Résumé
Simon W. M. Eng
Contact and Links
Selected Experiences
2019–current
Bioinformatician
Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network Initiative at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids),
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
- Provided computational expertise to an existing project within the Division of Rheumatology comparing several childhood and adult arthritis classifications, resulting in a paper in progress.
- Provided guidance to two biostatisticians and a data analyst in understanding data produced in prior clinical studies and an ongoing clinical study, enabling them to align fields between these studies.
2018–2019
Lab Research Project Coordinator
Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network Initiative at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids),
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
- Published an analysis of patterns of joint presentation in childhood arthritis in a major journal, PLOS Medicine, resulting in exposure through Twitter and press releases from University of Toronto, Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomedical Research, and SickKids.
- Produced and compiled text and figures for a patent application stemming from my PhD work, which is currently under review.
- Assisted in designing the UCAN CAN-DU and UCAN CURE study websites, which now serve as important resources for patients, parents, and clinicians.
- Leveraged experience in website design and print production to produce professional visual materials and take event photographs at the Childhood Arthritis & Beyond conference.
2011–2018
PhD (Immunology and Combined Graduate Program in Genome Biology and Bioinformatics)
SickKids (Dr. Rae Yeung) and University of Toronto (Dr. Quaid Morris),
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
- Explored and advised on applying machine learning to classify and reclassify rare autoimmune diseases from multi-omic data, producing foundations for classifications for these diseases that link clinical and biological features.
- Provided guidance in analyzing multi-omic data to a graduate student supervised by a collaborating computational biologist, resulting in the identification of a single nucleotide polymorphism that formed the basis of a PhD project in Dr. Rae Yeung’s laboratory.
- Mentored two medical school students and one undergraduate student on applying machine learning their areas of expertise, enabling them to provide valuable scientific contributions with one paper in submission.
- Summarized complex computational concepts to non-expert and lay audiences at conferences, resulting in four awards, including an award for the One-Minute Thesis Competition at the Canadian Society for Immunology 2016 Scientific Meeting.
- Collaborated with computational biologists, clinicians from the United States and Europe, and two Canada-wide consortia of paediatric rheumatologists and study coordinators to analyze complex data sets, resulting in one published paper and two in progress.
2014–2015
Co-President
Immunology Graduate Students Association at University of Toronto,
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
- Partnered with the Immunology Students’ Association to provide mentorship opportunities through a co-hosted event providing mentorship to prospective graduate applicants.
- Organized overnight accommodations, travel, and logistics for 110 students and faculty at the 9th Department of Immunology Annual Retreat, an annual research retreat, with 97% of feedback survey respondents expressing interest in returning the following year.
- Overhauled IGSA’s outdated constitution, ratified unanimously after public consultation, to reflect IGSA’s current operations and adhere to University of Toronto Graduate Student Union guidelines.
Skills
Proficiencies
- Applications of machine learning, including classical techniques such as principal component analysis and non-negative matrix factorization.
- Data analysis in Python, including pandas, numpy, and scipy, and R, including the tidyverse.
- Authoring reusable analytical workflowsthrough workflow management systems, including snakemake and make.
- Advanced features in Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and Outlook.
- Presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote.
- Graphic design tools, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and OmniGraffle.
Familiarities
- Experimental techniques, including PCR and RNA/DNA extraction.
Education
2011–2018
PhD
in Immunology and Combined Graduate Program in Genome Biology and Bioinformatics
University of Toronto,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2005–2010
BSc Combined Honours
in Computer Science and Microbiology & Immunology (Co-op)
University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada