alexrson

Hi, I'm Alex. I'm a twenty-something living in Boston and finishing up a PhD at MIT. My ancestors come from Scotland, Indonesia, Holland and China, but I'm a Seattle man through and through. Generally, my research involves analysis of genomic deep-sequencing data, especially developing tools to analyze new types of sequence data. More specifically I'm studying the splicing, translation, degradation and protein-binding of RNA molecules in mammalian systems. Why so many different aspects of RNA biology? All these pathways are integrally connected, and analysis of sequence data is a great way to understand these connections. Ultimately though, I'm passionate about improving human health and unraveling the mysteries of the genome as a means to that end. When not in front of a computer developing bioinformatics software and doing statistical tests, I like to get myself outside and moving. I'm an avid, though not particularly fast, runner all year long. In the summer I like to go bike touring on the coasts, scuba diving for lobsters or swimming out into the ocean to take some surfing photography. Beyond that if it involves moving around and being outside I'm up for it: Skiing, backpacking, kayaking, ice climbing, paddle boarding, etc. After graduation I'm looking forward to moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area (where I went to college) and getting started in biotech.

September 2013