
Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes
Professor,
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
+1 415 734-2711
Custom People Group
The Pollard lab develops statistical and computational methods for the analysis of massive biomedical datasets. Our research focuses on emerging technologies for genomics, mass spectrometry, and imaging. We specialize in evolutionary and comparative approaches, including machine-learning integration of diverse types of data and longitudinal models of dynamics in disease and development. Examples of current projects are massively parallel dissection of regulatory networks and decoding cryptic variation in the human microbiome.
Publications
Contiguous and complete assemblies of Blastocystis gut microbiome-associated protists reveal evolutionary diversification to host ecology.
Genome research
Improved detection of microbiome-disease associations via population structure-aware generalized linear mixed effects models (microSLAM).
PLoS computational biology
Accurate estimation of intraspecific microbial gene content variation in metagenomic data with MIDAS v3 and StrainPGC.
Genome research
Machine learning-predicted chromatin organization landscape across pediatric tumors.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
ChromaFactor: Deconvolution of single-molecule chromatin organization with non-negative matrix factorization.
PLoS computational biology
Unveiling the Genetic Landscape of Coronary Artery Disease Through Common and Rare Structural Variants.
Journal of the American Heart Association
Artificial intelligence in molecular biology.
Molecular cell
Hybrid assemblies of microbiome Blastocystis protists reveal evolutionary diversification reflecting host ecology.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Deciphering regulation of FOXP3 expression in human conventional T cells.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Dose-dependent sensitivity of human 3D chromatin to a heart disease-linked transcription factor.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Oxytocin receptor controls distinct components of pair bonding and development in prairie voles.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Hierarchical annotation of eQTLs by H-eQTL enables identification of genes with cell type-divergent regulation.
Genome biology
De novo structural variants in autism spectrum disorder disrupt distal regulatory interactions of neuronal genes.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Sequence-based machine learning reveals 3D genome differences between bonobos and chimpanzees.
Genome biology and evolution
An integrated view of the structure and function of the human 4D nucleome.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Exclusive enteral nutrition initiates individual protective microbiome changes to induce remission in pediatric Crohn's disease.
Cell host & microbe
Machine learning reveals the diversity of human 3D chromatin contact patterns.
Molecular biology and evolution
Pangenomes of human gut microbiota uncover links between genetic diversity and stress response.
Cell host & microbe
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration targets brain regions linked to expression of recently evolved genes.
Brain : a journal of neurology
Sustained mucosal colonization and fecal metabolic dysfunction by Bacteroides associates with fecal microbial transplant failure in ulcerative colitis patients.
Scientific reports
Exploring the roles of RNAs in chromatin architecture using deep learning.
Nature communications
SuPreMo: a computational tool for streamlining in silico perturbation using sequence-based predictive models.
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
Systematic decoding of cis gene regulation defines context-dependent control of the multi-gene costimulatory receptor locus in human T cells.
Nature genetics
Cross-ancestry atlas of gene, isoform, and splicing regulation in the developing human brain.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Massively parallel characterization of regulatory elements in the developing human cortex.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
CellWalker2: multi-omic discovery of hierarchical cell type relationships and their associations with genomic annotations.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Vocal learning-associated convergent evolution in mammalian proteins and regulatory elements.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Machine learning reveals the diversity of human 3D chromatin contact patterns.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
ChromaFactor: deconvolution of single-molecule chromatin organization with non-negative matrix factorization.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
SuPreMo: a computational tool for streamlining in silico perturbation using sequence-based predictive models.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
FTLD targets brain regions expressing recently evolved genes.
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences
Sequence-based machine learning reveals 3D genome differences between bonobos and chimpanzees.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Exploring the Roles of RNAs in Chromatin Architecture Using Deep Learning.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
In silico discovery of repetitive elements as key sequence determinants of 3D genome folding.
Cell genomics
Spatial and temporal organization of the genome: Current state and future aims of the 4D nucleome project.
Molecular cell
Culturing of a complex gut microbial community in mucin-hydrogel carriers reveals strain- and gene-associated spatial organization.
Nature communications
Comparing chromatin contact maps at scale: methods and insights.
Research square
A genomic timescale for placental mammal evolution.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Evolutionary constraint and innovation across hundreds of placental mammals.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Insights into mammalian TE diversity through the curation of 248 genome assemblies.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Integrating gene annotation with orthology inference at scale.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Leveraging base-pair mammalian constraint to understand genetic variation and human disease.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Mammalian evolution of human cis-regulatory elements and transcription factor binding sites.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Relating enhancer genetic variation across mammals to complex phenotypes using machine learning.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
The contribution of historical processes to contemporary extinction risk in placental mammals.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
The functional and evolutionary impacts of human-specific deletions in conserved elements.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Three-dimensional genome rewiring in loci with human accelerated regions.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
?Comparative genomics of Balto, a famous historic dog, captures lost diversity of 1920s sled dogs.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Oligogenic Architecture of Rare Noncoding Variants Distinguishes 4 Congenital Heart Disease Phenotypes.
Circulation. Genomic and precision medicine
Genetic Determinants of the Interventricular Septum Are Linked to Ventricular Septal Defects and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Circulation. Genomic and precision medicine
Comparing chromatin contact maps at scale: methods and insights.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Leveraging Base Pair Mammalian Constraint to Understand Genetic Variation and Human Disease.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Cross-ancestry, cell-type-informed atlas of gene, isoform, and splicing regulation in the developing human brain.
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences
Massively parallel characterization of psychiatric disorder-associated and cell-type-specific regulatory elements in the developing human cortex.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
An atlas of lamina-associated chromatin across twelve human cell types reveals an intermediate chromatin subtype.
Genome biology
Identifying species-specific k-mers for fast and accurate metagenotyping with Maast and GT-Pro.
STAR protocols
Chromatin Remodeling Drives Immune-Fibroblast Crosstalk in Heart Failure Pathogenesis.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
MIDAS2: Metagenomic Intra-species Diversity Analysis System.
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
Genotyping Microbial Communities with MIDAS2: From Metagenomic Reads to Allele Tables.
Current protocols
Host and gut bacteria share metabolic pathways for anti-cancer drug metabolism.
Nature microbiology
Enhancer Function and Evolutionary Roles of Human Accelerated Regions.
Annual review of genetics
Correction to: Brain-wide perception of the emotional valence of light is regulated by distinct hypothalamic neurons.
Molecular psychiatry
Cell Layers: uncovering clustering structure in unsupervised single-cell transcriptomic analysis.
Bioinformatics advances
Differential Etv2 threshold requirement for endothelial and erythropoietic development.
Cell reports
Dose adjustments of Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor in response to mental health side effects in adults with cystic fibrosis.
Journal of cystic fibrosis : official journal of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society
Scalable Microbial Strain Inference in Metagenomic Data Using StrainFacts.
Frontiers in bioinformatics
Brain-wide perception of the emotional valence of light is regulated by distinct hypothalamic neurons.
Molecular psychiatry
CellWalkR: An R Package for integrating and visualizing single-cell and bulk data to resolve regulatory elements.
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
Strain-resolved analysis in a randomized trial of antibiotic pretreatment and maintenance dose delivery mode with fecal microbiota transplant for ulcerative colitis.
Scientific reports
Fast and accurate metagenotyping of the human gut microbiome with GT-Pro.
Nature biotechnology
Autism risk gene POGZ promotes chromatin accessibility and expression of clustered synaptic genes.
Cell reports
Navigating the pitfalls of applying machine learning in genomics.
Nature reviews. Genetics
Human gut bacterial metabolism drives Th17 activation and colitis.
Cell host & microbe
Publisher Correction: Accelerated RNA detection using tandem CRISPR nucleases.
Nature chemical biology
Systematic identification of non-canonical transcription factor motifs.
BMC molecular and cell biology
Evaluation of Le et al.: Challenges and opportunities for using data to understand equitability in science.
Cell systems
Accelerated RNA detection using tandem CRISPR nucleases.
Nature chemical biology
Genome-wide variability in recombination activity is associated with meiotic chromatin organization.
Genome research
Longitudinal linked-read sequencing reveals ecological and evolutionary responses of a human gut microbiome during antibiotic treatment.
Genome research
Author Correction: lentiMPRA and MPRAflow for high-throughput functional characterization of gene regulatory elements.
Nature protocols
The gut microbiomes of 180 species.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Ultraconservation of enhancers is not ultranecessary.
Nature genetics
Accelerated RNA detection using tandem CRISPR nucleases.
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences
Accurate and sensitive detection of microbial eukaryotes from whole metagenome shotgun sequencing.
Microbiome
CellWalker integrates single-cell and bulk data to resolve regulatory elements across cell types in complex tissues.
Genome biology
Molecular basis of CTCF binding polarity in genome folding.
Nature communications
Comparative host-coronavirus protein interaction networks reveal pan-viral disease mechanisms.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Predicting 3D genome folding from DNA sequence with Akita.
Nature methods
Broad host range of SARS-CoV-2 predicted by comparative and structural analysis of ACE2 in vertebrates.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
A unified catalog of 204,938 reference genomes from the human gut microbiome.
Nature biotechnology
lentiMPRA and MPRAflow for high-throughput functional characterization of gene regulatory elements.
Nature protocols
Broad Host Range of SARS-CoV-2 Predicted by Comparative and Structural Analysis of ACE2 in Vertebrates.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Meta-Analysis of Vaginal Microbiome Data Provides New Insights Into Preterm Birth.
Frontiers in microbiology
phylogenize: correcting for phylogeny reveals genes associated with microbial distributions.
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
Early Palliative Care Consultation in the Medical ICU: A Cluster Randomized Crossover Trial.
Critical care medicine
Population Genetics in the Human Microbiome.
Trends in genetics : TIG
Principles of meiotic chromosome assembly revealed in S. cerevisiae.
Nature communications
Global ecotypes in the ubiquitous marine clade SAR86.
The ISME journal
Cooking shapes the structure and function of the gut microbiome.
Nature microbiology
Reply to 'Inflated performance measures in enhancer-promoter interaction-prediction methods'.
Nature genetics
Genome of the Komodo dragon reveals adaptations in the cardiovascular and chemosensory systems of monitor lizards.
Nature ecology & evolution
Context-Specific Transcription Factor Functions Regulate Epigenomic and Transcriptional Dynamics during Cardiac Reprogramming.
Cell stem cell
The glycan CA19-9 promotes pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer in mice.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Empowering statistical methods for cellular and molecular biologists.
Molecular biology of the cell
Consent insufficient for data release-Response.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Toward unrestricted use of public genomic data.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Chromatin features constrain structural variation across evolutionary timescales.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Most chromatin interactions are not in linkage disequilibrium.
Genome research
Integrating host response and unbiased microbe detection for lower respiratory tract infection diagnosis in critically ill adults.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Existing Climate Change Will Lead to Pronounced Shifts in the Diversity of Soil Prokaryotes.
mSystems
Phylogeny-corrected identification of microbial gene families relevant to human gut colonization.
PLoS computational biology
Developmental Loci Harbor Clusters of Accelerated Regions That Evolved Independently in Ape Lineages.
Molecular biology and evolution
The Epstein-Barr Virus Episome Maneuvers between Nuclear Chromatin Compartments during Reactivation.
Journal of virology
Human evolution: the non-coding revolution.
BMC biology
Features that define the best ChIP-seq peak calling algorithms.
Briefings in bioinformatics
Genomic analyses identify hundreds of variants associated with age at menarche and support a role for puberty timing in cancer risk.
Nature genetics
Cooperative activation of cardiac transcription through myocardin bridging of paired MEF2 sites.
Development (Cambridge, England)
Unboxing cluster heatmaps.
BMC bioinformatics
Modulation of a Circulating Uremic Solute via Rational Genetic Manipulation of the Gut Microbiota.
Cell host & microbe
An integrated metagenomics pipeline for strain profiling reveals novel patterns of bacterial transmission and biogeography.
Genome research
Urban greenness influences airborne bacterial community composition.
The Science of the total environment
Enhancer-promoter interactions are encoded by complex genomic signatures on looping chromatin.
Nature genetics
Joint mouse-human phenome-wide association to test gene function and disease risk.
Nature communications
Accelerated Evolution of Enhancer Hotspots in the Mammal Ancestor.
Molecular biology and evolution
Automated and Accurate Estimation of Gene Family Abundance from Shotgun Metagenomes.
PLoS computational biology
MICROBIOME. A unified initiative to harness Earth's microbiomes.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Disruptions in a cluster of computationally identified enhancers near FOXC1 and GMDS may influence brain development.
Neurogenetics
Genomic approaches to studying human-specific developmental traits.
Development (Cambridge, England)
Can a few non-coding mutations make a human brain?
BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology
Coevolutionary analyses require phylogenetically deep alignments and better null models to accurately detect inter-protein contacts within and between species.
BMC bioinformatics
MetaQuery: a web server for rapid annotation and quantitative analysis of specific genes in the human gut microbiome.
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
Fungal contamination of nebuliser devices used by people with cystic fibrosis.
Journal of cystic fibrosis : official journal of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society
Marked seasonal variation in the wild mouse gut microbiota.
The ISME journal
Signatures of accelerated somatic evolution in gene promoters in multiple cancer types.
Nucleic acids research
Continental-scale distributions of dust-associated bacteria and fungi.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Average genome size estimation improves comparative metagenomics and sheds light on the functional ecology of the human microbiome.
Genome biology
Evolution of lysine acetylation in the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain.
BMC evolutionary biology
Genomic and network patterns of schizophrenia genetic variation in human evolutionary accelerated regions.
Molecular biology and evolution
motifDiverge: a model for assessing the statistical significance of gene regulatory motif divergence between two DNA sequences.
Statistics and its interface
Genome-wide distribution of Auts2 binding localizes with active neurodevelopmental genes.
Translational psychiatry
Exploring the genesis and functions of Human Accelerated Regions sheds light on their role in human evolution.
Current opinion in genetics & development
Profile hidden Markov models for the detection of viruses within metagenomic sequence data.
PloS one
Integrating diverse datasets improves developmental enhancer prediction.
PLoS computational biology
Protective role of HO-1 and carbon monoxide in ethanol-induced hepatocyte cell death and liver injury in mice.
Journal of hepatology
Liquefaction of semen generates and later degrades a conserved semenogelin peptide that enhances HIV infection.
Journal of virology
Many human accelerated regions are developmental enhancers.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
Acetylation of RNA polymerase II regulates growth-factor-induced gene transcription in mammalian cells.
Molecular cell
Reconstructing the microbial diversity and function of pre-agricultural tallgrass prairie soils in the United States.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
From genes to milk: genomic organization and epigenetic regulation of the mammary transcriptome.
PloS one
A model-based analysis of GC-biased gene conversion in the human and chimpanzee genomes.
PLoS genetics
How old is my gene?
Trends in genetics : TIG
A compact, in vivo screen of all 6-mers reveals drivers of tissue-specific expression and guides synthetic regulatory element design.
Genome biology
Beyond classification: gene-family phylogenies from shotgun metagenomic reads enable accurate community analysis.
BMC genomics
Global marine bacterial diversity peaks at high latitudes in winter.
The ISME journal
Sifting through genomes with iterative-sequence clustering produces a large, phylogenetically diverse protein-family resource.
BMC bioinformatics
G-NEST: a gene neighborhood scoring tool to identify co-conserved, co-expressed genes.
BMC bioinformatics
Dynamic and coordinated epigenetic regulation of developmental transitions in the cardiac lineage.
Cell
ProteinHistorian: tools for the comparative analysis of eukaryote protein origin.
PLoS computational biology
The role of GC-biased gene conversion in shaping the fastest evolving regions of the human genome.
Molecular biology and evolution
Chromosomal haplotypes by genetic phasing of human families.
American journal of human genetics
Ongoing GC-biased evolution is widespread in the human genome and enriched near recombination hot spots.
Genome biology and evolution
Substitution patterns are GC-biased in divergent sequences across the metazoans.
Genome biology and evolution
Chromatin remodelling complex dosage modulates transcription factor function in heart development.
Nature communications
PhylOTU: a high-throughput procedure quantifies microbial community diversity and resolves novel taxa from metagenomic data.
PLoS computational biology
Novel genes exhibit distinct patterns of function acquisition and network integration.
Genome biology
PHAST and RPHAST: phylogenetic analysis with space/time models.
Briefings in bioinformatics
Noncoding sequences near duplicated genes evolve rapidly.
Genome biology and evolution
The importance of being cis: evolution of orthologous fish and mammalian enhancer activity.
Molecular biology and evolution
GC-biased evolution near human accelerated regions.
PLoS genetics
Composite interval mapping to identify quantitative trait loci for point-mass mixture phenotypes.
Genetics research
A nearly exhaustive search for CpG islands on whole chromosomes.
The international journal of biostatistics
What makes us human?
Scientific American
Student engagement in interprofessional working in practice placement settings.
Journal of clinical nursing
Hypothesis tests for point-mass mixture data with application to 'omics data with many zero values.
Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology
Transcriptional map of respiratory versatility in the hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum.
Journal of bacteriology
Supervised distance matrices.
Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology
Accelerated sequence divergence of conserved genomic elements in Drosophila melanogaster.
Genome research
Gene regulatory networks in lactation: identification of global principles using bioinformatics.
BMC systems biology
A genome-wide approach to identifying novel-imprinted genes.
Human genetics
Biased clustered substitutions in the human genome: the footprints of male-driven biased gene conversion.
Genome research
Transcriptional control in embryonic Drosophila midline guidance assessed through a whole genome approach.
BMC neuroscience
The UCSC Archaeal Genome Browser.
Nucleic acids research
Augmentation procedures for control of the generalized family-wise error rate and tail probabilities for the proportion of false positives.
Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology
Multiple testing. Part II. Step-down procedures for control of the family-wise error rate.
Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology
Multiple testing. Part I. Single-step procedures for control of general type I error rates.
Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia contamination of nebulizers used to deliver aerosolized therapy to inpatients with cystic fibrosis.
The Journal of hospital infection
Statistical inference for simultaneous clustering of gene expression data.
Mathematical biosciences