matthew solomonson
computational biologist
Biological data is exploding in size and complexity. To make sense of it, we need to engineer a new generation of interactive visualization tools that are accessible to researchers, clinicians, hobbyists, and people without scientific training.
I enjoy learning, designing, creating, and being a part of significant collaborative initiatives. I am excited to work with other researchers to create translatable interfaces that accurately communicate complex information. These interfaces should spark scientific curiosity/discovery, be fun to use, and get people excited about biology.
I am currently an Associate Computational Biologist in Daniel MacArthur's group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. I help develop tools such as the gnomAD browser for exploring the world's largest collection of human exome/genome data. We use this data to understand the impact of genetic variation with a particular interest in identifying protein loss-of-function variants that cause rare disease.
Contact: msolomon@broadinstitute.org
Publications
Karczewski K.J., Weisburd B., Thomas B., Solomonson M., Ruderfer D.M., Kavanagh D., Hamamsy T., Lek M., Samocha K.E., Cummings B.B., Birnbaum D.; The Exome Aggregation Consortium., Daly M.J., MacArthur D.G. (2017). The ExAC browser: displaying reference data information from over 60 000 exomes. Nucleic Acids Res. Jan 4;45(D1):D840-D845 doi: 10.1093/nar/gkw971.
Baier F., Chen J., Solomonson M., Strynadka N.C., Tokuriki N. (2015). Distinct Metal Isoforms Underlie Promiscuous Activity Profiles of Metalloenzymes.. ACS Chem Biol doi: 10.1021/acschembio.5b00068. [PDF]
Solomonson M., Setiaputra D., Makepeace, K.A., Lameignere E., Petrotchenko E.V., Conrady D.G., Bergeron J.R., Vuckovic M., DiMaio F., Borchers C.H., Yip C.K., Strynadka N.C.J. (2015). Structure of EspB from the ESX-1 type VII secretion system and insights into its export mechanism. Structure doi: 10.1016/j.str.2015.01.002. [PDF]
Sobhanifar S., Worrall L.J., Gruninger R.J., Wasney G., Blaukopf M., Baumann L., Lameignere E., Solomonson M., Brown E.D., Withers S.G., Strynadka N.C.J. (2015). An intimate look at the structure and mechanism of Staphylococcus aureus TarM, the wall teichoic acid α-glycosyltransferase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A doi: 10.1073/pnas.1418084112.. [PDF]
Solomonson, M., Huesgen, P.F., Wasney, G.A., Watanabe, N., Gruninger, R.J., Prehna, G., Overall, C.M., and Strynadka, N.C.J. (2013). Structure of the mycosin-1 protease from the mycobacterial ESX-1 protein type VII secretion system. J Biol Chem 288, 17782-17790. [PDF]
Rothery RA, Stein B, Solomonson M., Kirk M.L., Weiner J.H. (2012). Pyranopterin conformation defines the function of molybdenum and tungsten enzymes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(37):14773-8. [PDF] [Press]
Cherney M.M., Zhang Y.F., Solomonson M., Weiner J.H., James M.N.G. 2010. Crystal Structure of Sulfide:Quinone Oxidoreductase from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans: Insights into Sul- fidotrophic Respiration and Detoxification. J Mol Biol 398:292-305. [PDF]
Zhang Y., Cherney M.M., Solomonson M., Liu J., James M.N.G., Weiner J.H. 2009. Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun 65:839-42. [PDF]
Education
- 2010–2015 Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- 2004–2008 Bachelor of Science, Specialization in Biochemistry University of Alberta, Canada
Meetings
- 2015 Hybrid Methods in Structural Biology Keystone Meeting, Lake Tahoe, California
- 2014 Earl Davie Symposium, selected abstract talk, Vancouver, British Columbia
- 2013 Tuberculosis Keystone Meeting, Whistler, British Columbia
- 2012 Future Methods in X-ray Crystallography, Erice, Italy
- 2011 Tuberculosis Keystone Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia
Awards
- 2014 Richard A. Robertson Memorial Scholarship
- 2010 - 2014 UBC Four Year Fellowship
- 2009 Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship
- 2008 ACS Society of Chemical Industry Student Merit Award
- 2008 NSERC Undergraduate Research Award
- 2005 - 2008 Jason Lang Undergraduate Scholarship
- 2006 Bosch Kitchen Centre Award
- 2005 Grant Macewan Continuing Student Scholarship