Our Team

Ekaterina recently joined Harari lab as a bioinformatics scientist. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Moscow State University of Instrument Engineering and Computer Science with a double major in Computer Science and Economics. Before joining academia, she worked on data integration projects in leading Russian banks and retail companies. After a few years of working on the Latvian database of patients with type II diabetes, she was invited to join Washington University in St. Louis as a Visiting researcher in 2018. She collaborated with Dr. Artyomov group to develop a novel deconvolution method for bulk RNA-seq data.

In the Harari lab her main role is focused on single-cell and spatial transcriptomics analysis, including developing a data-driven single-cell data analysis pipeline. She is scientifically interested in expanding her understanding of the role of innate immune system in neurodegenerative disease progression. When she is not at work you can find her practicing archery skills in Forest Park, taking care of stray animals, or enjoying coffee at the nearest cafe.

Ricardo’s Google Scholar.

Ricardo is a biologist with a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Michigan. His research interests are understanding aging and complex diseases from a molecular biology viewpoint. He is especially interested in mapping the interface between genetics and gene regulation, which requires him to be proficient in integrating multiple layers of functional genomics information (genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic) at the bulk and single-cell levels.

In addition to doing science, Ricardo is excited about teaching and supporting other trainees. Outside the lab, you will find him playing the piano, running in Forest Park, nature watching, and hiking.

Logan is a PhD student in the Human and Statistical Genetics Program. He has a Bachelor’s degrees in Bioinformatics and Genetics & Biotechnology from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Prior to joining Washington University, Logan worked to develop a computational tool, ExtRamp, which dynamically identifies the ‘ramp’ sequence from the beginning of genes. He joined our lab in 2019 where he currently uses single nucleus RNA-seq to understand the genetic underpinnings of Alzheimer disease pathology at cell specific resolution.

Logan’s Pubmed.

Jared is a bioinformatics research analyst and graduated from Loyola University in Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology and a Master of Science in bioinformatics and computational biology from Saint Louis University. Since starting at the lab he has been conducting deconvolution research, developing an application for deconvolution of bulk RNA-seq data to study the cellular proportions present at the level of snRNA-seq. Outside of the lab his interests include playing soccer and chess, taking care of his Siberian Husky, Murphy, and watching everything Marvel.

Abdallah’s Pubmed.

Abdallah’s research interests lie in the field of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. More specifically, he is interested in the development of computational algorithms and machines learning approaches to integrate and interpret multiple large-scale modalities of “omics” data to better understand the biology of multiple neurodegenerative diseases with more emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease.

Anjali is a Postdoctoral Researcher. She completed her doctorate dissertation from University of Delhi South Campus, India. During her graduate studies, she focused on studying the different aspects of autoimmune disease caused by similarity in host and pathogen peptides, also known as molecular mimicry, using genomic data. At the present time, she is analyzing single-cell data generated in the lab, and publicly available to investigate the implication of genes identified in genetic analyses of Alzheimer Disease in the neuronal-vascular dysfunction cross communication. She is working on high throughput brain single-cell sequencing and genome-wide genotyping (GWAS and Whole Genome Sequencing) data.

Jackie is a new addition to the group as a research project coordinator, and is currently working on the lab website. She received her BS degree in Biology with a double major in Psychology from Colorado State University in 2006, and Masters of Science in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from University of South Florida in 2016.

Jackie recently moved to the Saint Louis area from Atlanta, Georgia and is getting used to snow again. She likes to take her dog on walks, reading anything she can get her hands on, and cooking (and baking).

Carolina’s Pubmed.

Carolina is a biologist with a PhD in Genetics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a M.S. in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics from Open University of Catalonia (Spain).

Her research interests focus on epigenetics, genetics , single-cell RNA sequencing and multi-omic approaches to identify novel variants, genes and pathways implicated on aging-associated diseases, with special attention to Stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. Her interests are also in the field of epigenetics of aging. To achieve her objectives she combines different tools: large and well characterized human cohorts, next generation sequencing (e.g. GWAS, EWAS, exome sequencing, single-cell RNAseq), bioinformatics, biostatistics and omic-data integration. She is fascinated by how epigenetic mechanism might modulate gene expression as a consequence of micro/environmental exposures, working as environmental mediator

In her free time she enjoys crafts, running, hiking and movies.

I have the privilege of leading a multicultural and diverse multidisciplinary research group that brings together computational biologists, systems biologists, and bioinformaticians to study Alzheimer disease, related dementias and neurodegeneration. We use traditional statistical and advanced machine learning and data science approaches to analyze molecular data and provide novel insights on neurodegeneration.

Our work aims to discern how genetic factor and genes contribute to the biological processes that affect disease using multi-omic integrative approaches with particular emphases in single-cell molecular data and spatially resolved transcriptomics. We develop and use innovative analytical workflows to study the genetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and epigenetic data from tissue homogenates and single-cell brain tissue.

Dr. Harari PubMed Page.