Brooke N. Wolford, PhD

Brooke N. Wolford, PhD

Statistical Geneticist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Posts by Collection

portfolio

publications

research

Corbin Jones Laboratory

June 2008 - May 2013
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Biology Department
I worked as a high school volunteer, and later, an undergraduate research assistant in the Corbin Jones Laboratory from summer 2008 until my graduation from UNC-CH in May 2013. My undergraduate research experience includes a co-authored publication, Mechanosensation across and within Drosophila species. In addition, I conducted research for my honors thesis, “Evolutionary Development of Gain-of-Function Stripes in Z. indianus,” in the Jones lab. You can listen to an audio recording of my honors thesis presented on March 22, 2013. Read more

Francis Collins Laboratory

August 2013 - August 2015
National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute
Medical Genomics and Metabolic Genetics Branch
I worked as a Postbaccalaureate IRTA trainee in the lab of Dr. Francis Collins in the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I worked under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Parker, and used my bioinformatics skill set to perform integrative analyses using RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, genotypes, and chromatin state data to identify regions involved in Type 2 Diabetes susceptibility. The Collins lab is particularly interested in non-coding regions where the majority of Genome Wide Association Study loci for T2D and related traits are located. Other NHGRI researchers and I were also highlighed by LabTV in their effort to encourage high sschool and undergraduate students to explore careers in biomedical research. Read more

Michael Boehnke & Laura Scott Group

September 2016 - August 2021 University of Michigan
Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics
I rotated with Dr. Boehnke and Dr. Laura Scott August 2015-February 2016 as a continuation of my work with the Finland-United States Investigation of NIDDM (FUSION) Project from my post-baccalaureate career. I was co-mentored by Dr. Mike Boehnke and Dr. Cristen Willer for my dissertation research. Read more

Cristen Willer Laboratory

May 2016 - September 2021 University of Michigan
Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Human Genetics, and Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
I joined the lab of Dr. Cristen Willer as a rotation student in May 2016. I began my dissertation work in September of 2016. Broadly, I studied the genetics of cardiometabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. My research projects ranged from the study of Mendelian disease in Thoracic Aortic Dissection patients from the University of Michigan Cardiac Health Improvement Project to the study of polygenic diseases in large population scale biobanks such as the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study and the UK Biobank. My research contributed to the development of precision health strategies by developing and employing computational tools to analyze big data in the form of EHR-linked biobanks with genetic data. Read more

HUNT Center for Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology

October 2021 - Present Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Department of Public Health and Nursing (ISM)
As a postdoctoral fellow in the HUNT Center for Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology (formerly the K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology), I am performing research under the mentorship of Professor Kristian Hveem. Beginning in 2021 I am a funded by the INTERVENE project. This is an international effort funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to harmonize and utilize biobanks to prevent common diseases. I began my Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in January 2024. This launched my ProtectHearts project aiming to identify proteomic predictors of heart disease, especially for women and the young. Read more

Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine

June 2024 - Present
Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine (FIMM)
Complex Disease Genetics group
As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, I am completing a secondment and short term reserach stays at FIMM supervised by Professor Samuli Ripatti, Director of FIMM. As an official FIMM Visiting Researcher, I use the FinnGen data to complement analyses from the HUNT Study in Norway. Read more

stem_ed

Seeds Pre-School Environmental Science Education

Published:

In the summers of 2012 and 2013 I led Quaker Lake Camp’s Seeds Program, an environmental education program for preschoolers. I developed three hours of curriculum surrounding science themes including weather, metamorphosis, and astronomy for our weekly day-camps. I created a blog to document our learning experiences. Read more

Genetics & Heredity for K-12

Published:

I am available for K-12 science education in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area and in the Piedmont region of North Carolina (schedule permitting) free of charge. I have experience with public school classrooms, Science Olympiad teams, and Girl and Boy Scout Troops. I specialize in genetics and inheritance and will work with you to create a lesson that fits state and Common Core standards. If you are an educator in need of a science lesson to supplement your curriculum, please reach out. I’m making some of my educational resources available below with target audiences. Read more

Digital DNA Day

Published:

National DNA Day commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA’s double helix in 1953. Since many in-person DNA Day celebrations are moving online, I’m hosting this compilation of educational resources to celebrate Digital DNA Day: April 25, 2020. This list has something for students of all ages, parents, and educators. Detailed resource summaries are primarily by Audrey Drotos, and this list was compiled with help from Dr. Christina Vallianatos. We note the best places to start for DNA novices with a Start here!. Read more

DNA Extraction For Elementary Ages

Published:

Through my Skype A Scientist match in April 2021, I prepared materials for a Zoom session with a Cub Scout group of 1st-5th graders. We did DNA extraction from a strawberry, which exists in many forms on the internet. I tried to create an ingredient and equipment list that was as flexible as possible, so that parents wouldn’t need to buy custom materials. The experiment needs some adults on hand, especially to read the instructions when on the lower range of elementary ages. A demonsration is optimal, and works fine virtually. Read more

talks

teaching

Girls Who Code

K-12 outreach, University of Michigan, Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, 2018

In 2016, University of Michigan Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics (DCMB) graduate student and NSF GRFP fellow, Zena Lapp, and I founded a voluntary student organization focused on computer science education—Girls Who Code at UM DCMB. Read more

Introduction to Python

Peer Tutorial, University of Michigan, 2019

Led a computing workshop for Graduate Society of Black Engineers and Scientists (GBES) at UM to teach introduction to Python to my peers. Independently designed an interactive Python coding lesson available here and taught on behalf of the Girls Who Code at UM DCM student organization. Read more

Genomics in Epidemiology

Graduate Course, University of Michigan, Department of Epidemiology, 2019

In Winter 2018 and 2019 I was a guest lecturer for UM School of Public Health’s Genetics in Epidemiology (EPID 516) course for Master’s level students. I lectured on the topic of Functional Genomics and designed and facilitated a laboratory exercise integrating functional assays and public datasets on the UCSC Genome Browser. Read more

Genetic Epidemiology

PhD Course, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Dept. of Public Health and Nursing , 2019

In May 2019 I was a guest lecturer for a week-long PhD Course, SMED8020, in the Department for Public Health and Nursing at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). I lectured on the topics of the Genetics of Complex Diseases, Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS), and Functional Genomics. I developed a practical in which students performed a GWAS meta-analysis using METAL. I served as a grader for students’ oral examinations. Read more

Big Data Summer Institute

Undergraduate, University of Michigan, Department of Biostatistics, 2019

I served as the Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) for the Genomics group during the 2019 Big Data Summer Institute (BDSI), an undergraduate research program in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan and a Summer Institute in Biostatistics (SIBS) program. Undergraduate students from across the worrld were competitively chosen for this intensive six-week program of in-class instruction and hands-on research experience. As the Genomics group GSI, I worked with Biostatistics faculty to mentor a group of sixteen students in broad introductions to the computational and statistical as aspects of genomics research including population genetics, polygenic risk scores, and scRNAseq. I then spent four weeks as a research mentor to four students working on an in-depth polygenic risk score project using UM’s Genes for Good cohort. Read more