What does a Bioinformatician do?
By Aminata Tengbe on
In this series, we explore some important roles in the life sciences, and how their work impacts patients and families. In this blog, we spoke to Aminata Tengbe, bioinformatician at Genomics England.
The Bioinformatics Operations team support the journey of a genomic sample. This begins when it is first received by the clinic, and extends all the way to delivering the genomic results from that sample.
They work closely with Genomic Laboratory Hubs, which provide NHS genetic testing in England, along with research cohorts to deliver genomic results, monitor data exchanges, and manage queries.
Tell us about your role at Genomics England
I’m an Operations Bioinformatician working in the Bioinformatics Operations (Bio-Ops) Team. We’re the ones responsible for ensuring that the Bioinformatics Pipeline is functioning as expected from end to end.
Day-to-day responsibilities for me include actively monitoring the National Genomic Information System and research cases, as they move through the services that make up the Pipeline.
This means I’m the first port of call for issues affecting live cases, interpreting the potential causes for these issues, and reporting them to those in charge of affected services.
We also provide second line technical support to external services users, which for the most part are clinicians in the NHS. Our team also maintain a codebase of internal tools to make monitoring the pipeline easier.
When I’m not doing the these tasks, I’m writing code to continually improve our processes.
As a team, we're responsible for ensuring that the Bioinformatics Pipeline is functioning as expected from end to end."
Aminata Tengbe
Operations Bioinformatician
What was the journey that led you here?
I studied biomedical science at an undergraduate level with the intent to pursue a career in microbiology. After that, I worked in various bacteriology and virology roles within clinical trials and in NHS pathology labs.
In my spare time, I also started programming and working on small projects in python, which led me to fall in love with writing code.
When I saw that this role was available, it seemed perfect as it combined my existing experience with my new interest in programming.
How does your work impact patients and participants?
For our work with the National Genomic Information System, my role has a direct impact on turnaround times for cases and how quickly patients receive care from their clinicians.
By monitoring Genomics England services diligently and ensuring issues are in front of the right people, our team makes sure that the end user is waiting for as little time as possible.
My role has a direct impact on turnaround times for cases and how quickly patients receive care from their clinicians."
Aminata Tengbe
Operations Bioinformatician
What makes you passionate about your role?
I’m very motivated by the mission of Genomics England and the impact that we have on patients. Learning about how much diagnoses can help people really keeps me going.
Details of this mission can be found on our website.
Day to day, I really enjoy how varied the work in my role is. I get to interact with a lot of the people in different parts of the company, as well as use many of the services and systems.
And finally...
If you want to be part of our mission at Genomics England, find out more about the career opportunities available.
You can also read more about the work happening at Genomics England in our Bioinformatics Blogs.
