Lab Personnel
Meet the researchers, students, and trainees who make the lab run.
Rob J. Kulathinal, PhD
Principal Investigator
Rob Kulathinal, PhD, is an evolutionary genomicist in the Department of Biology at Temple University, where he applies population genetics, phylogenomics, and bioinformatics to study how genomic architecture evolves across populations and species in shaping traits. He serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM) and Co-Director of the Bioinformatics PhD Program. Dr. Kulathinal teaches Introduction to Graduate Research and the undergraduate course Genetic Diversity and Human Nature. Outside his lab, he mentors researchers through a weekly Bioinformatics Studio and advises multiple student groups, including the Biology Society , BGSS, and Temple Community Garden. Among his various hats, he chairs the department’s Outreach and Engagement Committee, co-chairs Temple’s interdisciplinary Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Network, the Data Sciences and Artificial Intelligence network, the international Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Omics Research in Aging and Cancer Workshop, and serves as Deputy Editor of G3: Genes | Genetics | Genomes.
Samantha Boudeau
Doctoral Student
Samantha is a Bioinformatics doctoral student investigating how pan-African genetic ancestry influences pan-cancer biology. Co-advised by Dr. Camille Ragin (Fox Chase Cancer Center), her research centers on ancestry-informative markers, eQTLs, and environmental interactions that contribute to cancer disparities.
Albert Doughan
Doctoral Student
Albert is a doctoral student in the Bioinformatics Program studying genetic differences across ancestral groups in cancer. Focused on disparities in prostate cancer among Black men, Albert develops sparse learning methods to identify ancestry-informative markers and population-specific polygenic risk scores.
Sudheshna Bodapati
Doctoral Student
Co-advised by Dr. Hayan Lee (Fox Chase Cancer Center), Sudheshna is a Bioinformatics PhD student building algorithms to quantify tumor epimutation burden and organ-specific DNA methylation patterns for cancer classification, progression, and early detection.
Madison Dautle
Doctoral Student
Madison is a PhD student in Bioinformatics investigating how epigenetic states and mutations influence 3D genome folding. With Dr. Sudhir Kumar (iGEM), Madison is also applying machine learning approaches to link chromatin architecture with gene regulation and cancer biology.
Anthony Joson
Biology Masters Student
Anthony is a Biology Masters student studying the evolutionary dynamics of sex-biased gene expression and new gene function across Drosophila species. As a musician, he is also developing an online webtool that transforms phylogenomic data into acoustical sound for gene discovery.
Grant Merrigan
Professional Science Masters, Bioinformatics
Grant recently graduated with a degree in Data Sciences and is interested in exploring the exciting field of bioinformatics. Grant is continuing to develop a phylogenomic pipeline that functionalizes recent duplicates.
Anim Ohime
Postbac Researcher
Anim is a Computer Science graduate investigating how combinations of genetic variants impact protein pathogenicity at scale, developing new computational frameworks that integrate population frequencies across the human proteome.
Joan Tom
Undergraduate Researcher
Joan is a Genomic Medicine major, minoring in Anthropology, who studies the genomic architecture of sex-biased traits in Drosophila. By linking genes, phenotypes, and expression networks, she explores sexual selection and population divergence.
Abhi Bolisetti
Undergraduate Researcher
Abhi is a Genomic Medicine major with a minor in Spanish studying the genomics of hemoglobinopathies through a population genomics lens. His work examines how genetic ancestry shapes variation in blood disorders.
Shrihith Golugula
Undergraduate Researcher
Shrihith is an Integrative Genetics and Genomics junior at Temple extending our flyDIVaS framework to develop a generalized, interactive database for comparative genomics that analyzes divergence and selection across user-selected genome assemblies.
Shrihith is an Integrative Genetics and Genomics junior at Temple.
Finn Mousseau
Undergraduate Researcher
Finn is a third-year Biology major on the Drosophila behavior team studying neural-specific genes underlying sex-specific mating behavior. He identifies candidate genes in silico and tests their function in vivo using genetic and behavioral assays.
Sahil Desai
Undergraduate Researcher
Sahil is a senior Neuroscience student designing and building behavioral arenas for studying neural control of mating and social behaviors in Drosophila.
Damon Diez
Undergraduate Researcher
Damon is a Biology junior investigating the effects of male–female density on Drosophila mating behavior, evaluating and integrating multi-fly tracking and machine-learning–based behavior annotation software.
Zoe Tucker
Undergraduate Researcher
Zoe recently joined our lab to better understand the intersection of genetics, populations, and disease. As a Genomic Medicine major, Zoe will be integrating knowledgebases from the important, but underutilized, medical model, the dog.
Stella Menzies
Undergraduate Researcher
Stella is a Chemistry major taking graduate courses as part of the 4+1 Bioinformatics Professional Science Masters program. She is working on understanting the evolution of early embryonic sex-bias across mammalian lineages