Yana Safonova
My name is Yana Safonova. I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department and Huck Institutes of Life Sciences at Penn State University.
I was previously affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, University of California San Diego, and University of Louisville School of Medicine.
My lab develops tools for comparative immunogenomics and analysis of adaptive immune systems. We study diseases and adaptive immune responses in humans, agricultural animals (cattle, sheep, horse), endangered and vulnerable species (black-footed ferrets, bighorns, elks), and disease reservoirs (rodents, bats). Come work with us to join this exciting field!
Work experience
2023. Assistant Professor. Computer Science and Engineering Department, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, State College, USA.
2021–2023. Assistant Professor. Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.
2019–2021. AAI Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellow. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, USA. Advisor: Corey T. Watson.
2017–2021. Postdoctoral Scholar. Computer Science and Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA. Scientific advisor: Pavel A. Pevzner.
Education
2012–2017. Ph.D. in Bioinformatics. Center for Algorithmic Biotechnology, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Scientific advisor: Pavel A. Pevzner.
PhD thesis "Application of graph models to bioinformatics analysis of hypervariable biological sequences" [PDF, English version: pp. 72–134].
2010–2012. M.Sc. in Computer Science. Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
2006–2010. B.Sc. in Computer Science. Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
We are hiring PhD students and postdocs! For more information, email me via yana at psu.edu.