Hao Liang, PhD, Postdoctoral Scientist. Dr. Liang received his PhD in Bioinformatics in 2021 from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. His graduate work focused on the pharmacogenetics of antihypertensive drugs. He is the recipient of several scholarship and merit awards from Harbin Medical University and was awarded the National Scholarship for Postgraduates in 2015. Dr. Liang has expertise in RNA-seq analyses, NGS data pipelines, and statistical analyses. Within the Schrodi lab, Hao is conducting research on analysis of large biobanked DNA sequence data, the correlational structure between structural variants and SNPs in the human genome, and the transmission of epigenetic profiles.
Email: hliang78@wisc.edu
Max Shpak, PhD, Research Specialist Max received his doctorate in 2004 from Yale University. During the early part of his career, most of his research was focused primarily on developing simulation-based or analytical models of population genetic and evolutionary processes. More recently, he has worked on more empirically-oriented projects in the areas of computational cancer genomics as well as in biomedical informatics and statistics. His current project in the Schrodi lab involves simulating the genetic architecture of complex, polygenic disease traits.
Eric Parfitt BS, Theoretical Genetics Volunteer
Eric Parfitt, a graduate of the genetics department at UW-Madison, has built a Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the properties of disease genetics models. He uses machine learning algorithms to explore the genetic-based prediction of disease traits. Several of his programming projects are described in his Wolfram Research website:
Evie Browning, Undergraduate Researcher
Evie Browning is a third-year undergraduate student at UW-Madison pursuing degrees in Genetics & Genomics and Data Science. Evie has previously conducted research in the UW-Madison Schwartz lab and is currently analyzing genome-wide SNP and DNA methylation data to discover the causes of epilepsy in families. Following her undergraduate studies, Evie hopes to pursue a PhD at the intersection of genetics and data science.
Hannah Nygard, Undergraduate Researcher
Hannah Nygard is a UW-Madison student within the L&S Honors College and double majoring in neurobiology and statistics with a mathematics certificate. Hannah is developing computer simulations to conduct research on theoretical disease genetics. Hannah’s primary research interests are infectious disease epidemiology, biostatistics, and medical genetics.
Smeeth Dalal, Undergraduate Researcher
Smeeth Dalal is a UW-Madison student majoring in computer science and has an interest in data science. Smeeth is analyzing genome-wide genetic and epigenetic data to discover the causes of cerebral vascular malformations.
George Pritchard, Undergraduate Researcher
George Pritchard is a UW-Madison student majoring in genetics and genomics with a strong interest in computer science. George has constructed a study to explore the common biological pathways underlying age-related diseases using genome-wide association data and network enrichment software tools.
Steve Schrodi PhD, Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Genetics
Laboratory of Genetics
Steve Schrodi initially conducted research in the Theoretical Space Science Division at NASA Ames. He then received his PhD researching mathematical models in molecular evolution and population genetics from University of California, Irvine in 2001 under Richard Hudson and Walter Fitch. Following his graduate work, he worked as a Research Scientist under Ray White at DNA Sciences, then spent 9 years designing and analyzing large-scale disease gene mapping studies as well as developing new statistical genetics methods as a Senior Scientist, Staff Scientist, and a Senior Staff Scientist at the Celera Corporation. From 2010-2020, he was a Principal Investigator at the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute where his lab researched complex disease genetics and statistical genetics. In 2020, he started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics within the Laboratory of Genetics at UW-Madison where his lab continues to focus on three areas: (1) human genetics of immunopathologies and metabolic dysfunction, (2) the development of new statistical methods to discover disease-predisposing genetic regions and create diagnostics, and (3) theoretical models of disease genetics.
Steve has been awarded 14 US patents, the Excellence in Research Award at NASA Ames Research Center, the Applera Demonstrated Noteworthy Achievement Award, and his work was named as one of the top 10 advances for 2004 by the Arthritis Foundation. His work in 1) rheumatoid arthritis led to the discovery of PTPN22 and TRAF1 as susceptibility genes, 2) psoriasis resulted in the discovery of IL23R missense variants and IL12B regulation, highlighting the role of TH17 signaling in chronic autoinflammation, and 3) hemochromatosis which revealed a new mechanism of iron metabolism (Fgf6-signaling that modulates hepcidin) using genetic mapping approaches. He has been a Faculty Trainer for the Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine program since 2013 and is currently a Member in the UW Comprehensive Diabetes Center, an Affiliate Member of the Center for Human Genomics and Precision Medicine, and the Center for Genomic Science Innovation. Steve is a Faculty trainer for the Genomic Sciences Training Program and a faculty member at the Quantitative Biology Initiative. He serves as the Statistical Genetics Section Editor for Genetics in Medicine, and as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Genetics. Steve has served on 14 grant review panels and early faculty career development advisory committees. His academic research has been supported by NIH-NCATS, Aviir, NHLBI, Metanomics Health, the Rheumatology Research Foundation, Second Genome, NIMH, and the Marshfield Clinic.
At UW-Madison, Steve teaches Human Genetics, Clinical Cases in Medical Genetics, and Quantitative Methods in Genetics.
Email: schrodi@wisc.edu
Honorary Appointment Lab Members/Collaborators
Professor Mehdi Maadooliat
Currently: SMPH Honorary Fellow
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Graduate Chair, Bioinformatics Co-Director
Marquette University
Maadooliat Homepage
Soroush Mahmoudiandehkordi
Currently: SMPH Honorary Associate
PhD Student Computational Sciences, Maadooliat Lab
Marquette University
Lab Alumni:
Joni Sedillo PhD, CIBM Postdoctoral Scientist
Dr. Sedillo received her PhD in Molecular & Environmental Toxicology at UW-Madison under Professor Vincent Cryns. Dr. Sedillo completed the Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine (CIBM) Postdoctoral training program in the Schrodi Lab where she investigated the inheritance and properties of epigenetic signatures, the genetics of type 2 diabetes, and estimation of rare recessive disease prevalence rates.
Chelsea Stietz, UW-Madison Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate
Chelsea graduated Magna cum laude in Cellular and Molecular Biology at UW-Milwaukee and has a strong interest in the interface between mathematics, computation, and pharmacology. She is a Gordon & Beverly Flynn Scholar and has been awarded several scholarships. Her research integrates genomic data with pharmacology and relies heavily on computational and statistical approaches.
Olivia Williams, UW-Madison Undergraduate Researcher
Heguang Lin, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Lin’s research
Brian Hu, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Collin Frink, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Collin’s Research
Collin’s CV
Gautam Agarwal, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Gautam’s webpage
Gautam’s research
Eliot Kim, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Ziling Hu, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Brian Hu, UW-Madison Project X Undergraduate Machine Learning Researcher
Zach White, UW-Madison Undergraduate Researcher
Jordyn Josephson, UW-Madison Undergraduate Researcher
Jacob Kaffey, UW-Madison Research Intern
Currently: Research Scientist, Zephyr AI
Neev Liberman, UW-Madison Undergraduate Researcher
Neev’s Linkedin page
Adian McKnight, UW-Madison Undergraduate Researcher
Shailaja Singh, UW-Madison Undergraduate Researcher
Xiang Li, MS, Biostatistics
Shae Jorgensen, MD
Currently: Psychiatrist
Amy P. Callear, BS
Currently: MPH Program, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan
Sarah O’Brien, MS
Currently: Viewpoint Molecular Targeting
Daniel A. Vasco, PhD
Currently: Research Associate, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine