Carla Cohen

I am a computational biologist working in David Sims' Computational Biology group at the WIMM and in Sarah Snelling’s Soft Tissue Repair group at the Botnar Research Centre.

I work on the Human Cell Atlas project, a global consortium which aims to map all cells in the healthy human body. I analyse single-nuclear RNA-seq data from musculoskeletal tissues including tendon, muscle, bone and capsule to create an ethnically diverse atlas of healthy cells in the adult joint. This work will produce an open-source comprehensive resource for researchers around the world and will provide a foundation for further studies on human disease.

I am also a trainer in computational methods including Linux, R programming and core/advanced methods in single-cell RNA-seq analysis using R and Python, in collaboration with the African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology in Harare, Zimbabwe.

My work is funded from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative and fits within their ambitious goal to solve human disease by 2100.

I completed my DPhil in the Dunn School of Pathology with William James, and went on to a postdoctoral position with Dixie Mager in the Terry Fox Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada. From 2011-2022 I worked in the University of Oxford with Paul Wordsworth and Julian Knight on the genetics and epigenetics of ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis. I took a career break from 2013-2017 when I had young children, and received funding from the University’s Returning Carer’s Fund when I returned to work. I am a keen supporter of public engagement with science, and improving equality, diversity and inclusion in science.