Ontario Genomics-CANSSI Ontario Postdoctoral Fellowship in Genome Data Science – Award Recipient: Dustin Jonathan Sokolowski

Ontario Genomics and CANSSI Ontario (OG-CO) are pleased to announce Dustin Jonathan Sokolowski as the recipient of Ontario Genomics-CANSSI Ontario Postdoctoral Fellowships in Genome Data Science.

• Dustin Sokolowski is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. He completed his undergraduate degree in Genetics at Western University, where he discovered his passion for data analysis and interpretation in a biological context. During the summer, he worked in the Genes and Genome Biology department at SickKids under Drs. Paul Arnold and Anna Goldenberg, where he began learning about cutting-edge techniques and the crucial challenges in gleaning biology from multi-omic datasets.
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• Dustin’s PhD thesis involved developing and applying bioinformatic methods to improve the interpretability of transcriptomic data analysis. He developed single-cell mapper (scMappR), which assigns differentially expressed genes from tissue-level RNA-seq to their cell-type of origin (PMID: 33655208). He developed the Differential Expression Enrichment Tool (DEET), an interactive database of over 3,000, to consistently reprocess differential gene expression analyses (PMID: 36694664). Lastly, he integrated these tools with state-of-the-art bioinformatic approaches to identify gene signatures involved in pubertal regulation in the mouse hypothalamus (https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.12.562121).
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• Collaboration is Dustin’s favourite aspect of his scientific journey (PMIDs: 36221127, 37481629, 37350250). These collaborations provided learning opportunities otherwise inaccessible, and have built an invaluable network of collaborators and friends. One key collaboration involves Dr. Melissa Holmes, who was interested in applying transcriptomic and epigenetic techniques to discover mechanisms underlying the reproductive suppression seen in naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber; NMR). This collaboration has expanded into a multi-institutional, international effort to understand the genetic underpinnings of the NMRs unique physiology. Dustin spearheads a de novo genome assembly and annotation for the NMR (GCA_944319715.1). Dustin’s post-doctoral fellowship with Drs. Melissa Holmes and Jared Simpson is dedicated to the assembly and annotation of the wider African mole-rat family (Bathyergidae) and to identify genomic regions responsible for the adaptation of medically relevant traits.
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• When not working, Dustin is exploring the outdoors through camping, hiking, rock climbing, or playing his guitar.
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