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Nikhita Damaraju

LinkedIn ORCID Google Scholar

I am a recent PhD graduate in Public Health Genetics from the University of Washington’s Institute for Public Health Genetics, where I worked in the Miller Lab. My research sits at the intersection of bioinformatics, statistical genetics, and health economics, with a focus on translational genomics. My dissertation evaluated long-read sequencing for clinical care — addressing how accurate it is, what it enables beyond a single diagnosis, and how often it changes outcomes for patients who have exhausted standard testing options.

Throughout my research and professional experiences, I have worked across statistics, genetics, cancer biology, machine learning, and public health, and I am passionate about bringing these interdisciplinary skills to precision medicine in industry.

I am actively seeking full-time roles in bioinformatics, computational biology, translational data science, and genomics AI.


Education

  • University of Washington School of Public Health | PhD in Public Health Genetics | 2022 - 2026
  • Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health | M.S in Biostatistics-Statistical Genetics | 2020 - 2022
  • Indian Institute of Technology Madras | B.S-M.S in Biological Sciences-Computational Biology | 2015-2020

Experience

  • UW School of Medicine | Research Assistant | January 2023 - present

  • UW School of Pharmacy | Biostatistician | March 2023 - September 2023

  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | Research Assistant | February 2022 - September 2022

  • Inflammatix inc. | Computational Biology intern | August 2021 - September 2021

  • Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center | Research Assistant | October 2020 - April 2022

  • Stanford University School of Medicine | Summer intern | May 2019 - August 2019

  • Stanford University School of Medicine | Summer intern | May 2018 - August 2018

  • Tata Institute of Fundamental Research | Summer intern | May 2017 - August 2017


News

  • The first chapter of my dissertation titled “Determinants of haplotype phasing accuracy in long-read human genome sequencing” is now available online. Read more: Preprint | May 2026

  • I successfully defended my PhD dissertation in Public Health Genetics at the University of Washington! | May 2026

  • Moderated a session on “The Utility of AI in Clinical Genomics” and presented a poster on long-read phasing for identity-by-descent detection at ASHG 2025 in Boston | October 2025

  • Gave a talk on staying organized in grad school using Notion at the Institute for Public Health Genetics Retreat 2025 | September 2025

  • I successfully passed my PhD general exam! | February 2025

  • Interviewed as part of the ‘Promising Young Scientist’ series by Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine. Read more: Article | January 2025