Affiliation: University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland, USA

Dr. Natarajan is an Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Resource Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD. With a Ph.D. in genomic data analysis and bioinformatics applications within plant sciences, Dr. Natarajan has published over 50 research articles. The expertise encompasses high-throughput genomic technologies and bioinformatics strategies, including Illumina, PacBio, Nanopore, Bionano, Hi-C, Iso-Seq, RNA-Seq, GWAS, whole-genome re-sequencing, and T2T assembly in crops. Dr. Natarajan has developed reference-grade, chromosome-scale whole-genome assemblies for species such as mangroves, pomegranate, and rice and has contributed to international collaborations like the GenomeAsia100K project. Research includes studying polyploidy's impact on gene expression, conducting RNA-Seq and GWAS in vegetable crops, and developing genotyping assays using GWAS and BSA-Seq to identify genetic markers controlling important traits in crops. Additionally, pioneering machine learning in phenotyping and gene expression studies, Dr. Natarajan has established a core genomics facility and supercomputing infrastructure, mentoring over 40 researchers in genomics and bioinformatics. The work has been supported by substantial USDA and NSF funding, enhancing crop resilience and productivity through cutting-edge genomic research and bioinformatics tools.