hello!

as of july 1st 2025, i am an assistant professor in the institute for human genetics at ucsf, with an appointment in the department of epidemiology & biostatistics.

we work at the intersection of statistical genetics, population genetics, and machine learning. we primarily develop methods and theory to understand how evolution shapes the genetic architecture of complex traits at different biological scales, but we are also broadly interested in any biological puzzle that presents interesting computational or statistical challenges.

if you are interested in joining us, we are always looking for enthusiastic folks interested in quantitative work with any level of experience.

previously, i was fortunate to have been a staff scientist at stanford in the department of genetics working with jonathan pritchard, with whom i also did my postdoc.

i received my ph.d. in computational biology from uc berkeley, where i was advised by yun s. song.

feel free to contact me:
my email address is jspence@stanford.edu