Independent Consulting
What I Do
I am a computational biologist with 9+ years of experience spanning large-cap pharma, academic genomics centers, and clinical-stage biotechs. I occasionally take on independent projects where I can make a meaningful contribution — primarily for organizations that need senior-level bioinformatics expertise without a full-time hire.
My work sits at the intersection of functional genomics, data infrastructure, and scientific decision-making. I am equally comfortable writing Nextflow pipelines and advising on what a genome-wide screen result actually means for a drug program.
Where I Can Help
Functional Genomics & CRISPR Design and analysis of genome-wide CRISPRi/a screens using Cas9 or Cas12a. On- and off-target editing analysis. Interpretation of screen hits in biological context.
NGS Pipeline Development Custom pipelines for WGS, WES, RNA-seq, and single-cell data. Workflow management with Nextflow or Snakemake. CI/CD integration for reproducible, production-ready bioinformatics.
Single-Cell & Spatial Genomics Analysis and interpretation of scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, and spatial datasets. Cell-type annotation, trajectory analysis, differential expression.
Genomic Data Strategy Architecture for scalable genomic databases (HPC, cloud). Data ingestion, storage, and retrieval for population-scale datasets (GWAS, biobanks). Guidance on reference genome selection and population representation.
Scientific Advisory Platform selection decisions. Experimental design review. Interpreting third-party analyses. Bridging computational outputs to biological and clinical questions.
Background
I have worked at:
- Revolution Medicines — Senior Research Associate, Computational Biology (current)
- UCSF Laboratory for Genomics Research — Functional genomics and CRISPR screen analysis
- Genentech — Cancer immunotherapy computational support
- BioMarin Pharmaceutical — Rare disease genomics
- ASC Therapeutics — Gene therapy pipeline development
My publications include a 2023 paper in Genome Biology and a 2026 paper in Nature identifying LASER, a multicomponent protein assembly that couples lysosomal damage sensing to ESCRT-dependent membrane repair.
| Google Scholar | GitHub | ORCID |
Working Together
I take a small number of independent engagements per year, chosen for scientific fit and mutual learning. If you have a project you think I could contribute to, I am happy to have a conversation.
Email: jsacco001@gmail.com
I do not post rates publicly — scope and pricing are discussed directly and vary by project type, duration, and complexity.