Megan received her Ph.D. in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins in December of 2014. For her Ph.D. project, she performed a systematic survey (using exon arrays) of transcription factor expression during mouse pancreas development (as a function of developmental stage and tissue localization). This resulted in the identification of two differentially expressed transcription factors potentially driving early pancreas differentiation.
In her work at NIST, Megan will be developing clinical standards related to genetic testing techniques such as digital PCR and next-generation sequencing. Additionally, she is working with the Genome in a Bottle (GiaB) consortium to examine results from targeted sequencing panels on GiaB benchmark genomes. Targeted sequencing panels may offer a cost effective way of characterizing a high number of clinically important genomic regions.