Cole Trapnell

Cole Trapnell, PhD, University of Washington, studies stem cells and differentiation, primarily using high throughput transcriptome sequencing. The Trapnell Lab studies cell differentiation, reprogramming, and other transitions between stable or metastable cellular states. We also study the role of cell-cell communication in governing these processes. We aim to identify genes that control cellular transitions, primarily using single-cell genomics. Dr. Traphell earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was jointly advised by Steven Salzberg and Lior Pachter. As a postdoc in John Rinn’s lab at Harvard’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology department, he pioneered methods for analyzing differentiation with single cell transcriptome sequencing.  He is the principal developer of several widely used open-source software tools for analyzing high-throughput sequencing experiments.