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Skyler Kuhn

Bioinformatics Software Developer

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About Me

I am a developer based in Richmond, VA with a masters degree in Bioinformatics. If you are in Richmond, odds are that you will either find me hunched over my road bike racing down the Capital Trail or hunched in front of a computer working on a new project. Working as a post-graduate bioinformaticist and scientific programmer at Virginia Commonwealth University, I have had the opportunity to develop software in an array of different laboratories and settings.

Experience

Center for the Study of Biological Complexity

Software Developer

Devised a novel method for utilizing frequent item-set data mining techniques to find conserved patterns in the different global causes of mortality

Virginia Commonwealth University

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Demonstrated ability to communicate highly technical information in a clear and concise manner for the development of novel tools and methods to fight against the Influenza virus


Addressed the needs of fifteen students by imparting direct, integrative expertise in the form of computational, quantitative, and biological knowledge

Center for the Study of Biological Complexity

Back-End Web Developer

Developed a three-tiered web application with a small team that provides a catalogue of all living reptile species and their classification; currently there are more than 10,000 species including another 2,800 subspecies


Database focuses on taxonomic data (i.e. names and synonyms), distribution information, and literature references

Virginia Commonwealth University

Scientific Programmer

Developed a command-line tool used to calculate and compare percent identities of different open reading frames of homologous mRNA sequences across various model organisms

Student Technology Advisory Committee

Graduate Adviser

Advised and assisted VCU technology services in the design and implementation of matters related to service design, programming, and promotion of technology

Virginia Commonwealth University

Bioinformatician

Conducted a preliminary metagenomic analysis to characterize shifts in microbial communities of mice with long-term opioid exposure


Characterized effects have extended and validated earlier clinical correlative observations of mice with opioid-induced gastrointestinal microbial pathogenesis

Virginia Commonwealth University

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Evaluated thirty-three students’ homework and programming projects related to algorithm design, implementation and bioinformatics analysis


Maintained help sessions twice a week and provided constructive feedback for students with questions

Education

Virginia Commonwealth Univeristy

August 2017

Center for the Study of Biological Complexity   Richmond, VA

Master's, Bioinformatics

Student Technology Advisory Committee
Society of Bioinformaticists

James Madison Univeristy

May 2014

Center for Genome and Metagenome Studies   Harrisonburg, VA

Bachelor of Science, Biology

Projects

Understanding Mortality and Aging

Data-Mining World Health Organization data to find conserved patterns in the different global causes of death. The pipeline developed for this project implements an adapted version of the apriori algorithm as its heuristic to effectively reduce runtime from several decades to a few minutes.

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Reptile Database

The study of reptile biodiversity is important to biologists for many reasons. It aids in understanding of an ecosystem's health, and it also aids in understanding how well these organisms can adapt to selective pressures. However, due to high levels of biodiversity, it can be difficult to create accurate family trees and classification. In order to fully visualize the scope of the biodiversity of extant reptiles, we created a database that can be accessed via a web interface. Currently there are more than 10,000 species including another 2,800 subspecies. The database contains information pertaining to taxonomic data (i.e. names and synonyms), distribution information, and literature references.

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Skills

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