Lab Members
David Crosslin, PhD (PI)
Dr. Crosslin is an Associate Professor in the Division of Biomedical Informatics and Genomics in the John W. Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine. He also serves as the Director of Biomedical Informatics in the Tulane University Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. His current research program focuses on the area of precision medicine, with a combination of statistical genetics, biomedical informatics, implementation science, and computational/bioinformatic tools development. As such, his program is in line with advancing the national electronic health information infrastructure in support of personalized medicine. For his full bio, click here.
José Irizarry Ayala, MS (PhD Candidate)
José is a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Informatics. His areas of expertise include biostatistics, artificial intelligence/machine learning data analysis methods, and data management. José also has extensive hands-on experience with both the eMERGE and All of Us Research Program datasets. His research focuses on incorporating social, spatial, and genetic determinants of health with electronic health record-based data to improve screening techniques for chronic diseases, particularly those that affect minority populations.
Kamyar Sharifi (PhD Candidate)
Kam is a PhD candidate in the Biomedical Sciences program with interests in statistical genetics, health informatics, and biostatistics. He began in bench research and developed a deeper interest in medical genetics during his postbaccalaureate fellowship with the Undiagnosed Diseases Program at the National Human Genome Research Institute.
He currently contributes to bioinformatics, study design, and health informatics projects, with a focus on using genetic and clinical data to better understand disease risk and support precision medicine. Kam hopes to grow into a statistical geneticist who bridges biomedical data science, clinical research, and translational discovery. Outside of research, he enjoys building his coding skills, staying active, and swing dancing with his community.
Sophia Salter (PhD Student)
Sophia is a biomedical informatics Ph.D. student from Oregon with a background in applied mathematics and chemistry with additional strengths in statistics, computer science, and dynamical systems and control theory. Her previous research spans polymer synthesis and polymer physics applications in biomedical science, including melt electrowriting (MEW) highly resolved scaffolds to be post-processed into aligned nanofibrillar constructs for engineering of aligned tissues, developing polymer-based drug degradation systems, and using inkjet-print manufacturing to reduce yellowing in Apple plastics. Moving forward, she is looking forward to integrating more of her mathematical background into her research. Beyond academics, she enjoys listening to live music, hiking, website design, and doing commission work for her art business.
Julia Meilan (PhD Student)
Julia is a PhD student in the Biomedical Sciences program with a background in biology and psychology. Her prior work includes clinical research in substance use disorder treatment, where she investigated sex differences in stress induced relapse and withdrawal, and human factors and systems engineering research in perioperative medicine, where she worked to understand how human and system factors contribute to patient safety events and develop clinical solutions. Her current work in biomedical informatics uses EHR based approaches to uncover the genetic architecture of complex diseases, with a particular interest in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Her broader interests include translational research, precision medicine, and implementation science. Outside of research, Julia enjoys the beach, boating, staying active, and reading fiction.
Mia Fitzgerald
Mia is a current Tulane student pursuing a Master’s of Public Health. She recently completed a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. She is particularly interested in analyzing epidemiological data and developing strategies for disease prevention and health promotion.