Dr Matthew Forbes
Bioinformatics Delivery Manager (MAVE)
Background
Undergraduate
I completed my undergraduate in Biochemistry with a year in Research at Imperial College London in 2012, during this time I performed a year long placement at Rothamstead Research.
Doctoral Studies
I then went on to a 4 year PhD at the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB), a partnership between Birkbeck College and University College London. My main project was with Prof. Maya Topf and Prof. Konstantinos Thalassinos in the development of computational methods to analyse protein structure using data from a technique called Chemical Crosslinking Mass Spectrometry. In this project we published a paper in the journal Structure where we devised a methodology to use monolinks, a previously unused by-product produced in the cross-linking procedure, to score model protein structures.
Working at Sanger
I first joined the institue working on the SARS-CoV-2 surveillance programme as a Genomic Surveillance Data Analyst in October 2020. In this role my responsibilities changed as I developed new skills, I started off in primarily a data analysis role focussing on visualising genomic data with respect to the evolving pandemic, and supported the development of the institute’s SARS-CoV-2 surveillance dashboard (https://covid19.sanger.ac.uk/). I then became additionally involved in Malaria Surveillance, and built up pipeline development skills in Nextflow which enabled me to grow my bioinformatics capability further.
In 2023 I was promoted to Principal Bioinformatician within the Genomic Surveillance Unit (GSU) and led on the development of pipelines and analytical work for the Respiratory Viruses Initiative (RVI). Additionally I was fortunate enough to get the chance to engage with global partners including in Florida, South Africa and Bangladesh in different genomic surveillance contexts.
My Current Role at Sanger
In March 2025 I moved into my current role of Bioinformatics Delivery Manager for the MAVE programme. In this role I am responsible for defining the direction and strategy for our infomatics capability. This covers the design of software, R&D and capability development, ensuring that the project’s informatics capability is able to deliver the scaling that the programme requires.
My timeline
Joined the MAVE programme as Bioinformatics Delivery Manager working out of Cellular Informatics in IDS
Promoted to Principal Bioinformatician
Began role as Senior Bioinformatician in the Analysis Ready Data Team
Started my role as a Genomic Surveillance Data Analyst at the Sanger Institute
Began my PhD at the ISMB