Karen Ketchum

Karen is a molecular biologist with experience in genomics, proteomics, and integrative technologies for managing high throughput sequencing and other big data (‘omic) programs. She is an expert data wrangler who can triage data, metadata, and clinical information from diverse experimental platforms and laboratory workflows.

Karen’s emphasis on verification, quality control, harmonization of data elements, and implementation of standard terminologies has been a hallmark of the web-based research solutions supported by her project teams. She participated in cross-functional disease-association studies, biomarker discovery for personalized medicine, data coordination for multicenter research consortiums, and business development.

Karen currently serves as project manager for the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) data coordinating center, which coordinates proteomic and genomic data generated by research institutes across the United States. The data center manages over 60 TB of data, and her software team supports complex display and analysis portals that host clinical, genomic, and proteomic data from patient samples. This center receives data from CPTAC grantees (three Proteome Characterization Centers and five Proteogenomic Data Analysis Centers, coordinated across the U.S.) and the International Cancer Proteogenome Consortium, which organizes the content, generates standard data formats, and harmonizes metadata. Her project team designed and managed web portals that enable researchers worldwide to access CPTAC program results.

Karen’s previous responsibilities were to provide oversight to the Li-Fraumeni Exploration Cancer Epidemiology Consortium initiative sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, assist The Office of the National Coordinator with the Department of Health and Human Services as an analyst, and act as a subject matter expert for bioinformatics software quality control testing and stakeholder training. Karen also participated in the Big Data to Knowledge Standards Coordinating Center and ran the external Advisory Committee for this program.

Karen holds a Ph.D. from McGill University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Genetics at Yale University. She is an accomplished public speaker and has experience in corporate communications, consensus building, and program and project management.