I am a staff scientist in the Palmer Lab at UC San Diego and in the Genomic Data Modeling Lab at Seattle Children's Research Institute and University of Washington. I use computational approaches to study genomic regulatory variation and to integrate transcriptomic genetic associations with complex traits. I created and manage the RatGTEx Portal, and developed Pantry for multimodal RNA phenotyping and genetic analysis.

I received my PhD in Quantitative and Computational Biology from Princeton University, advised by Mona Singh. My research involved amino acid substitution impact (DeMaSk), cancer mutations in zinc finger domains, and linking gene expression with tissue morphology. As an undergraduate at the University of North Texas, I majored in Biology and conducted computational microbiome research with Qunfeng Dong.

Publications

Google Scholar profile
ORCID profile

Selected Publications

Multimodal analysis of RNA sequencing data powers discovery of complex trait genetics

Munro et al. Nature Communications 2024

The regulatory landscape of multiple brain regions in outbred heterogeneous stock rats

Munro et al. Nucleic Acids Research 2022

Joint analysis of gene expression levels and histological images identifies genes associated with tissue morphology

Ash*, Darnell*, Munro*, and Engelhardt Nature Communications 2021

DeMaSk: a deep mutational scanning substitution matrix and its use for variant impact prediction

Munro and Singh Bioinformatics 2020

Website

Two critical positions in zinc finger domains are heavily mutated in three human cancer types

Munro et al. PLOS Computational Biology 2018

Press release

Additional Publications

Preprint Bioenergetic-related gene expression in the hippocampus predicts internalizing vs. externalizing behavior in a F2 cross of selectively-bred rats

bioRxiv 2024

Preprint RatXcan: A framework for cross-species integration of genome-wide association and gene expression data

bioRxiv 2024

Y and mitochondrial chromosomes in the heterogeneous stock rat population

G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 2024

A revamped rat reference genome improves the discovery of genetic diversity in laboratory rats

Cell Genomics 2024

Genome-wide association study of chronic dizziness in the elderly identifies loci implicating MLLT10, BPTF, LINC01224, and ROS1

JARO 2023

Single-nucleus genomics in outbred rats with divergent cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals changes in amygdala GABAergic inhibition

Nature Neuroscience 2023

Research Briefing

Exponential increase in QTL detection with increased sample size

GENETICS 2023

Genome-wide association study finds multiple loci associated with intraocular pressure in HS rats

Frontiers in Genetics 2023

A protein-centric approach for exome variant aggregation enables sensitive association analysis with clinical outcomes

Human Mutation 2020

Similarities and seasonal variations in bacterial communities from the blood of rodents and from their flea vectors

The ISME Journal 2015

Association of host and microbial species diversity across spatial scales in desert rodent communities

PLOS One 2014

Bacterial community profiling of milk samples as a means to understand culture-negative bovine clinical mastitis

PLOS One 2013

Investigation of the effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus on subgingival plaque microbiota by high-throughput 16S rDNA pyrosequencing

PLOS One 2013

A web-based multi-genome synteny viewer for customized data

BMC Bioinformatics 2012

The arthropod, but not the vertebrate host or its environment, dictates bacterial community composition of fleas and ticks

The ISME Journal 2013

Talks

Identification of regulatory landscape in multiple brain regions of outbred heterogeneous stock rats

Complex Trait Consortium-Rat Genomics 2021 meeting

Writing

Et cetera

Certifications:

Initial Physiological Training Course – NASA

Open Water Diver – PADI

Amateur Radio License, General Class – FCC

SEQUENCE

I collaborated with Jin Angdoo on a short experimental film about proteins. It was runner-up for the Symbiosis Award at the Imagine Science Film Festival 2019.

I am the Website Manager for the COVID-19 National Scientist Volunteer Database. I also designed the logos for both NSVD and EndCoronavirus.org:

PBNify

I created a web app to convert any image into a printable paint by number outline. I sold the site to Paintable Pictures.