Profile

I grew up in the desert in the state of New Mexico in the USA. I served a church service mission for two years in Far East Russia. After I returned, I continued my college education and received my undergraduate degree in New Mexico. I then moved to the state of Oklahoma where I received my first Masters degree and more importantly I met my wife.  We then moved to Idaho where I got my second Masters degree and a PhD. While in Idaho, we were blessed with two children. We then moved with my family to Stockholm, Sweden for a postdoctoral fellowship for 3 years where I researched evolutionary genetics in yeast. While in Sweden, our youngest son joined our family and he was unexpectedly diagnosed with Down syndrome, which makes him extra adorable. In January of this year, we moved to Scotland so that I could continue my career and research cancer genomics.

I use computers to decipher and interpret complex datasets. Most datasets are generated by sequencing the DNA within cancer tumours and comparing it to ‘normal’ tissue. Cancer causes a very large amount of unusual changes in the DNA of tumours. One of the difficult issues is to be able to determine which changes (mutations) are important and causing the cancer and which are just ‘passenger’ mutations. I use computer programming to be able to unravel the puzzle and help to identify the true causes of cancer.

I wake up and have breakfast with my family. I then take a bus to Edinburgh, where I work at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer. Once I arrive, I get set up for the day which includes setting up my laptop and writing a schedule and to-do list in my notebook. I then check my e-mails and take care of any responses that need to be made. Then I will then check on the progress of any computer programs that I had submitted to the supercomputer to run overnight. Then I will work my way through my to-do list for the day, which often includes reading scientific papers and writing computer scripts to perform analyses. I often eat lunch at my desk while I read a paper. Most days I will also have a group meeting or seminar to attend to discuss research. At the end of the day, I take a bus back home for dinner with my wife and kids. After (finally) getting all three of our kids to bed, my wife and I will often read or watch a movie together.