Cait Harrigan, MSc.
Cait Harrigan, MSc.
cait.harrigan@mail.utoronto.ca | View this CV online at caitharrigan.ca/cv
I am a graduate student at the University of Toronto supervised by Quaid Morris and Kieran Campbell, and a graduate researcher at the Vector Institute. I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, in Computational Biology and Statistics. My thesis work pertains to cancer genomics, and modelling the evolutionary constraints that underlie how mutation events occur in DNA. I’m passionate about open science, and promoting great mentorship in the sciences.
Memberships & Affiliations
Doctoral Fellow Data Science Institute, University of Toronto Jul 2022 — present
Graduate Researcher Ontario Institute for Cancer Research May 2020 — present
Graduate Researcher Vector Institute, Toronto, Canada Sep 2019 — present
Education
PhD in Computer Science University of Toronto Jan 2021 — present
MSc in Computer Science University of Toronto Sep 2019 — Mar 2021
Honours BSc. Awarded with distinction University of Toronto Sep 2015 — Jun 2019
Work experience
Visiting Graduate Researcher May 2021 — Sep 2021
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Undergraduate Research Assistant Sep 2018 — May 2019
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Genetics
Undergraduate Research Assistant May 2017 — Sep 2017
SickKids The Hospital for Sick Children
Intern Eviviz Vancouver May 2016 — Sep 2016
Publications
- Agata A. Bielska, Caitlin F. Harrigan, Yeon Ju Kyung, Quaid Morris, Wilhelm Palm, and Craig B. Thompson. “Activating mTOR mutations are detrimental in nutrient-poor conditions”. Eng. In: Cancer Research (Jul. 2022).
- Caitlin Timmons, Quaid Morris, and Caitlin F Harrigan. “Regional Mutational Signature Activities in Cancer Genomes”. In: bioRxiv [preprint] (Jan. 2022).
- Caitlin F Harrigan, Gabriella Morgenshtern, Anna Goldenberg, and Fanny Chevalier. “Considerations for Visualizing Uncertainty in Clinical Machine Learning Models”. Workshop: Realizing AI in Healthcare: Challenges Appearing in the Wild, CHI 2021 Online Virtual Conference (originally Yokohama, Japan), May. 2021.
- Caitlin F Harrigan, Yulia Rubanova, Quaid Morris, and Alina Selega. “TrackSigFreq : subclonal reconstructions based on mutation signatures and allele frequencies”. In: Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing 25 (2020), pp. 238-249.
- Yulia Rubanova, Ruian Shi, Caitlin F Harrigan, Roujia Li, Jeff Wintersinger, Nil Sahin, Amit Deshwar, and Quaid Morris. “Reconstructing evolutionary trajectories of mutation signature activities in cancer using TrackSig”. In: Nature Communications 11.1 (Feb. 2020), pp. 1-12.
Talks & Posters
Dirichlet Allocation of Mutations Captures the Action of DNA Damage and Misrepair Processes Jul 2022
Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology 2022
Poster
DAMUTA: Dirichlet allocation of mutations as a function of both damage and DNA repair Nov 2021
Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Meeting: Genome Informatics
Oral Presentation
Tandem Signatures of DNA Damage and Misrepair in Cancer Apr 2021
Computing Research Association’s Grad Cohort for Women
Poster
Undergraduate research opportunities: how to find them and make them work for you Feb 2020
Invited by the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Student Union, University of Toronto
Talk
TrackSigFreq: subclonal reconstructions based on mutation signatures and allele frequencies Jan 2020
Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) 2020
Oral Presentation, Poster
How to hack your degree May 2019
Invited by the Computer Science Student Union, University of Toronto
Talk
Grants & Awards
NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship - Doctoral Sep 2022 — present
Doctoral Student Fellowship Award Sep 2022 — present
Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science & Technology Jul 2022
Ontario Graduate Scholarship Sep 2021 — Sep 2022
ACM SIGHPC Computational & Data Science Fellowship Jul 2020 — Jul 2022
JXTX foundation Genome Informatics Scholarship Aug 2021
General Motors Women in Science and Mathematics Award Sep 2020
NIH Conference Travel Fellowship Nov 2019
The Audrey Taylor Award Jul 2017
Service
Program committee member Nov 2019
Machine Learning in Computational Biology (MLCB) 2019
Program committee member Oct 2019
Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) 2020
Teaching
Unless otherwise noted, school is University of Toronto
JSC370: Data Science II Jan 2022 — May 2022
PRISM: Preparation for Research through Immersion, Skills, and Mentorship Jan 2022 — May 2022
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
CSC197: What, Who, How: Privacy in the Age of Big Data Collection Sep 2021 — Dec 2021
STA4273: Minimizing Expectations Jan 2021 — May 2021
CSC197: What, Who, How: Privacy in the Age of Big Data Collection Sep 2020 — Dec 2020
JSC270: Data Science I Jan 2020 — May 2020
Curriculum design and workshop series facilitator: “Environmental & Life Sciences” Jan 2020
STEMHub Foundation
Curriculum design and workshop facilitator: “R for bioinformatics” Jan 2020
Global Society for Genetics and Genome Biology
CSC373: Algorithm Design, Analysis & Complexity Sep 2019 — Dec 2019
Mentorship
Mentor ProjectX machine learning research competition Sep 2020 — present
Mentor Statistical Science Alumni Mentorship Oct 2021 — May 2022
Mentor Her Code Camp, Toronto Aug 2020 — Aug 2021
Mentor Oct 2018 — May 2019
Mentorship Program, Department of Statistics, University of Toronto
Mentor Sep 2016 — May 2019
SPROUT Peer Mentorship Program, New College, University of Toronto
Event Organization
Organizer Sep 2021 — present
Graduate Application Assistance Program, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Event chair and host: program information session Jun 2017 — Jun 2019
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Student Union, University of Toronto
Event chair: BioHacks Mar 2018
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Hackathon
Volunteering
Project Manager STEMHub Foundation Oct 2020 — May 2021
Founder and treasurer May 2018 — May 2019
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Student Union, University of Toronto