Suhail Ghafoor

Experienced Research Computing Specialist with a Master's in Computer Science, focused on building scalable data solutions for biomedical research. I create interoperable, open-source tools to manage petabyte-scale data and streamline the research process, particularly in resource-constrained environments.

Work Experience

IT Manager / Research Computing Specialist

Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University | 2019 - Present

Managed research databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL) including design, migration from MS Access, and implementation of custom schemas for research projects
Led IT infrastructure development including bare-metal servers, VMs, and research clusters with specialized security configurations
Mentored student teams in developing research software including computer vision applications for scientific analysis
Established data management protocols for research labs including storage solutions (Agave, GDrive) and automated data processing pipelines
Provided bioinformatics support including optimization of DNA analysis pipelines and population genetics simulations
Developed a modular, interoperable toolbox and data lake architecture (PostgreSQL, S3) to manage large-scale, multi-modal research data for the Tsimane Health and Life History Project.
Engineered a suite of research tools including a DICOM management system, an RFID-based biological sample tracker, and a smart data ingestion toolkit with OCR and NLP capabilities.
Implemented a FAIR data architecture ensuring all data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
Designed and deployed solutions for research in resource-constrained environments, including offline data collection, resilient data transfer protocols, and automated synchronization.
Managed over 1.5 petabytes of multi-modal data, ensuring security, integrity, and accessibility across multiple concurrent NIH-funded projects.
Created comprehensive documentation, public GitHub repositories, and user-friendly interfaces to promote broad adoption of developed tools within the research community.

Student Web Developer

Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University | 2015 - 2019

Designed and developed 5+ websites following ASU brand guidelines
Implemented custom features including RSVP systems, e-commerce functionality, and automated invoice generation
Ensured security compliance and accessibility standards across all web properties

Education

Master of Science in Computer Science (Cybersecurity)

Arizona State University | 2021 - 2023

Bachelor of Computer Science

Arizona State University | 2015 - 2019

Bachelor of Applied Psychology

Punjab University | 2012 - 2014

Publications

Samuel Wann; Adel Allam; Bret Beheim; Wendy Mack; Aaron Blackwell; Suhail Ghafoor; Thomas Kraft; Daniel Cummings; Margaret Gatz; Gregory Scott Thomas et al. (2025)

"Childhood skeletal lesions common in prehistory are present in living forager-farmers and predict adult markers of immune function"

Science Advances.

10.1126/sciadv.adw3697
Grunspan, D. Z., Komperda, R., Offerdahl, E. G., Abraham, A. E., Etebari, S., Maas, S. A., Roberts, J. A., Ghafoor, S., & Brownell, S. E. (2024)

"Importance of undergraduate institution prestige in physics faculty hiring networks"

Physical Review. Physics Education Research, 20(1).

10.1103/physrevphyseducres.20.010144
Emery, M. V., Bolhofner, K., Spake, L., Ghafoor, S., Versoza, C. J., Rawls, E. M., Winingear, S., Buikstra, J. E., Loreille, O., Fulginiti, L. C., & Stone, A. C. (2024)

"Targeted enrichment of whole genome SNPs from highly burned skeletal remains"

Journal of Forensic Sciences.

10.1111/1556-4029.15482
Suhail Ghafoor, João Santos, Cyril J Versoza, Jeffrey D Jensen, Susanne P Pfeifer (2023)

"The impact of sample size and population history on observed mutational spectra: a case study in human and chimpanzee populations"

Genome Biology and Evolution.

10.1093/gbe/evad019
Emery MV, Bolhofner K, Ghafoor S, Winingear S, Buikstra J, Fulginiti L, Stone AC (2022)

"Whole Mitochondrial Genomes Assembled from Thermally Altered Forensic Bones and Teeth"

Forensic Science International: Genetics, 56.

10.1016/j.fsigen.2021.102610
Borden, E. S., Ghafoor, S., Buetow, K. H., LaFleur, B. J., Wilson, M. A., & Hastings, K. T. (2022)

"NeoScore integrates characteristics of the Neoantigen:MHC class I interaction and expression to accurately prioritize immunogenic neoantigens"

The Journal of Immunology, 208(7), 1813–1827.

10.4049/jimmunol.2100700

Conference Presentations

McCaffrey D, Ghafoor S, Shaeffer I (2025)

"Using the Starfish Storage management tool to automate research data management"

Oral Presentation at RDAP Summit 2025.

[Slides]
Borden ES, Ghafoor S, Buetow KH, LaFleur BJ, Wilson MA, Hastings KT (2023)

"NeoScore integrates characteristics of the neoantigen:MHC class I interaction and expression to accurately prioritize immunogenic neoantigens"

Oral presentation at MathOnc23 Conference, Phoenix Arizona.
Borden ES, Ghafoor S, Buetow KH, LaFleur BJ, Wilson MA, Hastings KT (2022)

"NeoScore integrates characteristics of the neoantigen:MHC class I interaction and expression to accurately prioritize immunogenic neoantigens"

Poster presentation at Cancer Research: Present & Future, University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ.
Parker C, Emery MV, Bolhofner KL, Ghafoor S, Rawls E, Winingear S, Oldt R, Kanthaswamy S, Buikstra JE, Vidoli G, Devlin J, Fulginiti L, and Stone AC (2022)

"Evaluating the use of ancient DNA Laboratory Protocols in the Downstream DNA Identification of Burned Forensically Derived Samples"

Poster at International Society for Applied Biological Sciences Annual Scientific Meeting, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Emery, MV, Bolhofner, KL, Ghafoor, S, Wissler, A, Rawls, E, Winingear, S, Oldt, RF, Kanthaswamy, S, Buikstra, J, Fulginiti, L, Stone, AC (2022)

"A Multifaceted Short Tandem Repeat (STR) and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Assessment of Burned Human Remains Using Comparative Extraction and In-Solution Hybridyzation Capture"

Oral presentation at American Academy of Forensic Science Annual Scientific Meeting, Seattle, Washington.
Emery, MV, Bolhofner, KL, Ghafoor, S, Winingear, S, Oldt, R, Kanthaswamy, S, Buikstra, JE, Fulginiti, L, and Stone, AC (2020)

"Characterizing DNA Degradation in Severely Burned Human Skeletal Remains Using STR Genotyping and NGS Targeted Capture Techniques"

Podium presentation at American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Los Angeles, California.
Emery, MV, Bolhofner, KL, Ghafoor, S, Winingear, S, Oldt, R, Kanthaswamy, S, Buikstra, JE, Fulginiti, L., and Stone, A.C. (2020)

"Knowledge Mobilization: Quantitative Ancient and Forensic DNA Techniques for Maximum DNA Recovery From Thermally Altered Bones and Teeth (Redux)"

Poster and podium at Knowledge Mobilization Awards Ceremony, Arizona State University.
Emery, MV, Bolhofner, KL, Ghafoor, S, Winingear, S, Oldt, R, Kanthaswamy, S, Buikstra, JE, Fulginiti, L, and Stone, AC (2020)

"Quantitative Ancient and Forensic DNA Techniques for Maximum DNA Recovery From Thermally Altered Bones and Teeth"

Poster at American Academy of Forensic Science, Anaheim CA.

Invited Presentations

Emery, MV, Bolhofner K, Ghafoor S, Buikstra J, Fulginiti L, and Stone AC (2022)

"Reconstructing Forensic Profiles From Burned Human Remains using Ancient DNA and Next-Generation Sequencing Techniques"

Presented at: SUNY Binghamton, Department of Biological Sciences Seminar Series on April 15th, 2022.
Emery, MV, Bolhofner K, Ghafoor S, Buikstra J, Fulginiti L, and Stone AC (2021)

"Recovering DNA from Burned Forensic Bones and Teeth using Ancient DNA Techniques"

Presented at: Brown Bag Speaker Series, Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University on October 25th, 2021.