Liezel Tamon

I am a computational biologist working in Rachael Bashford-Rogers’ From Adaptive Immunity to Clinical Translation group at the Department of Biochemistry and Alex Clarke’s Metabolism and Immunity group at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology.

My current work, funded by Versus Arthritis, aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying preclinical autoimmunity and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by integrating single-cell and bulk transcriptomic, proteomic, and immune repertoire data. I study how immune states, metabolism, and interactions change from the earliest phases of autoimmunity to established disease, with the goal of developing predictive, integrative models that guide precision interventions and improve outcomes for people living with or at risk of lupus.

Previously, I held a postdoctoral position that combined research in neuroimmunology and neurodevelopment with data science teaching. I performed single-cell transcriptomic analyses characterising Parkinson’s disease mechanisms and the role of apoptosis in brain development. In parallel, I co-delivered data science courses through the Oxford Biomedical Data Science Training Programme, supporting researchers in applying computational methods to biological data. During my PhD with Aleksandr Sahakyan’s Integrative Computational Biology and Machine Learning group, I transitioned from wet-lab research to computational biology, focusing on how DNA sequence features shape the 3D organisation of the genome across cell types.

I am dedicated to advancing reproducible science and strengthening capacity in computational biology through open-source tools and training, driving discovery and enabling others to engage confidently in data-driven research.