Supervisory Bioinformatics Scientist
Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine
Jo Lynne Rokita leads the Bioinformatics Translational Pediatric Oncology Team, a team of multidisciplinary bioinformatics scientists who advance pediatric oncology research and precision medicine through cross-functional team collaboration and development of open-source analytical tools, frameworks, and data resources. Notably, with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s Data Lab, Jo Lynne co-led the creation of the OpenPBTA, an open-source reproducible analysis platform consisting of nearly 50 scalable modules to analyze pediatric brain tumor data and currently leads its pan-cancer expansion counterpart, OpenPedCan. These platforms became the foundational data layer of the NCI’s pediatric Molecular Targets Platform and are used to support clinical trial decision-making for Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC), therapeutic development, and discovery and translational research.
Jo Lynne joined CHOP in 2015 and prior to joining D3b, she led integrative genomics research in the Maris Laboratory focused on genomic characterization of pediatric PDX models, defining the sub-clonal landscape of high-risk neuroblastoma, and elucidating epigenomic mechanisms of transcriptional repression in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma. Prior to joining CHOP, Jo Lynne led the development of clinical genetics reference materials at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Jo Lynne completed her B.S. at the Pennsylvania State University, M.S. at Arcadia University, and Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is passionate about, and committed to, using genomics to improve survival and quality of life for children with brain tumors.