Dr. Aswini holds both a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. Her doctoral research focused on the genetic diversity of green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles, as well as the prevalence of Chelonid Fibropapilloma-associated Herpesvirus (ChHV5) in Mabul Island, Sabah. Through this work, she gained extensive experience in population genetics, molecular diagnostics, and infectious disease genomics.

Currently, she serves as a Research Fellow at Monash University Malaysia, where she specializes in generating high-quality reference genome assemblies using advanced high-throughput sequencing technologies. Her work supports conservation efforts for endangered Malaysian species and involves the development of comprehensive bioinformatics pipelines for genome analysis—including mapping, assembly, variant calling, RNA-Seq analysis, 16S rRNA profiling, and shotgun metagenomics.

In addition to conservation genomics, Dr. Aswini has contributed to human genomics research. She has replicated and executed analyses for the Genomics of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (GReP) pipeline and performed variant calling analyses for the human Y chromosomal diversity project in collaboration with the University of Padua, Italy. She is currently co-leading a clinical genomics project on congenital cardiomyopathy in collaboration with the National Heart Institute of Malaysia. These experiences have further strengthened her expertise in variant analysis and clinical bioinformatics.

Her current projects at Monash are aligned with global initiatives such as the Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP) and the Earth BioGenome Project. She also provides bioinformatics and computational support to both internal and external collaborators and mentors students engaged in bioinformatics research. In addition, she is proficient in wet lab protocols, including high molecular weight DNA extraction, library preparation, and sequencing using the PacBio Sequel IIe, Oxford Nanopore’s MinION and PromethION 2 Solo platforms, as well as Hi-C library preparation.

Qualifications

• PhD. Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 2019
• Master of Science. Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 2015
• Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Biomedical Sciences, Management and Science University (MSU), 2012

Expertise

Bioinformatic, Genomics, Animal genetic, Population genetic, Conservation genetic, 

Professional Experience

• Research Fellow (Genomics), Monash University Malaysia - Sep 2020 - Present
• Research Assistant, Biotechnology Research Institute - May 2012 - Apr 2014
• Research Assistant, Public Health Institute - Sep 2011 - Aug 2012
• Medical Laboratory Technologist, Putri Specialist Hospital - 2009 - 2010

Professional Affiliation

Malaysia Genetic Society - Since 2014- present

Subject: BIN3800-MA-S1

Information: Introduction to Bioinformatics unit aims to cover the computational analyses of genomics and other similar biologically relevant big datasets. The unit explores the application of on-line tools and computational methods to harness data in biomedical and biological sciences, particularly in genomics and proteomics.

Subject: BIN3890-MA-S2 

Information: In Research Methods in Bioinformatics and Big Data students will apply the knowledge and analytical skills learnt in BIN3800 to carry out an in-depth computational analysis of existing genomics, transcriptomics or proteomics datasets.

Others:

Support undergraduate students enrolled in BIN3800 and BIN3890. Providing bioinformatics support to staff and HDR students enrolled in the School of Science for their genome related projects