Fatima Arshad

MS graduate in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics (LUMS) with hands-on experience processing large-scale NGS datasets (WES, bulk RNA-seq) and interpreting genomic variants for disease relevance, using standard pipelines (STAR, DESeq2) and reference databases (TCGA, ClinVar, OncoKB, COSMIC). Experienced in multi-omics integration (WES, RNA-seq, methylation, CNV) to link molecular signal to disease mechanism, and in producing reproducible, stakeholder-ready reports, figures, and statistical summaries. Strong quantitative foundation from GWAS/heritability analysis (R, TASSEL) and biostatistics coursework.

Comfortable working independently and picking up new computational tools as projects require.

Research Assistant - EaGil Lab, LUMS - Lahore, Pakistan

(2025-01)

• Designed and executed a multi-layer loss-of-function variant annotation pipeline (LOFTEE, OncoKB, COSMIC) across 46,684 variants from 643 tumour samples, requiring justified, defensible calls at each filtering step.
• Integrated WES, RNA-seq, DNA methylation, and CNV data to reason about gene silencing across omics layers — the kind of multi-step, evidence-weighing analysis this role's problems would test in AI models.
• Ran STAR alignment and DESeq2 differential expression analysis; produced GO enrichment results and ggplot2 visualisations (volcano plots, Venn diagrams, CNV landscape plots).

MS Thesis — Paralogue-Based Synthetic Lethality for Precision Cancer Therapy - EaGil Lab, LUMS - Lahore, Pakistan

(2024-01 - 2025-12)

• Authored full thesis sections (Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Abstract) analysing TCGA-BRCA multi-omics data from 643 breast cancer patients.
• Revised the abstract across multiple rounds specifically to remove unsupported claims and tighten the scientific argument ahead of defence and committee review.
• Defended methodology and findings under detailed questioning on statistical and biological reasoning — direct practice at articulating and stress-testing step-by-step scientific logic.

GWAS Practicum Report — Wheat Chlorophyll Content Analysis (Bio621) - LUMS - Lahore, Pakistan

(2025-01 - 2025-12)

• Designed a full research workflow: heritability estimation in R, GLM/MLM genome-wide association analysis in TASSEL, and a written short communication report.
• Identified and justified candidate genes from SNP annotation data, explicitly linking statistical signal to biological function.
• Wrote to strict scientific standards: precise figure referencing, plain accurate language, no unsupported interpretive leaps.

Clinical Laboratory Intern - Allama Iqbal Medical College and Fatima Memorial Hospital - Lahore, Pakistan

(2021-01 - 2022-12)

• Rotated through Chemical Pathology, Serology, Haematology, Histopathology, and Blood Banking; performed PCR and ELISA in a clinical molecular diagnostics setting.

MS - Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics - Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) (2024-01 - 2025-12)

BSc (Hons.) - Medical Laboratory Technology - FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry (2020-01 - 2024-12)