BCBB Software & Database Development Team

Team Leads

Michael A. Dolan, Ph.D.

Contact: dolanmi@niaid.nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 1993, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Ph.D., 2000, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Historically, Michael Dolan's research interests have centered around using computational approaches to understand protein structure and function. More recently, he has focused on all areas of bioinformatics and computational biology software development and management.

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Lewis Kim, M.P.H.

(Contractor)

Contact: wongyu.kim@nih.gov

Education:

M.P.H, 2012, George Washington University, Washington, DC

Lewis Kim has been with the Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB) for 11 years. He manages software development resources in alignment with the branch’s priorities and serves the team as Scrum Master or manages projects as needed. Lewis is inspired by automation, curiosity, and innovative ideas.

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Team Members

Jenica L. Abrudan, Ph.D.

(Contractor)

Contact: jenica.abrudan@nih.gov

Education:

Ph.D., 2013, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

B.S., 2005, Victor Babes University, Timisoara, RO

Jenica Abrudan is a Clinical Data Engineer and part of interdisciplinary team supporting the HGRepo-Labkey application.

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Cyrus Afrasiabi

(Contractor)

Contact: cyrus.afrasiabi@nih.gov

Education:

M.Eng. 2011, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

B.S.E.E., 2003, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Cyrus started his career as an Electrical and Computer Engineer focusing on digital system design. While working, he took a course in “radars and remote sensing” that included a section on medical imaging; this was fascinating enough to inspire him to get a degree in biomedical engineering. After graduating, Cyrus worked in a lab specializing in protein structure and function prediction using...

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Jason Barnett

(Contractor)

Contact: barnettj@niaid.nih.gov

Education:

B.S. in Biological Sciences and Chemistry, 1997, Marshall University, Huntington, WV

Jason Barnett is the Operations Contract Lead for the Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch (BCBB). He has provided operational leadership to BCBB for fifteen years as it has grown from a program to a branch within the NIAID OCICB. Jason specializes in research operations, defining processes and workflows, and developing standard operating procedures to drive efficiencies. He manages...

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Yamil Boo Irizarry, B.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: yamil.booirizarry@nih.gov

Education:

B.S, 2015, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Yamil is a Senior Lab Application Support Specialist in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch (BCBB) within the Office of Cyber Infrastructure and Computational Biology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. His work with BCBB is developing and maintaining several web applications such as NIH 3D, NIAID Bioinformatics Portal, Tuberculosis Regulatory Network...

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Mike Bopf, M.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: mbopf@mail.nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 1986, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN

M.S., 1991, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Mike Bopf is a Senior Software Engineer, specializing in Python development and data science in various domains of scientific computing. He is currently working on the Image Portal Workflows (pipelines) portion of the Hedwig project which converts raw electron microscopy images into other formats for scientific use and display, using High Performance Computing resources.

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Kristen Browne M.Sc., M.Sc., B.M.C.

(Contractor)

Contact: kristen.browne@nih.gov

Education:

M.Sc., Biomedical Communications, 2015, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

M.Sc., Zoology, 2009, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

B.Sc., Biochemistry, 2005, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

Languages Spoken: French

Kristen’s time is distributed between the management, analysis, design, and development of software products, and the design and construction of 3D objects from scientific data sources (medical imaging, molecular structures, etc.). She is involved with the management, product design, and development of NIH 3D, PathogenAR, TB in 3D, and PaVE 3D. She was also involved in the analysis and product...

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Osy Desmond, M.Sc.

(Contractor)

Contact: osy.desmond@nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 2018, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK

M.S., 2020, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK

Languages Spoken: French

Osy is a DevOps engineer experienced in modern processes that streamline and speed up development and research. Osy has been involved in Nephele, RAP, NIH 3D, SimpleITK and GRIS seqr.

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Duc Doan, M.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: duc.doan@nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 2012, Hanoi National University of Education, Vietnam

M.S., 2018, University of the District of Columbia, Washington DC

Duc has experience as a Software Engineer across many different industries including outsourcing, academic, non-profit, finance, startup ,nd research institutions. At Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB), Duc designs, implements and maintains software applications in support of BCBB products and services. He has a strong involvement in several projects: Nephele, NIH 3D, and...

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Jennifer Dommer, M.B.

(Contractor)

Contact: jennifer.dommer@nih.gov

Education:

M.B., 2005, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Jennifer is a software engineer for the Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch (BCBB). She began her career at the University of Pennsylvania’s Computational Biology and Informatics Laboratory (CBIL) working on the Apicomplexan databases. She joined BCBB in 2010 as a bioinformatician and has worked on numerous projects focused on providing tools, data, and analytical pipelines to...

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Samuel Ezeji, Jr.

(Contractor)

Contact: ezejisc@niaid.nih.gov

Education:

B.F.A., 2009, Corcoran College of Art, Washington, DC

Samuel Ezeji, Jr. is a User Experience Designer for the Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch Software & Database Development Team.

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Robert A. Gilmore, B.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: robert.gilmore@nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 2013, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi

Robert received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Mississippi State University in 2013. As a Biomedical Informatics Data Engineer, he started with the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Branch (BCBB) in 2020. Robert’s primary focus is to maintain and upgrade genomic pipelines for the Genomic Research Integration System (GRIS).

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Poojareddy Gogireddy

Contact: poojareddy.gogireddy@nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 2016, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India 

Languages Spoken: Telugu

With 6 years of hands-on experience in Manual and Automation testing, Pooja specializes in transitioning from manual to automated testing, achieving significant efficiency gains. She is skilled in writing automation scripts using Java, Selenium, and TestNG framework. As a collaborative team player, she focuses on enhancing product/application quality and driving continuous improvement initiatives.

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Diana Jing

(Contractor)

Contact: diana.jing@nih.gov

Education:

B.A, 2014, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

Languages Spoken: Mandarin

Diana is a former biology lab tech turned front end software developer. She got into biology due to a love of birds and has previously helped rear crane chicks during a USGS internship. She also worked on evolutionary developmental biology research in an insect lab. Much to her relief, code bugs tend to be less wriggly than mealworms.

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David T. Liou, B.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: david.liou@nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 2006, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

David joined Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB) in 2010. He has worked on numerous projects building tools for the biomedical community. David is a technical manager and the technical lead for the NIH 3D project.

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Bradley C. Lowekamp, B.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: blowekamp@mail.nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 2002, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

Bradley C. Lowekamp graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2002 with Computer Sciences and Mathematics majors. His areas of interest include software engineering, open-source software development, biomedical image computing, visualization, parallel computing, algorithms analysis, and deep learning. Mr. Lowekamp is the Technical Lead for SimpleITK, an open-source, cross...

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Philip MacMenamin

(Contractor)

Contact: philip.macmenamin@nih.gov

Education:

B.Sc.(hons), Mathematics and Biology, National University Ireland, Maynooth, 1999

M.Sc., Computer Science, National University Ireland, Maynooth, 2002

Philip Macmenamin is a research software engineer. From 2003 he held a position in New York University Genomics, involved with RNA interference, microRNAs, and 3’ UTRs. Additionally, he purchased and set up a Linux supercomputer for NYU Biology, which went into service in 2008. In 2009, Philip formed a NYC-based startup. Then in 2011, he took a position at the Human Genetics Institute of New...

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Saada Musa, M.S.

Education:

M.S., Biology, 2021, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
B.S., Biology, 2019, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN

Languages Spoken: Arabic

Saada Musa is a Clinical Genomics Project Coordinator supporting the Labkey and GRIS (Genomic Research and Integration System) teams. Her background is in biology and public health with previous work including serving as a project coordinator at CDC for the Monkeypox (mpox) response, an ORISE Fellow at CDC in the Emergency Response Branch, as well as a Case Assigner and Communicable Disease...

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Laurel K. Myers, M.F.A.

(Contractor)

Contact: laurel.myers@nih.gov

Education:

M.F.A .Medical Illustration, 2012, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

B.F.A. Graphic Design, 2004, Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, GA

In working as a User Interface/User Experience (UI/UX) designer for Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB), Laurel has been involved with the redesign of NIH 3D as well as working on TB Portals, GRIS, and Hedwig 2. She also spearheaded the transition to Figma for the design team and the creation of the BCBB Design System. Her research interests include design trends, user...

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Huy Nguyen

(Contractor)

Contact: manhhuy.nguyen@nih.gov

Education:

B.A., 2014, Reed College, Portland, OR

Languages Spoken: Vietnamese

Huy is a software engineer with extensive experience developing large-scale, front-end-focused, highly interactive data exploration and visualization platforms. He is passionate about creating beautiful, engaging, high-performance web applications using the latest cloud and web technologies. Before Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB), Huy worked in various software...

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Matt Reardon, B.S., M.F.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: matt.reardon@nih.gov

Education:

B.S., 1995, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

M.F.S., 1999, The George Washington University, Washington, DC

Matt is the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Administrator for the Integrated Research Facility (IRF) at Fort Detrick facility, supporting a wide range of labs, users, and instrumentation. He enjoys making sure that the users have the tools they need to get their work done, and also developing new tools and pipelines to aid them in their scientific ventures. Using a variety of...

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Smilee Samuel B.D.S, M.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: smilee.samuel@nih.gov

Education:

B.D.S, 2001, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, India

M.S., Health Informatics, 2014, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Ph.D., Health Services Research, 2021- present, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Languages Spoken: Malayalam , Telugu, Hindi

Smilee currently works as the Project Manager for NIAID research projects providing clinical data expertise in standardizing the integration and analyses of complex biomedical data. Smilee has more than 15 years of experience in health care and research data management. Her previous experience includes working with traumatic brain injury, symptom science and self-management research projects on...

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Menolin Sharma

(Contractor)

Contact: menolin.sharma@nih.gov

Education:

M.S., 2021, University of Delaware, DE

Languages Spoken: Nepali

Menolin is a biomedical informatics data specialist at the Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch (BCBB) since 2022. She provides support primarily in genomics data engineering. Her past work includes research projects focused on microbial genomics.

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Anish Shrestha

(Contractor)

Contact: anish.shrestha@nih.gov

Education:

M.S., 2023, Miami University, Oxford, OH

Languages Spoken: Nepali, Newari

Anish is an experienced software engineer with several years of experience in web development. He joined BCBB as a Python Software Engineer in 2023. Currently, he is focused on workflows development for projects like Hedwig. His current interests are in web development, large language models, and data visualization.

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Conrad Shyu, Ph.D.

(Contract)

Contact: conrad.shyu@nih.gov

Education:

Ph.D., 2006, University of Idaho, Idaho, ID

Languages Spoken: Mandarin

Conrad is a Computational Genomics Specialist at Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB). He has been working on different projects such as Nephele, METAGENOTE, TB Portal (RAP/GAP), SUNLIT (protein structure viewer), and most recently GRIS and HGRepo. Conrad has a background in Computer Science and Mathematics and earned a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from...

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Victor Starr Kramer

(Contractor)

Contact: victor.starrkramer@nih.gov

Education:

A.A., 2018, Montgomery College Rockville, MD

Victor Starr Kramer is a visualization technology specialist that supports the Biovisualization and 3D printing services. Interests include Virtual Reality, 3D Printing, Augmented reality, high performance computing hardware design, and 3D modeling.

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Emily Tran

(Contractor)

Contact: thien-huong.tran@nih.gov

Education:

M.S., 2020, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

B.A., 2013, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Languages Spoken: Vietnamese

Emily’s background is in computer science and programming. She has always had a strong interest in biology and bioinformatics. Emily completed her MS in Bioinformatics in 2020 and joined the Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB) team in 2021. Emily works on clinical informatics projects as a full stack developer.

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Jun Yu, M.S.

(Contractor)

Contact: jun.yu@nih.gov

Education:

M.S., 1992, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China

B.S., 1990, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China

Languages Spoken: Chinese

Jun Yu is a Senior Software Development Engineer for .NET and Java. At Bioinformatics and Computational Bioscience Branch (BCBB), he works to support BCBB products and services. He is the main developer for the TB GAP project and is also involved with FERMS, VHICL_IMS, TB RAP, and METAGENOTE.

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