Education
Biomedical Engineering, BS
Johns Hopkins University, 2012-2016
Advisors: Brady Maher, PhD; Andrew Jaffe, PhD
Computational Biology
Carnegie Mellon University, 2019-2023 (expected)
Advisor: Andreas Pfenning, PhD
Medicine
University of Pittsburgh, 2017-2024 (expected)
Clinical interests: Anesthesia & Addiction
Research Experience
2014-2017 Lieber Institute for Brain Development (Ugrad)
At the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, I worked with scientists Brady Maher and Andrew Jaffe to apply bioinformatics and genomic data science to investigate transcriptomtic changes in a mouse model of developmental delay and intellectual disability, Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome (PTHS). I investigated PTHS and related syndromic and idiopathic autism spectrum disorder transcriptomics as an undergraduate and post-bac research assistant.
2019-2024 Carnegie Mellon University (Grad)
In the Neurogenomics lab and the Computational Biology PhD program at CMU, I worked with my thesis advisor Andreas Pfenning to investigate the bases for addiction genetic risk at multiple levels of biology. I applied integrative computational and experimental techniques using single cell transcriptomics and epigenomics of the reward neural circuit, comparative genomics in rodents, non-human primates, and postmortem human tissues. I used these data and models of gene regulatory mechanisms to inquire the cellular and epigenetic mechanisms for substance use disorders.
Talks
"Whole-Animal Massively Parallel Reporter Assay Dissects the Region-Specific Transcriptional Impact of Human Addiction Genetic Variants". NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-Cutting Research Conference, NIH Main Campus (5/17/2023).
"Fine-Mapping Candidate Neuropsychiatric Regulatory Variants Using Cell Type-Aware Comparative Genomics". NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-Cutting Research Conference, NIH Main Campus (5/16/2023). Presented by advisor, Andreas Pfenning
“Single cell multi-omics of the rhesus macaque striatum reveal regulatory mechanisms underlying the genetic basis of addiction”. NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-Cutting Research Conference, Virtual (5/11/2022).
"What can bats, capybaras, and tree shrews tell us about the genetic basis of addiction?" NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-Cutting Research Conference, Virtual (5/11/2022). Presented by advisor, Andreas Pfenning
"Addiction-associated genetic variants implicate cell type- and region-specific cis-regulatory elements in addiction neurobiology." NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-Cutting Research Conference, Virtual (1/11/2020). Presented by advisor, Andreas Pfenning
“Transcripts in GWAS gene-desert loci introduce new players into human health”. Three Rivers Evolution Event, Pittsburgh (9/22/18).
Poster Presentations
J. He*, B.N. Phan*, M. Sedorovitz, O. Wirfel, W. Kerkhoff, S. Dauby, E. Ozturk, J. Chen, A.Z. Wang, A.C. Bostan, B.M. Hooks, L.C.T. Byrne, A.R. Pfenning, W.R. Stauffer. "Cell type-specific AAVs to target Reward and Cognition." Society for Neuroscience, San Diego (11/12/22-11/16/22)
Phan BN, Lawler AJ*, Jing He*, Brown AR*, Kaplow IM, Kowalczyk A, Srinivasan C, Fox GA, Chen Z, Wirthlin ME, Zoonomia Consortium, Stauffer WR, Pfenning AR, “Fine-Mapping Candidate Neuropsychiatric Regulatory Variants Using Cell Type-Aware Comparative Genomics across Mammalian Genomes”. Neurobiology of Addiction Gordon Conference, Newry, ME (8/14/22-8/19/22).
Tarfa RA, Morris JM, Anyaeche VI, Ekanem UO, Phan BN, Nance M, “Addressing the health disparities in Head and Neck Cancer among Black Americans: assessing perceptions and awareness of the disease”. AHNS 2022 Annual Meeting @ COSM, Austin, TX (4/27/22).
Phan BN, Lawler AJ, He J, Kaplow IM, Schaffer D, Brown AR, Zoonomia Consortium, Stauffer WR, Pfenning AR, “Fine-Mapping Candidate Neuropsychiatric Regulatory Variants Using Cell Type-Aware Comparative Genomics across Mammalian Genomes”. Molecular Psychiatry Conference, Maui, HI (3/6/22).
Phan BN, Lawler AJ, He J, Kaplow IM, Schaffer D, Brown AR, Zoonomia Consortium, Stauffer WR, Pfenning AR, “Fine-mapping candidate addiction-associated regulatory variants using cell type-aware comparative genomics across mammalian genomes”. Society for Neuroscience, Virtual (11/9/21).
C Srinivasan*, Phan BN*, Lawler AJ, Ramamurthy E, Kleyman E, Brown AR, Kaplow IM, Wirthlin EM, Pfenning AR, “Addiction-associated genetic variants implicate brain cell type- and region-specific cis-regulatory elements in addiction neurobiology”. Society for Neuroscience, Virtual (11/9/21).
Chen HY, Phan BN, Sripathy S, Hamersky GR, Bohlen J, Shim G, O’Donell T, Pfenning AR, Maher BJ, “The psychiatric risk gene Transcription Factor 4 (TCF4) regulates the density and connectivity of a specific subclass of inhibitory interneurons”. Society for Neuroscience, Virtual (11/10/21).
Tarfa RA, Morris JM, Anyaeche VI, Ekanem UO, Phan BN, Nance M, “Head and Neck Cancer disparities among Black Americans in Pittsburgh: Understanding prevailing perceptions among the population”. AHNS Annual Meeting, Virtual (6/22/2021).
Awards & Honors
2021-present F30 Pre-doctoral Fellowship, NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (F30DA053020)
2023 Graduate Student Assembly/Provost Conference award, Carnegie Mellon University
2022 Student Service Award, CMU & Pitt Computational Biology PhD Program
2022 Travel Award, Neurobiology of Addiction Gordon Conference
2022 BGSA Travel Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
2022 Young Investigator Travel Award, Molecular Psychiatry Annual Conference
2021 Trainee Professional Development Award, Society for Neuroscience
2021 Graduate Student Assembly/Provost Conference award, Carnegie Mellon University
2021 One of best posters in Education/Care Delivery, American Head and Neck Society
2020 BGSA Travel Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
2018 Recognition of Excellence in Collaborative Learning, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
2017 T32 Pre-doctoral Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (T32-GM8208)
2016 David T. Yue Memorial Award “outstanding teaching or mentoring as an undergraduate teaching assistant”, JHU Department of Biomedical Engineering
2016 Provost Undergraduate Research Award, Johns Hopkins University
2015 Vredenburg Scholarship for study abroad at Oxford University, JHU School of Engineering
2013 Technology Fellowship Grant for developing tutorial videos for undergraduate biomedical engineering students,
JHU Center for Educational Resources2013 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for study abroad at the National University of Singapore, U.S. Department of State