Daniel Campo

I obtained my PhD in Genetics from University of Oviedo (Spain) in 2009. After that, I was a postdoctoral research associate in the Molecular and Computational Biology Section of the Biological Sciences Department at USC. During that time, I was in charge of running an Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx, one of the first NGS instruments at USC. After two years or so of working mostly in the wet lab (preparing libraries, designing and evaluating protocols, etc.), I decided to also learn how to analyze all the data that was coming out of the sequencer, so I started improving my programming skills in things like Shell scripting, Python, and R.

In 2013 I was appointed as the Director of the USC Genome Core, and since then I have been helping others with their NGS experiments and data analysis. Working at the Core is as rewarding as challenging. We have the privilege of getting a taste of the research projects that our users are working on, and at the same time, we need to be able to offer customized solutions for their NGS requests. It definitely is a great experience.

My research interests are very disparate, but always revolving around the world of genomics and bioinformatics.

For years, I've been working on studying the evolutionary patterns and genomic changes that lead to adaptation and speciation in marine invertebrates. We have sequenced de-novo the genomes and transcriptomes of two species of barnacles of the genus Pollicipes, and we are working on population and comparative genomics within and between species.

On the other hand, I am also working on bioinformatics of cancer, as part of a long-term ongoing collaboration with Prof. Julie Lang, at the USC Keck School of Medicine. Our main aim is to understand the biology of Circulating Tumor Cells with the ultimate goal of using these CTCs as surrogates for understanding breast cancer (a.k.a. liquid biopsy).

In addition, I have sporadically collaborated with other researchers whenever they need help with data analysis, so you might find my name in various publications out there. I never stop learning and having fun!

Contact Information:

dcampo@usc.edu
(213) 740-1419