Bioinformatics Scientist
Head, Data Analytics and TrAnslational Science (DATA) Unit
Translational Biobehavioral and Health Disparities Branch
BS, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
MS, Johns Hopkins University
PhD, George Mason University
Email:
barb@nih.gov
Phone:301-435-9232
Bioinformatics Scientist
Head, Data Analytics and TrAnslational Science (DATA) Unit
Translational Biobehavioral and Health Disparities Branch
BS, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
MS, Johns Hopkins University
PhD, George Mason University
Email:
barb@nih.gov
Phone:301-435-9232
Dr. Jennifer J. Barb is a Bioinformatics Scientist within the NIH Clinical Center TBHD and the head of the Data Analytics and TrAnslational Science (DATA) Unit.
Dr. Barb has been a data analytics and bioinformatics scientist at the NIH for over 20 years where she began her career in the Mathematical and Statistical Computing Laboratory (MSCL) at the Center for Information Technology in 2001. Dr. Barb has two Bachelor of Science degrees in the Biological Sciences and in Computer and Information Science. Dr. Barb has a MS in Biotechnology with a concentration in Bioinformatics and a PhD in Bioinformatics.
She transferred from CIT to the Clinical Center in 2019 to work with PI Dr. Gwenyth Wallen.
Dr. Barb’s research interest focuses on three main areas: 1) high-throughput data analysis in disease specific genomics, 2) microbiome methods and applications on human clinical data and specifically of health disparities and 3) data discovery methods applied to specific diseases. Dr. Barb also has a special interest in nutrition and its association with the gut microbiome.
Throughout her career at the NIH, she has served as a collaborator on over 50 projects and has collaborated with NIAAA, NCI, NHLBI, NEI, NHGRI, NINR, NIDCR, NICHD, NIMH, NIAID, NINDS, Forsyth Institute and the Framingham Heart Study.
She has coauthored many peer-reviewed publications and has presented her work in poster and oral formats at various conferences. She has worked extensively on the development of genomic analytical methods and developed a statistical Toolbox for high throughput data analysis for gene expression microarrays. She has experience in a large range of bioinformatics analysis methods and clinical data analysis. She takes a hands-on approach to not only address the main questions of her research but also allows the data to drive the discovery.
Current Research Activities
Associate Investigator
000796: Associations between Cytokine and Metabolite-Associated Gut Microbiome Bacteria, Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features and Clinical Phenotype (craving, anxiety, and depression) in patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (PI: Dr. Gwenyth Wallen)
16-CC-0162 (NCT# 02911077): Longitudinal changes in the oral and gut microbiome of individuals with alcohol dependence (PI: Dr. Gwenyth Wallen)
14-CC-0143 (NCT# 02181569): Sleep disturbance and relapse in individuals with alcohol dependence: an exploratory mixed methods study (PI: Dr. Gwenyth Wallen)
Barb JJ, Brooks AT, Kazmi N, Yang L, Chakravorty, S, Wallen GW. A lower sleep regularity index is associated with relapse in individuals with alcohol use disorder following inpatient treatment. 2022. Nature Scientific Reports, in press.
Kazmi, N., Wallen, G. W., Yang, L., Alkhatib, J., Schwandt, M., Feng, D., Gao, B., Diazgranados, N., Ramchandani, V.*, Barb J.J.* 2022. An exploratory study of pro-inflammatory cytokines in individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder: MCP-1 and IL-8 associated with alcohol consumption, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and liver biomarkers. (*co-senior author), Frontiers in Psychiatry: Section Addiction Disorders. PMID: 36032219 PMCID: PMC9405018
Yang S, Ratteree K, Turner SA, Tuason RT, Brooks A, Wallen GR, Barb J.J. Dietary Intakes of Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder During a 4-Week Protocol on an Inpatient Treatment Unit Found to Meet Dietary Reference Intakes for Macronutrients, but Have Variability in Energy Balance and Adequacy of Micronutrient Intake. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2022 Jun 2:S2212-2672(22)00316-1. PMID: 35659642.
Meeks, BK., Maki, KA., Ames, NJ., & Barb, J.J. (2022). Comparing Published Gut Microbiome Taxonomic Data Across Multinational Studies. Nursing research, 71(1), 43–53.
Barb, J.J., Maki, KA., Kazmi, N., Meeks, BK., Krumlauf, M., Tuason, RT., Brooks, AT., Ames, NJ., Goldman, D., & Wallen, GR. (2021). The oral microbiome in alcohol use disorder: a longitudinal analysis during inpatient treatment. Journal of oral microbiology, 14(1), 2004790.
Maki, K.A., Kazmi, N., Barb, J.J., & Ames, N. The Oral and Gut Bacterial Microbiomes: Similarities, Differences, and Connections. Biological research for nursing. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800420941606
Ames, N. J.*, Barb, J.J.*, Schuebel, K., Mudra, S., Meeks, B. K., Tuason, R., Brooks, A. T., Kazmi, N., Yang, S., Ratteree, K., Diazgranados, N., Krumlauf, M., Wallen, G. R., & Goldman, D. Longitudinal gut microbiome changes in alcohol use disorder are influenced by abstinence and drinking quantity. Gut microbes. 2020; 11(6), 1608–1631. (*co-first author), https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2020.1758010
Barb, J.J., Oler, A. J., Kim, H. S., Chalmers, N., Wallen, G. R., Cashion, A., Munson, P. J., & Ames, N. J. Development of an Analysis Pipeline Characterizing Multiple Hypervariable Regions of 16S rRNA Using Mock Samples. PloS one. 2016;11(2), e0148047. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148047
Raghavachari, N., Barb, J., Yang, Y., Liu, P., Woodhouse, K., Levy, D., O'Donnell, C. J., Munson, P. J., & Kato, G. J. A systematic comparison and evaluation of high density exon arrays and RNA-seq technology used to unravel the peripheral blood transcriptome of sickle cell disease. BMC medical genomics. 2012; 5, 28. https://doi.org/10.1186/1755-8794-5-28
Visit Scopus or ResearchGate for a full list of Dr. Barb's publications.
- Highlight in the NIAAA/NIH Spectrum, 2020
- Center for Information Technology Scientific Award of Merit, 2017
- National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Director’s Award, 2016
- C.W. Cotterman Award, (Sen et. al, co-author on publication), 2014
- American Society of Human Genetics for publication in AJHG
- Awarded Best Student’s Poster Award JMP User’s Conference, SAS Headquarters, Cary, NC, 2008
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This page last updated on 03/14/2023