Garrett Cooper

Decoding pediatric cancer through omics and functional genomics to drive better diagnostics and therapies.

I am a hybrid computational and experimental biologist specializing in functional genomics and translational cancer research. I recently earned my PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Emory University. My research focused on generating and interpreting large, complex multi-omic datasets to produce clinically actionable insights into how genetic variants drive pediatric cancer. I enjoy working across the full research stack, from generating sequencing data at the bench to building the pipelines that analyze it, and have a track record of delivering findings with direct translational impact.

As a doctoral researcher in the Hong Lab (2021–2025), I led and contributed to several high-impact projects.

  • I integrated deep mutational scanning data from over 8,400 SMARCB1 variants with multi-omics profiling (CUT&RUN, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, and proteomics) to demonstrate that certain missense mutations are functionally equivalent to complete protein loss — challenging diagnostic reliance on immunohistochemistry.
  • I co-led a study integrating experimental validation and NGS data analysis to identify XPO1 as a therapeutic vulnerability in Wilms tumor, contributing to the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial.
  • I developed and maintained bioinformatics pipelines using Nextflow, Python, R, and AWS for large-scale NGS data processing, variant functional scoring, and multi-omics integration.
  • I completed an industry internship at GRAIL on the Assay Research team, optimizing the whole-genome bisulfite sequencing platform for liquid biopsy applications.

I am passionate about applying my hybrid computational and experimental skillset to solve complex problems at the intersection of genomics and precision medicine. As a recent graduate, I am actively seeking opportunities to advance translational research and diagnostic development in industry.

Education

I graduated from the University of Georgia with a BSc in Genetics in May 2020. I then began my PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology at Emory University in 2021, supported by an NCI F31 fellowship, and defended my dissertation in November 2025.