Meet a genomic epidemiologist
Hayley Yaglom, MS, MPH, One Health Genomics Epidemiologist
I’m starting a new series today, providing career stories of people in genomic epidemiology roles, or epidemiologists who incorporate genomics into their work. My goal here is to show that there are many different paths, and introduce you people with a variety of backgrounds and career trajectories.
I’m excited to kick off the series with Hayley Yaglom. We have known each other for several years, and worked on projects together such as the CDC Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit, and a roundtable discussion at the 2021 Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) conference. I couldn’t think of a better or more passionate genomic epi to kick off the series. So lets jump in and meet Hayley!
Career Overview
Hayley Yaglom, MS, MPH
Educational path
B.S Animal and pre-veterinary sciences, University of Massachusetts
M.S. Animal biotechnology and biomedical sciences, University of Massachusetts
M.P.H Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Missouri
Experience path
Vector-borne & Zoonotic Disease Epidemiologist, Arizona Department of Health Services
One Health Genomics Epidemiologist, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
Education and early career
Hayley didn’t set out early in her career to work in genomic epidemiology, in fact she didn’t start out interested in epidemiology at all. It was her strong interest in animal science and veterinary medicine that guided her first two educational experiences. It wasn’t until her second year of her MPH program when she took an emerging zoonotic disease epidemiology course that her path toward epidemiology as her career goal become clear.
Her first role in epidemiology came with the Arizona Department of Health Services, where she worked as a vector-borne and zoonotic disease epidemiologist. Her background in animal sciences and epidemiology made this focus area a natural fit, and she had the opportunity in this role to work with not just other staff at AZDHS, but with external partners such as tribes, hospitals, local health departments, and animal health officials in the state, as well as national partners such as CDC. It was in this role where Hayley was first exposed to genomics and how it could be incorporated into public health investigations.
Move into genomic epidemiology
Her next career step brought her squarely into the field of genomic epidemiology, when she joined the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) as a One Health genomics epidemiologist. You can see all of her background and experience wrapped up into that title! Each step of her career, from the animal sciences, to epidemiology, to genomics built upon each other to give her the background needed to succeed in this role.
You’ll notice that Hayley didn’t have formal education in genomics, so I asked her how she built her skills in that area. “I approach learning in a very hands-on manner – tapping into all the resources around me, such as the experts at TGen.” In fact this hand-on approach to learning is something that Hayley reinforced many times throughout our conversation. Learning through webinars and courses is great, but to really accelerate your learning, you have to jump in and try it. Reading a phylogenetic tree makes a lot more sense when you are doing it with real data that is relevant to your situation, and where you understand the context, background, and history of those otherwise impersonal points and branches on the tree.
The COVID-19 pandemic started less than a year after Hayley joined TGen, and the pandemic really accelerated her leap into genomic epidemiology. TGen was at the forefront of sequencing SARS-CoV-2 for the state of Arizona, and Hayley jumped right in, not only setting up genomic surveillance systems across both humans and animals, but also as a liaison to external partners such as hospitals and tribes. In addition to the translational skills, this accelerated her technical skills such as building Nextstrain narratives. She also participated in the building of the CDC Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit, contributing a module on SARS-CoV-2 sequencing in Arizona.
In describing her role, Hayley said, “I don’t need to be an expert in bioinformatics or the laboratory methods behind library preparation for sequencing samples. I do, however, need to be able to communicate the science behind genomics to our partners and showcase the many advantages of coupling genomic epidemiology with traditional shoe-leather epi.”
Advice for those interested in a career in genomic epidemiology
Now that she’s well into her career as a genomic epidemiologist, Hayley has some valuable suggestions for anyone from students to established professionals that are interested in pursuing a career in genomic epidemiology.
Network! Find people who do things similar to what you’re interested in doing and learn from them.
Follow your bliss - find your passion and drive it forward.
Find experiences that will further your career. Maybe you haven’t developed your genomics skills yet but you excel in data visualization. Find a project where you can both contribute your unique skill set and learn the skill set you’re interested in advancing.
Think out of the box! Don’t be afraid to push boundaries and try something new or different.
Jump in with your own data. Work with the bioinformaticians and lab scientists in your agency if you have them to deepen your skills and learn to interpret together.
“Genomic epidemiology is not siloed, it’s threaded throughout infectious disease. You can carve your own path because it can be applied to any disease area.” - Hayley Yaglom
Keep up with Hayley on LinkedIn and learn more about the work she does at TGen.
Wrap up
I hope you enjoyed meeting Hayley! Here’s where I need your help - I need more people to feature! Are you an epidemiologist that incorporates genomics into your daily work? If you would like to share your story, or if you have suggestions of who you would like to hear from, please reach out! Email me at krisandra@genomicepi.com if you’re interested.
This is a great series concept because it shows what genomic epi looks like in the real world, not in an abstract methods section. I also liked the One Health through-line—vector-borne and zoonotic work seems like one of the clearest places where genomics becomes operational fast. If you had to pick one skill that consistently separates “genomics aware” from “genomics fluent” in public health roles, what would it be?