Assistant Research Scientist
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Mrutyunjaya (Rocky) Parida, PhD
Assistant Research Scientist/Engin
Department of Pathology
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
As a graduate student, I have worked on a wide variety of projects investigating complex scientific questions using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) datasets on a whole-genome level. I have analyzed RNA-Seq datasets to study differential gene expression patterns, enriched biological processes and pathways, and associated regulatory motifs in multiple organisms. I have explored genetic mutations in an Iowa family associated with Renal Agenesis (RA). As a post-doc, I designed Linux-based data manipulation and visualization tools, and automated workflows to better understand RNA polymerase II in the context of promoter-proximal pausing and its interaction with surrounding chromatin in human and HCMV genomes. As an Assistant Research Scientist at Molecular Pathology, UIOWA, I have automated the CNV and MSI detection workflows for our large cancer gene panel test. I have implemented pipelines for convenient comparison and validation of variant calls from different Illumina sequencing instruments, created a Cancer Variant Database (CVDB) for easier search and comparison of custom-designed panel test patient reports till date, and implemented next generation sequencing sample fingerprint generation as a quality control measure to ensure sample data accuracy and reliability. My interests are cancer informatics, cancer genetics, and NGS data analysis.