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Hi, I’m Selin, a computational biologist and a post-doc based jointly in Dr. Anshul Kundaje’s lab and Dr. Will Greenleaf’s lab in the Department of Genetics at Stanford University. I use integrative computational analyses of omics data types together with deep learning to study how transcription factors shape cell identity during development and disease. I did my PhD in Dr. Claudia Kleinman’s lab at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where I focused on data-driven approaches to identify cell-of-origin in pediatric brain tumors. I care about bioinformatics and computational biology research that emphasizes reproducbility, transparency, and re-usability. :dna:

news

Apr 30, 2025 Our preprint on deciphering the landscape of chromatin accessibility and modeling the DNA sequence syntax rules underlying gene regulation during human fetal development is now up on bioRxiv! This is my first postdoc project and a huge joint effort with Betty Liu, Sam Kim & Yan Ting Ng; led by Will Greenleaf and Anshul Kundaje at Stanford and Kyle Farh’s team at Illumina’s AI lab.
Aug 30, 2023 After 10 years in Montreal and 7 amazing years in the Kleinman lab, this week I move to California to start a post-doc in the Kundaje & Greenleaf labs at Stanford - excited for a new chapter!
Feb 14, 2023 Thrilled to have successfully defended my PhD!!
Feb 2, 2023 In November, my supervisor, Dr. Claudia Kleinman, presented at the Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC) seminar series. I gave a 5-min trainee talk on our recent work on cell-of-origin in pediatric gliomas, and our talk is now online here
Dec 5, 2022 Our paper on cell-of-origin in H3K27M pedatric gliomas is out this week in Nature Genetics ! Check out the press release here
Jun 30, 2022 This month, I was at the workshop on Deep learning for genetics, genomics, and meta-genomics at the Banff International Research Station; my talk on my PhD work is online here

selected publications

  1. Dissecting regulatory syntax in human development with scalable multiomics and deep learning
    Betty B Liu*, Selin Jessa*, Samuel H Kim*, Yan Ting Ng*,  ..., Anshul Kundaje^, Kyle K H Farh^, and William J Greenleaf^
    bioRxiv Apr 2025
    [pdf] [code]
  2. FOXR2 targets LHX6+/DLX+ neural lineages to drive CNS neuroblastoma
    Selin Jessa*, Antonella De Cola*, Bhavyaa Chandarana*,  ..., Manav Pathania^, Nada Jabado^, and Claudia L Kleinman^
    Cancer research Nov 2024
    [pdf] [code]
  3. K27M in canonical and noncanonical H3 variants occurs in distinct oligodendroglial cell lineages in brain midline gliomas
    Selin Jessa*, Abdulshakour Mohammadnia*, Ashot S Harutyunyan*,  ..., Nada Jabado^, and Claudia L Kleinman^
    Nature Genetics Nov 2022
    [pdf] [code]
  4. Histone H3.3G34-Mutant Interneuron Progenitors Co-opt PDGFRA for Gliomagenesis
    Carol C L Chen*, Shriya Deshmukh*, Selin Jessa*, Djihad Hadjadj*,  ..., Claudia L Kleinman^, and Nada Jabado^
    Cell Nov 2020
    [pdf] [code]
  5. Stalled developmental programs at the root of pediatric brain tumors
    Selin Jessa, Alexis Blanchet-Cohen, Brian Krug,  ..., Michael D Taylor^, Nada Jabado^, and Claudia L Kleinman^
    Nature Genetics Nov 2019
    [pdf]
  6. chromswitch: A flexible method to detect chromatin state switches
    Selin Jessa, and Claudia L Kleinman
    Bioinformatics Nov 2018
    [pdf] [code]