Esha Joshi
Scientific Engagement Lead
About me
I've spent 7+ years at the intersection of software, bioinformatics, and genomics. I like building tooling, infrastructure, and pipelines in the cloud to accelerate science.
I currently work as Scientific Engagement Lead at Seqera, where I help organizations scale scientific analysis powered by Nextflow.
Connect with me
Tech stack
Tools and technologies I commonly use:
Python / R / Bash
Groovy / Java
Nextflow / Snakemake / WDL
Docker / Singularity
AWS / GCP
HPC / SLURM
Terraform / IaC
CI/CD
SQL / noSQL
Linux
Git
Experience
I'm drawn to roles that blend domain expertise with practical systems work — using the right tools and infrastructure to help science move faster.
Scientific Engagement Lead
2023 – PresentIn my current role, I partner closely with biotech and pharma teams to help them move from exploratory analyses to production-grade genomics workflows. I help them adopt Nextflow and the Seqera Platform in ways that fit their infrastructure, research goals, and long-term plans — making sure their tools support their science, not slow it down.
Bioinformatics Engineer
Nov 2021 – 202354gene
I led development and deployment of production-grade genomics workflows, including a Snakemake-based WGS pipeline, performance benchmarking tooling, and custom R&D analysis systems. I processed and interpreted 700+ genomes, built automated QC frameworks, and used validation results to harden reproducibility and downstream research pipelines.
Bioinformatics Analyst
Jun 2020 – Nov 2021Government of Ontario (Public Health Ontario)
I was the primary technical lead for the Biocomputing Centre on the COVID-19 Genomics project, providing computational support for routine data-analysis, QC/QA, identification and tracking of variants of concern, and development of bioinformatics pipelines handling 40k+ genomes to date. I worked closely with external stakeholders and interdisciplinary groups at the Ministry level to help develop provincial guidelines from SARS-CoV-2 genomic insights.
Software Developer
Jan 2020 – May 2020DNAstack Master's Internship
I led the software development of an extension to the Beacon Network, a real-time search engine used to crowdsource genomic variant data. I also contributed to the development of an ETL pipeline for a real-time search engine built for SARS-CoV-2 data, now known as Viral.ai. I worked on full-stack development of services including REST APIs built with Java, Javascript, relational databases (PostgreSQL, BigQuery), deployed on GCP and Azure.
Bioinformatics Research Assistant
May 2019 – Jan 2020Ted Rogers Genome Clinic / The Centre for Applied Genomics Master's Project
I helped develop a visual analytics software used for clinical variant interpretation, known as Geneterpret. I worked on both the back-end and front-end development (Python, Javascript/Node.js, and mongoDB) and performed extensive software testing and validation using internal patient datasets and datasets from external databases such as ClinVar, dbSNP, COSMIC, and gnomAD.
Education
Masters of Science in Human Genomics, Molecular Genetics
University of Toronto St. George
2020Bachelors of Science, Molecular Biology & Human Genetics
University of Toronto
2018Talks & Writing
Projects
Publications
Co-author, "Joshi E, et al. Whole-genome sequencing across 449 samples spanning 47 ethnolinguistic groups provides insights into the genetic architecture of a diverse population." 2022.
Co-author, "Manshaei R, DeLong S, Andric V, Joshi E. et al. GeneTerpret: a customizable multilayer approach to genomic variant prioritization and interpretation." BMC Medical Genomics. January 2022. DOI
Co-author, "Gill I et al. The Dataharmonizer: a Tool for Faster Data Harmonization, Validation, Aggregation, and Analysis of Pathogen Genomics Contextual Information." Preprints 2022. DOI
Co-author, "Guthrie JL, Teatero S, Zitterman S, Chen Y, et al. Detection of the Novel SARS-CoV-2 European Lineage B.1.177 in Ontario, Canada." Public Health Ontario. J of Clinical Virology Plus. December 2022. DOI
First author, "Joshi E, Mighton C, Clausen M, et al. Primary care provider perspectives on using genomic sequencing in the care of healthy children." Eur J Hum Genet. 2019. DOI
Co-author, "Mighton C, Carlsson L, Clausen M, et al. Development of patient 'profiles' to tailor counseling for incidental genomic sequencing results." EJHG. 2019. DOI
Co-author, "Shickh S, Clausen M, Mighton C, et al. Evaluation of a decision aid for incidental genomic results, the Genomics ADvISER: protocol for a mixed methods randomised controlled trial." BMJ Open. 2018;8:4. DOI
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada