomic visualization and exploration

πŸ•ΈοΈ

Network Analysis

Cytoscape, pathway databases (KEGG, Reactome) for systems biology

Experience

Bioinformatics Research Assistant

Brigham & Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School β€” Cox Lab

July 2025 - December 2025 β€’ Boston, MA

  • Investigate diet-modulated cognitive decline in APP/PS1 and WT mice by analyzing microglial transcriptional changes and AΞ² plaque clearance across Mediterranean, Western, and Control diets
  • Architect bulk RNA-seq differential expression analyses to identify diet- and genotype-dependent microglial signatures using DESeq2
  • Conduct quality control and statistical modeling, applying batch-effect correction and influence diagnostics
  • Generate publication-ready visualizations including PCA, clustering heatmaps, and volcano plots
  • Develop whole-genome sequencing workflow for Bacteroides genomes using Nextflow for microbiome studies
  • Expand expertise in spatial transcriptomics and microbiota sequencing to advance gut-brain axis research

Data Scientist

Theomics International Private Limited

August 2021 - July 2023 β€’ Bengaluru, India

  • Managed omics data analysis and visualization for 30+ diverse projects across RNA-Seq, de novo sequencing, WGS, miRNA, metagenomics, and ChIP-seq
  • Designed and implemented data analysis workflows for RNA-Seq, WGS, and metagenomics, revealing gene expression patterns, genetic variants, and microbial composition
  • Leveraged Python and R with Linux command-line utilities to analyze large-scale genomics datasets
  • Maintained comprehensive electronic laboratory notebooks ensuring reproducibility and version control
  • Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to report, publish, and present key findings

Featured Projects

Computational biology research across neuroscience, cancer, and genomics

Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis of Breast Cancer TME

10x Visium Cancer Biology

Problem: Understanding spatial organization of tumor, immune, and stromal cells in breast cancer tissue.

Solution: Built end-to-end spatial transcriptomics pipeline using Scanpy and Squidpy for 10x Genomics Visium data.

Key Result

Identified and spatially validated tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) using CCL19/CCL21/CXCL13/LTB chemokine signatures, Moran's I spatial autocorrelation (I > 0.4), and neighborhood enrichment analysis showing immune cell clustering patterns.

Python Scanpy Squidpy Spatial Statistics

Ensemble Model for Cervical Cancer Prediction

Machine Learning Healthcare

Problem: Predicting cervical cancer risk from clinical features with high class imbalance.

Solution: Constructed ensemble model combining logistic regression, decision trees, and random forests with comprehensive preprocessing.

Key Result

Achieved improved predictive accuracy through F1-score optimization, handling class imbalance with SMOTE, and implementing hyperparameter tuning to enhance model generalization.

Python Scikit-learn Ensemble Methods Classification

Transcriptomic Analysis of Urolithin A in Epilepsy

Neuroscience RNA-seq

Problem: Identifying molecular mechanisms of Urolithin A therapeutic effects in epileptic models.

Solution: Applied high-throughput transcriptomics analysis with RNA-seq pipelines for QC, alignment, and differential expression.

Key Result

Identified CG7768/PPIF-VDAC1 as key therapeutic targets and mapped biological networks revealing that UA treatment mitigates seizure-associated metabolic and synaptic dysfunctions through VDAC1-mediated pathways.

DESeq2 Pathway Analysis Cytoscape DAVID

Cardiac miRNA Profiling in Congenital Heart Disease

miRNA Cardiology

Problem: Understanding miRNA dysregulation in congenital heart disease (ASD, VSD, TOF).

Solution: Structured Nextflow-powered nf-core/smrnaseq pipeline to process smRNA-seq data from CHD samples.

Key Result

Identified 295 differentially expressed miRNAs and built miRNA-gene-pathway networks revealing dysregulation in PI3K-AKT, HIF1, and FOXO signaling. Over 80% of computationally identified DE miRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR results.

Nextflow miRNA-seq Network Analysis KEGG

Publications

Assembly, annotation, and comparative whole genome sequence of Fusarium verticillioides isolated from stored maize grains

Navale, V. D., Sawant, A. M., Gowda, V. U., & Vamkudoth, K. R.

Pathogens, 11(7), 810 (2022)

https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11070810

Urolithin A mitigates behavioral and synaptic deficits associated with epilepsy through VDAC-1 inhibition: A novel treatment approach

Mishra, S., Verma, V., Pradhan, S., Dwivedi, M., et al.

Research Square (Preprint, 2024)

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4987164/v1

Get In Touch

I'm open to bioinformatics research opportunities, collaborations, and discussions about computational biology, neuroscience, and omics data analysis.

GitHub: github.com/Varun-U-Gowda β€’ Based in Boston, MA, USA