About Me

Hi All!

My name is Lawrence Gordon and I am a third-year Molecular and Evolutionary Systems Biology PhD student working in the Hubbard Center for Genome Studies (HCGS) at the University of New Hampshire. My research is focused on using genomic sequencing for pathogen surveillance—that is, analyzing the actual building blocks that make up the genetic code of all organisms to look for disease causing microbes in samples from people, animals, and the environment.

A major challenge in pathogen surveillance by genomic sequencing is in the sample analysis. Samples coming from sick hosts are still mostly made up of genetic material from the hosts themselves, and not the disease-causing pathogen. Separating genetic material from pathogens from that of hosts and normal bacteria and fungi becomes an intensive task requiring bioinformatics. Bioinformatics, broadly covering the computational analysis of biological samples, is crucial to making sense of genomic sequences. Using a variety of bioinformatic tools and analyses, pathogens can be detected among mounds of host and microbiome data, like finding a needle in a haystack.

Prior to attending UNH, I got my undergraduate degree at Tufts University in biochemistry. After graduating, I worked in the clinical microbiology laboratory at Winchester Hospital as a medical technologist. My work at the hospital was a driving force behind me going to graduate school, as working in the initial outbreaks of Covid made me curious about the visible effects of the disease on the patient microbiome. Outside of research, I like to play basketball and tennis, explore both the cities and woods of New Hampshire, go to concerts, and attend the occasional trivia night.