Clayton K. Collings

genomics analyst, specialized in identifying & characterizing regulatory DNA that demarcate sites of differentially-bound transcription factors using ChIP-Seq, Cut&Run/Tag and other types of NGS application data

West Lafayette, Indiana, United States

About

Computational biologist with 15 years of experience analyzing and interpreting genomics and epigenomics datasets, with emphasis on generating publication-quality figures that support defensible biological conclusions using reproducible workflows. Deep practical experience across ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag, BS-seq, MNase-seq, NOMe-seq, RNA-seq, and related high-throughput sequencing assays, including work in the Anderson, Jones, Shilatifard, and Kadoch laboratories. Particularly well aligned with biological AI benchmark development: experienced in making practical epigenomics analysis decisions around dataset quality, differential accessibility and occupancy, transcription factor motif enrichment, analysis of motif-count / motif-density and chromatin structure, chromatin-state interpretation, cis-regulatory analysis and whether computational outputs support defensible regulatory conclusions. Current professional development focuses on Python/Jupyter, data science fundamentals, generative AI-assisted analysis, and portfolio-ready reproducible notebooks. SKILLS AND INTERESTS · Epigenomics and chromatin assays: ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag, MNase-seq, NOMe-seq, BS-seq, DNase-seq, RNA-seq, and 16S rRNA-seq. · Regulatory genomics: peak calling and QC interpretation, differential accessibility/occupancy, transcription factor motif enrichment, customized motif-count/motif-density method, partitioning of data aligned to peaks into groups, and integrating ChIP-seq or CUT&RUN/Tag with RNA-seq. · Biological domains: histone modifications & variants, chromatin architecture, transcription factors, DNA methylation, nucleosomes, cancer, neurodevelopment, immunology, and virology. · Computational environments: Unix/Linux, high-performance computing clusters, large-scale sequencing data management, reproducible analysis workflows, custom scripting, and collaborator-facing reports. · Programming and analysis: R, Perl, Unix shell, custom statistical analysis, figure generation, motif enrichment tools, and current Python/Jupyter/genAI data science refresh. · Current analysis platform: Visual Studio Code with OpenAI Codex support, Jupyter notebooks, and Anaconda-managed Python kernels for reproducible, AI-assisted data analysis workflows. · Scientific communication: publication-oriented visualization, analytical storytelling, manuscript support, collaborator meetings in person and online, and figure refinement. SELECTED FIGURE PORTFOLIO drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PqoUHB28P7cgw9foCvQtrhQIqR7yq7IQ

Experience

  • Computational Biologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
    Oct 2017 - Aug 2023 · 5 yrs 11 mos

  • Bioinformatics Analyst at Northwestern University - The Feinberg School of Medicine
    Aug 2015 - Jul 2017 · 2 yrs

  • Bioinformatician at Purdue University
    Aug 2014 - Jul 2015 · 1 yr

  • Postdoctoral Scholar - Research Associate at University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
    Aug 2013 - Jul 2014 · 1 yr