About Me

I teach AP Biology and Advanced Chemistry at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston, where I also coach swimming and assist with campus ministry.

I hold a Ph.D. in Genetics & Genomics from Texas A&M University, where I studied genome evolution, population genetics, and sex-chromosome dynamics. My dissertation, “From Evolutionary Theory to Biodiversity Genomics: Modeling, Assembly, and Prioritization Across the Tree of Life,” spanned achiasmatic-meiosis modeling, comparative genomics of Chrysina beetles, and SeqDef, an R package for genomic data prioritization.

What I do

Teaching

AP Biology & Advanced Chemistry at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory.

Coaching & Ministry

Swim coaching and campus ministry in the Jesuit tradition of formation.

Genomics Research

Genome evolution, population genetics, and chromosome dynamics across the tree of life.

Computational Biology

Scalable pipelines, simulations, and R/Python tools for biodiversity genomics.

Resume

Education

  • Ph.D. in Genetics & Genomics

    Texas A&M University
    2026 · College Station, TX

    Genome evolution, population genetics, and sex-chromosome dynamics. Dissertation: “From Evolutionary Theory to Biodiversity Genomics: Modeling, Assembly, and Prioritization Across the Tree of Life.” Advisor: Heath Blackmon.

  • B.S. in Biochemistry

    Arkansas Tech University
    2022 · Russellville, AR

    Summa Cum Laude. Major GPA 3.96.

Experience

  • Science Teacher & Swim Coach

    Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
    Present · Houston, TX

    Teach AP Biology and Advanced Chemistry; coach swimming and assist with campus ministry.

  • Graduate Research Assistant

    Texas A&M University
    2023 – 2026 · College Station, TX
    • Genome evolution and population genetics via genomic pipelines and computer simulations.
    • Built scalable Snakemake workflows for population genetics of Chrysina beetles.
    • De novo genome annotation from PacBio HiFi data on HPC clusters.

  • Pharmacogenetics Clinical Trial Intern

    AbbVie
    Summer 2024 · Chicago, IL
    • Benchmarked short-read, long-read, and PharmacoScan platforms for pharmacogenetics calling.
    • Built and tested star-allele calling pipelines on WGS and ONT data.

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant

    Texas A&M University
    2023 – 2026

    Led laboratory sections in Introductory Biology and Principles of Genetics.

Download CV

Research

Genomes of jewels: contrasting evolutionary dynamics of X and autosomal chromosomes in sky island jewel scarab beetles (Chrysina)

Barboza A., Chien S., Blackmon L., Esfadani T., Blackmon H.

In preparation

Mating Systems & Chromosome Evolution in Angiosperms

Copeland M., Barboza A., Ugochukwu P., Blackmon H.

In preparation

Dismantling Chromosomal Stasis Across the Eukaryotic Tree of Life

Copeland M., McConnell M., Barboza A., et al.

Submitted DOI bioRxiv

SeqDef: An R package for phylogenetically weighted genomic prioritization across the tree of life

Barboza A., Fissell G., Spalink D., Blackmon H.

Accepted Journal of Evolutionary Biology

Drivers of Achiasmatic Meiosis: Sexual Antagonism versus Heteromorphy-Dependent Aneuploidy across Sex-Chromosome Divergence

Barboza A., Blackmon H.

DOI G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics · 2025

Direct Repeater: R package for annotating direct repeats in genome assemblies

Copeland M., Barboza A., Romanowski J., Adelman Z., Blackmon H.

DOI F1000 Research · 2025

Orphan Genes are not a Distinct Biological Entity

Barboza A.*, Marano M.*, Bathala R., Ayala Zaragoza R., Neira A., Samano A., Owoyemi A., Casola C. *Authors contributed equally.

DOI BioEssays · 2024

In Situ Generation of a Zwitterionic Charge Transfer Probe for Selective Detection of Human Serum Albumin

Choudhury R., Sharma A.K., Paudel P., Wilson P., Barboza A.

DOI Analytical Biochemistry · 2022

Full list on Google Scholar

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam