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Baskin School of Engineering
Genomics Institute
Research Scientist
Principal Investigator, BRCA Exchange
Staff
Researcher
UC Santa Cruz Westside Research Park
Genomics Institute
Melissa Cline is a Research Scientist at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute. She specializes in cancer genomics, the science of identifying individuals who are at greater risk of cancer due to their inherited genetics. She is the Principal Investigator of BRCA Exchange, a knowledgebase on germline variants in BRCA1, BRCA2 and related genes, and their impact on heritable cancer risk. BRCA Exchange is supported by the National Cancer Institute. She is also a co-lead of the Genomic Knowledge Standards workstream of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), an international consortium which defines technical data standards for the responsible sharing of knowledge on genomic sequencing results and genetic variants.
Dr. Cline specializes in data analysis for the interpretation of germline variants and their role in heritable cancers.
- She leads the development of BRCA Exchange, an NCI-funded knowledgebase on the role of germline BRCA variants and their impact on heritable cancers.
- She is a member of the steering committee of the ENIGMA Consortium, the leading research consortium on genetic variation in heritable breast, ovarian and prostate (HBOP) cancers.
- She is a member of the ClinGen ENIGMA (BRCA1 and BRCA2) Variant Curation Expert Panel, the internationally-recognized expert body on the interpretation of genetic variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and the ClinGen Hereditary Breast, Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancer Variant Curation Expert Panel, the internationally-recognized expert body in the interpretation of genetic variants in related genes including PALB2 and ATM.
- Further, she drives the development of data standards for sharing knowledge on genetic variants as co-lead of the Genomics Knowledge Standards workstream of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). These standards include the Variant Representation Specification (VRS), Categorical Variant Representation Specification (Cat-VRS) and the Variant Annotation Specification (VA-Spec).
- Cancer Genetics
- Germline Genetics
- Variant Interpretation
- Genomic Knowledge Standards
1U24CA302705 The BRCA Exchange Knowledgebase for Clinical Cancer Genetics. Contact PI: Melissa Cline.
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